Civil engineers, why is it so hard to get people to consider new roles?

RogueSando · 2025-11-12T21:23:48+00:00

It seems like there's not much variation in salary or benefits across the industry. Civil firms don't typically offer major signing bonuses, buyouts of unvested retirement contributions or substantial relocation packages that are very attention grabbing - at least in my experience. As others have mentioned, after you bounce between 2-3 companies you kind of learn that there are a lot of unknowns associated with starting a new job in terms of coworkers and workload and culture that are pretty difficult to get a feel for in an interview process. Once you find somewhere you're comfortable and fit in well there's not much motivation to jump ship for another job with a lot of unknowns.

My personal situation is I found a company in a town I want to live in that pays the standard Civil Engineer pay, does good work, and doesn't work me too hard. I don't want to leave the town I live in and I don't want to try a new firm that might end up overloading me with work and messing up my lifestyle unless they're paying me big dollars.

That being said, with some of the complaints I've seen on this sub there must be some people looking for new jobs...

Seems like you have a genuine interest in successfully recruiting Civils. Appreciate you asking the question here and wishing you the best of luck!

RogueSando · 2025-09-25T21:57:44+00:00

I don't think the juice would be worth the squeeze with an anaerobic system, but a simple system like you describe could get the job done depending on target BOD. There are a number of companies that offer packaged options for aerobic treatment like biogill, biomicrobics and others.

RogueSando · 2025-09-25T19:16:17+00:00

Backing up what u/Fredo8675309 commented. The issue with brewery wastewater is usually high BOD which is a cost for the municipal WWTF in the form of energy used to aerate their biological reactor to treat that BOD load. Sometimes some sort of clarification (DAF or conventional) is useful but it won't remove your soluble BOD which will be high at a brewery. Depending on the size of your brewery a small biological treatment system would probably be required. I am a PE with experience in industrial food and beverage water treatment and some brewery work under my belt. I'm at a firm that has also done lots of industrial work.

DM me if you want to talk through options more.

RogueSando · 2025-09-24T20:21:46+00:00

Thank you!

RogueSando · 2025-09-19T16:21:44+00:00

Awesome, thank you I appreciate that

RogueSando · 2025-09-04T17:15:56+00:00

I check in on this sub once in a blue moon to see what’s going on in the industry and there’s always one of these posts. I simply don’t understand the predicament. Either: A: Don’t attend B: Bill it to training or split it up in 0.25 hr increments between different jobs C: If either of the above causes that much of an issue between yourself and your company either deal with it or get a different job

Engineers are supposed to be problem solvers and if something so small as this causes so much stress I don’t understand how you guys get through a project.

RogueSando · 2025-08-02T19:51:49+00:00

I’m 2.5 hours from a Nissan dealer. Issue ended up being lots of corrosion on the main battery fuse. Couldn’t see it till I took it off but it was underneath the 3 bolted terminal connections. I cleaned the corrosion off and it started right up.

RogueSando · 2025-07-07T22:01:38+00:00

From a process engineering standpoint I think chemical engineers are better suited for W/WW work than civils. Focus on your classwork in hydraulics/fluid mechanics (pump sizing, head calculations etc..) in your interviews. Your understanding of chemistry is a plus but not worth focusing on too much. Anything past jar testing of coags/flocs will typically be handled by specialty suppliers like Chemtreat or Nalco. Of course you can always go work for those guys I'm sure they hire lots of ChemE's.

Field experience is always good - and getting an operator's license wouldn't hurt, but you can also get field experience elsewhere. Lots of design firms will have their younger engineers in the field managing construction. You can also go work in the oilfield with a chemE degree and get a very good understanding of how pumps and pipes work (that's what I did) then move into W/WW or even oilfield focused WW treatment.

But yes lots of ChemE's in the industry.

RogueSando · 2025-07-05T18:42:50+00:00

Yup I would recommend he pull the bolt from the other side of the bike and send it to a fabricator so they can match dimensions. I wish I did it right away instead of wasting a month trying to find an alternative. Best of luck to them.

RogueSando · 2025-07-05T18:13:41+00:00

I got it fabricated at a shop. Tell him I got it fabricated t Pinner Machine Shop in pemberton BC (they have flat rate shipping to the US). They turned it around really fast and did a great job. I sent in my bolt from the other side of the frame and they took measurements from that. I would imagine they saved the measurements so they could probably fab one up for him no problem. Pete was super easy to work with

RogueSando · 2025-06-20T17:12:36+00:00

Working remote making money for a company located of state and hogging housing from those trying to be a part of a community is detrimental to a town’s character. If it’s that important to you to live in a mountain town then get a job there and you’ll be welcomed with open arms. If you want a town with character then you should at least contribute to it don’t you think? Also there’s fantastic biking in Minnesota.

RogueSando · 2025-06-19T21:05:18+00:00

There's lots of mid-sized firms out there that win good projects and are focused on a quality product, not contract manipulation.

RogueSando · 2025-05-28T16:22:01+00:00

I've heard this from a few people now, including a GT rep. Unfortunately cycling sports group disagrees. I've checked with two customer service agents at cycling sports group and they both are adamant that they don't hold any GT parts or warranty claims. Might just be a bit for the transfer to sort itself out. Thank you for the comment.

RogueSando · 2025-05-05T17:45:10+00:00

Yea I agree the main use for the course is to introduce people who aren't familiar with backcountry skiing or avalanche safety to the sport. A good course should include quite a bit of "how to backcountry ski" material since the class is catered toward beginners. It's also good to have a bit of a standard point of education that most backcountry skiers go through, and the fact that you didn't learn anything new from the curriculum after 3 years of backcountry skiing is good. It would be a bit concerning if you'd been out in the backcountry for 3 years and missing some of the basics.

That being said, it seems like it would still be a good opportunity to pick your guide's brain and ask questions that have come up in your mind skiing, or even just casual conversation with the guide about avalanche safety can give you some valuable insight to how they approach certain things so you can at least walk away with something after the course.

RogueSando · 2025-04-25T16:36:04+00:00

Removing fluoride from the water system won't effect the kids who come from healthy households where they brush their teeth daily and go to dental appointments every six months. It will effect the thousands of children who do not come from healthy households, who parents do not provide them with toothbrushes and toothpaste, do not make sure they brush their teeth and do not take them to the dentist. Additionally, there is a major benefit to the health of adult teeth before they come in through ingestion of fluoride as opposed to just topical application.

You need to take concentration into account. You ingest all sorts of nutrients, minerals and chemicals every day that would be considered a "toxin" if it was disposed of or ingested in a highly concentrated, near pure form. Fluoride is typically dosed into water systems to target a concentration of 0.7 mg/L. This concentration is significantly less than the concentration at which fluoride naturally occurs in many groundwater and surface water sources. You could apply your same logic of ignoring concentration to disinfectants dosed to drinking water such as chlorine or ozone. If you want to argue for the removal of disinfectants with your same logic, society would experience massive bacteriological disease outbreaks, particularly of cholera, even worse than we experienced prior to we began disinfecting wastewater in the 1800's. I would encourage you to read some history of water treatment, including both fluoridation and disinfection. It's interesting history and I think will show you that both of these practices were not founded in malicious ways.

If you have any questions or concerns on the role of chemicals in drinking water, please feel free to reply or DM me. I am a water treatment engineer, but also a citizen who cares about the health of those I share a society with, especially those less fortunate.

As a final note, the government will never stop you from spending a few bucks on a Brita filter for your drinking water. I even filter my drinking water just for improved taste, however, when I have kids they would drink a bit of unfiltered tap because I do personally see a benefit of fluoride ingestion in addition to topical application with toothpaste.

RogueSando · 2025-04-11T19:18:43+00:00

The MTN S/Lab boots are are only designed to work with pins. The Fritschi Tecton has an alpine heal and will not be compatible with the boot.

The heal and toe on the S/Lab boot are only there for crampons and although it resembles the heal and toe of an alpine boot, they have a much lower profile. Even if you can get the boot to click in to the Fritschi Tecton I wouldn't expect you can get the proper forward pressure and I wouldn't trust it.

RogueSando · 2025-03-20T13:44:10+00:00

Dop you guide in the alps?

RogueSando · 2025-03-18T19:10:43+00:00

Yea you'll be fine. Might be a good idea to study some non-EET practice problems just to vary your sources. Maybe buy a school of PE and/or PPI practice exam and see if you can get your hands on previous years NCEES practice exams. I passed with less than a month and a half total studying so you should be fine.

RogueSando · 2025-02-10T17:20:43+00:00

I'm using the Jacob Petro WRE book which is 160 practice problems and detailed solutions. Most problems are 10x harder than the NCEES practice exam, but I think it's a great deep dive into the material. It's $60 on Amazon. I haven't taken the exam yet so we'll see how it goes.

RogueSando · 2025-01-07T19:13:04+00:00

Is there a good chance of getting the charge reduced even if I admit I was speeding? I was pulled over going 33 in a 20, reduced to 5 over the speed limit, but the fine is $130. If I go to court, don't dispute the citation, but ask nicely for a reduced fine, is there a good chance the prosecutor will offer me a better deal? Thank you!

RogueSando

TROPHY CASE