Civil Engineering Fresher
Civil engineering is considered as one of the oldest engineering branch known to mankind. There is a huge demand for competent civil engineers in India each year due to the rapidly growing economy and infrastructure investments. The major career paths after graduation for a Civil Engineering Fresher is either to join a job or to pursue higher studies. The jobs can be from any of these three sectors:
- Private sector jobs
- Government sector jobs
- Public sector undertaking (PSUs) jobs
Private sector jobs for Civil Engineering Fresher
The type of jobs offered by private companies is in construction and design. The salary packages will range from INR 10-15,000 to 30-35,000 for a fresher. Also the growth in private sector industries is linear for 5-10 years and afterwards it will be exponential based on skills you possess.
Also a good knowledge in CAD software, estimation, and Finite Element Analysis will be additional qualifications that increase chances of promotion for Civil Engineering Freshers. Large companies usually recruit directly from the campus, depending on the brand name of your college. Specialist companies invite application through advertisements for filling positions. The major mass recruiters in private sector are L&T, Jaypee, Vedanta, Shapoorji etc.
Government sector jobs
It is highly preferred by Civil Engineering Fresher who seek more stability and job security rather than high scale of pay offered by private companies. The highest sought after job in this field is Indian Engineering Services (IES). This job provides high social status and perks equal to IAS officers/Civil Servants.
The recruitment exam is conducted by UPSC every year and typically consists of 3 stages such as preliminary, main examinations and interview. The scale of pay starts from INR 45-50k. Also there are some other opportunities such as Junior/Assistant Engineer (AE) in Central PWD, State departments, Military Engineering Services and Railway Engineering division etc.
Typically almost all the recruitment is through UPSC and SSC. Some other non-technical options are SSC-CGL, IBPS-PO, IBPS-Clerk, Civil Service etc. The eligibility for these jobs is only graduation. Another option is jobs in CSIR labs recruited on the basis of GATE score and they offer research associate position with a starting pay of INR 25k-35k.
Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) jobs
PSUs recruit engineers through GATE or their own separate exam. GATE exam is conducted in every year by various IITs/IISc in the country. High rank in the examination typically below 1000 can assure a PSU job. Major recruiters in this field are IOCL, ONGC, BHEL, NTPC etc. The grade of pay will be INR 35-50k. Also some other organizations like ISRO, BARC and DRDO conduct their own examination and interviews for recruitment. The growth of career in this sector is also linear.
Higher studies
The most preferred higher studies options for Civil Engineering Freshers are M Tech/ME, MBA & MS. MTech. is offered by many Government /Private colleges/IITs on various fields such as:
- Construction Management
- Structural Engineering
- Geotechnical Engineering
- Environmental Engineering
- Transportation Engineering
- Irrigation Engineering etc.
Generally the allotment is based on GATE score. Some Private colleges prefer Non-Gate students also. For a teaching job in Government or Private Colleges, M Tech and PhD is a must. The initial salary of an Assistant Professors in Government/Private colleges/IITs is INR 75k.
Also after MBA will you can get jobs in administrative/Human Resource Management sections in the various private companies. Another option after post graduation studies is Research jobs. Research jobs are mainly concentrated on Material science, Transportation Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Modeling and Computation.
Entrepreneur
If you don’t want to work under a typical company, you can go for starting your own company. Entrepreneurs are welcomed by many of the state governments and you can apply for business loan if you want any capital.