Newbie Civil Engineers that can't get work in Ireland?

drunken_munky52

Is it true that the downturn it the contruction industry is forcing civil engineer graduates to flee Ireland in droves? I just wonder this, becuase civil engineers don't need to be automatically associated with traditional constuction, eg. property, roads etc.

I would have thought that most firms including renewable energy would be demanding any sort of engineer they could find. Is there anything attactive about civil engineering in Ireland anymore?

sean_d

Not entirely sure about fleeing Ireland in droves, but very very few of us have found work as engineers here, so its a good possibility in the near future. If I'd found somewhere to go, I'd be gone too...but the downturn is global so even opportunities abroad are scarce.

A lot of my class are trying to hang on to the part time work they did through college (shops, pubs etc,) maybe 5-10% at most have secured graduate employment.
A significant proportion of the class are going into postgrad study to do something for a couple of years and hoping that things will have improved by then.

dan_d

It's not far from true.
For all our Government talk about investing in future development, how important engineering is,etc,etc they don't seem to have copped this yet.They honestly don't seem to realise how many of their young, well-educated grads and young people who are out of college a few years are now looking abroad for work - any sort of work - because this country won't have much to offer in the next few years.

spideog7

Yet they are still coming out with reports saying that there is a huge shortage of engineers, but they aren't looking for grads if there is !!

annfield1978

i would be very pessimistic about graduate opportunities. I am a senior civil engineer with a consultancy in dublin, and things are not good for current employees, so the chances of hiring someone with no experience is unthinkable. time to hit the road like in the 80s

dan_d

Spideog 7 - you've hit the nail on the head - exactly what I was trying to say and got confused!!!!
I know a few civil engineers who graduated in the 80s and while they've done well for themselves, they haven't worked as civil engineers ever. I suppose you've just got to be willing to look outside this field in these kind of times.Problem being that I'm not sure there are many jobs for Grads anywhere.

On a slightly different topic - I'll start a new thread if you think necessary Mods - why are there no engineers in Government???If we're problem solvers, we should probably be where the problems are............Seriously though, why are there not more engineers in Government?

drunken_munky52

spideog7 wrote: »

Yet they are still coming out with reports saying that there is a huge shortage of engineers, but they aren't looking for grads if there is !!

This is the most ironic thing indeed. But I reckon, no matter what the times, engineers will always be needed. I think now more than ever, but because getting a job is tricky these days, grads should be atleast thinking about becoming entreprenuers.

In ref to the last point, thow to hell is the gov going to lay the seeds of the "smart economy" if they aint to pushed on encouraging engineers to stay. We need more business minded Eaomon Ryans in the cabinat, with technically minded people in the Department of Transport, Communication and Energy.

With the publication of Bord Snip, they highlight "closing down a number of 3rd levels" and bringing back in fees, there is no way this smart ecomony is going to take off with economic thinking like this. What sort of ape could be more contridicting than Brian Cowen?

spideog7

drunken_munky52 wrote: »

This is the most ironic thing indeed. But I reckon, no matter what the times, engineers will always be needed. I think now more than ever, but because getting a job is tricky these days, grads should be atleast thinking about becoming entreprenuers.

I agree with you, there is great opportunities for engineers and there is going to be a big change in the way things work after this economic stuff clears off and I think that can only be a great opportunity for engineers to excel.

At the same time without any experience it's hard to know where you're niche is or even what you want to do or can do, I'm not civil myself I'm electronic and after chasing loads of jobs for months and getting nowhere I bailed. I wanted to get away, but to be honest the job I have here (in the US) isn't my field of things, I'm glad of it and to be getting experience but all the same I'd rather be doing something I really liked, even at home. I'm not worried, I've loads of time for it, but it's a pity to see some great heads leaving home because there is nothing there, sure the country will only ever go in bursts and splutters if everyone has to leave the second something goes wrong.

I'll admit they are doing some things right, I was at a conference in Canada recently and there was a guy there from New Zealand talking about tidal and wave energy, he named Ireland as one of very few places that had really got it right and were leading the way, thanks in part to specific government legislation in that field. I have to say I was proud to be hearing it but at the same time I wonder why that can't apply to other fields too. Correct me if I'm wrong but research into wave and tidal here at the moment only provides employment for around 50 engineers. Anyway that's just one example.

drunken_munky52

spideog7 wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong but research into wave and tidal here at the moment only provides employment for around 50 engineers. Anyway that's just one example.

Thats about right, down in UCC there is a research facility. At the moment wave and tidal are not feesible, but as the technology improves I am sure we will see these installations not to far after the downturn starts climbing again.

The one thing that worries me most now is the we effectively have a five year budget in place now. Gov funding will be cut across green intiatives and this will not help Ireland once the upturn comes. How wrong they got it in the good times, and how wrong they are now again.

greener&leaner

Tidal is feasible now, but it's being researched outside universities.
There'd be alot more jobs for Mech and Elec guys then for civils guys with it.

Take a look at these guys.
http://www.openhydro.com/home.html

spideog7

Technically feasible yes, economically feasible not so much. Wave, tidal and ocean current technologies are all feasible and many different working technologies are deployed... but turning that into a usable, reliable (bearing in mind that nobody is going to know the real lifetime reliability of these things until they've been in the water for a long time), economical prospect that a company will buy over competing technologies is the thing. Wind energy is a child of the 70's and it's only maturing and flourishing now, no matter how much people want it, ocean technologies aren't going to develop overnight, it'll be decades before we have the north atlantic lighting our houses.

More on topic is that this fact highlights the need for massive support in this industry to keep the research going and to continue to develop Ireland as a leader in this industry. It also highlights the need for engineers, the engineers that we are shipping abroad today are the one's we're going to need to solve the problems that haven't even been found yet in these technologies. The same goes for innovation in other industries and technologies too.