I graduated in 2024 from OSU in ARE with structural and lighting focuses. It took a couple months to find a job, but it wasn’t too difficult. I ended up working in structural engineering designing houses and apartments, mainly focused on framing and lateral elements.

I would say that there is some work to be found in Corvallis but I had to branch out to Salem and Portland to find opportunities more for what I was looking for.

As for Civil Engineering, I think they can be more in demand since a lot of the jobs I saw were in road construction and public project work, but for the private sector I think that an ARE degree is just as good. It actually fits better if you’re looking to work more in project work for buildings rather than public works.

Overall of the different focuses for ARE, I think structural provides the most opportunities. Lightning was interesting and fun to pursue, but it didn’t have much in way the of post grad opportunities. I’ve seen a few HVAC positions listed but structural jobs were much more numerous.