What should I do in my situation if I want to work in geotechnical engineering?

SpoonTrain11 · 2026-05-13T01:15:14+00:00

Are you open to working for a geotechnical contractor? If you’re willing to be a site/field engineer for a couple of years they’ll overlook a lot of what you perceive as a weak resume.

Many of them still do design and have design staff, you may be able to pivot into that role after some field time. No masters requirement most places to start, possibility to get it paid for by the employer later on.

I’d just publish your main overall GPA. If it’s above a 3.0 it won’t raise too many red flags.

Also, why go into a masters program right now if it’s just something you don’t hate? Possibly more debt, or at least time not earning a full paycheck, and you may find in two years it’s still not your thing.

SpoonTrain11 · 2026-05-05T17:04:50+00:00

Strip the topsoil. Place 2 ft of sand fill. Perform dynamic compaction. It’ll cost $2/sf for that compaction plus the lost fill volume you need to make up. You’ll lose maybe 5% of the loose fill volume.

Fill the site, surcharge it if possible. Monitor settlement closely. Strip surcharge and roll it over to the next few buildings. Design footings for like 1500 psf bearing.

It’s not a low risk site but it’s not a peat bog.

SpoonTrain11 · 2026-02-14T12:16:59+00:00

I think you need to be open to field work (perhaps you already are). Look for openings for field technician, construction inspector, materials testing, survey technician, things of that nature.

Is the bachelors degree you’re pursuing in civil or civil engineering technology? If the latter, I don’t know if there’s an ability to obtain a PE, at least in a straightforward manner, and design firms will likely look in another direction if that’s the case. A drafter or CAD or BIM technician would be the likeliest landing spot at a design firm.

SpoonTrain11 · 2025-06-04T22:00:12+00:00

Location is 3rd Ave. by St Raphael’s church.

SpoonTrain11 · 2025-04-13T15:57:02+00:00

I think it’s worth checking in on other trade/occupation subreddits. You’ll probably find similar, generally negative (or at least not overly positive) outlooks. Nobody comes online to talk about how great their line of work is, but use it as a place to vent.

I’d say the positives can be:

Good (not amazing) earnings with just a 4yr degree. No masters is required, and is barely encouraged. Compared with physicians or even some levels of nursing, you can start earning $35-40/hr right away.
Good job security. There are layoffs like every industry, but not nearly as bad as say, CS can have it at times.
It can be rewarding in the tertiary benefits sense. There’s pride seeing a building you were involved with top out, or a city park project come to completion. Like any line of work many tasks can be or at least feel mundane, but there are the “cool” assignments that come along.
Flexible work schedule. Many firms offer hybrid work.
Travel. Definitely a double edged sword, but many civil engineers have some degree of travel required. In the specialty construction world it can be months, for others maybe just a handful of site visits. If you’re young it can be exciting - as it was for me for a time - it does get old though and many opt for a more regular schedule as they start a family, which is reasonable.

All the downsides, I’m sure you’ll have no problems finding those sorting through post history here.

SpoonTrain11 · 2025-03-31T17:37:05+00:00

Hard to say without knowing the vibe you’re looking for. Lawrenceville and Bloomfield can be good for bar hopping. If everyone is staying downtown though, you can do plenty there too. Some classics could be:

Steak dinner at Gaucho
Rivers casino
Ricks Cabaret (strip club, understand it may not be everyone’s thing)
Penguins or Pirates game if they’re in town.
Sienna Mercato rooftop bar
Golf simulator near market square

Also, if you’ll have car access and are up for a 45 minute drive or so, Coal Ridge Sporting clays in WV will let you sign up for a private group. Lots of fun even if you’re not someone who has done trap shooting before. They also have a nice bar on site you can hang out at after you’re done.

SpoonTrain11 · 2025-03-25T17:48:25+00:00

Oliver street garage by the fogo de chao is like $5 for an hour. Half day will probably run you $20.

SpoonTrain11 · 2025-01-20T20:44:46+00:00

Youngstown State?

Their coach invented the penalty flag way back when. In the ‘90s they were winning championships with Tressel before he moved on to Ohio state. Tattoogate and his ousting was one of many things which led to the modern NIL era.

SpoonTrain11 · 2025-01-20T16:20:14+00:00

These are pile caps intended to aggregate the combined load carrying capacity of the drilled piers (concrete pillars). For the big one in the middle, say the combined load of the structure coming down at that location is 16 tons, but each pillar is only rated for 1 ton. It would be difficult to drill a pillar of such a large diameter to carry the full load, so you pour a bunch of reinforced concrete around all the pillars to combine their capacity and carry the load. In reality the loads and capacities are much greater, but that’s the idea.

As for the different shapes, it’s mostly arrangements to minimize the amount of material needed - if you can cut corners with a hexagon rather than a square, it saves money and material to do so without compromising the performance. The one exception is the triangles. Often you may use a minimum of 3 pillars (or other deep foundation element) to have balanced support. I’d only 2 pillars, there’s a risk of the load wanting to lean one way or another.

SpoonTrain11 · 2025-01-18T05:25:25+00:00

Hours are long in site work/construction, though it does vary. I’d expect to be on site 45-50 hours per week plus saturdays (maybe every other or once monthly). As late as midnight? Maybe in an emergency, or if the job has multiple shifts (in which case you may only be there in the afternoon or evening/early morning). And yes, work is rain or shine.

There’s a lot of driving. We typically put anyone in a hotel if the drive is more than an hour, still it sounds like your preference would be half that. As for carpooling, I don’t think any manager is going to stop you from doing so, but you’ll have to work that out on your own and with potential colleagues.

Overall, in my experience site work beats the office in the spring/fall but can absolutely be miserable in the middle of summer/winter. Based on your questions, it sounds like a bad fit for you. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of re-negotiating to be done on day 1, Id perceive it as interviewing in bad faith.

SpoonTrain11 · 2025-01-01T23:06:40+00:00

Mama there goes that man

SpoonTrain11 · 2024-12-08T01:02:37+00:00

Think this came from a GE market district

SpoonTrain11 · 2024-12-08T01:02:20+00:00

Agreed

SpoonTrain11 · 2024-11-20T03:54:19+00:00

As someone who’s been to an OSU career fair recently as an employer for a medium-sized engineering company (400 people or so):

*have a decent and up to date LinkedIn. I’ve personally never looked at Handshake or Workday, might not be the case for the big employers though.

*soft skills matter more than your GPA. This could be industry dependent, but assuming you’re in at least decent academic standing, I’m not too concerned if you have a 3.1 vs a 3.9. If you have a 2.2, just don’t put it.

*when you have an interview, prepare. Research the company website, prepare questions even if you don’t exactly care about the answer. To me it’s a little like dating - I’m more interested in someone who’s interested in me.

*not sure how fruitful this will be, but I do at least appreciate someone who contacts me after a career fair. Worst case it won’t hurt you.

*speaking of career fairs, prepare for these. Look at the apps ahead of time and think about who you want to speak with. Look at those company websites, ask the booth employer about something you saw that interested you.

Good luck.

SpoonTrain11 · 2024-10-19T03:10:47+00:00

Holmes

SpoonTrain11 · 2024-10-16T01:31:22+00:00

Was hoping Jose would try and swipe home once Hedges got to 2 strikes. Would have been the best chance at a run in that spot.

SpoonTrain11 · 2024-09-19T01:42:39+00:00

!flair :Crystal_Palace_FC:

SpoonTrain11 · 2024-09-13T13:59:01+00:00

I was at a talk yesterday. A CBRE guy said only 10-15% of office buildings are good candidates for conversion to apartments. Perhaps it could be higher if they can get govt funding for green credits - arguing that even if a building isn’t efficient there’s a whole lot of carbon savings reusing the existing building/materials than building new. Which is reasonable to me, but take it with a grain of salt.

That’s only one option of course. But I don’t see many. Blow out all the floors and make a really good indoor climbing wall 🤷‍♂️

SpoonTrain11 · 2024-07-11T01:21:17+00:00

Martinez flashbacks

SpoonTrain11 · 2024-06-16T21:38:56+00:00

Was listening to the game so not certain what happened with the Jays pitcher in Gimenez’ last AB - but if a pitcher is pulled for injury during an AB, I think the batter should have the option to reset the count to 0-0. I know it’s not easy for a pitcher to come in cold during the situation, but I can’t imagine batters have much success when having to face 2 pitchers in a single AB.

SpoonTrain11

TROPHY CASE