On the first day of college, the engineering professors line up all the students and ask, “Who here knows how to be civil?” If you raise your hand and say “please” and “thank you,” congratulations—you’re halfway to being a civil engineer. Because being civil isn’t just about concrete and steel—it’s about courtesy, collaboration, and community.

Okay. That might not be totally right.

A civil engineer is civil because they engineer what people need for civilization.

You might prefer to live in a van down by the river, but most everyone else needs running water, sewer, power, and communications to live a life beyond the Bronze Age. Civil engineers do that. Like to walk everywhere you go? Then you’ll need to live in a city with tall buildings so everything is reachable. Civil engineers do that. If chariots aren’t your thing, you’ll need roads, bridges, parking, and safe traffic intersections for modern vehicles. Civil engineers do that.

I bet you like your water safe and clean. Civil engineers do that. What about your lakes and rivers? I suppose you want those clean, too. Civil engineers do that. And the water running off cities, roads, and parking lots when it rains? How do we make sure that’s clean, too? Civil engineers do that.

Civil engineers care about where you live, what you drink, the environment you love, and safe ways to get there. Civilization is because of civil engineers.

Want to be a civil engineer? Here’s some things you should know:

1. Civil engineers get paid well with healthy salaries and benefit packages. 
2. According to Ramsey Solutions, more of American millionaires are engineers than any other trade, because engineers make good money and are great planners.
3. According to the US Dept of Labor, America needs 25,000 new civil engineers every year to replace those retiring from the field. 
4. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, the country needs 110,000 new civil engineers a year to meet upcoming infrastructure project demands. 
5. As a result of fewer civil engineers available and the economic laws of supply and demand, civil engineer salaries are anticipated to grow faster than the national average pay growth over the next ten years and beyond.
6. Civil engineers do important work that improves the lives of all people, making civil engineering a rewarding and purposeful career choice.
7. Civil engineers are needed everywhere, and include disciplines such as:

• Structural engineering,
• Environmental engineering,
• Traffic engineering,
• Site engineering,
• Foundation engineering,
• Geotechnical engineering,
• And a multitude of sub disciplines.

Interested in becoming a civil engineer? Give Main-Land a call and sign up for our upcoming Meet Main-Land Day, where we open our offices to high school students considering a career in civil engineering. You’d be most welcome to visit, and we promise to be civil.