Civil Engineering, Geomatics & Construction
Civil Engineering, Geomatics and Construction
About
This sector offers a variety of opportunities - from technical roles to those in management or engineering.
Careers advice
- Prospects: Property and Construction
- targetjobs: Engineering
- targetjobs: Construction and property
- Guardian Careers - Building a career in property & construction (Feb 2015)
Industry news
- Construction News - news and commentary from the construction industry
- Building - online magazine for the UK construction industry
- New Civil Engineer - news and features from the UK civil engineering industry
- The Structural Engineer - IStructE's bi-monthly journal
- Bridge Design and Engineering - covers built crossings of all kinds
Professional bodies
These represent people working in the sector, providing training and networking opportunities. They often provide careers support for students and graduates.
They also provide development for people already working in the sector. Follow them and sector skills bodies on LinkedIn, or visit their websites news, contacts, work experience and vacancies.
Professional societies/institutes
Civil engineering and construction
- Construction Industry Council (CIC)
- The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) - includes careers information
- Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE)
- Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)
- Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) - includes become a structural engineer
- Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) - includes advice on getting into the field
- International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE)
- The Association of Women in Property
Surveying
- Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) - includes careers information
- Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV)
- Chartered Institute of Civil Engineering Surveyors (ICES)
Geomatics
- RICS: Geomatics - includes pathway guides to professional accreditation
- Association for Geographic Information (AGI) - industry news and jobs
- Geological Society - information, events and publications
- Society of Exploration Geophysicists
- Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management
- The Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society (RSPSoc)
- International Federation of Hydrographic Societies - also includes a list of member societies
- International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing - also includes a members directory
Cartography
- British Cartographic Society - includes career information and vacancies
- Society of Cartographers - awards, information, vacancies, opportunities and summer school information
Research councils and research centres
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
- Science and Technology Facilities Council
- British Geological Survey
Sector skills councils/industry associations
- CITB: Go Construct
- Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) - representative body for civil engineering contractors
- Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) - includes information on careers in engineering construction
- The Survey Association - includes Becomeasurveyor.co.uk
- Association of Consulting Engineers (ACE)
- Association for Environment Conscious Building (AECB)
- Association of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Specialists
Find professional bodies outside the UK on GoinGlobal by selecting ‘Professional and Personal Networking’ on each of the individual country guides.
Making contacts
Talking to people working in the sector can give you an insight into roles. It can be useful for networking and making speculative applications.
You could start with:
- Newcastle alumni on LinkedIn – find out what they did after graduation and contact them for advice
Social media, particularly LinkedIn and Twitter, is useful for making contacts, finding employers and opportunities. Find out more about how to use social media for your career and subscribe to our Civil Engineering Twitter list.
Events
Recruitment fairs, open days, talks and events give insights and opportunities to make contacts. Regular events for this sector include:
- ICE: North East branch events
- AGI: Early Careers Network
- Employer & Sector Insights
- Recruitment Events
Related sectors
You may also be interested in Engineering, Energy and Utilities or Property & Surveying.
Or see our other Explore Occupations pages for more options.
Roles & Skills
Have a look at the job profiles in this sector on Prospects and targetjobs to find out more about what these roles involve and how to get into them. These are just some of the profiles available:
Civil engineering and construction
- Building services engineer
- Civil engineer - Consulting
- Civil engineer - Contracting
- Engineering geologist
- Estimator
- Site engineer
- Structural engineer
- Water engineer
Geomatics
- Land/Geomatics surveyor
- Cartographer
- Geographical information systems officer
- Geological mapper
- Hydrographic surveyor
For roles relating to building and property surveying, see Property & Surveying.
Skills employers look for
Employers in this sector look for skills including:
- excellent problem-solving, maths and IT skills
- strong technical knowledge and skill with specialist software
- good communication skills and the ability to convey complex information to non-technical colleagues
- the ability to plan, prioritise and manage projects
- a commitment to keeping up-to-date with new developments and relevant legislation
- leadership skills and the ability to work in multi-disciplinary teams
Gaining Experience
Finding a job in civil engineering and the construction industry is competitive.
Relevant work experience is invaluable in developing expertise. It also demonstrates your commitment to this area of work.
Large recruiters, such as Arup and Balfour Beatty, advertise summer or year placements. These are usually aimed at students in and above their second year of study. Applications open early in autumn and closing dates are usually between December and February.
The Environment Agency offer geomatics placements to undergraduate students in their penultimate year.
Work experience opportunities with smaller companies are not always advertised. You may need to contact the employer with a speculative approach.
Professional bodies and research councils also advertise opportunities. See About for a list of organisations.
Read TARGETjobs Construction work experience: what you need and how to get it.
Internships and placements
- Search for vacancies on MyCareer
- Internships, placements & shadowing
- Gradcracker - includes work placement search facility
- Year in Industry (YINI) - opportunities in the technology, science and engineering sectors
- IAESTE - eight to 12-week technical summer placements overseas open to undergraduates in the second year and above
- RISE - summer internship for undergraduate science or engineering students to research in Germany
Finding companies
Find companies that interest you and get in touch with a named contact. Be specific about why you are writing to them and what you’re looking for.
Show your enthusiasm for the sector and highlight any relevant skills. Don’t give up if you don’t get a reply – follow up with a phone call or email to show that you’re keen.
- Find organisations on MyCareer - log in, then click on ‘search organisations’ under the Vacancies tab
- TARGETjobs - list engineering companies offering internships and placements and employer hubs
- Findanengineer.com – directory of structural engineering companies in the UK
- ICE Members’ Directory
- Student Ladder - lists companies that organise summer internships in the construction industry
- RICS Find a Surveyor – search for firms by specialism, including geomatics
- CECA - civil engineering contractor members list
- CIBSE - building service engineer employer listings
Other ways to gain experience
All work experience is valuable. If you can't find an internship or placement, why not try some of these alternative ideas:
- find a part-time job, such as labourer on a construction site
- voluntary work can help you develop valuable skills
- enter a construction-related competition - see Awards & Competitions for details of external competitions
See targetjobs: Construction work experience: how to get it and what if you don't for more advice.
Finding Jobs
Many large civil engineering and construction companies offer graduate training programmes.
Professional bodies and research councils also advertise opportunities. See About for a list of organisations.
Find jobs and additional vacancy source websites outside the UK on GoinGlobal.
Vacancy sites (general)
- Search for vacancies on MyCareer
- Student Ladder
- Careers in Construction
- RICS Recruit
- CareerStructure.com - specialist recruitment site with a dedicated Graduate Zone
- Building 4 Jobs
- CABE: jobs market - vacancies in the built environment sector
- Energy Jobline - includes jobs in geoscience and civil and structural engineering
- Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) - three-way partnerships involving a business, a graduate and an academic institution. Graduates work on research projects while gaining industrial experience with an employer. Projects are competitively paid, with funding for personal development, and typically last 1-3 years. View current opportunities
See also Graduate Jobs.
Vacancy sites (civil engineering and construction)
- New Civil Engineer Careers
- icerecruit.com - official jobs site of the Institution of Civil Engineers
- Earthworks-jobs
- Rigzone - includes structural and geotechnical engineering vacancies
Vacancy sites (geomatics)
- gis-jobs.co.uk
- GIS Jobs JISCMail
- AGI - news page posts vacancies
- The Survey Association (TSA): Jobs
- RICS: Find a surveyor - member directory including geomatics and land surveying companies
- Spatial Jobs - jobs in the spatial industry in Australia
- UK Hydrographic Office - vacancies at UKHO
- Earth Observation Directory: Jobs
- GeoConnexion.com: recruitment
Specialist recruitment agencies
- Critical Project Resourcing
- Macdonald & Company
- Hays Construction
- Eden Brown
- Matchtech
- AndersElite
- Calco
- Thomas Telford Recruitment - specialist agency endorsed by ICE
To find more recruitment agencies and for advice on using them, see Recruitment Agencies.
Finding companies
Find companies that interest you and get in touch directly – ideally with a named contact. Be specific about why you are writing to them and what you’re looking for.
Show your enthusiasm for the sector and highlight any relevant skills. Don’t give up if you don’t get a reply – follow up with a phone call or email to show that you’re keen.
- Find organisations on MyCareer - log in, then click on ‘search organisations’ under the Vacancies tab
- TARGETjobs - list engineering companies offering internships and placements and employer hubs
- CECA - civil engineering contractor members list
- Findanengineer.com - database of structural engineering companies in the UK
- CIBSE - building service engineer employer listings
- ICE Members’ Directory
- RICS Find a Surveyor – search for firms by specialism, including geomatics
You can also search for members in the directories of The Survey Assocation and the British Cartography Society.
Check out LinkedIn: Find Alumni to see which companies Newcastle graduates are working in.
You can also find relevant vacancies in Engineering, Energy and Utilities or Property and Surveying.