I'm a PE with around 7 years of experience at a large firm. I recently referred a friend for a job on my current team because they were looking to grow the team. They told me what my company offered and it's around 10k more than I've been making. We have exactly the same background, except I have a bit more experience and my PE. I know this is a common thing that happens, but I've never had such a clear comparison point. Has anyone successfully negotiated this sort of pay gap, or is leaving the job my only option?

I landed my first role as a civil designer working remotely and wow, I honestly understand why the US engineers are well respected in the world of engineering generally. The detail that goes into a single construction is not something that is done on 1/10th the scale in my home country. Having to read SWM BMPs, ESC guidelines, utility (Stormwater and sewer) designs. The system where you submit your design to the government and they actually go through it in detail to catch any mistakes, impressive.

This is just an appreciation post, I feel really fulfilled when I know my designs matter like this and it makes me want to better myself.

I was the RE on a decently sized state and federally funded project in CA following the LAPM.  It wasn’t an overly technical project, roadway and intersection work.  Everyone looked at me like I was the person in charge because I had my “CA PE”, but I eventually felt like the position didn’t really hold any authority; it was a weird duality where I was supposed to be impartially administering a contract, but in reality I was mainly just an advocate for the municipality.  A defense attorney doesn’t hold authority over a prosecutor, and I didn’t have authority over the contractor.  The judge/ jury was the looming arbitration process everyone knows most projects will end up in.

I found the requirement from the agency that I have a CA PE to be a waste quite honestly.  I spent years in engineering school, got the required engineering experience, passed a difficult series of engineering tests, and almost none of it applied to the role.  The most important part of the role was advocacy, standing my ground in amorphous arguments, engaging in emotionally charged exchanges as an active participant.  RFIs and submittals mainly went to the EORs for each discipline anyways, sure it helped I kinda knew that they contained, but majority of it wasn’t overly complicated.  My other main tasks were reviewing quantities, prep pay documents, and research the specifications - the vast majority of the role wasn’t engineering.  I would argue engineering school actually hindered me in this position.  I eventually had to learn how to give myself permission to drop the engineering hat and allow myself to argue effectively.

With millions of dollars on the line the contractor would stack a team of professional advocates, guys that specialized in arguing since day one, none of them were licensed and they rarely went to engineering school.  All while the city was tied to a team of a bunch of engineers that honestly weren’t great at arguing and had to always think about any possible risks to their own license.

For my career it was great that it was a requirement because it meant I was selected and put into an awesome learning environment for a decent paycheck, but most projects would probably perform better if non-PEs were selected.  I’ve seen projects rip through multiple REs because requiring a PE often screens for the wrong set of skills.

Maybe these skills could have a larger part of the undergrad and PE path.  Really lean into the fact that most people that make it far in this industry are often not the great engineers, they’re great at advocating for their clients best interests.

I’m a City Engineer. I left my old job to get a raise of $20k, and I landed in Hell. My boss is abusive, no one likes her, my blood pressure is through the roof.

Regardless, I found a spot at a smaller City nearby and was pumped to reach out to them. I had my interview, silence for a month, second interview, and conditional offer. Alongside a start date.

Well I was working through the process, and had requested that I’d like a final offer before I give my 2 weeks. Next thing I know I get an email about issues with employment verification. Now I’m so shaken.

I had so much high hopes about Freedom from this Hell. The yelling, the abuse, the lying, the changing goals, etc…

Ok so we have an issue at work that we have a few months to figure out, sorry I couldn't really think of a good title but I'll spell out what we have going on.

Our worksite has an 8in water line feeding two large buildings and a lot of smaller systems (sprinklers, spigots, etc). One of the mixing systems between the buildings uses a 6in line off the 8in main to fill a tank periodically. The flow is 1200 GPM which is pretty good for filling the tank with 4k gallons every time mixing occurs as it can be time sensitive. The entire system is run with air actuated valves and is all done electronically, most likely with PLC. The 6in line comes off the 8in, though a valve underground, up a standpipe, to a 6in double check, makes some turns to another backflow, to the valve, then into the tank.

The issue that came up is the pressure spike when the valve closes. I believe we have the valve set to close in an 8-10 second time span (this is a ball valve). It's important that the tank is filled to a specific amount ~100 gallons from what's selected.

The whole site has an RPZ right after our vault that keeps failing because of such high pressure spikes as the flow stops. Our municipal water company has also stated they're getting large pressure spikes over a half mile away.

I will be bringing up ideas this month for potential fixes while the system is offline. I'm pretty much a third party in the middle of my contractor that runs the mix plant and the utilities. The water company says they're not set up for that much flow, and the contractor says we get the water so we can use the water how we want. Options I've come up with are a two step valve since it's all programmed anyways, necking down some gates on the check valve, or having a pressure relief valve on the RPZ go to a drain so we just waste water every time the valve closes.

And if you're reading this going "wait.... I know where this is..." Sorry man, I'm working on it.

Even if there is no gaps.

They ask for employers information to verify employment and ask for the reason of leave

The Central Pacific crossed the Sierra at Donner Pass with 14 tunnels to hold a 105 ft per mile maximum grade. Theodore Judah proposed the route but died in 1863, before it was built.

Chinese crews drilled and blasted the 1,659 ft Summit Tunnel through granite over almost three years. They also hand-built the 75 ft stone retaining wall called the China Wall.

In the lidar the old grade is the thin, steady line at lower right, with the road switching back and forth north of it. Southern Pacific abandoned this 6.7 mile section in 1993.

Numbered pins on the picture:
Pin 1: The thin, steady old railroad grade
Pin 2: A hairpin bend of the winding road
Pin 3: A small lake (flat water)

Lidar: USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP), public domain.

Hi everyone! As u can tell by the title I was greeted by a terrible notification this morning, I bombed my physics midterm BADLYYY. I honestly know engineering students say first year is humbling but everyone around me found it so easy and I honestly was brought to tears after that midterm. I genuinely felt pretty confident about some of my answers but the mark I got back was so humbling I don’t even know if theirs any light ahead in the tunnel. How did you guys get past this feeling and do better? After the midterm I just sat with myself and tried to break down what I did wrong and have been looking over these concepts again but I didn’t even know getting a grade like this was possible so it’s so discouraging.

Hey everyone, I know this is CivE sub but I find the community is usually insightful.

I’m currently in a bit of a dilemma and could use some outside perspective. I’m currently in school attempting to get my MSRED, and I have two offers on the table. I’m trying to figure out which one sets me up better for my specific long-term plan.

My Background: I have 2+ years of experience in the construction industry, including full-time roles and internships on both the public and private sides. My background is primarily in construction management and project engineering, and I hold my EIT and LSIT certifications. Undergrad: Civil Engineering with minors in actuarial science and finance

My Ultimate Goal: My plan is to get 3-5 years of solid construction experience, then attend night law school. After that, I want to practice construction law within my dad's law firm. While he currently handles some construction cases, my goal is to help pivot and expand his practice more heavily toward construction and real estate law. Because of this, I need a role that gives me deep, practical, ground-level construction knowledge but also allows me the time and energy to eventually handle night school.

Offer A is a Contract Specialist role in construction contracts with a government authority. It seems like a solid, stable public sector role heavily focused on the administrative and contractual side of construction.

Projects around 50M-1B+ value

Offer B is an Assistant Cost Manager role with a global consulting and construction firm. The role is full-time, exempt, with a set salary The perk here is that, this role is fully remote. Potential travel in maybe around 9 months, i would have graduated my masters by then hopefully.

Projects around 400M+ value

Offer B pays more than Offer A.

My Dilemma: I'm trying to figure out which role better serves my end goal of becoming a construction lawyer. My main worry is that the public sector contract specialist role would be viewed as more favorable for my legal aspirations, given how heavily it aligns with the contractual side of the industry. However, the private sector Assistant Cost Manager role is fully remote, which could be a massive advantage when I start night law school.

For those of you in CRE, development, construction management, or construction law, which of these roles provides a better foundation for someone who wants to practice construction law? Does the cost management skillset translate well enough to law, or should I prioritize the contract specialist role because it is more directly relevant? Given my 5-year plan, which offer would you take?

Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks

My company has basically no policy for it or against it. So I have coworkers still living in the stone ages and other coworkers using it for their entire job. Just curious what does your workplace policy look like? A lot of civil firms collect their own data and have everyone’s projects on their servers so I didn’t know if restrictions are common or not.

Does anyone have a pdf copies of the design standards for the PE Transportation exam? Preferably a more recent copy but I will take anything and any advice you have for a first time test taker for the PE!

Thanks everyone

I have been head hunted by a local developer to come manage consultants and do prelim designs for them. I had coffee with the direct manager and was pretty interested but said it wasn't a good time as I had a lot of life changing going on (second kid coming). A month goes by and they reach out again wanting me to come by the office and see what it's like, no pressure, no interview just a casual conversation. I agreed, and liked what I saw. Met the department head, asked a few questions about the business but was all pretty casual.

All of this happened with me in untucked casual button downs. I'm now doing an official interview, and have no idea what to wear. Last time I wore a suit to an interview I felt wildly over dressed. And most engineering firms are fine with me wearing what I would wear to work. Khakis and casual button downs. But this being a developer has me feeling a little unsure.

I have 12 years of experience and plenty of job changes, but still never know what the hell to do for interviews.

Hi everyone,

I’m a chemical engineering student going into my fourth year, and I’m currently on a process engineering co-op. The pay is good, but honestly I don’t feel like I’m learning much, and it hasn’t been very rewarding.

I’m now looking for my next co-op and applying broadly, mainly to civil/construction roles and chemical engineering ones. I’m leaning toward construction because chem co-op postings are pretty limited and competitive right now.

Civil was my first choice when we picked disciplines after our general first year. I didn’t pass Dynamics the first time and had to retake it in second year, which set back a lot of the civil prerequisites, so I didn’t get in and ended up in chem. I’ve kept an interest in civil ever since, though I have zero regrets taking ChemE.

Is it realistic for a ChemE student to land a civil or construction co-op, and what would make my application stronger?

Hello everyone, my first post here, a huge question that has been bothering me, i wanted to put a strengthshop half rack with barbell and weights on the first floor of the apartment, underneat it theres only garages and its not far off from the ground, the building is from 1994(northern italy), i was planning to put the structure right in front of a load bearing wall, and in the room there would only be a multifunctional machine and another light pulley system and a wardrobe, im terribly anxious about the floor collapsing and me finishing in the garage with the 227.5kg(a little more than 500lbs i think) on my back, im around 110kg(240lbs i think) bodyweight and the rack i belive should be around 150kg(330-40lbs i think) but i could be underestimate it so id rather say 180kg(405 roughly), would i plummet into the garage or it this somewhat safe?

Hello r/civilengineering Community,

Following recent extreme flood events (such as the bridge washout shown in the first image), I want to propose a conceptual modification for bridge resilience against simultaneous hydraulic and aerodynamic forces.

The Problem:

During flash floods, surging water creates massive upward pressure (uplift) and destructive hydrodynamic drag against solid bridge decks, while high-velocity winds post-flood impose severe torsional vibrations.

Proposed Conceptual Solution (Illustrated in the second image):

Lower Segment Disruption (Hydrodynamic Pressure Relief): Introducing a segmented or non-continuous lower boundary profile to break the continuity of solid mass, allowing water and high-velocity currents to pass through and drastically reducing uplift forces.

Upper Wind Vents & Dead-Load Balancing: Integrating lightweight, perforated structural steel plates at the deck level to permit wind energy to pass smoothly during calm/windy phases, paired with precise dead-load calculations to offset any added structural weight.

I would love to hear technical feedback from structural and hydraulic engineers on the feasibility and potential constraints of applying such dynamic pressure-relief geometries in low-to-mid-rise river bridges.

Is the landscape that bad?? Or are brakes in China that bad…

Edit: 15% gradient down to 4%. It was the landscape.

Hi, i graduated with a master’s degree in civil engineering specializing in structural engineering (finite elements etc). However the market was bad and the first job i landed was at a consultant company as a water sprinkler designer, i’ve been working here for 11 months, and the market is bad so there’s no other jobs near me hiring for structural engineering.

Is there a point where it would be too late for me to switch to what i studied? Will it be harder to get a different job because of this year i worked?

I'm making a career change from international development and am back in school for civil. I've been going to career fairs and interviewing for internships, and I've been surprised at how much I hear about passion: people who *love* buildings or what have you, and I get questions in interviews not just about why I picked civil but about how fascinated I am by whatever subdiscipline I'm interviewing for. (I have answers for all of these, but maybe they're not as convincing as I thought). It's definitely more pronounced for structural and transportation office jobs than for geotech or construction jobs. But I'm surprised I see it much at all.

Honestly, part of the appeal to me is that you *don't* have to always have a tab open in the back of your mind working on the deep unsolved problems of your specialty, the way you do if you're doing, like, meta-analyses of poverty alleviation studies or working with political parties in the aftermath of an authoritarian regime. Success is better defined in engineering and competence (I thought) was usually enough - whereas in international development basically anyone *could* do an average job but few people are obsessed enough with the subject matter to move up in the field long term.

Is this normal? Am I just getting a weird run of passionate people? Do you feel like you live and breathe your profession?

I’ll start…

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Basis for COLA: CPI-W (National 12% change- August)

2020: 2.0%
2021: 4.0%
2022: 5.5%
2023: 3.4%
2024: 2.5%
2025: 2.8%
2026: 4.0% (expected)

Average: 3.5%

I speak for all my colleagues that we’ve been shorted since 2020, considering how substantial housing went up in SoCal. Anyways, what is your average for the past few years?

Hi everyone.I applied to AIE and got accepted for a diploma in civil engineering.I applied for the part time online since I am currently working and wish to continue working.I was hoping someone that went there could tell me about Aie regarding the quality of the lessons and if it is worth it .

I’ve noticed this in different areas of Wisconsin and northern Illinois, and probably others. Usually it’s on the edge of a city, if that’s relevant. A four lane road changes to a two lane, and the inside lane is the one that ends.

Why don’t the signs call for the outside lane to end? That appears to be a more natural traffic pattern, and a good number of drivers will ignore the signs and stay in the left lane.

Hi everyone,

I am currently a second year civil and environmental engineering student applying for internships and cadetships. I have progressed to a face to face interview for a Cadetship role and was hoping for advice on what to expect and how to best prepare as it is my first corporate interview.

Thank you :)

I’m a student and would like to get some CAD experience on my resume, I’m not in the courses offered by my school yet that will be next year. What software should I start with to have my resume stand out? I heard Civil 3d and Revit are good options, what about solid works? Is there a standard that most companies will use? I’m open to working on multiple softwares simultaneously thanks everyone!

Land dev main thing is stormwater/hydrology right? I work in a small-mid level firm. There's 10 of us who use a program for hydrology work. The firm has now cut back to only a couple of licenses. We have to trade around a library card to use a program that is essentially the core of every project. There's always 2 people who use it on the daily. So now we have to battle each other to get in. This is the same issue with storm sewer design, only 3 licenses.

They're definitely doing it on purpose to cripple & manipulative us into working more so we can't ask for raises. Bosses then complain we are being too slow or unproductive.

It’s the 2nd floor of my school’s building.