Scope and Opportunities in Civil Engineering

Civil engineering is about the design and planning, construction, supervision quality control and maintenance of physical structure such as building roads, bridges and dams, canals, airports, sea ports and power plants. Specializations in Civil engineering include structure, transportation, geo-technical and geo-environment and water resources engineering. Today in the world, at large and in any sectors such as infrastructure, services and tourism, the basics have to be provided by the civil engineers. There is tremendous scope for those who is planning to establish career in this field. The undergraduate students in this field can employ themselves in government development arms which provide huge opportunities for civil engineering undergraduates with good starting salary.

Clockwork:
A day in the life of civil engineers-

9 AM- Reach office and work on the designs and projects on the computer using AutoCAD, STAAD and other tools for civil works.

10 AM- Examine the draughtsman's drawings, based on the engineer's design of columns for an upcoming project. Make changes, finalize it and send it to the site.

11 AM- Look at the diary for the projects in work. Shoot off mails to the electrical and mechanical department for inputs.

12.30 PM- Go through inputs received from various departments for other projects. If any clarification requires, shoot an email back.

2 PM- Go through emails and correspondence from customers asking for clarifications and commenting on drawings.

5 PM- Summarize the entire work and prepare a report and check whether any follows up is required or not.

The schedule of a site manager would be different, involving supervision and people and material management.

The Payoffs:
In general, a fresher gets Rs.20,000 to Rs.30,000 a month. Someone with work experience of 10-15 years, can earn from Rs.75,000 to Rs.1 lakh per month. In government jobs, the CPWD director general earns Rs.80,000 per month.

Skills/Traits:

• Spatial thinking- ability to visualize a design.
• Quantitative skills.
• Quick design making skills.
• People orientation and have high physical stamina and patience.

Getting there:
Take up science with maths in 10+2. After that, you may go for BE/B.tech in civil engineering from prestigious institutes in the world or in India.

Institutes:

• Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)- Most of the IITs have civil engineering course. One has to check their respective site before opting for IIT of their choice.
• Institute of Technology, Varanasi, UP.
• Delhi Technological University, New Delhi
• Birla Institute of Technology (BITS), Pilani.

Pros and Cons:

• You might to get work on prestigious and big projects.
• Good compensation and high development of skills.
• You won't be recognized outside of your domain.
• You will be hauled, if structure or design encounters any fault or problem.
• Hectic work schedule. Lots of concentration and devoted time is required in big projects.