Civil engineering and construction
This page has been designed to give a starting point for those looking into careers in Civil Engineering and Construction.
What is civil engineering and construction?
The construction sector consists of the following areas: infrastructure, repair and maintenance, public and private housing, non-residential public property (e.g. hospitals and schools), industrial (e.g. factories and processing plant) and commercial construction.
The variety of work available can be divided into five main areas:
- architecture - new builds, regeneration, conservation, commercial and redevelopment;
- civil and structural engineering - coastal and marine, environmental, geotechnical, structural, highways, bridges, rail, tunnelling, airports/ports, transport planning, power, water, public health, risk management and project management (crosses all sectors);
- construction and building services - construction management, design and build, facilities management and building services management;
- engineering construction - air, power, water, oil, gas and nuclear facilities, chemical process plants and infrastructure;
- surveying - building surveying, land surveying, quantity surveying, rural practice and hydrographic surveying.
Most employers are interested in students that have obtained relevant work experience, either through a placement or summer vacation work. Your career path is likely to be varied and may well change as you begin to specialise.
Prospects
Prospects is a graduate careers website with job profiles, including
civil engineer (consulting) and civil engineer (contracting).
In addition Prospects have produced a series of sector guides that give insight into a number of industries. The Construction Sector Briefing includes job titles, how to get into it, the big companies and information sources
Targetjobs
Targetjobs is a graduate careers website with the following job sector information :Engineering and Construction
Intute: Science, Engineering and Technology
Free online service providing you with access to the very best Web resources for education and research, evaluated and selected by a network of subject specialists.
B Constructive
Sector website for young people and those interested in a career in the industry, that includes information on, and links to, different careers, professions and qualifications, case studies of people already working in the industry and details of high profile UK construction projects.
Inside Careers guide to civil engineering
This is also available in hard copy from Moulsecoomb careers centre
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors careers pages
How do I get into it?
Each profession has its own academic requirements. Consult the Prospects website or the professional body for your profession for more information. Most are interested in students that have obtained relevant work experience, either through a placement or summer vacation work.
After a relevant first degree postgraduate study is not usually required unless you wish to specialise further. Each profession will have its own scheme leading to professional status.
There are a number of routes into the construction industry and many different occupations to choose between. The three main routes are craft, technical and graduate. Visit the Construction Skills website for full details of the routes into construction.
According to the Construction Skills council: "To be successful in today's employment market, you must take responsibility for continually improving your skills and understanding. You need to continue learning throughout your working life. You must also achieve relevant industry certification proviing your competence.
The dynamic nature of the construction industry means that training and development opportunities are regularly available. Find out how you could improve your skills and expertise.
In Brighton & Hove there are around 1,000 construction-related businesses, employing 3,700 workers. As these figures show, over 90% are micro businesses employing between 1 and 10 people.
Local employment in construction grew by 217% during the period 2000 - 2010. Despite this increase, construction still only accounts for 2.7% of local jobs, which is relatively small in comparison to the national figure of 4.9%
Construction Skills (formerly Construction Industry Training Board)
This site includes industry insights, job files, a construction projects database and information on qualifications.
Engineering Construction Industry Training Board
This site includes a careers section which contains information about different engineering jobs, and careers exhibitions.
Look for courses at the university
See the courses databases for University of Brighton courses in this area.
Finding a job or employer in this sector
Argent Recruitment
Argent Consultants are specialists in Construction Consultancy sector jobs throughout the UK.
ARRK Technical Services
Recruit for the civil engineering sector.
Building Services Journal online
Choose 'jobs' from the left-hand menu.
The Career Engineer
This is a specialist Engineering recruitment jobsite with many different opportunities.
CareerStructure.com
CareerStructure.com is a website that brings you thousands of building and civil engineering jobs UK wide, including a dedicated Graduate zone with careers advice.
Consensus London
Jobs in Construction, Building Services and Architecture.
Construction Jobs1
Advertises vacancies nationwide. Part of the One Job Group.
Constructor.co.uk
Features structural and civil engineering jobs. You can apply direct to recruiters via the contact details provided.
Go 4 construction jobs
This is a relatively new global recruitment website for the construction and engineering industry. Job profiles can be viewed in any of the 10 languages supported by the site Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish
Gradcracker
Dedicated to graduate engineer recruitment.
The Institution of Structural Engineers
Justconstruction.net
Construction job advertisement website
Matchtech
Graduate Careers for a Technical World.
RICS Recruit
This site is designed to enable recruiters and jobseekers alike to find a relevant qualified employee or industry employer.
TechXtra
Articles, websites, books, latest industry news, job announcements, ejournals, eprints, technical reports, the latest research, theses and dissertations and more in Engineering, Maths and Computing.
Total Jobs
This jobs board website contains a comprehensive Construction jobs section.
WorkUB
Employment and professional partnership opportunities worldwide.
Further Information and useful links
Association of Building Engineers
The professional body for those specialising in the technology of building.
Association of Consulting Engineers
Building and Engineering Services Association
Formerly HVCA. Representing over 1400 building and engineering specialists
Careers in Construction
Information on working in a variety of construction related degrees, training and vacancies.
Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers
CIBSE is an international body that represents and provides services to the building services profession. This site contains a careers section.
Chartered Institute of Building
The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) is the leading professional body worldwide for managers in construction.
Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management
Chartered Institute of Wastes Management
This is the professional body which represents over 4,000 waste management professionals - predominantly in the UK but also overseas.
Engineering Council
Regulator of the engineering profession.
Institute of Structural Engineers
Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)
An independent engineering institution whose principal membership is in the UK, but that has an expanding international membership.
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
RICS is a professional body addressing all aspects of land, property, construction and the associated environmental issues. The web site contains a 'Career Zone'.
Scientists for Global Responsibility and Technology
Has a range of briefings on ethical careers and a searchable directory of ethical employers.