MBA Careers in Civil Engineering

If infrastructure development and a fast-paced environment interest you, then civil engineering can offer you some interesting career options. Forming an important foundation for the community at large, civil engineers play a crucial role in ensuring everyday systems work smoothly.

What do they do?

Civil engineers play an essential role in everyday life. Civil engineers are responsible for creating, improving and protecting society's infrastructure. They are often needed after disasters such as earthquakes, to help rebuild and maintain conditions for the local population. Civil engineering can be a fast paced environment, involving a variety of projects from developing and constructing railways, roads, tunnels and structures to dams and flooding. Working in this industry means you can be working on site one day and in the office the next. Projects worked on can be large or small, and depending on the company you work for, can be located worldwide. Due to the challenging variety of work you may be involved in, there are a number of areas a civil engineer can specialise in, as demonstrated below.

Costal and Marine - Covering all aspects of coastal development including protection against tidal flooding and erosion, waterfront and marina developments, dredging and the environmental impact of such works.
Environment - Combining different disciplines including flood defence, hydrology and waste management.
Facilities management - Helping to create a safe and efficient working environment by assessing the impact of surroundings upon people and the workplace.
Structural - This area deals with projects of all sizes ranging from small house extensions to commercial or residential buildings costing millions of pounds.
Water and Public Health - Dealing with the important task of providing clean drinking water and treating waste water before its release back into the environment.
Source: ICE

Ideal Candidate

Rakesh Patel, a civil/structural engineer for Corus Building Systems observes, "In order to succeed, a civil engineer must be motivated, persistent and very committed to his or herself and the company he or she works for." The variety of the job determines the skills required. Working on site demands the more hands-on skills of good technical, problem solving, interpersonal and even managerial abilities. Structural engineers require good analytical skills, whereas Tunneling engineers should have excellent planning and surveying skills.
Once you have graduated, working towards a professional qualification will prove invaluable in your career. A professional qualification can be earned once you start work and provides an external validation of your competence as an engineer.

Where will I find work?

There are many opportunities within a number of different organisations that employ civil engineers in both the private and public sectors including contractors, consultancies and local authorities.