This is the eleventh instalment in a series of blogs that provide information on occupational roles that employers struggle to fill. In this article we take a look at the role of civil engineer.

What does a civil engineer do?

Civil engineers work in several industries including:

• Construction
• Oil and gas
• Mining

Within these industries there are many types of civil engineer, including:

• Geotechnical engineer
• Tunnelling engineer
• Petroleum engineer
• Drilling engineer
• Completions engineer
• Fluids engineer
• Reservoir engineer
• Offshore and subsea engineer
• Control and instrument engineer
• Process safety engineer
• Wells engineer

Civil engineers design and shape the world around us. Civil engineers make sure that we have roads, buildings, access to water and all sorts of other important things. They are problem solvers and idea generators.

How do you get into civil engineering?

If you want to be a civil engineer, maths and science are the most important subjects to study. A healthy dose of creativity won’t hurt either! The Institute of Civil Engineers has loads of resources on subjects and qualifications for civil engineering. You can find these here. You can also find some resources on the tomorrows engineers website.

Civil engineering skills include:

• Excellent maths, science and IT skills
• Communication skills
• Critical thinking / problem solving skills

The average starting salary for a civil engineer is £24,000.

The labour market

The civil engineering workforce is projected to grow by 6.1% over the period to 2024, creating 5,300 jobs. In the same period, 23.7% of the workforce is projected to retire, creating 20,600 job openings. Read more about engineering careers.