I graduated in December 2006 with a BS in civil engineering and have been working in land development and transportation ever since. Unfortunately this field has been hit pretty hard in the last few years and I've gone through a series of layoffs from companies struggling to get enough work to keep them going. I have letters of recommendation from several of them that confirm that. I am unemployed again and am looking to get into another line of work that might be a little more secure. With my education and work experience what do you guys think my best options might be?

I am primarily looking for work in the Dallas area or perhaps east Texas. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Oil and Gas in Houston.

Look at all the EPIC, equipment manufacturing, and drilling companies in Houston. You could find work as a project engineer, design engineer, geotechnical engineer (if you've done land development), or field engineer.

If you want work, look there.

[This message has been edited by nick_t (edited 8/17/2011 9:27a).]

Yeah oil and gas is what I've been told by others too. I've sent out some applications for that so hopefully it will pan out.

Are you a PE yet? Have you started the process. I would finish that.

If you move to O&G, you will probably not need/get your PE. That is not a big deal but would limit you from getting back into general Civil when/if that market falls or from getting it in the future.

There is a lot of O&G in east Texas but you probably need some experience in H-town first.

Also, O&G is a pretty conservative group.
FYI

Good luck.

might want to look into municipalities. Much steadier work there

http://tml.associationcareernetwork.com/JobSeeker/Jobs.aspx?abbr=TML

Ive been thinking about the same thing, just have a lot more experience. But with the pittance I'm being paid right now I should be able to do it.

City jobs are pretty hard to come by these days, too. And from what I've heard the market for civil engineers is actually getting worse, not better. Unfortunate for all of us civils.

And I need about 4 more months of experience before I can get my PE.

Thanks for all of the suggestions!

The military is always an option.

Not a joke.

An EPC firm in oil and gas is still going to be a consulting firm with the same pressures of getting work. I dont kmow if that is what you are trying to get away from. Is tx dot even thinking about hiring because that could be an option. What about any of the toll authorities. I think that would be a nice gig because they have steady revenue coming in. There is a number of operators in Dallas that may be looking. You could probably get onto the pipeline or facility side with them. Also depending what you want to do, you may be able to go into some type of sales that requires a technical degree. Just a few options, sorry if they are vague.

I work in Oil & Gas and "not having a PE" is a myth.

90% of the people that are civ/str have it. You need to get it or you will end up in a dead end job or not get it at all.

If you work in an engineering office you have to seal drawings with a stamp. Don't you want to be in that position one day? I think "that guy" is doing a little bit better than everyone else. The PE is not that hard to attain. Never understood why so many people are lazy and do everything in their power to justify it as not necessary.

[This message has been edited by C5Aggie03 (edited 8/18/2011 9:01a).]

http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=1880659&forum_id=18

Not needing a PE is true to some extent. If you work for an oil company like exxon for example and design structures to go inside an exxon plant they do not have to be sealed. Now if you work for a consultant like mustang for insance, that same structure inside exxon's plant would have to be sealed. I don't really understand the difference but that's the way the rule was explained to me. All that being said, If you went to school and got an engineerig degree I can understand why you wouldn't get your PE whether they "needed" it or not. And that's not directed at the op or any one else.

And C5 I sent you an email.

Might want to submit your resume to a staffing company. Make sure your resume is posted on Rigzone, Monster, Career Builder, etc.

A double post seperated by 15 minutes. Wow

[This message has been edited by 07&09ag (edited 8/18/2011 7:49p).]

Not to be a kill joy, but if your looking for stability I wouldn't go the Oil and Gas direction.

FWIW

Gig Em