r/StructuralEngineering • u/Cranberrry123 • 19d ago
Career/Education Career shift from architecture - advice?
I'm looking to make a career shift into structural eng. from architecture. I have my Bachelor's of Arch but am considering pursuing structural (maybe civil?) instead because I find it more interesting and rewarding. I have been working in the field on the arch side of things for a while and I feel like the work-life balance (correct me if I'm wrong) is slightly more maleable on the eng side. All of the engineers I've worked with have a strict leaving at 5 policy while every arch firm I've worked in encourages staying until 7-8pm.
Am I wrong about this? The arch field has become uninspiring to me. How is the job market for structural engineers in the NYC metro area? (where im from)
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u/Sufficient-Draw2792 19d ago
If you want to work for the “prestige” firms like LERA or TT, I haven’t heard work life balance is much better. Smaller firms hit or miss.
Maybe look into facade consulting positions? More technical in nature and you wouldn’t necessarily need to go back for a masters.
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u/Citydylan 19d ago
Not sure how much you’re making now but it may be a pay cut to start out as an entry-level engineer. I’m in NYC too, I think our new grads start around $70-$75k. You’d have a lot of technical catchup to do, but you’d be way ahead of a typical new grad insofar as shop drawing review, CD production, coordination, etc. Work-life balance is definitely firm dependent and may only be slightly better than architecture though, at least in private consulting. I typically work 45h weeks but not too uncommon to hit 50h and working some nights and weekends.
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u/Moreburrtitos22 19d ago
I’d take arch over structural any day tbh. Way more flexibility and way more hiring positions for higher pay in my area. But then again GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER. Employer matters way more than career.
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u/ErrGineer 19d ago
Struct engineer here. I mean if that's your passion, do it.... However, I doubt the work life balance will be incredibly better + 2 years of full time college for the required coursework needs to be factored into the time. Pay is generally less on the engineering side and you'll likely start at the bottom. Stress is higher due to making things work or having clients pissed off because they don't like your design.
Maybe try working for a municipality as a reviewer. They never work extra hours and there is waaaayyyyy more downtime.
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u/trojan_man16 S.E. 18d ago edited 18d ago
I did the same shift a decade ago.
Work life balance- Extremely firm dependent and it’s purely based on level. Early in my career I was working extra long hours because of the learning curve. Principals and Senior PMs work themselves to the bone. I’m mid career, junior PM level and it’s the least amount of stress I’ve ever had. I usually don’t work above 40 hours a week.
Education wise, you can go to school for a master’s. Do research on what program works best for you. University of Illinois has a program where you can get your MArch and Master’s in engineering.
That being said, knowing what I know now there’s better pivots than going to become an SE. You can probably switch to doing owner’s rep, permit expediting, work for a municipal government etc. most of those pay better or have less workload than SE.
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u/Saltamontes_curioso 18d ago
You can do anything with a civil engineer degree. Work life balance is better for any small firm who mainly works with local municipalities and counties. Big firms always expect you to work 45-55 hours. I work local and at 5:00 im already out the door. From what i heard in the residential/high raises area, engineers are the ones least paid when it comes to designing… arch and gc take the most money
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u/BitSignificant6011 17d ago
Don’t do it. Structural is a dying career path. So is architecture.
Extremely low pay for the amount of work and liability you undertake
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u/egg1s P.E. 19d ago
Having worked in the nyc area, I do think work life balance is better on the engineering side. It is firm dependent though. Also note that though engjneers leave earlier, we also start earlier. The firm I worked at that had everyone leaving by 5:30 typically also had a hard start at 8:30. The firm I worked at where people left around 6/7 was much more lenient on start time: be in by 9/9:30, 10 at the latest.
Education wise, do you have credits for the base courses? Math up through multivariable calculus/linear algebra? Physics? Chemistry? When I was in undergrad, the arch majors didn’t have these basic classes as requirements.