One would expect that the job offer will be in the field of civil engineering; however, occasionally employers will approach civil engineering graduates with offers for work in other fields of activity such as sales or junior level management. Some individuals may find such offers attractive and may be successful in applying their personal capabilities and engineering training in such a field. However, this is the exception rather than the norm. The typical new civil engineering graduate would be well-advised to select a job in the field of civil engineering in an initial phase of her or his career rather than be persuaded to enter another field on the basis of higher pay or similar inducements. After gaining some experience in a particular job assignment, the new engineer will be better prepared to undertake challenges in other fields such as sales. If the new graduate chooses to enter a completely different field of endeavor such as sales or management, there is a greater chance of being dissatisfied with the first work assignment than if he or she were to accept a technical civil engineering job, since most of that graduate's college training has prepared her or him to meet that type of challenge. If the graduate undertakes a job assignment and is unhappy, he or she is likely to be an unsuccessful employee regardless of the field. Consequently, the chances for advancement in that field will be minimal.
The new civil engineering graduate should also evaluate the conditions of work associated with any particular job offer. If he or she is fond of working and living in the outdoors, he or she might be quite well pleased with the work of a construction engineer. However, if he or she prefers to work in an office or in a research environment, construction supervision at a remote location would likely be unattractive. The geographical location of the job assignment, whether it is in a large metropolitan area or in a smaller community, can be an asset or a liability to a particular job, depending upon the desires of the individual taking that job.
Another important factor to consider in evaluating a job offer is the element of challenge associated with the prospective job. Challenge is an important ingredient in any job and the key to professional fulfillment. Perhaps the greatest single source of dissatisfaction among recently hired engineers has proven to be boredom and a sense of unimportance of the assigned duties associated with the initial engineering assignment. In some instances, this boredom is the result of the reluctance of employers to entrust new engineers with important decisions; as a result, recent graduates sometimes are given routine or simple tasks that involve no important decision making. It is important, in evaluating job offers, to attempt to determine the responsibilities and duties that initially will be assigned, and to determine if those responsibilities constitute a sufficient challenge to the individual's capabilities.
In the past, members of minority groups have occasionally been led to believe that they would be the victims of tokenism in seeking employment as engineers. In other words, they were given jobs in various agencies or corporations merely so that those agencies or corporations would have a minimum number of minority group members. This situation may exist in some areas but certainly does not exist at the present time in the field of civil engineering.
Several reasons can be cited to account for the increasing availability of challenging job opportunities for women and minorities. Obviously, the civil rights movement, which created sweeping social changes in the United States in the 1960s, had great effects in the field of engineering, as it did in other professions. Not only were professional organizations such as the National Society of Professional Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers made aware of the lack of equal opportunities for minorities, but engineering educators also were urged to exert greater efforts in the area of minority recruitment. By 1994, the workforce had grown more diverse, and surveys by the American Association of Engineering Societies showed progress for minorities: about 250 of the 8,400 B.S. graduates in civil engineering were African-American; approximately 550 were Hispanic-American; and around 750 were Asian-American, for example.
In addition, women are finding increasingly important opportunities in civil engineering careers as a result of the changes in the attitudes on the part of both engineers and employers. In 1994, 17 percent of B.S. graduates in civil engineering were women. At the same time, the work of the civil engineer has changed significantly in the last 50 years. Many activities that formerly were carried out by civil engineers in the field, in the mine, or in the quarry have been relocated to more pleasant surroundings. The percentages of civil engineers engaged in planning and design activities have increased in comparison to the number of civil engineers engaged in construction supervision and similar field work. The increase in job safety and the decrease in hazards on the job have been experienced by male and female members of the civil engineering profession as a result of the passage of comprehensive legislation designed to ensure the safety of employees in all occupations. Lastly, women are finding that many of the stereotypes that they themselves had pictured as members of the civil engineering profession simply do not exist. Any woman with an aptitude for science and mathematics, and an interest in planning, designing, and constructing physical facilities can find significant challenge and great rewards in civil engineering.
Today, an individual's performance is the most important basis for evaluation by colleagues and superiors in the field of civil engineering. Civil engineers are usually judged almost entirely on the basis of technical ability and communication skills.
