Is the job prospect for civil not looking good?

[driedupfish]

I am an undergrad in civil. I've heard the current job prospect for civil engineering isn't looking very good, especially in the structural side. So I am tempting to switch out. I am equally interested in mechanical and civil, however, my gpa wasn't good enough to get into mechanical. So instead I am considering transfer into General Engineering with a secondary field in Automotive Engineering or Robotics. Which one has better job prospect (civil or general engineering)?

General Engineering curriculum in my university consist of the following subfields:

* Automotive Engineering

* Bioengineering

* Business Systems Integration & Consulting

* Civil Engineering Structures

* Communications and Computer Systems

* Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing

* Computer Science

* Construction

* Control Systems

* Engineering Administration

* Engineering Marketing

* Environmental Quality

* Manufacturing Engineering

* Nondestructive Testing & Evaluation

* Operations Research

* Quality Control

* Rehabilitation Engineering

* Robotics

* Theoretical & Applied Mechanics

Like I said, I am equally interested in both of these engineering disciplines, I am looking to compare which one has better job prospect.

Is here another field of engineering that is similar to MechE, that I can look into?

Another question: If I choose to stay in civil, which primary field has better job prospect (structural, geotech, environmental, construction management..etc) ?

By the way, I attend the University of Illinois.

 

[ELEPE]

How about petroleum engineering. Big $$$ and lots of demand.

 

[MGX]

I'd be shocked if U of I offers petroleum engineering. I thought only universities in the South have those programs.

Personally I love manufacturing, but chose civil because I don't think buildings will be outsourced due to our legal system. I've found that I really like construction and stuck with it. I think the best prospects would be to major in civil and get into construction project management ASAP.

However some oil companies will hire mechanical and civil engineers then train them to do petroleum engineering. If you'd like to do that focus as much as you can on mechanics, soils and geology and be sure to take at least chem II.

 

[EM_PS]

I am an undergrad in civil. I've heard the current job prospect for civil engineering isn't looking very good, especially in the structural side. So I am tempting to switch out. I am equally interested in mechanical and civil, however, my gpa wasn't good enough to get into mechanical.

They really have diff gpa requirements for diff engineering disciplines? Or are you referring to specific subjects more germane to mech program?

Which one has better job prospect (civil or general engineering)?General Engineering curriculum in my university consist of the following subfields:

* Automotive Engineering

* Bioengineering

* Business Systems Integration & Consulting

* Civil Engineering Structures

* Communications and Computer Systems

* Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing

* Computer Science

* Construction

* Control Systems

* Engineering Administration

* Engineering Marketing

* Environmental Quality

* Manufacturing Engineering

* Nondestructive Testing & Evaluation

* Operations Research

* Quality Control

* Rehabilitation Engineering

* Robotics

* Theoretical & Applied Mechanics

I would probably say the general engineering angle could lead to more job prospects in present economy. Just be aware however, that once you stray from civil, a 'general' degree is unlikely to allow you to still consider civil opps at all IMO.

 

[driedupfish]

I am an undergrad in civil. I've heard the current job prospect for civil engineering isn't looking very good, especially in the structural side. So I am tempting to switch out. I am equally interested in mechanical and civil, however, my gpa wasn't good enough to get into mechanical.

They really have diff gpa requirements for diff engineering disciplines? Or are you referring to specific subjects more germane to mech program?

I was told I need at least a 3.85 gpa to get into mechanical.

Which one has better job prospect (civil or general engineering)?General Engineering curriculum in my university consist of the following subfields:

* Automotive Engineering

* Bioengineering

* Business Systems Integration & Consulting

* Civil Engineering Structures

* Communications and Computer Systems

* Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing

* Computer Science

* Construction

* Control Systems

* Engineering Administration

* Engineering Marketing

* Environmental Quality

* Manufacturing Engineering

* Nondestructive Testing & Evaluation

* Operations Research

* Quality Control

* Rehabilitation Engineering

* Robotics

* Theoretical & Applied Mechanics

I would probably say the general engineering angle could lead to more job prospects in present economy. Just be aware however, that once you stray from civil, a 'general' degree is unlikely to allow you to still consider civil opps at all IMO.

y'know, general engineering really sounds like a made-up engineering major. I am only interested in it because it offers a broad list of sub-fields that I can look at. Its Automotive Engineering and Robotics secondary field sounds interesting. But I am not sure if the job prospect is any good for this field. I mean, wouldn't you, as a prospective employer, would rather hire a mechanical engineer than someone with a degree in general engineering focus on automotive engineering, because this discipline is so unheard of?

I think with civil I'll have more job opportunities. However, automotive engineering or Robotics seems really interesting. Although I also like civil.

I am currently In civil, I have been approved to transfer to general engineering. It is really down to which one has better job prospect.

 

[wilheldp_PE]

I really mean no offense by this, but if you are interested in automobiles or robotics, you should save some money and go to a trade school/community college. If your end goal is to work on automobile design, you need a mechanical engineering degree and if you would like to work in robotics, you need an electrical engineering degree.

I would say that the job prospects for a General Engineering graduate are slim to none. Civil may not be good right now, but it is probably the least cyclical of the engineering majors. The recession has really hurt mechanical and electrical engineers because they tend to design stuff for large and/or expensive machinery...which is the first stuff to get cut from the budget in an economic downturn.

 

[EM_PS]

I would say that the job prospects for a General Engineering graduate are slim to none.

I don't know about that...most gen eng grads end up in a manufacturing role (non-design) - product engineer, line engineer, qa/qc, packaging engineer, etc - plastics, metal finishing, automotive supply, etc. Its nowhere near the level of a mechie, or electrical, chemical etc, but this guy's just looking at availability of prospects (I think) - and of a certainty, those 'engineer' positions are all over the place, from 10 person plants, to interstate corps. I do think it (gen engineering) would be a bit of a cop out unless grad school is an option.

 

[Supe]

If outsourcing is a big concern, then robotics and automotive are not two fields you really want to consider...

 

[Dleg]

^Agree. I graduated mechanical in 1990 (yep, got the chops to do M.E., unlike you lowly civils. ). Even then it didn't seem like there were all that many opportunities in manufacturing. But there were far more then than there are now.

(By the way I am now civil/enviro - my school talked me out of switching to civil during undergrad. So one lesson of that would be to make sure you get a degree in a field you actually want to work in, and try not to "think" your way into something else that seems more marketable, or, like me, you'll end up with a degree that you wish you didn't have)

I was told I need at least a 3.85 gpa to get into mechanical.

^Yikes! I never would have made it in ME with those requirements...

 

[Santiagj]

3.85 thats freakin crazy talk. I graduated with my B.S.C.E. with a 2.71 gpa, rounded up thank you very much. One lesson I learned is that I'm not good at chemistry. The norm at my university was a high C low B gpa for all engineering majors. Having the low gpa didn't stop me from getting a masters or getting my PE as soon as I could so I wouldn't read into it much.

That seems weird to me though. I guess it is because I was accepted into the engineering curriculum when I first enrolled for undergrad. I never had a gpa target I needed to hit. Once in the engineering program we had to maintain a gpa higher than 2.0 and could not pass an engineering course or pre-requisite unless we had a C or better. I thought that was pretty much standard.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Civil engineering is a lot more portable than mechanical, and there are a lot more jobs out there, in my experience. I was out of work for two years looking for a mechie job within commuting distance after I got laid off in the '01 recession.

 

[MechGuy]

Is the General Engineering program you mention even ABET accredited? I doubt that it is. If it's not, don't even think about switching. Trust me, that's a huge mistake that will haunt you in the future. Take it from a guy who did just what you are talking about and took years to fix with a Master's down the road in order to take the PE exam.

I don't understand this whole 3.85 GPA thing just to get into ME. You shouldn't need a certain GPA to transfer into a major. You simply take the classes required for that major. If you can pass all the classes required, there should be no problem, right? I know lots of MEs who graduated with GPAs much lower than 3.85, myself included.

As others have said, if you are interested in automotive engineering, you might as well get a mechanical engineering degree. Auto engineering classes are usually electives that MEs can take in their junior and senior years.

I think it will be hard to do anything with that General Engineering degree... stick with either Civil or Mechanical and your future job prospects will be better.

Good luck!

 

[ALBin517]

3.85 thats freakin crazy talk. I graduated with my B.S.C.E. with a 2.71 gpa, rounded up thank you very much. One lesson I learned is that I'm not good at chemistry. The norm at my university was a high C low B gpa for all engineering majors. Having the low gpa didn't stop me from getting a masters or getting my PE as soon as I could so I wouldn't read into it much.
That seems weird to me though. I guess it is because I was accepted into the engineering curriculum when I first enrolled for undergrad. I never had a gpa target I needed to hit. Once in the engineering program we had to maintain a gpa higher than 2.0 and could not pass an engineering course or pre-requisite unless we had a C or better. I thought that was pretty much standard.

I always heard: "If you are getting better than a 2.5 in your General Ed then you are not spending enough time on your engineering classes."

 

[EM_PS]

I was told I need at least a 3.85 gpa to get into mechanical.

^Yikes! I never would have made it in ME with those requirements...

i'm guessing that's either urban legend, scholarship based, or honor society based. I highly doubt every mech grad from U of IL graduates magna cum laude...unless they have 5.0 gpa scale or something

 

[driedupfish]

I was told I need at least a 3.85 gpa to get into mechanical.

^Yikes! I never would have made it in ME with those requirements...

i'm guessing that's either urban legend, scholarship based, or honor society based. I highly doubt every mech grad from U of IL graduates magna cum laude...unless they have 5.0 gpa scale or something

Maybe I wasn't being clear, one of my advisor mentioned that one needs at least 3.8 to transfer into mechanical from another major(as an undergrad). I think the reason our mech program is so tough to get into because it's very popular and there aren't many seats left.

 

[benbo]

^^^

I believe what this fellow is saying.

At some schools, certain engineering majors are under such demand that entering Freshman first have to get into the school, then meet additional requirements to get into the major. I think they call these "impacted programs." Berkeley EECS is notorious for this.

I imagine they have similar requirements for those attempting to transfer in from other departments.

OTOH I don't know if they will let you just take classes if you aren't officially admitted to the major.

 

[MechGuy]

You should be able to take any class you sign up for, and I would think that if you can pass the classes listed in the ME program, the university should have no reason to bar you from obtaining that degree. You could take the necessary classes for say a semester or two, and show the ME department heads that you have no problem passing those classes. I would think they would then officially let you in the program to obtain the degree.

If they don't, it sounds like a pretty shitacular school to me.

 

[Dleg]

What would be a worse school, one that limits the number of students in a class, or one that allows as many in who want to join? Freshman physics at my school had 350 people in it, and a professor that could barely speak engrish. That's pretty "shitacular" in my book.

Not that I think there's any reason to require a 3.85 GPA to get into a particular degree (M.E. in particular .... sheesh), but schools have to be selective to some degree, in order to keep their classes manageable and provide a decent learning experience for those who are paying tuition.

 

[MechGuy]

What would be a worse school, one that limits the number of students in a class, or one that allows as many in who want to join? Freshman physics at my school had 350 people in it, and a professor that could barely speak engrish. That's pretty "shitacular" in my book.
Not that I think there's any reason to require a 3.85 GPA to get into a particular degree (M.E. in particular .... sheesh), but schools have to be selective to some degree, in order to keep their classes manageable and provide a decent learning experience for those who are paying tuition.

I agree to an extent that large auditorium classes suck, but I went to a large school and that was common for freshman level classes. It sucked but that was life at a school of 40,000 students.

But even in first and second year engineering classes, I highly doubt you would see as many students taking statics and thermo as you would see in a physics class. And you would see even less after those classes because half of the people who take those initial engineering classes don't pass and are weeded out.

I think that the difficulty of the engineering classes themselves will be enough to keep class size manageable. If you can pass the classes, you should be allowed in the degree program without any magical GPA just to get your foot in the door.

 

[Supe]

It was the same way when I was at Ohio State. While the GPA to get into the program was attainable, Honors students and Athletes got priority scheduling, as do students officially enrolled in that major, and they went down the line based on GPA from there. So the odds of you having a low GPA or not being enrolled in that major and just sitting in on a class that was part of the standard engineering curriculum would have been damn near impossible. 56k students on campus at that time...