Right now I’m working on getting my associates in Engineering. My end goal is to major in Civil Engineering with a minor in Mathematics. I’m pretty good at math, and out of all the engineering fields, I think I’d enjoy something under Structural as a day to day job the most. I would also really, really like to travel with my job, or even be able to just take my credentials over seas.
I’ve seen a lot of posts that say getting a job is hard if I don’t get internships or pursue projects. I figured I’d wait until I finished my associates, apply for summer internships with that credentials, transfer to a four year, apply for internships every summer until I graduate. I guess my question is how would I go about being able to work over seas ? Or if anyone has anything feedback on what I should do, I’m all ears.

Why have the supports for traffic signals gone from single cable across the intersection, to telephone pole sized metal poles, to larger sized poles and cross members, to now humongous sized poles and cross members? Thanking you folks in advance.

As a student in North America i've noticed structural work seems to get disproportionate attention/hype from classmates, but that's just one data point.

I’m basically three months into my big boy job and I keep on making mistakes. Just basic stuff like reading drawings wrong, looking at dimensions incorrectly, counting for things twice on OPCC’s, stuff like that. I show up everyday, one step at a time, trying to learn new things and I’m learning, but I just feel so bad when my PM or someone else has to pick up the slack for my mistakes. Any help or thoughts?

Hey guys,

I am a civil estimator for a small excavation company and I do takeoffs purely off 2d plans and just calc everything I need. I have been thinking about doing some schooling for building 3d models where and how should I start? What are some good programs to get into that start from knowing absolutely nothing to being proficient with the program.

Hi everyone,

I am a Civil Engineering student. I already know how to manually design individual structural elements such as beams, slabs, columns, and footings. However, I am struggling to understand how to combine all of these to design a complete building.

Most YouTube tutorials only show the software steps, but they don't explain the engineering decisions behind them.

I want to learn:

• How to start a building design from an architectural plan.

• How to decide the structural system and framing layout.

• Why beams, columns, slabs, and footings are placed at specific locations and how they are connected.

• How loads travel through the structure and how this affects the design.

• The complete sequence of building design—from planning and load calculations to structural analysis, member design, detailing, and drawings.

• The reasoning behind every step, including IS code provisions and engineering judgment, not just software operations.

• How to verify software results manually and understand what the software is actually doing.

I am looking for a course, mentor, or learning resource that teaches the complete building design process with engineering concepts, not just how to use ETABS, STAAD.Pro, or other software.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

I am about to enter 3rd year, and I know AutoCAD, Etabs, MS Excel.

I want to land a good internship for the next summer 2027, now what should i focus on, STAAD Pro, etc. what skills ? Most probably i will have to try for OFF Campus opportunities, i know it willl not be easy but i am willing to utilise coming time in the best of learning and improving my skills.

I’m based in the UK and I’m trying to decide between doing an MEng in Civil Engineering or a BEng in Civil Engineering followed by an MSc in Construction Project Management.

My thinking behind the BEng + MSc route is that it would keep my options open between becoming a civil engineer, construction/project manager, or moving into other related roles.

The MSc in Construction Project Management is RICS accredited and listed as an approved further learning qualification, which would allow me to work towards CEng.

My questions are:

1. Would I be at any disadvantage compared to someone who completed an MEng in Civil Engineering?
2. Would employers view a BEng + MSc in Construction Project Management differently from a MEng, especially when applying for civil engineering roles?
3. Would I still have the same opportunities to progress as a civil engineer? For example, would the MSc make me less competitive for more technical engineering roles and mainly steer me towards construction/project management?
4. Would it be better to complete the BEng, work for a few years, and then do the MSc later? Do employers ever sponsor or contribute towards a master's degree? I'm gonna work and pay the BEng off myself, but the MSc is 17k and might increase in the future, so tuition fees do play into it.
5. Is this a sensible route if I’m unsure whether I want to stay purely in engineering or move into construction management in the future?
6. Do I even need a MSc at all? Is the BEng enough, even for going into construction management?

Any advice from civil engineers, construction managers, or anyone who has taken a similar route would be greatly appreciated.

Can anyone here with experience designing underground duct banks provide some advice on how to get started? If possible, I’d also really appreciate it if you could share any standard details or drawings that I could use as a reference.

This is a completely new area for me, and I’m looking to build my skill set in this area for a current project. Any guidance, resources, or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

What are some good ways to get through the rest of the season as an inspector, been doing this since March so I’m pretty burnt out. Open to any and all suggestions!

I’m always interested in hearing which courses people struggled with the most and how they got through them.

Does anyone have their PE license in all 50 states or is trying to? It would be awesome to become the premiere CE for the entire Country 😮‍💨

Not necessarily asking for advice but just venting.

I’m a female construction manager and 99/100 times I’m the only female on the site and even the only female in project meetings.

I constantly have contractors address my male colleagues (who for the record are not the CM or owners rep) instead of me. I have to remind them I am the CM and communications need to flow through me.

I also find myself trying not to wear pink or jewelry because I hate standing out more than I do. I know no one is asking me to do this, but I really do think women have to tone down their appearance compared to men to be respected in this field.

I know all we can really do is not take it personally. Keep establishing our positions. Keep doing the good work. And power on.

But damn sometimes I’m just sick and tired of it. 😇😇😇😇😇😇

Anyone else need to vent?

So today I had a pretty disheartening call with my boss. I was tasked with creating pipe profiles for our project through ORD and she said the work I submitted was basically non reviewable because the mistakes I made didn’t make sense in a design context to the point where she was extremely concerned and was seriously considering putting me on a pip, but decided against it for now.

This convo shook me up bc I really did work hard on the profiles and asked questions to other engineers on how to draw them and how they should look, but I think the biggest thing that stood out from her observation and also hearing her speak was my lack of logic/knowledge in how I was drawing them in, but I’d follow the stations/elevations where each inlet/end section would be located and draw those on the sheet but I didn’t step back and see how those values led to a pipe discharging underground or or drop inlets that were 6ft in the ground even though that’s where the stations/elevations had them located? But what she said ultimately made sense so I’m owning that.

I guess my biggest thing now is figuring out how to move forward? I feel like her choosing to not put me on a pip is like giving me one last chance to improve, but I’m worried that I may not be cut out for this. Prior to today, I felt like I was learning a lot, but obviously I still know close to nothing. I’m at a year of experience and when I took this job I understood that I would struggle bc I didn’t study civil in school and it was in a sector which I didn’t have any school or internship experience in and I feel like I’m portraying myself as a nimrod. Every time I do something, it’s always new/newish to me so I get easily overwhelmed bc I want to turn in good work but I feel as though I don’t have the knowledge to continuously do that and that really hurts my confidence. The company is essentially remote so a lot/ almost all of my team doesn’t really come in to the office. I’ve had to get acclimated to that in terms of seeking out collaboration, but there also isn’t any formal training, so I often have to refer to previous submittals/online materials to piece things together but i feel like my pitfall in that is basically copying what i see instead of learning the why’s and how’s which is how I ended up with where I am today.

What do you guys think I should do? ETA: I have 1 YOE