Mechanical and Civil Engineering

[mooretitan]

Wondering if any of you guys are in the mechanical or civil engineering fields and live in Wyoming, Idaho, Montana or Colorado. My son has been researching these fields and wanted to talk to someone who is currently in the field or has gone through it. His main things that we talked about today
1. Job availability in these states
2. Pay
3. Time off for hunting and fishing
4. Quality of life
5. Job growth opportunities

I am glad he is starting to think about these things. He is starting his Jr year and has been looking up colleges and cost ect.
He is a strong student. 4.5gpa and is already taking some jr college classes.
He is not an over the top high needs kid. He just wants to make enough money and have more than enough time off to hunt and fish. Other than that he is pretty basic.
Thanks

 

[grainhog]

I'm not an engineer, but I have friends with civil degrees who do forest road planning and design for USFS. No doubt the full time perms are fairly competitive, but available, and getting paid pretty well to scout in a federal vehicle sounds good to me.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

There's major lack of new civil engineers in ak. Went to a job fair and seems likes 80% of kids are into mechanical.

Sent from my SM-S921U using Tapatalk

 

[lintond]

Civil is a very diverse degree which is good. Within civil you’ve have geotechnical, structural, traffic, hydraulics, and traditional civil. Plus you can always dip into construction with a civil degree.

Lots of diversity in employers as well. Many different government jobs…which I could never be fulfilled doing.

I work in structural and my employer is very good about a flexible schedule. I can take three day weekends no problem as long as I get my stuff done.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mustelid_master]

Civil would be my choice of the two. From Montana, went to school in Montana, got an electrical engineering degree, couldn't be happier.

 

[Yoteassasin]

spent my undergrad many moons ago in Laramie. Mechanical
Engineers are in higher demand in large population centers ( manufacturing and larger building ). The the poster above civil
Is in higher demand in rural areas (roads ,mines, wind power )
If your boy wants the best leg up a masters in geology (about the same commitment as an undergrad in CE ) could likely do him just as good.
And if he want a the ace In the hole a mining engineering diploma from Montana tech , or colorado School of mines will get him able
To write his own to ticket.

best of luck to your guy.

 

[mustelid_master]

And if he want a the ace In the hole a mining engineering diploma from Montana tech , or colorado School of mines will get him able
To write his own to ticket.

A master's certainly does help. MTech is great school, with cheap living and great hunting. Butte has it's idiosynrocies, but i wouldn't hesitate to live there for the rest of my life.

 

[IdahoBeav]

I'm a site civil PE in Boise.

1. The firm I work for and most others locally and nationally are hiring heavily. It has been this way for about 10 years.

2. I crossed the 6 figure threshold 7 years after graduation. This required jumping ship a few times. The firm I work for pays better than most and starts new grads at about $75k currently. However, this is largely due to inflation and a very competitive hiring market. About 5 years ago, most firms were starting at about $55k.

3. This has never been an issue for me. I currently have unlimited PTO. However, I had to work up to this. The normal accrual rate at most firms for entry level staff is 15 days/yr.

4. It's pretty good, but there are at least a handful of occasions where working through the weekend and/or late into the night is required to meet a deadline, but this is certainly not the norm.

5. Engineering work pays decently, but managing and selling engineering work pays far better. Once an engineer is 4 years in, he should take the PE exam, become licensed, and begin serving as EOR on a few projects, at which time he should also be supervising and mentoring entry level engineers. If you are content with leading a design team, you can certainly make a career doing that. If you enjoy and accel at management and business development, the opportunities for growth are very high. Marketing people are incapable of selling engineering work on their own. They need engineers. However, engineers are quite capable of doing their own marketing.

6. Don't let him settle for a CEM (Construction Engineering Management) or industrial engineering degree. They are not engineering degrees. They are glorified project management training. Yes, the courses are easier, but with a civil degree, you can get any job that a CEM or IE grad can. The opposite cannot be done.

7. I'm not alum, but if I were to do it again, I would go to school at U of I Moscow. They have a great program in an awesome location.

Sent from my SM-G981V using Tapatalk

 

[Koda_]

Wondering if any of you guys are in the mechanical or civil engineering fields and live in Wyoming, Idaho, Montana or Colorado. My son has been researching these fields and wanted to talk to someone who is currently in the field or has gone through it. His main things that we talked about today
1. Job availability in these states
2. Pay
3. Time off for hunting and fishing
4. Quality of life
5. Job growth opportunities

I am glad he is starting to think about these things. He is starting his Jr year and has been looking up colleges and cost ect.
He is a strong student. 4.5gpa and is already taking some jr college classes.
He is not an over the top high needs kid. He just wants to make enough money and have more than enough time off to hunt and fish. Other than that he is pretty basic.
Thanks

You can look up national and local wages for these (and any) occupations on the US Bureau of Labor Statistics website. They also break it down by employment rates nationally and locally and other info.

Its good that hes asking these question now, a lot dont and learn the hard way. This is also a good website to check your wage to your areas average.

List of SOC Occupations

www.bls.gov

 

[mtntppr]

I was a pure math guy that settled on EE (I did not get into NE) at a large state school.

The things you talked about with your son are certainly valid and important considerations; however, my advice would be to really look at the curriculum and try to get an idea of your typical day-to-day occupational tasks in those fields. The pay, time off, career growth -- those things will come -- but a lot of that quality of life part will depend on whether or not he actually enjoys the work.

College is expensive, time consuming, and engineering is a different animal. I had a lot of classmates that took Calc AB/BC, AP Physics, etc in high school, it'll still kick your tail. It's a 5-year degree for a lot of people, then if you want to do government work, probably going to want to be a licensed PE, and I wouldn't be surprised if that doesn't eventually turn into some graduate level courses. So, it's a pretty big commitment.

Most schools, at least the big ones, record classes and put them online. I would have him sit through a few of those -- the weeder classes for those majors -- statics, dynamics, what have you -- just to see what it's like. If they have a co-op program, I would recommend speaking to someone that's been through it about their experience. Those are the things I would think about. The jobs are going to be there, the money, some of that will depend on who you work for.

 

[Battle]

I would suggest Civil. I’m civil and we’ve had a hard time hiring civil graduates. We get a lot of chemical and mechanical applicants and do hire them, but it would be better to just go civil if that’s where the jobs are, especially in the Rocky Mountain region (I’m in Wyoming).

My experience has been good in all 5 areas you were asking about.

For school, just get the bachelor’s degree at the school that makes the most sense financially. I don’t see the value in a masters. Experience is much more valuable, so get to work as soon as possible, including internships.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Stocky]

Don't know the US opportunities but I have a civil engineering degree and found it awfully boring. I now no longer use the degree (well i dont work in civil engineering) and retrained (whilst doing the job) in a field I actually enjoy (id probably still be a mechanical engineer if id done that degree).

Yes I made good money while civil engineering but I hated it most of the time as it was painful how non practical most engineers are.

I have friends that still do it and don't mind it Most of them just do a minimal 40hour week and dont do much outside of work. I used it to fund a guiding career pre covid but once that stopped travel. I transitioned to a job I enjoy and one that I can eventually see myself starring a business in.

My biggest bit of advise to young guys is to try the job in anyway you can before committing to the student loans and time studying as that will follow you and if you do find after a 4 year college degree you don't like it you are semi trapped by the loans. 4 years not earning is as big a cost as the degree. To get in my job I have now that I was in no way qualified for I offered to do a month at minimum wage and after that we could renegotiate. That way I could decide if it was something I wanted to do and if we couldn't agree on a better rate I atleast knew the career path I wanted to take. No real risk to the employer or myself. I've been here 2 years now and there's no way I'd leave and they like me enough I have good job security even when I dissappear overseas hunting a couple months a year.

 

[Bluefish]

ME here, semi retired now and so not in the job search anymore. Colorado has some manufacturing, but a lot less than it used to have. A lot of the jobs were in oil and gas for ME’s. Time off really is more of a company specific thing than degree. I had pretty limited vacation to decent based on the company.

As a degree, both are a good choice and once out of school job choices will determine your career path more than your original degree. My first job was in manufacturing and that set my path. Eventually I moved to managing a purchasing department. Imho you have to move out of engineering to really make big money. It starts out good and stays decent, but will top out. To make more you move out of engineering and do something else, usually management.

 

[WTFJohn]

ME here, semi retired now and so not in the job search anymore. Colorado has some manufacturing, but a lot less than it used to have. A lot of the jobs were in oil and gas for ME’s. Time off really is more of a company specific thing than degree. I had pretty limited vacation to decent based on the company.

As a degree, both are a good choice and once out of school job choices will determine your career path more than your original degree. My first job was in manufacturing and that set my path. Eventually I moved to managing a purchasing department. Imho you have to move out of engineering to really make big money. It starts out good and stays decent, but will top out. To make more you move out of engineering and do something else, usually management.

This is one of the most important things that gets overlooked, regardless of career field. My friends from engineering school that are still doing engineering things are overworked and burnt out (even if they are at the top of their field). My friends that have moved to management are making more money and have a better work/life balance, which allows them to either take on 'fun' side jobs or just exercise that part of their brain on hobbies.

 

[lintond]

The pay, time off, career growth -- those things will come -- but a lot of that quality of life part will depend on whether or not he actually enjoys the work.

This is sooooo true! I enjoy my job and therefore I’m not concerned about constant time off. I spent a lot of time in my youth finding my path before spending big $$ on college.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[josiahv]

I am an ME, and work for a little aircraft manufacturer in Colorado. One great thing about an engineering degree is that it's versatile. I've worked in R&D, product management, technical sales, quality etc.

If you generally like to work, you can find a job you like with an engineering degree.

 

[FruitSnackEnthusiat]

I am an Electrical Engineer, and I would say to not overlook that. If he is interested in working in the power industry, there are utilities all over the west. They can be harder to get into, but if you get into them they have great time off, good pay (electricals usually make more then civils or mechanicals), and a good work life balance. I work for a company that makes electronic devices for the industry and got a job in idaho straight out of college from michigan.

 

[WiscoHoundsman]

Civil engineer in WI so can’t speak to the states mentioned but here’s my thoughts:

1. There is a shortage of civil engineers. Approximately 20k graduate each year and we need about 25-30k to replace retiring engineers. Job availability should be good in general.

2. Pay is decent but inflation eats into it. I started base pay at 55k 10 years ago and am up to 102k now bonuses and extra time worked help that number go up.

3. Time off is good should start with 2-3 weeks depending on the job along with some sick time and holidays.

4. Quality of life is decent. I wouldn’t expect to get rich quick but over a lifetime of saving and investing he should do alright. Work life balance is good. As mentioned previously deadlines can cause some weekend/long days.

5. growth is there with the ability to move into management positions. May require some job hopping if you want to move a little quicker.

 

[WDO]

1. Job availability is there, pending experience and what you'll take for pay
2. Pay is typically decent, but on the lower end for Civil. I can't speak for Mechanical
3. Time off depends on the work, but CE is typically heavy in the summer, lighter/office work in winter (which in turn means heavy during hunting season when jobs are wrapping up for the winter)
4. See pay. Not bad, but middle of the road. Maybe even considered low in desirable areas
5. Growth opportunity depends on the area. In general, and growth will require travel unless the work is niche.

CE in Wyoming.
I've worked in SC, NC, VA, and WY.
Civil can be a decent living, but there are caveats. Everywhere, especially in the West, the seasons strongly dictate work/life balance and time off.
As stated above, I would advise against a construction management degree, because it kind of pushes one in the corner of construction work and management. Which is fine, its good money and interesting, but if you decide you want to change 5 years in a career, it is no better than a business degree.
Also as stated, push him to get a PE, its always good to fall back on, and the bang for your buck on potential opportunities versus not having it far outweighs the study hours to pass the examine.

If I'm honest, I would actually advise to work in a larger city to gain experience and more money up front. After 4 years when he has his PE or atleast enough experience to be valuable, then transition into a more laid back job with time off.

 

[Hydra6]

I'm a site civil PE in Boise.

1. The firm I work for and most others locally and nationally are hiring heavily. It has been this way for about 10 years.

2. I crossed the 6 figure threshold 7 years after graduation. This required jumping ship a few times. The firm I work for pays better than most and starts new grads at about $75k currently. However, this is largely due to inflation and a very competitive hiring market. About 5 years ago, most firms were starting at about $55k.

3. This has never been an issue for me. I currently have unlimited PTO. However, I had to work up to this. The normal accrual rate at most firms for entry level staff is 15 days/yr.

4. It's pretty good, but there are at least a handful of occasions where working through the weekend and/or late into the night is required to meet a deadline, but this is certainly not the norm.

5. Engineering work pays decently, but managing and selling engineering work pays far better. Once an engineer is 4 years in, he should take the PE exam, become licensed, and begin serving as EOR on a few projects, at which time he should also be supervising and mentoring entry level engineers. If you are content with leading a design team, you can certainly make a career doing that. If you enjoy and accel at management and business development, the opportunities for growth are very high. Marketing people are incapable of selling engineering work on their own. They need engineers. However, engineers are quite capable of doing their own marketing.

6. Don't let him settle for a CEM (Construction Engineering Management) or industrial engineering degree. They are not engineering degrees. They are glorified project management training. Yes, the courses are easier, but with a civil degree, you can get any job that a CEM or IE grad can. The opposite cannot be done.

7. I'm not alum, but if I were to do it again, I would go to school at U of I Moscow. They have a great program in an awesome location.

Sent from my SM-G981V using Tapatalk

Great thread until you bashed the Imaginary Engineers. I am a Georgia Tech Industrial Engineer. I did very well supervising all the smarter "real" engineers over my 30+ year career and - yes - managing engineers is more lucrative than "just" being and individual contributor. Sales Engineers probably are the most lucrative roles but I am too honest.