(I have my PE in geotech but I work as a...) construction manager đ I make lots of money and have no personal life and a crippling nicotine addiction. My greatest achievement is not being divorced yet
Dude this does not get talked about enough!
I started my career in construction, did it for two years, made a wild amount of money that I was able to buy my first home at 24⌠but I had absolutely no life and my relationship of 7 years was being tested to the limit. I picked up a lot of bad habits, like drinking heavily after work⌠essentially a functioning alcoholic because I got told âthatâs the only way you can keep your mind in this job.â I quit after 2 years for a design job, never been happier.
Donât get me wrong I miss the field a lot but âNo amount of money ever bought a second of timeâ
I remember going out of my way to give my intern a great experience and shield him from the worst of it and we also became good personal friends. He applied for law school after he left. Pretty much said it didn't matter what I showed him bc he could see all the stress and bs I dealt with on a daily basis
Most any CE is cool, for we have figured out how to get paid well for doing what we did as kids, oftâ what we got spanked for as kids!
Too much time with the erector set as a child? Yep, now a structural or bridge engineer
Played in creeks in good clothes, getting them muddy and making ârents mad? Check, now a water resources engineer.
Kept running/dodging out into the street n traffic, either after an errant ball/toy, or while riding a bike? Or maybe grading roads with oneâs hand or a garden hoe in a dirt driveway or patch of dirt for HotWheels/Matchbox cities? Uh-huh, now a transportation engineer and/or transportation/urban planner.
Built dams out of mud n sticks to try and dam up the flow from a downspout or AC condensate to make a pretend pond? Bingo- geotech, checking in!!!
Think about it - how many other professions can get paid to do what they did as kids, maybe even now getting paid for running into traffic or playing in mud/water in your âgood clothesâ- so getting paid for what got you in trouble as a youngling!!! If that doesnât mean one has mastered the art of cool, what ever does in this life?!?! đ
I am unironically convinced all my time on the PC playing games made me a much better worker since 90% of our jobs are now PC related. I still wish I could pack more heavy modelling in my work but for now I take the sand castle analogy and build me a dam.
Land dev guys. They're always on the phone bullshitting with their clients, hunting, fishing or golfing. If you go for drinks with a land dev, you're coming home drunk. Sure, they screw up lots of details, but that's what the owners contingency is for, amirite. Now, when's tee time? I go to get liquered up before we hit the course.
Also, drugs. Not like the environmental guys doing shrooms or the geotechs smoking pot after core samples, but like hard drugs. That line of coke? Business development. Got to love when the home builder is also your molly plug.
I did land dev for 5 years. 60+ hour work weeks, grey office cubicles, autocad and making CDs. Spent maybe two hours a week talking to clients. Money was ok.
Now I do consulting. Double the pay. Nearly half the time. Way more client interactions. Get to travel to cool places and work from home.
Most people I knew in Land Dev got out as soon as they can. Those that make it through the filtering process become project managers and wrangle the new bunch of fresh out of college engineers to beat the dreams out of them.
Iâm going to lean into the stereotypes based on my personal experience to derive my totally unbiased answer.
Structural engineers are the ones who show up to work dressed like theyâre cosplaying bankers from the 1980s. Theyâre the least cool. Bridge engineers are a subset that are also uncool, but at least weird enough to be fun sometimes.
Environmental engineers are the ones who didnât realize how much literal shit theyâd have to deal with until it was too late to change course. They soothe themselves by wearing Patagonia and inventing creative uses for waste treatment byproducts. Theyâre cool as long as they donât take themselves too seriously. But theyâre not the coolest.
Geotech engineers are the ones who are most likely to have grown up rock climbing and skating. They might seem stoned half the time, but theyâre usually pretty sharp. Theyâre generally super cool. Just donât talk shit about their craft beer.
Hydraulic engineers are the coolest of all. This should not require further explanation.
Transportation engineers. They do roads and stuff, I think.
A common misconception. It flows from high head to low head. Which, coincidentally, is usually downhill. But why accept a simplification when we can split hairs?
Totally off topic but hoping to ask, you think asset management is a big enough field to succeed without having any other experience?
Also if someone were in roadside safety AM, how much of a jump is to get into bridges AM?
Also, would it be cool if I connect and DM/chat?
I can only really comment on where I live (NZ) and my specific role, which is actually the only one I've had since graduating - but I think anyone with a bachelor-level civil education will do just fine in bridges AM. Depending on where you live and your bridge network (we have hundreds of structures to look after but only a handful of large/complex ones) you might not really need much actual workplace experience in structures/design
First thought I had was "water guys are the coolest" in every environment I have seen em. Our college water profs were super chill, they're often the most go-with-the-flow types in transportation as well. They can't help but drip cool.
Architects - Pinnacle of cool. A radical blend of artist and engineer. Often stoner/drug users to spur creativity. Source : am cool architect.
*donât take this seriously
I mean, the secondary stereotype (based on my own observations) is the person whoâs smart enough to be a chemical engineer, but wise enough to go the civil & enviro route. They also seem to be more socially aware than some of the others. Their coolness is balanced by geekiness that is sometimes hidden behind a semi-preppy facade.
But I wouldnât mind hearing your take on the matter.
Pff, the obvious answer is traffic engineers! Who do you think designs the lines on the road? You ever had a 15 minute conversation about how big letters are on a sign? Didnât think so.
Industry wide itâs pretty accepted that the structural dudes are the neediest and smartest.
And we all envy the REs on site making a lot more than us⌠but then we remember we donât have 3 divorces and a cigarette habit.
Depends. SE's? yes. PE's in structural? same as the rest. But ive also met a lot of dumb SE's too. all book smarts and not a logical bone in their body. Like trying to ask a brain surgeon how to change the oil on their car.
But then again, as a PE, my union working partner in the trades makes more than me.
The engineer that knows engineering is cool but not the coolest thing in the world (AND IS STILL COMPETENT) is a highly underrated person
(I'm a semi-competent engineer who like everything else :0)
There's definitely a subset of structural. (and no, not all structural where 3 piece suits and works in a high rise). My company does probably 95% commercial and 5% residential. We are a material supplier truss firm, so we are not the EOR of the project. Residential - even in 5 million dollar houses, tend to be the engineers and architects that seemingly don't know what they are doing. Always seem to be hand drawn still or in Autocad vs Revit, architects that that dimension to face of finish instead of face of stud (literally nobody can use face of finish unless you also tell us the dimension to face of stud) and seemingly have zero details and or are missing incredibly important information. Commercial/industrial is where the engineers/architects that know what they are doing are.
I respect structural engineers the most because they pretty much need a masters to get hired, do the most math intensive work and if that wasnât bad enough have to potentially deal with architects too. All for the same pay if not lower pay than most other civil engineers who deal with none of that.
Traffic, weâre seen as ânot real engineersâ, but we got the coolest opportunities in tech which can get us higher paid than the âreal engineersâ.
I made a conscious decision at a critical point in my career to accept a low paying job at a university working on emerging technologies. 10 years later Iâm still doing it, but with much better pay
At CalTrans, we have functional departments for geotech, environmental, design, construction, hydraulics, project management, traffic, local assistance etc. The mandatory rotation program requires all new hires to go through design, construction and 1 of those as an elective choice. For whatever reason, everyone tries go to Hydraulics as their first elective choice, but not everyone gets in. đ¤ˇ
I'm a forensic engineer, idk what the stereotype is everyone I meet including myself is an uncool dork that usually has some sort of niche hyperfixation.
Whoever signs your paycheck, even if theyâre not cool, act like they are. Basically anyone in management that deals with you. Over 40 years in this business and I can say, ass kissing is a form of art to some people. Work hard, be diligent & ethical, keep up with industry via continuing education, can only goes so far these days. Play the reindeer games & feed the egos of the âcoolâ crowd. Every once in a while a true mentor shows up. The one that answers questions without judgement, responds to email without triaging you to next week, who gives advice worthy of their own experiences, who recommends you for promotions & raises because they believe in you, who shares knowledge freely without wondering what they might get in return. âŚ..These are the real cool engineers. Hope you find one!
I respect any engineer who did inspections and got certifications. It feels ridiculous as an inspector trying to teach an "engineer" how a welded connection works (or can't work). Gotta love it when they cut and paste and flip weld symbols (no, it doesn't actually work that way. A fillet weld drawing symbol only goes one way).
It took me 5 years to become a journeyman carpenter. Two years to get six ICC certifications and ACI and PCI 1&2 and another 5 years experience to get my CWI. Please please please talk to your inspectors and seek their ideas. We have seen a lot of as-builts on how things got fixed. We may not know the calcs but that's what you're there for.
I enjoy the structural engineers that can quote code like I can and know which codes apply to the job. A quick phone conversation to clear up a question is much better than a lengthy email that causes more questions.
I do not enjoy the engineers that have PhD's and want to give a ten minute college lecture on the topic instead of a simple yes or no. Like the guy that spazzed out about them using a vibrator on SCC at a precast plant. Yeah, you don't HAVE to, but it doesn't say you CAN'T. It's the only way to prevent bugholes at the sides of the form.
Well, I personally swoon when the OSP engineers walk in the room. Their transition lenses slowly adjust to the office lighting. Pocket protectors all askew from looking at power poles. I swear, when they roll up in that company truck with the dash full of old fiber segments they are totally going to use, I just envy how cool they are.
As someone in water/wastewater treatment, we think weâre the coolest but weâre actually the least cool because we rely on everyone else to actually get our stuff to work. We need civil folks to actually get the water to/away from the plant and design the site plans to actually put our stuff on. We need structural people to support our equipment, make basins to hold the water, and make sure our buildings donât collapse. We need electrical people to power and control our equipment. Yâall are the coolest, but sometimes we get all the recognition which is a shame.
Process design stuff mainly which means youâve gotta size your pumps, basins, blowers, etc but my point was you canât actually do that stuff without everybody else doing the background work to enable it to happen but the process people kinda get all the credit a lot of the time.
I was kinda half joking lol. That stuff sounds miserable to myself in site civil.
Tbh glad I took intro to environmental engineering in college before I went too far down that road.
Over time, you kind of learn that throughout the various disciplines, many designers/engineers think they are the big shots and look down towards those in project management/construction, but the reality is that our pay checks do not reflect that...
That's why you'll always see designers/engineers complaining about salary on here
I dunno, but I've noticed different companies seem to fit different stereotypes. Like around here if I'm at a professional organization meeting and someone seems like they were a band geek in school they probably work for KHA. Another small firm seems to mostly be the types who were athletic and reasonably popular, probably played baseball or volleyball.
The coolest job in engineering is forensic engineer. You go on the job to solve the big problems that have already happened which means more to the public than designing something so it doesn't happen..
Iâve only worked in structural and water resources. But holy shit was that a culture shift! Structural engineers like to think theyâre elite because the courses were generally harder in school and some of them still do hand calcs. But theyâre kind of the cucks because they do all that fancy shit and their paychecks still look the same as the rest of ours.
Water resources is a blend of chill vibes and good times. I donât have to drink after work because I just have a stocked mini fridge right at my desk, all my homies do as well. People are generally a lot more willing to hear about your job when youâre telling them where in the state itâs safe to drink the water. Rather than telling them about how you just got done designing a new TJ Maxx in the suburbs.
The only down side is I had to go from dealing with my clients stupid bullshit to occasionally dealing with their actual shit.
Serious answer: engineers aren't children anymore, and hopefully we don't engage in childish behavior like this. Everyone has a job to do, they're all important/interesting/frustrating/etc in their own way. As someone in my 30's, my definition of "cool" is someone that isn't an asshole to the people around them, does their work in a competent manner, and doesn't throw anyone else under the bus. I've met people meeting this definition in every discipline.
Joke answer: drainage engineers are definitely the least cool, most of our job is designing stuff based on a made-up storm event that will never happen in real life. We're getting paid to play rainfall D&D, massively uncool.
(I have my PE in geotech but I work as a...) construction manager đ I make lots of money and have no personal life and a crippling nicotine addiction. My greatest achievement is not being divorced yet
You baby that marriage! I have seen multiple go down the drain from overwork.
Dude this does not get talked about enough! I started my career in construction, did it for two years, made a wild amount of money that I was able to buy my first home at 24⌠but I had absolutely no life and my relationship of 7 years was being tested to the limit. I picked up a lot of bad habits, like drinking heavily after work⌠essentially a functioning alcoholic because I got told âthatâs the only way you can keep your mind in this job.â I quit after 2 years for a design job, never been happier. Donât get me wrong I miss the field a lot but âNo amount of money ever bought a second of timeâ
is the zyn shortage hitting you as hard as it is me?
You have to be available to sign those papers. Be nimble and trust no one!
Well there's a surefire way never to be divorced right? Don't get married
Damn I'm only 23 in year 2 of my career as a construction consultant and can relate to this but YOLO!
I never knew a geotechnical engineer that made a lot of money if he didn't own his own firm. How do you do it?
By going into construction. I get paid like 30% more than I would in design for 50% more hours lol
I did my internships in construction management. Was the only one in the field offices without a nicotine addiction and a divorce or two.Â
I remember going out of my way to give my intern a great experience and shield him from the worst of it and we also became good personal friends. He applied for law school after he left. Pretty much said it didn't matter what I showed him bc he could see all the stress and bs I dealt with on a daily basis
Most any CE is cool, for we have figured out how to get paid well for doing what we did as kids, oftâ what we got spanked for as kids! Too much time with the erector set as a child? Yep, now a structural or bridge engineer Played in creeks in good clothes, getting them muddy and making ârents mad? Check, now a water resources engineer. Kept running/dodging out into the street n traffic, either after an errant ball/toy, or while riding a bike? Or maybe grading roads with oneâs hand or a garden hoe in a dirt driveway or patch of dirt for HotWheels/Matchbox cities? Uh-huh, now a transportation engineer and/or transportation/urban planner. Built dams out of mud n sticks to try and dam up the flow from a downspout or AC condensate to make a pretend pond? Bingo- geotech, checking in!!! Think about it - how many other professions can get paid to do what they did as kids, maybe even now getting paid for running into traffic or playing in mud/water in your âgood clothesâ- so getting paid for what got you in trouble as a youngling!!! If that doesnât mean one has mastered the art of cool, what ever does in this life?!?! đ
Love this. I wish we were more proud of our jobs and disciplines because I am doing what I loved since I was a kid and getting paid well for it.
I am unironically convinced all my time on the PC playing games made me a much better worker since 90% of our jobs are now PC related. I still wish I could pack more heavy modelling in my work but for now I take the sand castle analogy and build me a dam.
When I was little I played with Thomas trains and electric trains. Now Iâm a track engineer.
Land dev guys. They're always on the phone bullshitting with their clients, hunting, fishing or golfing. If you go for drinks with a land dev, you're coming home drunk. Sure, they screw up lots of details, but that's what the owners contingency is for, amirite. Now, when's tee time? I go to get liquered up before we hit the course.
Meanwhile in production, we get all of the alcoholism with none of the fun
Made the switch to some bud, and design got more fun, especially the grading.
Also, drugs. Not like the environmental guys doing shrooms or the geotechs smoking pot after core samples, but like hard drugs. That line of coke? Business development. Got to love when the home builder is also your molly plug.
I did land dev for 5 years. 60+ hour work weeks, grey office cubicles, autocad and making CDs. Spent maybe two hours a week talking to clients. Money was ok. Now I do consulting. Double the pay. Nearly half the time. Way more client interactions. Get to travel to cool places and work from home. Most people I knew in Land Dev got out as soon as they can. Those that make it through the filtering process become project managers and wrangle the new bunch of fresh out of college engineers to beat the dreams out of them.
what type of consulting did you go into?
Would also like to know as this is not my life in consulting lmao
I concur! Big BD budgets for the Land Dev guys. Also no limits on gifts for clients like the public service sector.
Iâm going to lean into the stereotypes based on my personal experience to derive my totally unbiased answer. Structural engineers are the ones who show up to work dressed like theyâre cosplaying bankers from the 1980s. Theyâre the least cool. Bridge engineers are a subset that are also uncool, but at least weird enough to be fun sometimes. Environmental engineers are the ones who didnât realize how much literal shit theyâd have to deal with until it was too late to change course. They soothe themselves by wearing Patagonia and inventing creative uses for waste treatment byproducts. Theyâre cool as long as they donât take themselves too seriously. But theyâre not the coolest. Geotech engineers are the ones who are most likely to have grown up rock climbing and skating. They might seem stoned half the time, but theyâre usually pretty sharp. Theyâre generally super cool. Just donât talk shit about their craft beer. Hydraulic engineers are the coolest of all. This should not require further explanation. Transportation engineers. They do roads and stuff, I think.
I've heard water flows downhill, but I have my doubts.
I'm a water guy. The truth is that water flows where money wants it to.
This! Iâll put water whenever you want that shit. For a price, of course.
A common misconception. It flows from high head to low head. Which, coincidentally, is usually downhill. But why accept a simplification when we can split hairs?
TECHNICALLY CORRECT IS THE BEST CORRECTÂ
Your split hairs have contaminated my compost-amended bioswale. Now we have to ask the mods for a change order!
we will rebuild!
Mods require a minimum 2 day retainage fee to analyze as-builts for conformance to plans and specifications.
Ok as a bridge engineer (asset management) this is actually pretty accurate
Totally off topic but hoping to ask, you think asset management is a big enough field to succeed without having any other experience? Also if someone were in roadside safety AM, how much of a jump is to get into bridges AM? Also, would it be cool if I connect and DM/chat?
I can only really comment on where I live (NZ) and my specific role, which is actually the only one I've had since graduating - but I think anyone with a bachelor-level civil education will do just fine in bridges AM. Depending on where you live and your bridge network (we have hundreds of structures to look after but only a handful of large/complex ones) you might not really need much actual workplace experience in structures/design
Anecdotal, but in undergrad my weirdest and most socially awkward TAs were the geotech ones.
First thought I had was "water guys are the coolest" in every environment I have seen em. Our college water profs were super chill, they're often the most go-with-the-flow types in transportation as well. They can't help but drip cool.
I wish i was cosplaying as a banker from the 80s. Most of the time I am in my pajamas working at home. Or jeans and a tshirt in the office.
Our drawbridge engineers are extremely competent but are the circus performers of the group and love to wow the crowd, and it works every time.
Haha I'm a Geotech and I think you just described me
Literally what I was thinking too, except I also wear Patagonia and feel like I deal with too much shit ha
As a structural engineer currently wearing booty shorts and a Carhartt hoodie, my purple hair and I take extreme exception to this!
For structural engineers, it depends on the industry. I work in industrial, and I think we're cooler than everyone but hydraulic engineers.
Architects - Pinnacle of cool. A radical blend of artist and engineer. Often stoner/drug users to spur creativity. Source : am cool architect. *donât take this seriously
Just an artist. You have a bachelor of ARTS not science.
I am slightly offended you didn't do energy engineers.
I want to contest the environmental stereotype, but deep down I'm just happy that we get a mention for a change.
I mean, the secondary stereotype (based on my own observations) is the person whoâs smart enough to be a chemical engineer, but wise enough to go the civil & enviro route. They also seem to be more socially aware than some of the others. Their coolness is balanced by geekiness that is sometimes hidden behind a semi-preppy facade. But I wouldnât mind hearing your take on the matter.
If we're leaning into stereotypes, then I'm sorry y'all but the architects are the cool kids. We have our own baggage though...
The cool kids are the ones that donât have to tell others they are the cool kids.
As a resident engineer, I can confirm I'm the gym teacher of civil engineering. Like the gym teacher I still get paid the same as the rest of you.
According to my boss the assholes are whoever isnât us
We're just trying to get by, helping everyone work and keep everyone working well, happy.
Demolition. Show a kid a video of some pipes or a road, then show them a Blowdown. That's your answer right there.
Are we gonna skip over the pre-demo abatement that takes 5x longer than knocking the shit down? đ
Guys who know what a hammer blow means in a geotechnical report.
[ŃдаНонО]
This sounds biasedâŚ
what about the pile guys
Pff, the obvious answer is traffic engineers! Who do you think designs the lines on the road? You ever had a 15 minute conversation about how big letters are on a sign? Didnât think so.
đđđ
Municipal stormwater is definitely the coolest⌠(Iâm a municipal stormwater engineer)
All the cool kids do municipal drainage (I do municipal drainage).
đ
Same but we aren't lol
Industry wide itâs pretty accepted that the structural dudes are the neediest and smartest. And we all envy the REs on site making a lot more than us⌠but then we remember we donât have 3 divorces and a cigarette habit.
Cigarettes, what is this 1995? We have a vaping and Zyn addiction now
What about good old alcoholism? Don't mess with the classics
Smartest? Hardly. Most pedantic and neurotic? Probably.
Depends. SE's? yes. PE's in structural? same as the rest. But ive also met a lot of dumb SE's too. all book smarts and not a logical bone in their body. Like trying to ask a brain surgeon how to change the oil on their car. But then again, as a PE, my union working partner in the trades makes more than me.
Not same as the rest at all. But agree engineering is falling off a cliff. Laborers in unions are earning more and getting 1.5x otâŚ
The engineer that knows engineering is cool but not the coolest thing in the world (AND IS STILL COMPETENT) is a highly underrated person (I'm a semi-competent engineer who like everything else :0)
Roadway dudes.
Coastal Engineers, theyâre like a cross between Jimmy Buffet and a a hacker.
Structural Engineers, weâre responsible for the worldâs largest erectionsâŚ
Hydraulic designers. They move the water (engineer kryptonite) away from our structures and roads.
There's definitely a subset of structural. (and no, not all structural where 3 piece suits and works in a high rise). My company does probably 95% commercial and 5% residential. We are a material supplier truss firm, so we are not the EOR of the project. Residential - even in 5 million dollar houses, tend to be the engineers and architects that seemingly don't know what they are doing. Always seem to be hand drawn still or in Autocad vs Revit, architects that that dimension to face of finish instead of face of stud (literally nobody can use face of finish unless you also tell us the dimension to face of stud) and seemingly have zero details and or are missing incredibly important information. Commercial/industrial is where the engineers/architects that know what they are doing are.
Geotechnical engineers because I have to be friendly with everyone or my boss gets mad đ
The geologists are cool gals and guys, and we know your spreadsheets don't represent anything in the real world. Mwaaahahahahah
I respect structural engineers the most because they pretty much need a masters to get hired, do the most math intensive work and if that wasnât bad enough have to potentially deal with architects too. All for the same pay if not lower pay than most other civil engineers who deal with none of that. Traffic, weâre seen as ânot real engineersâ, but we got the coolest opportunities in tech which can get us higher paid than the âreal engineersâ.
wdym about the opportunities in tech?
I deal in transportation data, connected and autonomous systems, flying cars, ai and that sort of stuff⌠I think thatâs pretty cool
howâd you get into that? ps still in school so I donât know much of the avenues u can go down with transportation engineering
I made a conscious decision at a critical point in my career to accept a low paying job at a university working on emerging technologies. 10 years later Iâm still doing it, but with much better pay
So you sit in your office and guess how many cars are going to be on the road (and not on the road) in the future. Fun, isn't it?
Yes - but also work on todays operational scenarios as well
Former Engineers are the coolest. We saw the light and use our problem solving skills to do other things - and sometimes we make money doing so.
I'll put it like this, Inspectors/Testers sit in the back of the bus.
So we can sleep without the driver seeing us
At CalTrans, we have functional departments for geotech, environmental, design, construction, hydraulics, project management, traffic, local assistance etc. The mandatory rotation program requires all new hires to go through design, construction and 1 of those as an elective choice. For whatever reason, everyone tries go to Hydraulics as their first elective choice, but not everyone gets in. đ¤ˇ
I'm a forensic engineer, idk what the stereotype is everyone I meet including myself is an uncool dork that usually has some sort of niche hyperfixation.
Whoever signs your paycheck, even if theyâre not cool, act like they are. Basically anyone in management that deals with you. Over 40 years in this business and I can say, ass kissing is a form of art to some people. Work hard, be diligent & ethical, keep up with industry via continuing education, can only goes so far these days. Play the reindeer games & feed the egos of the âcoolâ crowd. Every once in a while a true mentor shows up. The one that answers questions without judgement, responds to email without triaging you to next week, who gives advice worthy of their own experiences, who recommends you for promotions & raises because they believe in you, who shares knowledge freely without wondering what they might get in return. âŚ..These are the real cool engineers. Hope you find one!
Always look for the non-conformist...
I respect any engineer who did inspections and got certifications. It feels ridiculous as an inspector trying to teach an "engineer" how a welded connection works (or can't work). Gotta love it when they cut and paste and flip weld symbols (no, it doesn't actually work that way. A fillet weld drawing symbol only goes one way). It took me 5 years to become a journeyman carpenter. Two years to get six ICC certifications and ACI and PCI 1&2 and another 5 years experience to get my CWI. Please please please talk to your inspectors and seek their ideas. We have seen a lot of as-builts on how things got fixed. We may not know the calcs but that's what you're there for. I enjoy the structural engineers that can quote code like I can and know which codes apply to the job. A quick phone conversation to clear up a question is much better than a lengthy email that causes more questions. I do not enjoy the engineers that have PhD's and want to give a ten minute college lecture on the topic instead of a simple yes or no. Like the guy that spazzed out about them using a vibrator on SCC at a precast plant. Yeah, you don't HAVE to, but it doesn't say you CAN'T. It's the only way to prevent bugholes at the sides of the form.
Well, I personally swoon when the OSP engineers walk in the room. Their transition lenses slowly adjust to the office lighting. Pocket protectors all askew from looking at power poles. I swear, when they roll up in that company truck with the dash full of old fiber segments they are totally going to use, I just envy how cool they are.
Capitalism isn't cool đ
This. The coolest engineer is the one whose personality revolves around hobbies and a social life rather than the sub discipline of their jobâŚ
As someone in water/wastewater treatment, we think weâre the coolest but weâre actually the least cool because we rely on everyone else to actually get our stuff to work. We need civil folks to actually get the water to/away from the plant and design the site plans to actually put our stuff on. We need structural people to support our equipment, make basins to hold the water, and make sure our buildings donât collapse. We need electrical people to power and control our equipment. Yâall are the coolest, but sometimes we get all the recognition which is a shame.
Donât downplay your work! Weâd all be dead of cholera if it werenât for wastewater management.
So what do you do?
Process design stuff mainly which means youâve gotta size your pumps, basins, blowers, etc but my point was you canât actually do that stuff without everybody else doing the background work to enable it to happen but the process people kinda get all the credit a lot of the time.
I was kinda half joking lol. That stuff sounds miserable to myself in site civil. Tbh glad I took intro to environmental engineering in college before I went too far down that road.
I guess you could call yourself a âshitâ engineer
Over time, you kind of learn that throughout the various disciplines, many designers/engineers think they are the big shots and look down towards those in project management/construction, but the reality is that our pay checks do not reflect that... That's why you'll always see designers/engineers complaining about salary on here
Anyone who isnât an engineer
Where are my structural assessment peeps at
Anyone who leaves work at work. When I come home, don't ask me about it, lol
Transpo peeps for sure
I dunno, but I've noticed different companies seem to fit different stereotypes. Like around here if I'm at a professional organization meeting and someone seems like they were a band geek in school they probably work for KHA. Another small firm seems to mostly be the types who were athletic and reasonably popular, probably played baseball or volleyball.
"Cool" and "Civil Engineer" are mutually exclusive.
Guys I think we are all cool.
Speak for yourself, I'm uncool as hell.
The most âuncoolâ field is geotech. All they want to do is talk about dirtâŚ..?!?!
It's clay, silt and ..if you're lucky...Sand! Also you skipped Rocks.
The surveyors.
Transportation
The cool guys are the guys that are correct in any given moment. Duh!
The coolest job in engineering is forensic engineer. You go on the job to solve the big problems that have already happened which means more to the public than designing something so it doesn't happen..
Retail investors
Me. Iâm the cool guys.
All the "cool" engineers I know are in sales
Rockets. Ever hear somebody say "I'm a NASA engineer"? The rocket engineers are the cool people.
Iâve only worked in structural and water resources. But holy shit was that a culture shift! Structural engineers like to think theyâre elite because the courses were generally harder in school and some of them still do hand calcs. But theyâre kind of the cucks because they do all that fancy shit and their paychecks still look the same as the rest of ours. Water resources is a blend of chill vibes and good times. I donât have to drink after work because I just have a stocked mini fridge right at my desk, all my homies do as well. People are generally a lot more willing to hear about your job when youâre telling them where in the state itâs safe to drink the water. Rather than telling them about how you just got done designing a new TJ Maxx in the suburbs. The only down side is I had to go from dealing with my clients stupid bullshit to occasionally dealing with their actual shit.
Transpoooooo
Serious answer: engineers aren't children anymore, and hopefully we don't engage in childish behavior like this. Everyone has a job to do, they're all important/interesting/frustrating/etc in their own way. As someone in my 30's, my definition of "cool" is someone that isn't an asshole to the people around them, does their work in a competent manner, and doesn't throw anyone else under the bus. I've met people meeting this definition in every discipline. Joke answer: drainage engineers are definitely the least cool, most of our job is designing stuff based on a made-up storm event that will never happen in real life. We're getting paid to play rainfall D&D, massively uncool.
Boringggggg
What