Civil engineering technologists and technicians held about 66,300 jobs in 2021. The largest employers of civil engineering technologists and technicians were as follows:
| Engineering services | 40% |
| State government, excluding education and hospitals | 27 |
| Local government, excluding education and hospitals | 19 |
| Construction | 3 |
Civil engineering technologists and technicians work in offices, helping civil engineers plan and design projects. They also visit construction jobsites to collect or test materials or to observe activities as a project inspector. They may work at several sites, using cars or trucks as a mobile office.
Civil engineering technologists and technicians frequently work on teams with civil engineers, surveyors and surveying technicians, construction workers, and others involved with projects.
Work Schedules
Civil engineering technologists and technicians usually work full time. When working at construction sites, their schedules may be subject to factors that affect construction, such as weather. Their schedules also may be tied to those of the construction projects they are involved with.
An associate’s degree, preferably in civil engineering technology, is typically required to enter the occupation.
Education
Prospective civil engineering technologists and technicians should take courses in science and math, such as chemistry, physics, geometry, and trigonometry.
Employers may prefer to hire engineering technologists and technicians who have an associate’s degree from a program accredited by ABET, although a degree is not always required. Engineering technology programs also are available at technical or vocational schools that award a postgraduate certificate or diploma.
Degree and nondegree programs may include coursework in subjects such as engineering, design, and sciences.
Some employers require a bachelor’s degree in engineering technology for civil engineering technologists.
Other Experience
Some civil engineering technologists and technicians enter the occupation after gaining work experience in a related occupation, particularly as drafters or CAD operators. Drafters or CAD operators working for an engineering firm may advance to civil engineering technologist or technician positions as their knowledge of design and construction increases.
Licenses, Certifications, and Registrations
Certification is not required to enter this occupation, but it may help technologists and technicians develop in their careers. For example, the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET) oversees certification for civil engineering technicians who pass an exam and provide supporting documentation. NICET requires technicians to update their skills and knowledge through a recertification process that encourages continuing professional development.
Advancement
Civil engineering technologists and technicians may advance in their careers by learning to design systems for a variety of projects, such as storm sewers, and to become skilled at reading graphical drawings of proposed projects.
Technicians who obtain appropriate education or certification may advance to become technologists.
Civil engineering technicians typically have an interest in the Building, Thinking and Organizing interest areas, according to the Holland Code framework. The Building interest area indicates a focus on working with tools and machines, and making or fixing practical things. The Thinking interest area indicates a focus on researching, investigating, and increasing the understanding of natural laws. The Organizing interest area indicates a focus on working with information and processes to keep things arranged in orderly systems.
If you are not sure whether you have a Building or Thinking or Organizing interest which might fit with a career as a civil engineering technician, you can take a career test to measure your interests.
Civil engineering technicians should also possess the following specific qualities:
Critical-thinking skills. As assistants to civil engineers, civil engineering technicians must help the engineers identify problems to avoid wasting time, effort, and funds.
Decision-making skills. Pressures from deadlines mean that technicians must quickly see which types of information are most important and which plan of action will help keep the project on schedule.
Math skills. Civil engineering technicians use math for analysis, design, and troubleshooting in their work.
Observational skills. Civil engineering technicians sometimes have to go to jobsites and assess a project for the engineer. Therefore, they must know what to look for and how best to report back to the engineer who is overseeing the project.
Problem-solving skills. Like civil engineers, civil engineering technicians help design projects to solve a particular problem. Technicians must be able to understand and work with all the related systems involved in building a project.
Reading skills. Civil engineering technicians carry out plans and designs for projects that a civil engineer has approved. They must be able to understand all the reports describing these designs.
Writing skills. Civil engineering technicians often are asked to relay their findings in writing. The reports must be well organized and clearly written.
The median annual wage for civil engineering technologists and technicians was $58,320 in May 2021. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $36,550, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $79,650.
In May 2021, the median annual wages for civil engineering technologists and technicians in the top industries in which they worked were as follows:
| Local government, excluding education and hospitals | $61,190 |
| Construction | 59,110 |
| Engineering services | 59,110 |
| State government, excluding education and hospitals | 46,330 |
Civil engineering technologists and technicians usually work full time. When working at construction sites, their schedules may be subject to factors that affect construction, such as weather. Their schedules also may be tied to those of the construction projects they are involved with.
Employment of civil engineering technologists and technicians is projected to show little or no change from 2021 to 2031.
Despite limited employment growth, about 6,500 openings for civil engineering technologists and technicians are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Most of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.
Employment
The need to preserve, repair, and upgrade the country’s infrastructure continues to increase. Bridges, roads, levees, airports, and dams will need to be rebuilt, maintained, and enhanced. In addition, more waste treatment plants will be needed to help clean the nation’s waterways, and water systems must be maintained to reduce or eliminate loss of potable water. Civil engineers plan, design, and oversee this work, and civil engineering technologists and technicians will be needed to assist the engineers in these projects.
Civil engineering technologists and technicians also will find work assisting civil engineers with renewable-energy projects. For example, these technologists and technicians may assist in developing a wind farm by helping engineers minimize project costs associated with the sizeable dimensions and weight of wind turbines.
However, employment in this occupation may be limited as improved drafting tools, such as computer-aided design (CAD) software, increase worker productivity.
For more information about summer apprenticeships in civil engineering, visit
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National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET)