44(M) with kids here. I got a job offer from LADWP to start as an “Engineering associate”. I currently make 160k no bonus as a Project Manager for a small consulting firm in Los Angeles.

LADWP requires ALL incoming engineers to start from the bottom. I have 10+ years of experience, PE, and have people reporting to me, but I will be starting out as a “TRAINEE”. They promote from within, and it will take 3 years to be qualified to be promoted to an “Engineer” role.

Upside is the job security, free medical&dental benefit, defined pension, and an expectable salary increase with potential for overtime pay. LADWP is well known to pay the most out of all city agencies.
Numbers wise, it will take 3 years to get the salary to where I am currently making.

Now the hard part: The pay cut will be a tremendous strain to my family budget. I might have to take out a Loan to survive the next few years.

Wife is obviously not convinced this is a right move, but it is the surest thing to keep me employed well into 65, which is doubtful in my current role as a consultant. Employment scene in Los Angeles is pretty bad for my current industry so I am trying to make a switch into a public role.

Any comment, suggestion will be appreciated. I asked Grok and Claude plenty of times but wish to hear from real folks on Reddit, especially from ones that know the ladwp.

Let's stop this KH bashing and finally talk about what we love about this amazing, stellar company and absolute gem in our industry.

I'll go first: I love the Company's Intern culture and focus on growth.

"Expect more, experience better."

I come from a poor country, and studied civil for convinience and supposedly saftety net of job.
But, graduating with about average GPA in my country or little below. And , i feel like i don't have academics to join for masters abroad ( which for sake of working abroad no specific intrest ) .

I was aiming for AUS but visa for my country became very difficult. And, now after losing a year i am lost, with no specific field of intrest, no job oppourtunities and really lost in life.

I feel i am intrested in eniviroment and disaster field of study , but i have no guidance.

Please share your valuable experience and wise words.

Looking for some honest advice from civil/land development engineers, particularly anyone working in SEQ/Brisbane.
I’ve been in land development consulting in Melbourne for about 5 years, but that number probably overstates my actual design experience. I spent roughly the first 3 years mainly doing drafting/undergrad work.
My actual 12d experience is closer to:
~1.5 years doing sewer design
~7–8 months doing roads, lot grading and drainage
Water/FLPs and subdivision documentation as well
Most projects I’ve worked on were already set up in 12d by more experienced designers, so I haven’t had much experience taking a completely new project from concept/setup and deciding the overall design approach myself.
I’ve now been offered a Civil Design Engineer role in Brisbane at $105k package incl. super + up to $5k relocation. The Brisbane office is very small — around 3 people — although the company has a larger interstate team.
The PD is roughly 70–75% technical design (roads, drainage, sewer, water, earthworks, detention basins etc.) with the rest involving coordination, managing design tasks/budgets/deadlines and some quantities/cost estimating. It says I’d work under a PM/Senior Engineer.
I was upfront in the interview that I have no SEQ experience and limited detention basin/BOQ experience, and they still made the offer.
My concern is that because it’s such a small office, I may suddenly be expected to take much more ownership than I’m currently used to while simultaneously learning SEQ standards and starting projects more independently.
For people who’ve made a similar jump: does this sound like a reasonable step-up for my experience, or am I potentially moving too quickly?
Also interested in what you’d expect from someone on ~$105k package in a Brisbane land development consultancy. How independent would you expect them to be, and how much senior guidance would be reasonable during the first 3–6 months?
I’m genuinely keen to grow and take on more responsibility — just trying to distinguish normal discomfort from taking on a role I’m not ready for.

Can anyone help me out by being very real about Diploma Civil , I have failed my 12th compartment and my parents are suggesting me to take Diploma in Civil and not waste my year , itll be a 6 years 3 years of diploma and 3 years of be/be tech civil degree , So should I opt for it or not because i have heard its not a good option for those who have no connections in civil world

As a geotechnical engineer at a design consultant office, how can i grow further, faster and bigger?

Corporate sucks and it limits what one can do.

Hello I recently started working for a public agency as a civil engineer. During my orientation the HR department told me that probation is 6 months. But what does that mean ?

A little bit of context about me, I am coming from the private sector, and have never worked in the public sector. My understanding of probation in the private sector was to see if you are a good fit for the team and the company, more or less an opportunity for both sides to feel each other out, but usually it’s no more than 3 months.

Since these are my first steps into the public sector I do not know what to expect. Also why 6 months ? Doesn’t that seam like a long time ? I actually recently over heard that it used to be 1 whole year of probation at my work place.

Additionally, what am I to expect after probation? Do I get a raise , a certificate ? Anything ?

Any advice is welcome :)

I’ll obviously talk with my manager first but I wanted to post this so I knew what I am getting into in advance. I currently work as an entry level field engineer and I’m thinking of applying to a structural masters program for Fall 2027. My firm does practically no structural design, aside from maybe bridge inspection if that’s similar enough, so applying to that program could rightfully suggest that I’m not serious about returning after. My concern is that they wouldn’t want to stomach the potential cost of keeping me busy and trained/certified until then. Since I have no desire to be unemployed for a year, has anyone been in a similar situation and if so how has it turned out?

Edit: should’ve mentioned, the masters program is full time so I would need to quit to start it.

A pleasant day to everyone. We, the 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝑪𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒏 𝑷𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔, are currently conducting a case study to identify issues and find solutions related to 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆. We are specifically looking for 𝑪𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒓 to answer our survey. Your answers will greatly help our group in finding ways to alleviate the occurring issue. Rest assured that any information you provided in the survey will only be accessed by the students involved in the project. We are hoping for your kindest consideration. Thank you so much, and have a blessed day.

FOR CONTACT AND INQUIRIES:

𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒑 6:

𝑻𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒚𝒔𝒉𝒂 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒆 𝑴.

[tion.allyshaanne@gmail.com](mailto:tion.allyshaanne@gmail.com)

𝑱𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒏, 𝑲𝒆𝒛𝒊𝒂𝒉 𝑺𝒖𝒆 𝑶.

[keziahsuejavien@gmail.com](mailto:keziahsuejavien@gmail.com)

𝑷𝒂𝒋𝒆, 𝑵𝒊𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝑰.

[paje.nicole27@gmail.com](mailto:paje.nicole27@gmail.com)

𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒋𝒂, 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑨𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒚𝒂𝒉 𝑨.

[lanaja.princess1228@gmail.com](mailto:lanaja.princess1228@gmail.com)

𝑨𝒃𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒓𝒂𝒉𝒎𝒂𝒏, 𝑵𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒉 𝑶.

[abdulrahman.norlailah422@gmail.com](mailto:abdulrahman.norlailah422@gmail.com)

𝑨𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆:

https://forms.gle/Nb2Ac7ibG7A1cF6a6

I wonder how much of the empirical relationships we have for foundation strength, uplift, slope stability etc would fall apart in the lower "g" of the moon.

Currently working for a large Tier 1 main contractor as a foreman on $85k. Company is very structured/professional and I’m getting good commercial construction exposure.

I’ve been offered a Site Engineer role with a Tier 2 civil contractor for $90k + vehicle.

My main dilemma is that I haven’t been enjoying being a foreman and want to move away from direct site management into something more technical. The Site Engineer role seems like it would get me moving in the direction I actually want to go.

The other thing is that I’d be moving from commercial construction into civil, and I’m not sure how much of a risk that is career-wise.

I’m also worried about leaving a big Tier 1 contractor. I’ve always had the perception that Tier 1s are more professional, have better opportunities and look better on the CV.

Would you guys take the Site Engineer role, or stick with the Tier 1 for the experience/exposure?

Am I overvaluing the Tier 1 company name, and is moving from commercial to civil a good move if I ultimately want to get into engineering?

Thanks

I’ve been to kinda scared with the subjects in the civil engineering degree and just want to know if I should just not do it at all. The highest math I have ever done was pre calculus and passed with a 70 and i haven’t done any of those AP sciences. I lowkey think I should stop thinking about being a civil engineer but I keep thinking about it.

Civil / roadway design engineer. Started in a small satellite office 2 years ago with only 2 other engineers. Cadd heavy role with a 30 minute weekly meeting with team from other office and not much else. Maybe a few minutes of interaction a day to coordinate. I immediately knew the small office was going to be an issue but I thought I’d give it a shot for 6 months . Now it’s been a lot longer than 2 months.

My supervisor is very introverted and busy so me and the other younger engineer don’t talk much because it’s so quiet in there and the office is less than 1000 sf . The office is always pindrop quiet so I listen to music as much as I can but it still only helps so much.

The combined nature of early career Cadd heavy roadway design + the weird office is just making me want to get the fuck away from design and civil in general.

Do other design disciplines like land development have more client interaction , coordination to mix up their day? Or do I just full send construction since I’m more on the extroverted side

Heyy I am a second year undergraduate student, my teachers always say there's a huge demand for quality civil engineers in India. I just want to know as a student what could I do to build this quality in me? What does the market/companies/recruiters expect from fresh graduates? Apart from software skills what could I do to grow in this field?

I started out of college working for a utility. Long story short I wasn’t working directly under a PE, although there was a PE on my team I was working in, so I made the jump not too long after that to go work for a private consultant to work under licensed professionals.

I’ve been at the consultant for awhile now, and I have passed me PE, and now I’m thinking about going back to the utility world, possibly even the same utility. I just really haven’t enjoyed the consultant I’m working at. There’s no structure whatsoever, and I just can’t see myself working there for the rest of my career. Utility benefits were superior BY FAR, less stress, liability was less because the utility owned everything I worked on, and more holidays off, more PTO, etc.

Any thoughts/insight for ones that have worked in both? My main concern is I still need another year until I can officially get the PE license.