change of career for a civil engineer, anyone done this?

[burnda]

posting for my daughter with her permission as she doesn’t have an account and feels “weird” posting here as she’s not a Mum. 🤣
She’s looking at possibly moving careers from her job in civil engineering (geotech) to another role which could use her skill set. Has anyone here done that? She graduated two years ago from Imperial with a First (MEng) and has extremely strong Mathematical ability.

She’s thought about finance/accounts etc, but not sure about the best way to make a career move and which of her skills are transferable. She’s also interested in a possible job switch to another role, as she’s wondering if it’s the company culture (workaholic, overloaded with work) that’s the issue rather than the position.
Have any engineers here switched role/company/career?
Are there specialist agencies who can help, she’s tried the usual suspects?
Asking here as I suggested, have had amazing help in the past which worked, so thought I’d have another go!

and she’s about ready to get a bar job as she’s so sick of it.

Renewable energy.

oooh yes, that’s a good one. She’s spoken about that before. I need to remind her again!

Yes - project management - she could get some qualifications off her own back quite easily which would help. I never did become a chartered engineer. Did it for 3 years and decided it wasn't for me. Easier to move sideways into project management if it's and engineering adjacent type of company.

Also tell her to sign up to alerts at civil service jobs too - lots of government roles need her skills though the posts are in high demand.

hadn't thought of civil service. I’ll speak to her about that too, thank you.

What doesn't she like? I absolutely loved Civil Engineering, site work, design office work, never a dull day (well maybe a few!). Eventually I was in research and development, still a lot of site work often abroad, such wonderful broad career options. Also was in geotechnics for a while.

What doesn’t she like about her current role? It’s difficult to make suggestions without understanding that first

Anything sustainabilty or social value related is a prized role in construction at the moment. Or innovation/AI roles,.

Many moons ago, I moved from engineering to project management in the same organisation as @Larksatdawn suggested. But I liked the organisation I worked for at the time.

She can still use the careers service at Imperial if that would help. I’m fairly sure it’s a life long service and not just for current students. They might be able to help her work through whether it’s the company or the actual role that she’s struggling with.

what doesn’t she like: site work, office politics and cliques, massive workloads which assume you’re going to work 12 hours a day. Maybe it’s an employer rather than sector issue.

🤣🤣🤣 hilarious troll

Sure 🙄 sorry it wasn't aligned with your beliefs lol

🙄

If you want to direct message me, I could get her cv to the right person at an engineering company (happy to give more details on dm). They have a different ethos to what you described so possibly a change of company would be a good first step before changing industry.

I will; thank you so much!

OP, I would take up this offer.

I thimk its def worth looking at other companies before a complete career change, I'm in a different engineering profession but work aside civils and company culture can be so so different.

I figured out how to dm (never done it before) so I’ve sent you a message.

I did love the site work and yes at times (when I was working for a small company) I was working days and 'on call' nights, fielding site problems. Never had any internal politics I think we were too busy for that nonsense, it must be the individual company. Externally contracts and quotes, etc, could be a nightmare, but we were always a team. I guess I just enjoyed the day to day challenge. It definitely wasn't a 9-5 job though.

Looking for well paid 9-5 one of our graduates was headed off to be an actuary, which they thought would be ideal, assuming good maths.

Lots and lots of different companies, is she working for a private or public client? Some companies are still in the dark ages, but so many more are progressive. Get her to join women in rail, women in construction, etc., there is a huge network of female civil engineers out there. I’ve only met one woman in construction I didn’t get on with (and honestly nobody did - male or female), the rest have been supportive, informative, passionate, and so welcoming. When you get the right company and right fit, it’s such a great place to work.

If she not enjoying being worked to the bone I wouldn’t recommend finance. It’s much worse than engineering (I’ve done both!).

Has she thought about GIS? Some days on site, some at home. There is such a need at the moment. Workload isn’t too bad, lots of opportunities to progress.

are we allowed to say “what a bitch” on here? If so then you get 10/10 for deserving such a comment.

Odd, I'd have said that someone with a first M Eng from IC was generally very bright.

Accounting? Maybe a training role in a big accounting company, big 4 maybe?

Nuclear is another sector worth considering.

https://destinationnuclearcareersportal.co.uk/

DH has a first class honours degree in Civil Engineering. He has since done an MBA and studied contract law. He now advises on financing civil engineering projects and writes contracts & bids for PFI/PPP projects. Like your DD, he is very good at maths. He’s hoping to retire soon, so that should leave a gap in the market .