<p>That is usually the case, but not always especially in the case of consultants (design people, not in construction). Fees for designers are typically negotiated after the winning proposal is selected, but then again the fees are pretty low anyway.</p>
<p>I’ll also disagree with you when you use the word “potential.” The potential is there, but it’s just not typical to make boatloads of money in this industry. I’ve heard stories about this one foundations contractor who always drives his Rolls Royce through his excavations all the time like it was just a little toy. But for every one of him, there are probably quite a few that went bankrupt. The risk is huge.</p>
<p>The bright side to all this is that there will never be less of a need for building professionals (I use this phrase to encompass all that are involved, not just civil engineers). There are more and more people on this planet everyday, which means the need for more and better infrastructure is always there. You most likely won’t have to worry about losing your job like those who got caught up in the dot com bust and now the layoffs in the financial fields. Everybody that has had any influence on hiring that I’ve talked to have complained about the lack of engineers, or more precisely, the lack of quality engineers. This is probably one of the safer fields that you can choose.</p>
<p>Civil is probably one of the safer fields. DS had over 50 coop opportunities listed with his university. The other engineering majors had much less. </p>
<p>Ken285, I agree with you about finance. My nephew, a finance major, couldn’t find a paying internship. My niece, a marketing major, also settled for a non-paying internship. It may be difficult for some of these grads to find work after graduation.</p>
<p>I don’t know whether this thread is dead or not, but I was wondering, how much does the payscale increase by (if it actually does) after one becomes a PE and/or passes the SE?</p>
<p>^I’ve never heard about pay raises when one becomes a PE, but it is possibly. However, I do know that some jobs, require a PE to work in certain areas.</p>
<p>You most definitely get a raise when you become a PE if you work for a civil engineering design firm. I guess part of it is due to you getting your license, but most of it probably has to do with the change in your work, and increased responsibilities. Every time you stamp a drawing, it’s your career on the line; don’t work for a company that doesn’t reward you for that.</p>
<p>Our company gives out $1500 bonuses when you first earn your PE license, and during the next promotion cycle, you’re typically bumped up to associate-level, with which comes increased pay, for all the reasons Ken mentioned.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. As a side question, what percentage of EIT’s actually become a PE? Also, is it difficult to pass the exam? Lastly, do firms expect EIT’s to become a PE in X amount of years? Thanks ahead of time.</p>
<p>Tough saying… I haven’t seen any stats on this. I’d say it’s a fairly low percentage, because not all those who get engineering bachelors degrees end up going into industry, and a whole lot of people take (and pass) the FE because it’s what they’re told to do. So, it’d be by choice, and not because it’s oppressively difficult to do so.</p>
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<p>Well… it’s not easy. Several respected colleagues of mine have had to take it a couple of times. It requires a lot of frantic last-minute studying. About three-quarters of the test-takers pass, but if you don’t pass it the first time, things get a little more grim. Of repeat test-takers, only about a quarter to a third pass.</p>
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<p>Kinda depends upon the firm. I know a really well-respected engineer in California who was kind of anti-establishment, and made it a point to never get his PE. (Not recommended, but it worked pretty well for him.) At my current firm, your business card says “engineering services” until you get your PE, and they just flat-out don’t promote you until you pass the exam.</p>
<p>Hmmm, so that must mean that there are quite a few civil engineers who do not end up becoming a PE. That must also mean that there must be a demand for non-PE’s, possibly because firm’s can pay less for them. So, can non-PE’s eventually earn above average salaries after numerous years working? Or did I just misread that post and what you really meant was that everyone in the industry needs to become a PE at some point to earn a decent salary? </p>
<p>Hahaha, sorry for asking so many questions but I recently transferred into the Civil Engineering major from Aerospace Engineering and found out that Civil Engineers like certain MechE have to take the FE and PE. I wanted to goto the job fairs this Fall knowing what I was getting myself into so I could market myself better.</p>
<p>Didn’t intend to imply that; sorry if I did.</p>
<p>Many of my friends from school who also got degrees in civil engineering just flat-out didn’t end up going into engineering. They went into law, or into business, or into something completely different. They all got their EITs, but they’re not doing anything with them.</p>
<p>There are very few people who do well within the civil engineering profession without a license. It’s like training wheels on a bike… There are the few folks who are stubborn enough to never take off the training wheels, but by and large, everyone who learns to ride a bike eventually takes off the training wheels and rides on their own.</p>
<p>The value of earning a PE license is not only higher salary, but also in the ability to become a Partner in the engineering firm. There is a law that says that >50% of the officers in an engineering firm must be licensed Professional Engineers. Therefore, the PE’s will get promoted faster, and will become stakeholders in the company as well.</p>
<p>The full pass/fail stats for PE/EIT’s in California can be found here:</p>
<p>Less than half of the most recent EIT exam takers passed the EIT.</p>
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<p>And for PE’s
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<p>With greater than 50% failure rate for each of these exams, you can bet that California engineering firms will pay more money to those who pass.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot aibarr and UCLA Band Mom for the reply and the great info. I began studying for the FE as soon as I transferred into the undergrad CivE program and so far it seems that most of the material, if studied properly, is pretty straight forward. Again, I really appreciate the great input you provided me with.</p>
Average starting salary for entry level CE is about 20% higher at government. It’ll be higher for the first few years, and according to my experience it flattens around 5th year, whereas if you work at private firms your salary will continue up since you will have more opportunities. However, gov’t jobs are much more stable than private, so there is pros and cons…
The way I see it, at the end of the day we’ll earn more or less the same b/c the CE working for private also gets downsized when economy slows down and they’d have to live off of their savings…</p>
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Too many of us… bump up the requirements to having a MSCE FROM THE U.S. for PE license, and you’ll see CE making more $… Till then, dream on…</p>
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Another reason why CE is paid the least, unlike EE where you start at 85K with MS fresh out of college. The bright side is there’s more opportunities in CE, and it’s considered the more stable field compared to other engineering…</p>
<p>I’m still single and young, so I don’t care much for benefits. The last two years I’ve been working for the gov’t I haven’t been to the doctor even once.</p>
<p>However, the older engineers with families say that the bennies are much better - that if you combine the bennies, vacation and salary at gov’t - it could equal to your salary at private firms…</p>
<p>“However, the older engineers with families say that the bennies are much better - that if you combine the bennies, vacation and salary at gov’t - it could equal to your salary at private firms…”</p>
<p>My brother works for the state government and receives an additional 40% of his salary worth in benefits. My mother worked for the federal government and always spoke highly of the benefits. I don’t really know anyone in the private sector that I could accurately compare that with, though. </p>
<p>I know between pension, 401k contribution matching, insurance packages, and paid vacation to name a few, the federal government benefits in particular really added up to a lot.</p>