Day in the Life
The only constant in
the professional lives of civil engineers is that they never have typical
days. Every day is different, bringing new challenges and unique demands,
and the nature of these demands varies according to the specialization and
seniority of the engineer. They face different challenges every day, and have to solve problems to meet the unique demands of whatever project they are focusing on. Civil engineers might work on the same project for several years and then move on to another effort. For example, they might be working on a long term project to plan a new housing development, and once complete might move on to developing a new highway system in a different city or country. Many projects are highly complicated and require interaction with other civil engineers, and others from other specialties as well.
 Teams
and Coworkers
Almost all jobs in civil engineering require some sort of interaction with
coworkers. Whether they are working in a team situation, or just asking
for advice, most engineers have to have the ability to communicate and
work with other people. Teamwork is a big part of this occupation as there are usually so many people required to work together to achieve large scale efforts.
Tasks
and Titles
Civil engineers have a wide array of specialty areas to choose from. The
titles civil engineers hold are far more broad than most people know and
their duties are even more diverse.
Women
and Minorities
Once engineering was predominantly a field belonging to white males. This is arguably no longer
the case, although there is still progress to be made. In the case of
women, the percentage of engineering bachelor's degrees has been on the
rise.
Note: Some resources in this section are provided by the US Department
of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics
and the
American Society of Civil Engineers.
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