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Careers

Between 2006 and 2009, 0.3% of employed doctoral graduates or 50 doctoral graduates in total are known to have been working as civil engineering six months after graduation.

This is a specialist area and most entrants hold a doctorate in civil engineering.

Job description

Civil engineers are classified in the ‘other common doctoral occupations' cluster of doctoral employment, although a small number carry out roles in HE research.

Civil engineers turn the plans of consulting engineers (designers) into reality. They oversee construction on the ground and work in conjunction with consulting engineers. All civil engineers need a good understanding of design and construction processes as well as health and safety issues. Once plans have been drawn up and approved by the client, an engineering contractor uses their professional expertise to organise human and material resources on site, and ensure the project runs to time and budget and is safe to work on. Occasionally, contractors will put together a design and build a team themselves. This blurs some of the boundaries between the services they offer and those traditionally provided by consultants.

Typical work activities

Civil engineers ensure that all aspects of the construction project under their responsibility - from ground works and foundations to final finishes, are completed within cost and time constraints and to client specification.

Typical activities are likely to include:

  • Liaising and working jointly with the design team (consulting engineers) to implement refinements, negotiating modifications with architects and consulting engineers
  • Dealing skillfully with a diverse range of people including clients, architects, other engineering professionals, sub-contractors and members of the public
  • Providing appropriate plans and supervising construction, making judgments and solving problems
  • Ensuring quality of workmanship
  • Taking responsibility for health and safety on site
  • Dealing with the logistics of supplies
  • Liaising with and directing the work of sub-contractors employed on the project.

Civil engineering can be a physically demanding job, and often requires working outside in all weather, long hours and long stays on site and away from home. There are often opportunities to work internationally.

Entry requirements

In order to achieve chartered membership of the ICE (Institute for Civil Engineers) the first stage is to satisfy the requirements of the educational base. This means following a relevant first degree with a postgraduate degree or a suitable employer-led learning programme. The second stage involves undertaking initial professional development, preferably through an ICE-approved training scheme. The final stage is to meet the requirements of the professional review.

Candidates also need to show evidence of the following:

  • Technical competence
  • Numeracy skills
  • Strong communication and teamworking skills
  • A creative approach to problem-solving
  • A flexible approach.

Employers select candidates because of the experience and skills they can bring to a role. However, it is important to be aware that gaining the relevant experience and skills and becoming professionally chartered takes a significant length of time.

Salary

  • The average income of Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) members is £37,700 for technicians, £52,700 for members and £81,400 for fellows (ICE salary survey 06-07)
  • Many jobs, particularly with site-based work, will have extra benefits which will push up the value of the job package. This could include a bonus, a company car or car allowance, life insurance, overtime pay and medical care.

Sector and disciplinary information

Sector information

Doctoral graduates from 2006-9 working in these occupations were known to be employed in the following profiled sectors six months after graduation:

Career stories

Kieran Dineen studied for a PhD in Soil Mechanics in the Department of Civil Engineering at Imperial College, London. After setting up a spin-out company he sold his shares and became a product manager at Thomas Telford Training, the knowledge arm of the Institution of Civil Engineers

"I became involved in a research project with real value to industry - to develop instrumentation to investigate the stability of the earth embankments that the London Underground trains run on above ground."

Other relevant career profiles:

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