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jobs/internships

A

alphatarget1

Diamond Member
background:

I'm working on my BS in Civil Engineering and planning on going to grad school for structural engineering. I'm still employed at this city government engineering department, which is about 45 minutes from home.

Went to a conference and got some contacts, they seemed interested but they're like an hour each way at least. I got two calls so far from two other companies after posting my resume and one is about 35 minutes from my home, but they do environmental stuff which i haven't had experience for nor have the know-hows to do it. They said they'll forward it to the higher-ups (HR dept called.)

Another call i missed today was another firm that does structural stuff which is probably like, 50 minutes away. I'd have to cross a three dollar toll bridge in all of the scenarios which I'm not too fond of but hmm, don't know.

I'm graduating in 1 1/2 years... Here are my possible options:

stay where I am and make 13 bucks an hour (boo)
call up the people at the conference (commute)
enviro firm (shortest commute, no experience in enviro though)
structural firm, longer commute than current employer, but i am much more exposed to structures than anything else.

All of these other options are probably going to pay more than 13 an hour, otherwise I won't work for them. What would you do?
 
i see you live in contra costa county.. neato.. wanna hook me up for a job?? 😉

i'd say if you're sure you wanna do structural work, then go for the structural internship.. although jobs for the government, either federal or local, are good jobs to have.. hard to get, but also hard to lose.. and if you plan to stay in contra costa county for a while, then you've got it made.. where are you going to.. san francisco? why dont' you take bart? much better for commuting.. driving takes a toll on you.. i was driving 1+ hours to work each day from concord to santa clara, and 1.5-2 hours on the way home.. no fun
 
Originally posted by: habib89
i see you live in contra costa county.. neato.. wanna hook me up for a job?? 😉

i'd say if you're sure you wanna do structural work, then go for the structural internship.. although jobs for the government, either federal or local, are good jobs to have.. hard to get, but also hard to lose.. and if you plan to stay in contra costa county for a while, then you've got it made.. where are you going to.. san francisco? why dont' you take bart? much better for commuting.. driving takes a toll on you.. i was driving 1+ hours to work each day from concord to santa clara, and 1.5-2 hours on the way home.. no fun
Click to expand...

haha i don't have that many contacts yet, but they're really easy to get.

government jobs are hmm... not my cup of tea.

I'm going to grad school after this BS degree, preferrably out of california. gonna see what it's like to shovel snow and have white christmas.
 
You think having at least some background in envriomental would look good on a resume?

Seems to be an up and coming thing, so at least having done an internship in it might give you a leg up in a job search.
 
Originally posted by: Sluggo
You think having at least some background in envriomental would look good on a resume?

Seems to be an up and coming thing, so at least having done an internship in it might give you a leg up in a job search.
Click to expand...

True, I mean, if I'm planning on going to get at least a M.S. in structures then it seems kinda right to go with some more experience in structures.

But then it might fall through, you never know. Problem is I don't have any classes taken remotely related to environmental engineering, compared to almost 4 structures classes I have already had. I guess they'll train me if they think I'm qualified. Maybe they'll end up putting me to design piping systems or conduits, those I can do.
 
Personally I commuted (well, it'll be past tense in 3 weeks) 45 miles each way to school and live 10 miles from work. This was for my undergrad. I'll be starting full time once I graduate.
 
Main thing I'd use to determine what to do is the pay. Do the ones that are farther away pay more to make it worth your while to drive all that extra way? And with the enviro one.. You don't have experience but I'm sure they know that and they called you anyway. Could be a good way to get some experience...
 
I'm sure whatever they want you to do is within the realm of your experience. Distance has nothing to do with salary. Its totally up to the company as far as what you'll be paid. Its the same if you live 1 or 100 miles away.
 
Take whichever will further your career the most ... but balance that with the amount of commute you'll have. Personally I can't stand commuting, so if it disrupts the rest of your life it isn't worth it. Back to my point though, which are you most interested in in terms of the work?
 
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