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Student in civil engineering. It's been several years now and still no end in sight. My decision on this profession wasn't very well thought out because I wasn'

by 1ibsq 5y ago

Student in civil engineering. It's been several years now and still no end in sight. My decision on this profession wasn't very well thought out because I wasn't able to back then. Right now I'm in the position of a gambler who invested a lot and can't really jump of the train. I want to learn coding, but haven't been able to start for quite some time now. But I have interests in tech stuff and that's why it's interesting to read HN nevertheless. Anyways, every time I start talking about myself I feel like self pity is taking over and I hate that.

amcoastal 5y ago
If it's an undergraduate degree just get it done, you can do all kinds of things with a civil engineering undergraduate degree. It seems you might imply you picked your major when you were young and had no idea what you actually wanted. The same thing happened to me, and from the UG student perspective it seems like your degree type will define you, but reality is with something as broad as civil it won't. You could get into graduate schools for basically whatever you'd want to do. From marine science to graphical design to creative writing, and of course engineering.
- 1ibsq 5y ago
  It is an undergraduate degree (bachelors). I appreciate the reply, but "just get it done" is easier said than done for me - but you couldn't know:) I do what is possible for me. Sooner than later things get sorted out by themselves when I either make it or they kick me out. I don't know what's next then either way. But you're definitely right, civil eng is quite broad and I have done jobs within it that I was good at and where I had fun. Bachelors thesis will be something about printing concrete.
  - amcoastal 5y ago
    It took me 9 years to get my UG degree done. You'll get there, don't give up :)
    - 1ibsq 5y ago
      Within civil eng (at least for my uni) students usually don't take more time than they have to. People finish left and right. It's easy for me to overlook the fact that it's just fine if it takes longer. So it's important to just get reminded from outside the bubble that this can in fact be normal. Thank you! :)
509engr 5y ago
Civil engineer here - had a similar situation in undergrad, with an electrical engineering prof trying several times to get me to switch based on my interests. There are a lot of opportunities to do coding and tech stuff in civil engineering, and I think working on big infrastructure projects is way more exciting than building a startup or the next great phone app. You should consider grad school, or at least take some grad level courses your senior year, if you want to learn to code and solve civil engineering problems. It isn't necessary, but grad school will give you classwork where you need to learn to code to solve them, and you'll have no problem finding a job if you can show programming and data analysis skills on your resume. I currently work in water resources, maintaining a Monte Carlo models of systems of dams that is used to estimate changes to flood risk and other impacts - both as a result of climate change and changing regulations. The job feels a lot more like software engineering or tech support some days, so there seems to be a lot to learn from HN. If you are looking to learn to code while doing civil engineering, or at least water resources, Python, R, Matlab, and even VBA for Excel are all commonly used. Focus on getting really good with one of them. A lot of the software I deal with is written in a combination of Java for the UI and FORTRAN for the computational engine, so having some background in those doesn't hurt, but definitely secondary. (As for the original Ask HN post - I started reading HN a number of years ago after some more tech-oriented friends kept sending me links to discussions here - mostly stick around for vintage Mac shenanigans and stories, and the comments on them, but also often take a look at posts with career and leadership advice.)
- 1ibsq 5y ago
  Thanks for the advise! Python is in fact what I wanted to start with. But for now I have to focus on exams - including hydraulics and hydrology ;)

by 1ibsq 5y ago

amcoastal 5y ago

If it's an undergraduate degree just get it done, you can do all kinds of things with a civil engineering undergraduate degree. It seems you might imply you picked your major when you were young and had no idea what you actually wanted. The same thing happened to me, and from the UG student perspective it seems like your degree type will define you, but reality is with something as broad as civil it won't. You could get into graduate schools for basically whatever you'd want to do. From marine science to graphical design to creative writing, and of course engineering.

1ibsq 5y ago
It is an undergraduate degree (bachelors). I appreciate the reply, but "just get it done" is easier said than done for me - but you couldn't know:) I do what is possible for me. Sooner than later things get sorted out by themselves when I either make it or they kick me out. I don't know what's next then either way. But you're definitely right, civil eng is quite broad and I have done jobs within it that I was good at and where I had fun. Bachelors thesis will be something about printing concrete.
- amcoastal 5y ago
  It took me 9 years to get my UG degree done. You'll get there, don't give up :)
  - 1ibsq 5y ago
    Within civil eng (at least for my uni) students usually don't take more time than they have to. People finish left and right. It's easy for me to overlook the fact that it's just fine if it takes longer. So it's important to just get reminded from outside the bubble that this can in fact be normal. Thank you! :)

509engr 5y ago

Civil engineer here - had a similar situation in undergrad, with an electrical engineering prof trying several times to get me to switch based on my interests. There are a lot of opportunities to do coding and tech stuff in civil engineering, and I think working on big infrastructure projects is way more exciting than building a startup or the next great phone app. You should consider grad school, or at least take some grad level courses your senior year, if you want to learn to code and solve civil engineering problems. It isn't necessary, but grad school will give you classwork where you need to learn to code to solve them, and you'll have no problem finding a job if you can show programming and data analysis skills on your resume. I currently work in water resources, maintaining a Monte Carlo models of systems of dams that is used to estimate changes to flood risk and other impacts - both as a result of climate change and changing regulations. The job feels a lot more like software engineering or tech support some days, so there seems to be a lot to learn from HN. If you are looking to learn to code while doing civil engineering, or at least water resources, Python, R, Matlab, and even VBA for Excel are all commonly used. Focus on getting really good with one of them. A lot of the software I deal with is written in a combination of Java for the UI and FORTRAN for the computational engine, so having some background in those doesn't hurt, but definitely secondary. (As for the original Ask HN post - I started reading HN a number of years ago after some more tech-oriented friends kept sending me links to discussions here - mostly stick around for vintage Mac shenanigans and stories, and the comments on them, but also often take a look at posts with career and leadership advice.)

1ibsq 5y ago
Thanks for the advise! Python is in fact what I wanted to start with. But for now I have to focus on exams - including hydraulics and hydrology ;)