Expert: Jeanette A - 11/20/2008

Question
Hi, I'm a student currently attending high school. I'm doing a project in which I have to focus in on the field of civil engineering. A part of my project is to interview a civil engineer, so it would be a great help if you could answer the following questions:
1. What college did you attend?


2. Did you find you college courses for civil engineering to be difficult?



3. Have you always wanted to be a civil engineer? If not, what other career path did you wish to follow?



4. What got you interested in the field of civil engineering?



5. How many hours a day do you work as a civil engineer?



6. What is your least favorite part of your work as a civil engineer?




7. What is your favorite part of being a civil engineer?




8. Overall, do you enjoy your work?




9. How much do you get paid?   




10. What civil engineering projects have you been a part of?


11. What advice would you give to someone aspiring to become a civil engineer?  

Answer
Hello Christina,

I am currently still studying my Civil Engineering Degree, so I will do my best at answering those questions from both a student perspective and also my past work experience.

1. What college did you attend?
Still currently attending University of Technology Sydney, NSW

2. Did you find you college courses for civil engineering to be difficult?
No reward comes when you do nothing about it. Your goals and accomplishments must be earnt, and just like passing a subject you must earn the right to pass it. In other words, when you study there is minimal difficulties unless however you have not covered your grounds or you do not understand the concepts.


3. Have you always wanted to be a civil engineer? If not, what other career path did you wish to follow?
Initially I wanted to do architecture when I was about 16, and during that year (2000) I did work experience with Lucent Bell Technologies which is a telecommuniation engineering company. This is how I discovered engineering and decided to advance my dream of architecture into something more challenging and satisfying.


4. What got you interested in the field of civil engineering?
Refer to question 3.


5. How many hours a day do you work as a civil engineer?
Working hours for a Civil Engineer are typically 40hrs/week, however, this could vary depending on work load and deadlines that MUST be met for a specific project.


6. What is your least favorite part of your work as a civil engineer?
Working with people who are very reclusive and those who do not co-operate and function as a team. Makes everyones job more difficult.



7. What is your favorite part of being a civil engineer?
Constantly being challenged to think outside the box. Every project has its own challenge and being able to think in a logical and efficient manner to solve the task whilst being restricted to the Engineering Trilogy of Cost, Time and Quality.



8. Overall, do you enjoy your work?
Yes! There is no point wasting time in a profession you do not enjoy. There is a large amount of responsibility which a civil engineer possesses which makes it all worthwhile in the end.



9. How much do you get paid?   
I dont! Still a student. Although, civil engineers in Australia are devalued compared to the rest of the world. It is still looked upon as the most hated job and is not recognised as much. Here is some info I found:

According to Engineers Australia's 2007 Salary and Benefits survey, the average base salary for a graduate civil engineer in 2007, across the private and public secotrs, was $49,842. Civil engineers with between 4-10 years experience earned an average of $78,905.

So basically not enough considering the amount of study and responsibility you have to endure :)



10. What civil engineering projects have you been a part of?
Albury to Wodonga Hume Freeway Project. $524 million freeway is the largest roads infrastructure project ever completed in regional Australia. The new route caters for through traffic and provides local residents with seven interchanges and a second road crossing of the Murray River.
Another is the Southern Hume Alliance. A 32 kilometre highway duplication from Woomargama to Table Top. The Hume Highway duplication will reflect the highways role as the primary movement corridor between NSW and Victoria.

11. What advice would you give to someone aspiring to become a civil engineer?
Sometimes the only way to find out if you enjoy something is by trial and error. The best advice I could give to someone aspiring to become a civil engineer is to explore your options to find the solution which best suits your needs. If you decide to stick with civil engineering first finish your degree and get your chartered license. Another thing is whilst studying you may decide to broaden your horizons and try get an internship early in your degree, this will be an eye opener and gives you an insight to what you will be graduating with. Other than that, enjoy it because that is the only way you will become successful.

Hope that will help. Good luck with your project.

Kind Regards,
Jeanette