Civil Engineering

• Studying: 15%
• Employed in graduate job: 52%
• Employed in non-graduate job: 14%
• Unemployed: 13%

• Average graduate salary: £23,667
• Average non-graduate salary: £15,503

Civil engineers are in demand for their technical and subject-specific knowledge and understanding. With a sound grasp of science, maths and technology you can design, create and build structures efficiently, making best use of available resources and techniques. Through realistic construction-based group projects, you gain practical experience of applying your engineering judgement and working successfully with others.

Consider the skills developed on your course as well as through your other activities, such as paid work, volunteering, family responsibilities, sport, membership of societies, leadership roles, etc. Think about how these can be used as evidence of your skills and personal attributes. Then you can start to market and sell who you really are, identify what you may be lacking and consider how to improve your profile.

View the best universities for civil engineering degrees.

Prospects

A 2010 HESA destination survey of 2009 graduates showed that six months after graduating, over 60% of civil engineer graduates had entered employment, almost all of them taking roles as civil engineering professionals. Other areas which attract civil engineering graduates are IT, design and development and technical or professional occupations such as surveying, town and transport planning and other engineering sectors.

Where are the jobs?

Civil and structural engineering covers several specialised sectors including buildings of all kinds, transport and communications infrastructure. This includes bridges, roads, tunnels, canals and other large structures. They can also be involved in the production, storage and distribution of electricity, gas and water. 

Civil engineers are employed by a wide range of contractors and consultancies and also work in-house for a variety of large organisations. There are many opportunities in the public sector, with local authorities, government departments and environmental organisations, where engineers are often involved in setting project specifications and drafting tender documents.

Jobs directly related to your degree

Civil engineers are involved with the design, development and construction of a huge range of projects in the built and natural environment. Their role is central to ensuring the safe, timely and well-resourced completion of projects in many areas, including highways construction, waste management, coastal development and geotechnical engineering.

There are two main types of civil engineer:

• Consulting civil engineer
• Contracting civil engineer

Jobs where your degree would be useful

A civil engineering degree can also be used for positions such as:

• Building control surveyor
• Building services engineer
• Engineering geologist
• Quantity surveyor
• Site engineer
• Structural engineer
• Water engineer 

Although some of the jobs listed here might not be first jobs for many graduates, they are among the many realistic possibilities with your degree, provided you can demonstrate you have the attributes employers are looking for. Bear in mind that it's not just your degree discipline that determines your options. Remember that many graduate vacancies don't specify particular degree disciplines, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here.

Included with the permission of AGCAS and Graduate Prospects. For the latest version of this publication, see www.prospects.ac.uk. For permission to reproduce, contact copyright@agcas.org.uk. We would welcome your comments on this section of The Complete University Guide. Please email us at admin@thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk.