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. Most report they work in
teams, they spend time on things not necessarily well described in their
titles, they concern themselves with continuing education and
networking part of the time. Virtually all
engineers spend some part of every day doing some routine administrative
tasks, and newly-graduated engineers may be surprised to find they will
most likely file, type, send e-mail, make phone calls, take notes in
meetings, and many other ordinary chores.
 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.
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, as
were most professionals in the western world. 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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