How to make a successful career as Civil Engineer- 5 Points Mantra

Table of Contents

Elimination of Job is a half-truth:

It’s not civil engineering anymore it's IT-led civil engineering

Innovation, Knowledge Sharing, and Resource Optimisation is the new Mantra

Health and Safety – Commitment to Zero Accident on site

What future holds for Civil Engineers?

Civil Engineering is one of the oldest and still a modern branch of Engineering. It has served the communities and people of all walks of life.

But it has not received an equally reciprocal response from bright students when they opt or do not opt for Civil Engineering as a preferred choice and make a career as Civil Engineer.

Don't you agree?

The perception of the society for civil engineers still creates a blurred image of a civil engineer standing on a muddy and rough site and working with heavy site machinery.

However, the reality is fortunately far away from this blurred image and the civil engineering industry has transformed dramatically in the last 20 years since the IT technology revolution began to open its wings in this direction and supported the civil engineering industry to be better equipped with sophisticated technologies to shape the world in a way that’s never seen before.

Yes, that's true and many fellow civil engineers across the globe are not only using it but relishing these latest technologies.

In this blog, I would like to share my understanding of the Civil Engineering Industry and how can you empower yourself as a 21st-century modern civil engineer who can design and construct civil engineering infrastructure with the highest level of precision, robust quality and still with the least amount of time and efforts by using technologies that are being developed by  IT Giants across the globe.

So let's crack-on with the following points:

Elimination of Job is a half-truth:

There is a perception that IT-led technologies are eliminating jobs in every sector and the civil engineering industry is one of the impacted sectors as a result job openings are limited in the civil engineering industry. However, it’s a half-truth. Surprised? Let me explain.

Ever since their first appearance during World War lI, decoding secret messages, computers have significantly exceeded human mental dexterity in their ability to remember and process information. We are in the midst of a profound technological revolution.

This is the computer age and microprocessors are now in hundreds of millions of appliances and devices.

Thus, our surroundings are populated with controlled systems that are way faster and more accurate than human capabilities. The IT integrated civil engineering industry is inevitable. The changing nature of work due to IT for civil engineers is a great restructuring process.

This restructuring process will distribute some jobs to computers or software to increase the efficiency of the work but will never ever replace the civil engineers. IT has eliminated many jobs but it has also created new ones in place and that too in significant numbers. As a fresh talent in the civil engineering industry, you need to upgrade yourself as an IT-led Civil Engineer.

So what is IT-let Civil Engineering?

To know more, just read below.

It’s not civil engineering anymore it's IT-led civil engineering

The development of new computer led technologies has strengthened the quality of design, construction, and maintenance of civil engineering infrastructure.

Some examples like a fully robotic real-time kinematic GPS system for topographical survey, MX- Road, Inroads, Civil3D software for road design, Windes Microdrain software for drainage design. CAD software drawing preparation, STADD PRO, PROKON software for structure design, ARCADY, PICADY, OSCADY, SATURN, etc for Transportation Engineering,  MS Project, PRIMAVERA for project management, Arcview, Mapinfo GPS based software for maintenance of utility services and many more computer integrated civil engineering software have increased the quality, accuracy, and efficiency of civil engineering projects.

gcelab or similar online platforms play a key role to train the new workforce and helping the industry to meet the future demand for competent and skilled resources. Courses of gcelab are developed with extensive research of the industry, so we would surely recommend the students to pursue it and enhance their capabilities.

The bottom line is, if you want to thrive in your career then these new technologies and online training courses can fast track your career in an unprecedented way. But if you want a steady and slow pace 9 to 5 job without enhancing technical skills then trust me IT is Giant Killer and its goanna eats those jobs very soon.

Please see some free course videos of gcelab.com

gcelab.com also provide a customised CV Template.

See this blog for details.

Do you still consider yourself a civil engineer or now you are an IT-led Civil Engineer?

Innovation, Knowledge Sharing, and Resource Optimisation is the new Mantra

Have you seen Rolling Crash Barriers along the motorways? Have you seen innovative self-cleansing road gullies on your streets?

Or have you seen Armadillos along the road to provide dedicated cycle lanes along the urban streets?

Perhaps not and the reason for this is even more disappointing than knowing that you don’t know it.  Most of us are working in isolation somewhere in one city of a country and don’t actually realize that this world is a global village now and by using technologies we can outreach to anyone and everyone across the globe.

We don’t need to reinvent the wheel all the time. Knowledge sharing, adoption of best practices, and lesson learning from parallel peers are the new mantra to optimize and efficiently utilize our resources, time, and effort. It applies in every field, every peer including fresh talent to the experienced civil engineers. Knowing Armadillos is just a few clicks away if you have internet, but that is just the beginning.

It is time to do a bit more. Share your knowledge, best practices, and innovation with others.

Empower yourself and empower others to transform society at a rapid pace.

Health and Safety – Commitment to Zero Accident on site

Do you know how many people die in road accidents in India every year? More importantly, do you know what are the main reasons for those accidents? Again, it is a few clicks away if you have internet and honestly, it's a giant problem and you can’t solve it alone.

But what you could do is amazingly simple and trust me it's only you who can do it because you are a Civil Engineer. No one else can do it better than you.

What is that? 

Just one exercise to eliminate any risk that leads to road accidents resulting in serious fatalities.

"Risk Assessments and Risk Mitigation".

Whether you are working on-site or working in the office or driving/cycling/ walking on the road/footways/ cycle tracks, just observe the physical infrastructure around yourself and see how people behave while using those infrastructures.

You will notice that most of the time, people don’t even realize what are the risks if they cross a road at a busy uncontrolled crossing. Very few, who can realize the risk, don’t know how to mitigate that risk. So, it's your duty as a civil engineer to empower yourself with adequate knowledge of health and safety principles and Risk Assessment & Mitigation processes. Haryana Vision Zero is doing a brilliant job in this direction and aiming for zero accidents in Haryana.

I am sure other state governments will also conceptualize it in their states soon. It would be an amazing opportunity for fresh talents to develop their credentials in this field and make a wonderful and more importantly a gratifying and self-fulfilling career, a career that serves the community every day.

What future holds for Civil Engineers?

From the olden times to the 21st century, the civil engineering industry has seen various leaps and bounds and always comes out graciously. There is no better time than this current time to join the civil engineering industry. The future of Civil Engineers is amazingly beautiful and self-fulfilling.

Use of technology to innovate new civil engineering products, share it with global users to implement it in the real world and leapfrog from the old and poorly designed infrastructure to the modern, green and lean infrastructure to not only serve the community but to our nature and to our mother earth, is the future of Civil Engineers.

What else you would ask for?  

Thanks for reading
A Civil Engineer by heart, soul, mind and body.

Please see our Pillar Post to know why we founded gcelab.com.

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Pooja

Founder at gcelab.com, Pooja is an Entrepreneur unlocking human potential. Working in the Principles of Lean Start-up, Pooja believes in Transparency and User Happiness the most. Pooja’s background in teaching gives her a sophisticated grasp on even the most tedious aspect of course building. She is passionate about people who believe that good is not enough.