If you are someone who has a knack for design, construction, then Civil Engineering is the best career path for you. It is the second oldest and one of the broadest engineering disciplines after Mechanical Engineering. Civil Engineering is the reason behind all those towering buildings, highways and bridges that we witness in our day lives. Other avenues of civil engineering workplaces include road construction, building construction, township planning, metro construction among various others. Students who are looking for a change and want to get a self-direction, we are listing down a few options that they can explore and make an incredible career in:

Moving with Government Jobs

• As stated above, Govt. jobs are the most preferred job options for Civil engineers and most of them start the preparations for the final year itself.
• Government jobs include the PSU jobs through GATE, Central Government through ESE, State Government through State Engineering Services Exams, SSC-JE, Ordinance Factory, ISRO, BARC, DDA, DFCCIL, NHAI, RRB, State Electricity departments jobs.
• In 2019 civil engineers also have more than 10000+ jobs as junior Engineer (JE) posts through RRB, SSC, FCI & BTSC 2019 recruitment drive. So, if anyone wants to ensure the government sector job then this will be the golden opportunity for all and you must prepare for these papers.
• Candidates can utilize college notes and standard textbooks to build the concepts and basics and then refer all the freely available online resources and coaching materials to boost your preparations.

A Private sector job/Corporate Job

• A well-paid job, with the right amount of exposure and growth, results in the corporate sector. Fields like construction, real estate, infrastructure and industry projects also help on improving your professional as well as academic knowledge. As soon as you complete your graduate studies, start applying for all the big firms that are coming to place the students in the college.
• The most common and one of the easiest option for all the engineering graduates. After four years of studying and hectic examination schedule, students opt for the campus jobs through the various recruitment drives by companies. Job profile for campus recruitment may be technical/core industries (like L&T, Gammon India, Shapoorji Pallonji & Company, Shobha Developers, Nagarjuna Construction Company, Tata Projects, etc.).

Valuer/Surveyor

• Decent growth and good opportunities to earn but initial struggle is there for at least 6 to 7 years and it is hard. Sharp mind and ppl skills are must and you should have the ability to convince ppl and stand your ground.
• Should be perfect in surveys, Decent scope.

Study

• Engineering Field: You can pursue M.Tech or M.E. from college of your choice by giving the required entrance test. Students preferably choose GATE for pursuing M.Tech from IIT’s and IISc.
• Management: You can crack CAT, XLRI, CET etc to get into any of the management institutions in India. Generally students prefer IIM’s  and XLRI over other college’s.
• Techno Management: There are institutions like NICMAR, RICS, GICMAR etc which specialize in construction management. Even IIT Delhi and Madras offer construction technology as a PG course. There are also institutes like NITIE, NID etc which offer courses in industrial engineering and varied courses which some how align to civil engineers.

Higher Studies

• You can as well attempt CAT with your engineering degree. If you are fortunate enough, you may get into some IIM.
• MBA in construction management, project management, real estate management, infrastructure management are some of the courses offered by Indian universities and institutes are in very much in demand.
• For high salary packages and ease of life, candidates can pursue higher studies either in their technical field or non-tech field such as MBA.
• You get a white collar job with a decent pay after completion of these programs.
• Various companies are looking for candidates having a techno-managerial skill to perform challenging work in a highly competitive environment.
• You will acquire the knowledge and necessary skills sets, like: Project Management, Business Management, Construction, Sustainability, and Behavioral Aspects of the Projects.

Internship

• If you are finding it difficult to get a job, it is always advisable to get into an internship in any company related to your core domain.
• Professors in civil engineering departments, as well as administrative staff, often get connected by alumni who looking for summer interns, making them the best people to start within your search.

Teaching

• After completing higher education with good academics you can join any engineering college as Faculty in Civil Engineering department and continue with stable and easy work life.
• Decent opportunities but you enter a fractured system with no respect for the job and you have to sustain yourself in this scenario. Teaching and studying goes hand in hand so you have to do both.
• Also if you get a good ranks in ESE and GATE exams then, there are numbers of top coaching institute which are willing to offer you extremely high packages.

M.S. from Foreign

• Depending on your score in GRE, preferably 300+ you can choose one of the top ranking universities for M.S. in civil engineering with a specialization of your choice in foreign universities.
• Civil engineers are always in demand all over the globe. You can always look for better career opportunities in foreign countries. You can look at it one of the best civil engineering career options.
• For higher studies abroad, candidates have to appear for a standard test and language test.
• Discover new interests/hobbies and become a more independent person.
• Join an international student network
• Boost your CV
• Enhance your English skills

Construction Business

• A Bachelor’s degree doesn’t teach enough theoretical or practical knowledge for you to meet the requirements of the industry, be it the private sector or the public sector. That’s why there is always a year-long probationary training period for all graduate level entrants and the work you do is more or less worthless, not involving many things you learned in your courses.
• To start a construction business in India is one of the best civil engineering career option & a very lucrative opportunities for the young people.

Construction Designer is another alternative

• You can still do some certification courses on different courses available online or through distance education. Believe me, you can enhance your knowledge.
• Enlist all the certification courses/distance education courses you have done in your CV.

Important Courses as well as College Programs

Gate

1. M.Tech in transportation engineering
2. M.Tech in Structural Engineering
3. M.Tech in Water Resource Engineering
4. M.Tech in Geo-Technical Engineering
5. M.Tech in Environmental Engineering, etc.

National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai: NITIE is one of the top B-schools in India, located in Powai near Vihar Lake in Mumbai, India. It offers several programs like:

1. Post Graduate Diploma in Project Management (PGDPM)
2. Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Safety and Environmental Management (PGDISEM)
3. Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Management (PGDIM)

National Institute of Construction Management and Research (NICMAR):

• Programs offered from Pune, Hyderabad, Goa and Indore. Visit the website for more details.
• Official Website: https://www.nicmar.ac.in/
• NICMAR gives more weight on Managerial aspects of construction.

RICS School of built Environment, Amity University: Set up in early 2013 as an industry led initiative, it is supported by leading employers & ministry of urban development. It offers several programs like:

1. MBA in Real Estate and Urban Infrastructure
2. MBA in Construction Project Management
3. MBA in Construction Economics & Quantity Surveying
4. MBA in Infrastructure Management etc.

Global Institute of Construction Management and Research:

• This institute provides Post Graduate Diploma in some courses (AICTE approved).
• Official Website: http://www.gicmar.org/

Maharashtra Institute of Technology Pune:

• The Institute provides Post Graduation Diploma in Project & Construction Management.
• This Institute offer Computer aided programs for Civil Engineers.
• There are some more reputed institutions which offer similar courses.