What types on positions require travel?

[CivilEngr]

I am a little over a year from graduating and would like to try and find a job where I can travel. I don't necisarily want to be traveling from project to project forever but I think I would enjoy it for awhile. Do positions like these exsist for new graduates or only experienced consultants? My primary interests are geotechnical, construction management, and water resources (in that order). I will have a year of internship experience upon graduation most of which is in construction management.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

In the world of Construction Management, I have learned that you must "go where the work is." So if you want to travel, I would suggest hiring on as a field engineer for a nation-wide sized General Contractor. Some companies that come to mind include Herzog, Balfour Beatty, Kiewit and Kraemer but I know there are dozens more out there. They will assign you to a project and will move you around as necessary. Sometimes you'll be on one project for 5 years, others will be 5 months.

 

[Supe]

Agree with Dex. If you live smart, you can often make money off of your per diem/travel allowances. Just be aware, most field positions are not design roles.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

Just be aware, most field positions are not design roles.

Getting your PE as a field engineer is incredibly difficult. It's part of the reason I left the industry back in 2005 to go to a design firm. I have since returned to the industry after getting my PE...

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

My thought would be to go work for a vendor and be the traveling salesman.

 

[Road Guy]

In the late 90's early 2000's while working for a large design firm, I did a better than average amount of travel.. But it was to places not very interesting, small towns around south Georgia, south Carolina, the kinds where there is one hotel and the doors open straight to the parking lot, not much to do....as a transportation engineer it seems jrarely I went anyplace decent, unless it was savannah, which is still a shit hole, but at least a bigger city...

I haven't travelled in more than 6 years and I do miss it some, it's a nice change of pace, but in the civil industry it's probably just not going to be to "interesting places"

Or at least it wasn't for me....

 

[Flyer_PE]

Nuclear plants are typically located in the middle of nowhere. So far, the worst one I've had to visit is Cooper station in Nebraska. I'm pretty happy limiting my travel to the occasional information gathering visit.

 

[knight1fox3]

Nuclear plants are typically located in the middle of nowhere. So far, the worst one I've had to visit is Cooper station in Nebraska. I'm pretty happy limiting my travel to the occasional information gathering visit.

Have you ever been Exelon-LaSalle? Talk about the middle of no-where. Never been to Cooper but have gone to Ft. Calhoun (when it wasn't flooded). One of the things to remember at a nuke plant, don't ever expect to get anything done quickly. =)

 

[Flyer_PE]

^I've logged substantial time at LaSalle. If you've spent much time there, we likely know a few of the same people.

 

[knight1fox3]

^I've logged substantial time at LaSalle. If you've spent much time there, we likely know a few of the same people.

Very cool! Small world! I've worked at a number of power plants in the mid-west, primarily Exelon (Byron, Braidwood, LaSalle). We handle most, if not all, their customized crane equipment (i.e. polar cranes, spent fuel room cranes, jib cranes, etc.). We've also developed an 8-wheeled vertical cask transport vehicle for each site.

 

[Flyer_PE]

^Send me a PM and we can compare notes.