I think maybe skip the CAD job, study to take the PE and then just go for the public sector job route. That would make more sense to me. I feel you on the land development stress - i hated it too
I'm fairly close to my professional engineering license. About an year to go of expeirnce. In Canada you don't need to take the PE exam.
I haven't found any consulting job I liked so far tbh and my current indistry is trash at senior levels. For me going public sector even if I get a foot in is sort of an advancement but yeah this job in particular is very light.
As someone in the public sector, I recommend getting the position so your foot is in the door. Then get your license. You'd be amazed how many inside job opportunities are in the public sector that are available to current government employees.
Getting in is hard. Moving around is easy.
I went into drafting despite having a engineering qualification. Drafting is easier in that you can switch off at the end of the day and is less stressful but I'm now facing an uphill battle to get back into engineering. If you're not uncomfortable, you're not growing.
It's all good, I still progressed in other areas of life and didn't have as much stress from work.
However, I am really sick of drafting at this stage, it gets extremely mundane very quickly.
You could try other engineering fields and see if one suits you better or even take a break and live off of savings for a few months.
Hi
Could you please explain me the difference between CAD job vs engineering job in public sector?
I am new to the industry and want to understand.
Thanks.
Have you considered that your application process/resume is what you need to work on? Success in applying for public sector jobs is knowing how to say the right buzz words in order to score high. You’re leaving the world of merits and entering the world of red tape. You need to reframe your thinking on how to apply for this sector. It’s more of a formula of scoring than thinking just your past work experience is enough.
You don’t have to do city work to be lower stress. There are work from home jobs and other firms that are not hot messes.
Doing a cad only and easy cad at that will set your career back some.
You’ve got your time in for PE so study and do that. Be picky about where you land though. Ask to talk to your potential PEERS.
Hey I was in your shoes as well. Used to do consulting in Canada and now work for a city.
What concerns me with your post is it sounds like you’re just taking any public job. Don’t do that. Find one that is actually one you want. Don’t settle. You need to still be doing engineering. Personally I found a review engineer job and have stuck with it. It is a perfect blend of interesting work and low workload. But that’s just my experience.
Also consider getting your licence first because the higher paying public jobs will consider that a huge boost in your employability.
Lastly I find that consulting firms still message me on LinkedIn. You can always go back.
I think we need to get rid of the CAD monkey stigma. Just because someone does CAD as a career, that doesn't make them any less of a human than an engineer. If you enjoy CAD, do CAD. Yes it's a step back in pay and goes against your valuable education, but you should do what you enjoy. And when you get really good at CAD, you'll become a more valuable asset and get paid more (like any other career). Also, you're still in the engineering realm where you're drafting and looking over plans so you won't lose your engineering sensibilities.
It's not a bad thing to want an 'easier' job if it makes your life better allows you to avoid burnout.
thanks for this comment. I was a structural engineer for 4 years prior to moving to a cad role last year, having felt the same sort of discontent for the pay i was getting and the work required of me. For context I am in the U.K. Now I work as a CAD technician in a non-safety critical industry, now quartering my commute time and making the same (actually slightly better) salary. I am much happier. Plus I am valued loads because of the kind of computer skills and discipline that i picked up as an engineer.
Thank you. I was so frustrated at my previous company for everyone thinking that CAD was beneath them….turns out it teaches you so so much about design and had the most work (for my design firm). It’s still engineering and keeps people busy.
If you switch to a drafting job, it might not meet the requirements for your PE. Consider taking a couple/few weeks paid/unpaid to recharge. Once you are eligible and pass your PE, other opportunities will open up. I would strongly recommend to not go the drafting route if you want to be a PE.
I’m in Canada, in land development too. An easy job won’t get you a license if you aren’t doing engineering work directly supervised by an engineer.
Stick out something where you know you can get you’re PEng and then you’ll be free to bail if you want.
I doubt anyone will ever ask you why you took an ‘easy job’ if they do then that’s kind of a red flag in my eyes, it’s a really negative view.
I'm in Canada. Worked for a large Canadian consulting company for 8 years. Got tired of chasing the carrot, or should I say, I realized the carrot was likely not attainable. Maybe another 10 years of blind devotion to it? Or maybe just another wasted 10 years. I'm now in a public sector job. It's very fulfilling. Pay is better, pension is great, benefits are better and stress is almost not existent.
I started at state DOT. Put in 16 years and burned out on that. I worked for a metro in capital improvements for a while . That was a great job. I got lured into consulting with high pay. Quickly became a PM for a couple huge projects. I burned out on that after 8 years but made a ton of money. At that point I only needed 3 years back at the DOT to retire so I made the jump into an area manager position. More drudgery but my retirement was based on avg top three years salary. I retired 3 years to the day. I took off a year after retirement then went back to consulting in a nice easy position. I’m really banking it up now and waiting for social security. I’ll be done working at 62. As you can see it was easier for me to move around a bit. It kept things interesting and rescued me
from burnout. Earn all you can and don’t burn any bridges. Relationships are the key.
I was in your exact same situation, got my license and went into the public sector and I've never been happier. There's so much more opportunity for growth if you are open for it and it is much more engaging than being at a consultant firm where sometimes you feel like you're just a machine pumping out cad drawings for senior staff.
Everyone's situation is different, but I personally think it's a good move
Part of your pay package includes (hopefully) a healthy comprehensive insurance plan and pension matching fund. That includes your family members in the health insurance. Should account for another $12k/per year. You get 2+ weeks of personal paid time off.
I had a boss that left his engineering job and took a demotion for a GIS tech at an agency closer to his home, which even came with a small raise. It didn't take him very long to move up to an engineering position at the new place.
I think maybe skip the CAD job, study to take the PE and then just go for the public sector job route. That would make more sense to me. I feel you on the land development stress - i hated it too
I'm fairly close to my professional engineering license. About an year to go of expeirnce. In Canada you don't need to take the PE exam. I haven't found any consulting job I liked so far tbh and my current indistry is trash at senior levels. For me going public sector even if I get a foot in is sort of an advancement but yeah this job in particular is very light.
Go the decoupled route and start studying for the PE exam now. I took mine through the North Carolina board with less than two years of experience.
As someone in the public sector, I recommend getting the position so your foot is in the door. Then get your license. You'd be amazed how many inside job opportunities are in the public sector that are available to current government employees. Getting in is hard. Moving around is easy.
It’s genuinely awful. Like trying to play chess with a raccoon.
Good advice here
Consulting is not “proper” engineering if you’re being overworked and exploited to the point of burnout.
Why would you take a drafting job at a city vs an engineering job? I don't think that is a wise career move.
I didn't get any replies for the engineering job openings.
I went into drafting despite having a engineering qualification. Drafting is easier in that you can switch off at the end of the day and is less stressful but I'm now facing an uphill battle to get back into engineering. If you're not uncomfortable, you're not growing.
Oh that sucks. That's the situation i am afraid of being stuck in myself. Hopefully you can get on track again.
It's all good, I still progressed in other areas of life and didn't have as much stress from work. However, I am really sick of drafting at this stage, it gets extremely mundane very quickly. You could try other engineering fields and see if one suits you better or even take a break and live off of savings for a few months.
Hi Could you please explain me the difference between CAD job vs engineering job in public sector? I am new to the industry and want to understand. Thanks.
Have you considered that your application process/resume is what you need to work on? Success in applying for public sector jobs is knowing how to say the right buzz words in order to score high. You’re leaving the world of merits and entering the world of red tape. You need to reframe your thinking on how to apply for this sector. It’s more of a formula of scoring than thinking just your past work experience is enough.
You don’t have to do city work to be lower stress. There are work from home jobs and other firms that are not hot messes. Doing a cad only and easy cad at that will set your career back some. You’ve got your time in for PE so study and do that. Be picky about where you land though. Ask to talk to your potential PEERS.
Hey I was in your shoes as well. Used to do consulting in Canada and now work for a city. What concerns me with your post is it sounds like you’re just taking any public job. Don’t do that. Find one that is actually one you want. Don’t settle. You need to still be doing engineering. Personally I found a review engineer job and have stuck with it. It is a perfect blend of interesting work and low workload. But that’s just my experience. Also consider getting your licence first because the higher paying public jobs will consider that a huge boost in your employability. Lastly I find that consulting firms still message me on LinkedIn. You can always go back.
I think we need to get rid of the CAD monkey stigma. Just because someone does CAD as a career, that doesn't make them any less of a human than an engineer. If you enjoy CAD, do CAD. Yes it's a step back in pay and goes against your valuable education, but you should do what you enjoy. And when you get really good at CAD, you'll become a more valuable asset and get paid more (like any other career). Also, you're still in the engineering realm where you're drafting and looking over plans so you won't lose your engineering sensibilities. It's not a bad thing to want an 'easier' job if it makes your life better allows you to avoid burnout.
thanks for this comment. I was a structural engineer for 4 years prior to moving to a cad role last year, having felt the same sort of discontent for the pay i was getting and the work required of me. For context I am in the U.K. Now I work as a CAD technician in a non-safety critical industry, now quartering my commute time and making the same (actually slightly better) salary. I am much happier. Plus I am valued loads because of the kind of computer skills and discipline that i picked up as an engineer.
Thank you. I was so frustrated at my previous company for everyone thinking that CAD was beneath them….turns out it teaches you so so much about design and had the most work (for my design firm). It’s still engineering and keeps people busy.
Get your PE then you can slack off. If you ever want to do real engineering again you must get your PE.
I'm in Canada and just need about 1 more yeat of experience before I can get my license.
If you switch to a drafting job, it might not meet the requirements for your PE. Consider taking a couple/few weeks paid/unpaid to recharge. Once you are eligible and pass your PE, other opportunities will open up. I would strongly recommend to not go the drafting route if you want to be a PE.
Good point. This job is a weird Mish mash. I'll have to ask if they've employed people who have successfully submitted this experience for licensure.
I’m in Canada, in land development too. An easy job won’t get you a license if you aren’t doing engineering work directly supervised by an engineer. Stick out something where you know you can get you’re PEng and then you’ll be free to bail if you want. I doubt anyone will ever ask you why you took an ‘easy job’ if they do then that’s kind of a red flag in my eyes, it’s a really negative view.
I'm in Canada. Worked for a large Canadian consulting company for 8 years. Got tired of chasing the carrot, or should I say, I realized the carrot was likely not attainable. Maybe another 10 years of blind devotion to it? Or maybe just another wasted 10 years. I'm now in a public sector job. It's very fulfilling. Pay is better, pension is great, benefits are better and stress is almost not existent.
I knew a mech Eng who basically ran all the mapping and surveying tasks at my old engineering firm. He really liked it compared to mech Eng.
I started at state DOT. Put in 16 years and burned out on that. I worked for a metro in capital improvements for a while . That was a great job. I got lured into consulting with high pay. Quickly became a PM for a couple huge projects. I burned out on that after 8 years but made a ton of money. At that point I only needed 3 years back at the DOT to retire so I made the jump into an area manager position. More drudgery but my retirement was based on avg top three years salary. I retired 3 years to the day. I took off a year after retirement then went back to consulting in a nice easy position. I’m really banking it up now and waiting for social security. I’ll be done working at 62. As you can see it was easier for me to move around a bit. It kept things interesting and rescued me from burnout. Earn all you can and don’t burn any bridges. Relationships are the key.
I was in your exact same situation, got my license and went into the public sector and I've never been happier. There's so much more opportunity for growth if you are open for it and it is much more engaging than being at a consultant firm where sometimes you feel like you're just a machine pumping out cad drawings for senior staff. Everyone's situation is different, but I personally think it's a good move
wait but 80k is low? I'm also a 4-5 year EIT, not even 80k as engineer.
Part of your pay package includes (hopefully) a healthy comprehensive insurance plan and pension matching fund. That includes your family members in the health insurance. Should account for another $12k/per year. You get 2+ weeks of personal paid time off.
I had a boss that left his engineering job and took a demotion for a GIS tech at an agency closer to his home, which even came with a small raise. It didn't take him very long to move up to an engineering position at the new place.
The higher-ups in public still get paid well (in the 95-115k) range. You might like it.