Project Engineer Careers (A Field Engineer's Perspective)

After completing their university degree, most engineering graduates tend to go into one of two lines of work:

1. Engineering Design - I’ve been told approximately 10% of engineers end up in this area. I find this a little bit surprising because there is a group of us from university that "hang out" together regularly and out of us 80% are working for a design consultancy.

2. Project Management - At university we were told 90% of engineers end up working in the field. Apart from approximately half a year in the office, I’ve spent about 5 years working on site as a construction engineer or “project engineer” as opposed to a structural/civil or "design engineer".

I've noticed that regardless of one’s discipline, those that work in design seem to refer to their discipline in their title and on their business cards (e.g. "Civil Engineer") while those that work in the field are just Project Engineers.

Design Engineer Career Path

The way I see it - if you’re a designer you tend to spend pretty much all your time in the office, calculating, designing, drawing etc. As time goes on you move up the ladder to managing other designers. There is the risk of not having a good feel for constructability. When you get bogged down in the detailed design you sometimes lose sight of the bigger picture or design a structure such that it is difficult and/or expensive to build.

But design can be fun. I did a little bit of design as a graduate and really enjoyed being “smart” about it - writing spreadsheets that do quick calculations for me such that I can design a bridge very quickly. I had no idea about construction and I struggled with the lack of knowledge at the time - it is just something that has to come with experience.

Project Engineer Career Path

I worked mainly in the field on projects involving the construction of roads and reservoirs. As a project engineer I was exposed to a massive range of experience. I personally enjoyed it a lot more than design work. It was more challenging. I was exposed to managing people, safety, quality, technical queries (liasing with designers), commercial, procurement and basically interfacing with every other area found in an engineering construction company.

As I move up the “food chain” in my company, I feel like I can jump into any area of management I choose and excel at it. I can step into a Project Management role or a Commercial Manager role for example. I feel like I have a more diverse range of skills. On the flip side, working away from home for an extended period of time can get tiring and if you have a family, working closer to home would probably start looking more attractive.

To find out more about project engineering, have a read of this insightful article: "A Day In The Life of a Project Engineer".