The University of Sheffield
Careers Service

Civil and Structural Engineering - Introduction

Engineering

Potential careers

The vast majority of graduates from these courses make direct use of their knowledge of Civil and / or Structural Engineering to enter employment in the construction or engineering sectors, many with well-known employers, others with smaller more specialised firms. Typical job titles are: Civil Engineer, Structural Engineer, Site Engineer, Contracts Engineer, and Rail Engineer. A number move into more specialist engineering roles such as Submarine Engineer, Explosives Engineer, Assistant Architect, and Geotechnical Engineer. Smaller numbers enter roles which use their analytical and problem-solving skills in other technical fields such as IT, for example as programmers, or in completely different fields such as banking or teaching English as a foreign language.

  • What graduates do
  • Understanding yourself
  • Your options
  • Vacancies

Short term and longer term career paths

Understanding what recent graduates from your subject have gone on to do can be a valuable source of information to help in career planning, but bear in mind that what you choose to do will be a personal decision based on many other factors such as: what you are good at, what you enjoy and what you want from work.

Civil and Structural Engineering - what University of Sheffield graduates do six months after graduation

This data was collected six months after graduation, so although useful, it doesn't provide a reliable indicator of longer term career paths. Some graduates are still in transition and may be in short term jobs, mainly in administrative, retail and customer service roles, developing further skills and experience while at the same time job hunting, travelling or taking time out.

Graduate case studies

Read about the longer term career paths of University of Sheffield Civil and Structural Engineering graduates.

What do graduates do? - the national picture

The national Prospects website provides an overview of the graduate jobs market.

Our approach to employability

The University of Sheffield is committed to developing your employability.

Understanding your skills, interests and motivation

A degree is a widely accepted standard which endorses your ability across a range of sought after skills and competencies. This is in addition to the skills you will have developed outside of your degree through sport, leisure and work. Although you have a number of skills, you need to be aware of these and provide evidence of them in order to convince recruiters that you would be an asset to their organisation.

Skills acquired by Civil and Structural Engineering graduates

Find out more about the extensive range of skills and personal qualities that you have developed as part of your degree. These skills explain why many employers have a positive view of Civil and Structural Engineering graduates.

Gaining skills outside of your studies

Skills developed outside of study are just as important, so don't overlook paid or voluntary work and other interests when thinking about what you have to offer. The Deve skills section on our website can tell you more.

What jobs would suit me?

Match your skills and interests to potential occupations (part of the Prospects website).

See the bigger picture

A simple step by step outline to help you progress your career ideas plus a selection of resources to assist you in this process.

Profiling for success

This online assessment package provided by the Careers Service for University of Sheffield students and graduates, includes two personality type indicators to help you understand yourself.

Continuous professional development

Once you graduate you may wish to continue to develop your skills by working towards a professional qualification.

Options with your subject - Civil and Structural Engineering

There are a number of obvious jobs that you may wish to consider such as civil or structural engineer. However, you should remember that a large proportion of vacancies advertised to graduates are open to any degree subject, so you should be prepared to explore all your options.

Occupations

This section of our website provides links to professional bodies, organisations (many include vacancy databases) and journals. Use it to research your chosen sectors.

Explore types of jobs - Prospects

Detailed profiles for a wide range of occupations are available from Prospect,s and include job descriptions, case studies, salary and conditions, entry requirements, training, typical employers, and vacancies.

These are our suggestions

We've chosen these because they are often seen as related to your area of study, or there is a pattern of graduates in your subject working in these roles. Of course, they are not the only options and there are many other graduate careers potentially open to you.

Search courses and research

If you are interested in postgraduate study, a good place to start is Prospects, which offer a database of courses and research opportunities.

myVacancies

We advertise over 5000 vacancies each year for graduate jobs, placements, part-time, voluntary, and vacation work. Students and graduates can register and login.

There are also a large number of websites advertising graduate vacancies; some cover a broad range of occupations, while others specialise in a particular sector. Increasingly, professional organisations and government bodies also include vacancies as part of their website.

Other suggested websites for graduates and work experience opportunities

Creative job searching

Many jobs are never advertised through the media, so you may need to be creative in your searching. Talk to academic staff in your department about possible vacancy sources and useful contacts for networking if you wish to pursue a career related to your discipline. Read the section of our website on Creative job searching to help you approach employers who do not normally advertise.

Finally...

At this stage you are not seeking the perfect match, but rather choices which are as far as you can tell going to meet your broad objectives; your decision is probably not for life. Though some decisions can have long term consequences, others enable you to keep your options open until you feel more certain.

Use the menu on the left to explore your career options and plan your applications. We can help you to write your CV and covering letter and prepare for interviews.

Technical interviews - read about how to prepare for technical interviews

Please call us on 0114 222 0910 if you would like help with your career planning and would like to talk to a Careers Adviser, or visit us at 388 Glossop Road on the corner of Durham Road.

Email Enquiry Service

We also offer an email service if you find it difficult to visit us at the Careers Service.