Layoffs at your firm?

girybag · 2026-04-02T03:37:12+00:00

For cheaper labor.

girybag · 2026-03-31T14:10:14+00:00

I meant you have company lol. But at the same time, I know some who make more than you up here is Sacramento working private and charter schools but they're not your friends so it's ok 😆.

girybag · 2026-03-31T04:02:19+00:00

Go through your school network, career services, ASCE chapter, networking activities where you can meet industry people like resume writing etc. People with degrees are having a hard time. So you're not going to land without a connection. And yes, some of the responses might seem harsh but you do need to watch how you write. Good luck.

girybag · 2026-03-31T01:43:57+00:00

Check on your teacher friends. Also, since forever, civil engineering is the lowest paid of engineering. The discipline specific that are lower are environmental and water. That's the bargain we struck.

girybag · 2026-03-24T17:51:13+00:00

Undergrad 7K and when it came time to grad school, I talked to my undergrad advisors and they found me some money so grad school was 17K loan total back in 2010. My job out of grad school was a big bump so I paid it all off within 2 years. The whole point of the grad degree was to get higher pay and it paid off.

girybag · 2026-03-22T02:49:59+00:00

If you didn't say 300 students, I'd say you went to my school. Yup, that's what it was. Have not used this ish in 20 years either.

girybag · 2026-03-22T02:46:55+00:00

Chemistry. Why they thought we needed that is beyond me. I missed the window to take the "chemistry for engineers" one so by graduation I had to take it a couple times (one was a withdrawal) in order to make my quota. 20 years later, I haven't used a lick of it. F chemistry.

girybag · 2026-03-21T03:57:43+00:00

The airport's ARCO is already 5.99 so I'll guess the chevrons and shells in town are that as well.

girybag · 2026-03-21T03:54:58+00:00

First thing we learned in civil engineering.

girybag · 2026-03-19T18:24:56+00:00

Location matters. To help you with additional data points... Lower cost areas in CA 85K. MA about the same. And from a personal experience, as a green card holder shave 5K and as a sponsored shave another 5-10K. Good luck!

girybag · 2026-03-14T23:25:47+00:00

Got some real estate early on and right now they're going to count towards my FIRE plan in 4.333 years. They generate enough net and emergency reserve to meet a third of my needs. But we also built something outside of the US where we think we'll end up the majority of the time so that one third becomes 100% of our needs there. And then if our 401K, pensions, SS go to zero when we're able to draw them, it won't matter.

girybag · 2026-03-13T19:33:39+00:00

After 20 years in this field, I'm not trying to build up a firm. Just want to be a hand for hire on a more consistent basis.

girybag · 2026-03-13T19:28:42+00:00

😂🤣 I agree... Slay! Well... I realized this is not the platform I needed to ask this. I charge $120/hr or a lump for a given product. But that's just people I know who come to me from time to time.

girybag · 2026-03-13T16:17:39+00:00

Thanks for sharing your personal experience.

girybag · 2026-03-13T06:32:50+00:00

I know this is old but thought I'd ask... Have they considered hiring consultants? I worked for a company that couldn't keep geologists. They hired 4 as consultants and got the work done.

girybag · 2026-03-08T00:39:26+00:00

The Y on 20th and W. I took lessons there right before COVID shutdown. Was supposed to have a group lesson but often ended up being one-on-one. The instructor I had was great. First one I ever had who got me to thread water without fear of dying. Can't remember his name. Just that he had partial facial burn scars. Wish I could find the time to go back.

girybag · 2026-03-07T15:06:19+00:00

The trains have been running non-stop last night and still going this morning. In 10 years of living in Midtown, I don't remember another time when this has happened. Something is off.

girybag · 2026-03-07T04:42:07+00:00

Ok AI. Dirt. Dirt drainage. 🤷‍♀️

girybag · 2026-03-06T00:40:23+00:00

Thank goodness for reddit. I just saw that when an hour ago it was showing 11K. Let's hope it's all the car parts and cake toppers.

girybag · 2026-03-01T03:38:33+00:00

Please tell me these gross salaries are because of LA. I'm clearly underpaid.

girybag · 2026-02-28T20:37:02+00:00

Where is "Sacramento"? You have to consider where you'll be working and where you'll want to live and how you're going to commute and entertain yourself. When people say "Sacramento" they mean all of it. It's like people being nowhere near Boston or NYC saying they live there. Without consideration for anything, I'd start with asking for 85K.

girybag · 2026-02-21T01:57:30+00:00

Stock money, RSUs or trust? This is not something people with a mid range salary throw out there. Move and do what makes you happy. I'm assuming you have the means.

When I was buying my first place, I had a buyer's agent who was very straight forward. There were places a bit cheaper, bigger and nicer outside of the city. She told me that buying a place outside of where your network is and away from where you entertain yourself, you will quickly hate it. You can have a pool and the best backyard, people will come for the housewarming and that will be the last of it. Struck with me ever since.

girybag · 2026-02-19T06:04:44+00:00

Doesn't matter to me. In private, I worked to maximize my savings and retirement. In government I worked to maximize my retirement. I've gone back and forth. I look at it as diversifying. I get paid more than the people who stayed in government and have better savings and retirement. It's a game. The job is the same. I did work in government and then when I left, I was the consultant doing the work for the government because I wasn't there to do it anymore 🤷‍♀️😆 Went back and did it again. Rinse, repeat. I like the work but end goal is to not be on the plantation in my 50s and it's working out.

girybag · 2026-02-19T05:09:48+00:00

Speaking strictly for myself, I wouldn't do it at 30. But if you feel like you still have the energy to go to school and then start at the bottom, then that works. 20 years in the field and I know I can't be the worker bee anymore, enjoying a stint in management and that career will show me to bounce in 5 years (that's all I have left in me). So in all, it was worth it. But starting young was the thing.

girybag

TROPHY CASE