What a civil engineer really does
You design the roads, pipes, and sites people rely on, check the math twice, and then sort out what goes wrong in the field.
FieldScience and engineering
Preparation (O*NET Job Zone)Considerable preparation needed
What the work involves
What fills a typical week for civil engineers, built from O*NET occupation data.
- Running calculations for storm runoff, pipe sizes, grades, and loads
- Reviewing drawings, surveys, and topographic maps and marking up plan sets
- Checking that designs meet city codes, environmental permits, and safety rules
- Estimating quantities and costs for bids and budgets
- Visiting active sites to inspect progress and answer contractor questions
- Writing memos, reports, and many emails and phone calls with clients, contractors, and agencies
What the days are like
What people in the job know
- Mistakes can be dangerous or very expensive, so a large share of the job is checking work, yours and other people's. Consequence of error: 43% extremely serious, 19% very serious (O*NET Work Context)
- It is mostly a desk job. Field visits happen, but most days are spent at a computer. Spend time sitting: 76% more than half the time; Indoors, environmentally controlled: 75% every day (O*NET Work Context)
- Communication fills the day. Email and phone calls with contractors, clients, and agencies are constant. E-mail: 100% every day; Telephone conversations: 90% every day (O*NET Work Context)
- Deadlines are frequent, usually tied to bid dates, permit submittals, and construction schedules. Time pressure: 24% every day, 52% once a week or more (O*NET Work Context)
- Precision is expected on nearly everything you hand in. Importance of being exact or accurate: 52% extremely important, 33% very important (O*NET Work Context)
How people get into it
A bachelor's degree in civil engineering is the standard entry (86% of O*NET respondents say it is required). New graduates usually pass the FE exam and work as an engineer in training under a licensed Professional Engineer for about four years before taking the PE exam and stamping drawings themselves.
The Firstday trial, easy to hard
Three simulated tasks at Ridgeline Civil Partners, a fictional company, with AI coworkers who message you, react to your work and coach with questions. Nobody scores you.
What the trial can't show: The trial does not include drafting in Civil 3D or MicroStation, which takes months to learn, or the physical side of site visits: walking a muddy site in a hard hat, running survey equipment, or watching a concrete pour. It also skips the long review cycles with city and state agencies that can take weeks. You act as an engineer in training because only a licensed PE can seal drawings and approve field changes.
Reading about it is one thing.
Find out how the work feels to you before you spend on a degree, course or job change. Your first trial is free.
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Job details on this page are built from O*NET OnLine, 17-2051.00. This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.