A Civil need for core engineering subjects

Civil engineering is one of the very traditional courses. The early Civil engineers are lauded for major canal projects and Indian Railway network. Civil engineers are the practical extension of ideological mind of architects. 

Both in theory and practice, Civil engineers should never go out of jobs as India is always engaged in infrastructure development. Sadly, the employability of Civil engineers stands at a meagre 6.48 per cent. Among the metros, Chennai figures at the lowest with just 1 per cent. Often, the low employability is due to a huge gap in skills of engineering graduates.

Situations are bound to change. The introduction of NEET (National Eligibility Entrance Test) also aims to raise the standard of engineering education in India. There is a need to produce engineers with cutting edge methods and knowledge-driven with implementation capacity. Take, for example, the Make in India Initiative that has set a goal of generating 100 million jobs by 2022. If there is a low employability among engineers that would impede the growth. 

For Civil engineers, jobs in construction and building engineering are generally thought of. But there are other job options like building control surveyor, consulting, contracting, site engineer, structural engineer, water engineer, etc., There is a wide range of sectors like constructions of buildings and bridges, transport systems of airports, roads, tunnels, canals transport and communication infrastructure and distribution of electricity, gas and water. Explore opportunities in the public sector as a Junior Engineer, Assistant Engineer, Project Assistant/ and Executive Management Trainee, with local authorities and government departments. 

The higher study options in engineering like a Masters in Building Science and Technology, Hydraulics, Structural, Geotechnical and Civil, Transportation, Construction Technology, Offshore Structures, Traffic and Transportation Planning, Sustainable Water Management, Road Management, Geo-environmental, Drilling and Well Engineering, Sustainable Waste Management and so on, can prepare for a specific field. 

Pay particular attention to your resume when jobs are tough to get. This demands a great deal from the individual. Only additional skills can make one’s resume more attractive. Learn AutoCAD, Staad Pro, Revit/ ETABS. Enhance your knowledge through journals and You Tube videos on the subject. Participate in paper presentations and workshops, try an innovative project for your final year project, go for an internship with some good companies and describe precisely what you have learnt, and get associated with Institution of Engineers and other forums. Start your career with small companies so that you can gain experience to impress most of the major companies that demand certain years of experience. 

It is also an attractive option to do a Management course after Civil engineering. It offers top jobs in the construction companies. There are MBA programmes in Real Estate and Urban Infrastructure, Construction Management, Economics & Quantity Surveying, Infrastructure Management, etc., 

Try to get into a job immediately even if it is not directly your specialisation, say interior designing for example. It will help you to stabilise and target the jobs that you wish to settle in. It will help you to achieve professional standards that is different from the rest.