5 Top Civil Engineer Courses to Watch Out in 2024

Due to the need for civil engineers to oversee projects to upgrade dams, replace bridges, repair roads, plan and build airports, and design and build tunnels, the job outlook in this industry is still positive. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 6.9% employment growth for civil engineers by 2031. In that period, 22,100 jobs are estimated to open up. Growing populations will demand the development of new, more effective water and waste treatment facilities, and additional maintenance and repairs of currently operating ones.

More civil engineers will be required as renewable energy becomes more prevalent in order to do the necessary structural assessments, create the necessary permit paperwork, and uphold governmental rules. Because a large portion of the work performed by civil engineers is required, this profession often enjoys long-term job stability.

Senior engineers should have many options for career growth as project managers or functional managers in design, construction, operation, or maintenance. Civil engineers will continue to get job opportunities due to the demand for bigger, higher, and disaster-resistant structures and the desire to use better living and working areas. It ranks no. 4 on the list of US News 2024 Best Engineering Jobs. There are a great number of fresher civil engineer jobs available currently.

Civil engineers construct the infrastructure that supports society. They have a wide range of civil engineering subjects or specialties to choose from when differentiating what they do.  Here are some of the most popular branches involved in civil engineering:

• Structural Engineering: In this particular field, structures of all sizes are designed to withstand the strains and forces of their surroundings. Working in the field requires knowledge of local building design codes and building physics and statics. Bridges, skyscrapers, and tunnels are just a few of the many different types of structures that structural engineers might work on.
  • Major specialties:
    • Earthquake engineering
    • Wind engineering
    • Architectural engineering
    • Ocean engineering
       
• Geotechnical Engineering: A geotechnical engineer examines the bearing capacities of the soil, foundations, and structures. The engineer will investigate how earth materials behave and how they will impact a future structure. They will also assess older buildings that appear to have issues with the soil beneath them or in close proximity to them.
  • Major specialties:
    • Mining engineering
    • Foundation engineering
       
• Environmental Engineering: It is about shielding the ecosystem from the negative consequences of human activity and climate change and the local inhabitants from deadly environmental effects. They also deal with the garbage disposal, recycling, industrial farming, soil contamination, and water and air pollution.
  • Major specialties:
    • Ecological engineering
    • Wastewater engineering
    • Municipal or urban engineering
       
• Transportation Engineering: It involves working on the design, building, and administration of transportation systems such as highways, public transportation networks, and roads. Also, planning and putting the necessary transportation infrastructure into place to offer a secure, cozy, practical, affordable, and ecologically friendly method.
  • Major specialties:
    • Traffic engineering
    • Highway engineering
    • Railway systems engineering
       
• Water Resource Engineering: It refers to managing water sources that are vital to daily life. Water resource engineers need to be aware of standard water principles to ensure that water can be used for drinking and living. Engineers in water resources also safeguard the land, groundwater, and water bodies. Additionally, engineers plan dams and guarantee their protection from erosion.
  • Major specialties:
    • Hydraulic engineering
    • River engineering
    • Coastal engineering
    • Groundwater engineering
       
• Construction Engineering: This area is essential to planning and managing the entire construction process. An in-depth understanding of a building project's business, management, and economic components is necessary for this discipline. Throughout the project, construction managers are expected to coordinate and manage resources.
  • Major specialties:
    • Residential buildings
    • Commercial buildings
       
• Surveying: This particular discipline of civil engineering covers the terrain's mapping and contouring, using various tools to survey and level the ground. This is done to identify and gauge property lines and layout structures such as buildings, bridges, waterways, highways, and pipelines.
  • Major specialties:
    • Plane surveying
    • Geodetic surveying

In order to construct and improve infrastructure in urban, suburban, and rural areas, civil engineers collaborate with architects and city planners. They might build vital public infrastructure like highways, bridges, dams, tunnels, and water treatment facilities. Depending on your company and area of expertise, a career in civil engineering may put you in a variety of settings and come with a range of expectations.

Here is a list of some of the responsibilities mentioned generally in civil engineer job descriptions:

• Planning and preparing numerous project components
• Using Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software to create graphical presentations of civil buildings
• Inspecting construction site to check that work is being done following design guidelines and safety standards
• Effectively communicating with clients and other authorized subcontractors.
• Participating in the inspection of the next project's construction site
• Calculating the cost of labor and equipment to determine the viability of a project
• Ensuring adherence to statutory, industrial, and environmental regulations
• Completing project documentation to make sure all stakeholders are obliging with their duties and meeting the deadlines
• Writing convincing proposals to persuade a client or agency to take on a project

Different employers offer graduate civil engineer jobs. They typically work in the following areas listed below:

• Engineering Companies: According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), engineering services firms employ 49% of the nation's civil engineers. A civil engineering company may specialize or provide services across a range of disciplines such as banks, shopping centers, restaurants, office buildings, parking lots, warehouses, factories, apartment buildings, etc. 
   
• Construction Companies: Construction companies carry out building and infrastructure projects. Throughout the building process, these companies require a variety of civil engineers, such as geotechnical engineers, structural engineers, material engineers, etc.
   
• Transportation Companies: They hire civil engineers for infrastructure management, public transportation system development, seaport and airport planning, and highway design and safety management.
   
• Waste Management Companies: They hire civil engineers throughout the entire process of disposing of household and commercial garbage in landfills. They design water treatment plants and municipal sewage systems.
   
• Utility Companies: These offer necessary services such as water, electricity, or gas. They hire civil engineers to design, build, and maintain structures necessary for the delivery of the utilities.

To become a civil engineer, there are certain eligibility criteria, including education, skills, and certification requirements. Let us go through civil engineering requirements one by one:

• Education: Must have a degree in civil engineering, geotechnical, structural, and transportation engineering, or a related field. This degree program offers training in topics like mathematics, statistics, fluid dynamics, architectural design, engineering mechanics, and systems, which can provide crucial information and skills for your role and responsibilities. A bachelor's degree can be enough for a career as a civil engineer, but individuals who want to pursue management and leadership positions have a better chance of standing out from the competition by doing a master's level degree. Furthermore, it helps to focus on a certain civil engineering specialty.

• Skills: Although it is important to have the right kind of academic degree, however, in order to climb the career ladder, you need to have relevant skills as per industry standards. Now, these are a mix of soft and hard skills. A few of them are listed below:
  
  • CAD Software: Knowing how to use civil engineering software for drafting enables you to develop detailed designs, blueprints, and models that convey concepts and indicate specifications such as measures, angles, and materials.
     
  • MS Excel: Knowledge and hands-on experience in Excel skills help in preparing estimation and billing project reports to quantity surveying. It is useful in keeping a simple record to perform complex calculations.
     
  • Project Management: They must be able to manage timelines, resources, and communication channels because they often guide people in planning, designing, and creating structures while establishing goals and deadlines for project completion.
     
  • Communication Skills: Civil engineers collaborate with other professionals on a project who might lack technical expertise; therefore, it is beneficial if they convey these concepts effectively through email and other paperwork. Civil engineers who can effectively communicate in writing can better coordinate their teams and give timely information to all parties involved in a project.
     
  • Problem-Solving: Given the complexity of civil engineering designs, various problems could arise, demanding the application of efficient problem-solving techniques to maintain efficiency and safety.
     
  • Critical Thinking: Such skills help perform complex tasks related to their design work. To get a credible conclusion, they carefully weigh qualitative and quantitative data.
     
  • Attention to Detail: Precision planning and creation are necessary for engineering projects. Therefore, attention to detail as a skill enables them to identify and fix minor mistakes before spending money and time on the project.
     
• Experience: For entry-level civil engineering jobs, it is best to gain some hands-on experience through internships. This helps gain a perspective of what actual skills are required at the workplace. It opens up more opportunities in civil engineering.
   
• Certification: Getting a professional certification or engineering license is important for getting ahead in the professional journey. It is not important for entry-level roles but is required for more senior positions.

Now that we know what it takes to become a civil engineer, let us move on to a more interesting aspect that most aspirants would be interested in, that is, popular job roles and salaries offered. It is important to understand that you should not pursue any career solely because it is popular or offers a high salary. Research and analyze whether you are eligible for it, how you can gain the right skills, and so on. You can take the help of learn advices and learn guides on Careervira to make this process much easier.

Here is a list of some of the top civil engineering job titles:

Besides these job roles, there are various other job opportunities as well. As a civil engineering degree prepares you to work not only in the construction industry but business, management, and financial sectors too. Some of the other civil design engineer jobs are listed below:

• Building Control Surveyor
• CAD Technician
• Consulting Civil Engineer
• Contracting Civil Engineer
• Design Engineer
• Estimator
• Nuclear Engineer
• Site Engineer
• Water Engineer

As per the US BLS, here is a list of the top-paying industries for civil engineers with civil engineer salary figures:

After gaining all the relevant information about top careers, high-paying industries, and the salary offered across different geographies, let us now focus on how you can also become part of such a wide sector. So, the answer is having the right resume and right skillset. How can you do that? To know about that, let us explore the next section.

The basics of civil engineering can be learned in an organized manner through online courses. Although a bachelor's degree is required to work as a civil engineer, online courses can support your resume and help you develop the necessary skills. Many online courses teach civil engineering, some exploring industries or job positions, whereas others focus on overall civil engineering.

Whether you are trying to get into the field or move to a different area of specialization, enrolling in an online course can be helpful. Online courses are a fantastic way to learn new things or update your understanding of particular tools and approaches. The following are some advantages of taking a course online:

• Explore different fields of specialization
• Enhance your resume with additional certificates to attract employers
• Discover the latest features for certain tools.

Here is a list of top-rated online courses of different levels offered by various leading course providers available at Careervira:

Construction Management Specialization

• Course Provider - Coursera
• Duration - 7 months
• Level - Beginner
• USP - International Faculty, Instructor-Moderated Discussions

This course offered by Columbia University specifically focuses on the planning and management of construction projects. It enables civil engineering students to better understand the construction industry and how to manage construction sites. The fundamentals of project planning and a more environmentally friendly project management method are taught to enrolled students.
 

Introduction to Surveying: Field to Finish in AutoCAD Civil 3D

• Course Provider - Pluralsight
• Duration - 175 minutes
• Level - Beginner
• USP - International Faculty, Hands-on Training

This course covers the fundamentals of land surveying, taking field measurement data from a surveyor’s tools and processing it into a dynamic Civil 3D model. It helps learners become acquainted with survey objects and databases. Furthermore, you will be taught how to investigate the sections of the Civil 3D user interface, special to survey operations, and the survey settings.
 

Engineering: Building with Nature

• Course Provider - edX
• Duration - 5 weeks
• Level - Intermediate
• USP - International Faculty, Case-Based Learning

This course explores the use of ecological processes and natural materials to create a hydraulic infrastructure that is both efficient and sustainable. Learners are exposed to a variety of case studies throughout the course to expand their understanding of ecological and engineering principles. It is taught by eminent Dutch ecologists and engineers, who consider the Building with Nature integrated design approach to be vital for a new generation of ecologists and engineers.
 

Masters Program in ETABS and SAFE Software for RCC, Composite, and Precast Buildings - Civil

• Course Provider - Skill-Lync
• Duration - 13 months
• Level - Advanced
• USP - Case Studies, Hands-on Training

This course is specially developed for individuals aspiring to become structural engineers. It teaches the basics of software and how it is used to design and analyze real-life structures. Additionally, it offers a range of courses on many topics, supplemented with projects that allow students to use what they have learned.
 

Autodesk Certified Professional: Revit for Architectural Design Exam Prep

• Course Provider - Coursera
• Duration - 18 hours
• Level - Advanced
• USP - Case Studies, Hands-on Training

The course will cover advanced modeling topics, including how to work with walls, floors and ceilings, stairs and columns, and other architectural topics. The course will also cover topics such as the types of families, phases, design options, work-sharing, and schedules. You will also learn about selection sets, detailed components, and color schemes.

Consider what you want to get out of a civil engineering online course before choosing one. While some courses are quite technical and concentrate on civil engineering theory, others focus on planning and managing the construction process.

If you are a beginner, selecting a course that focuses on foundations or offers a broad overview can make sense before going on to a more advanced course. The time duration is another crucial factor to take into account, as some are completed in a few hours, and others take several weeks. Knowing more about these courses will allow you to pick one that suits your interests and career objectives.

According to US BLS employment projections, there are 32,200 new civil engineer jobs estimated by 2026 out of other engineering jobs, which makes up 23%. By 2031, it is predicted that there would be close to the employment of 3,40,400 civil engineers. With all these data, it is ensured that the civil engineering field is quite promising and can offer a bright future. There are quite a few options in terms of branches, and you can follow the one that suits them best as per their interest.

Now that you have data about the top civil engineering jobs and the salary offered to them, you can make up your mind by analyzing the data and longevity. The only thing to keep in mind is that professionals should not just keep on following conventional paths but focus on the latest industry standards. It is essential in today's time to upskill yourself in trending tools and technologies. You can take the help of learn advices and learn guides available only on Careervira to make a more rational decision about gaining top skills.