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Published: 24 January 2024

Top jobs with a civil engineering degree

Find out what you could do with a degree in civil engineering and discover some of the jobs Surrey civil engineering graduates have secured over the past few years.

Credit: University of Surrey

On our BEng and MEng Civil Engineering courses you will develop a strong understanding of mathematical, analytical and practical engineering techniques, as well as the management skills you need to bring projects to life. Our civil and environmental engineering courses will not only prepare you for work in the construction industry but can also open doors in the business, management and financial sectors.

Surrey's employability record speaks for itself: 96 per cent of our civil engineering graduates are in employment or further study after graduating (Graduate Outcomes 2023, HESA). Surrey's civil engineering graduates earn an average salary of £31,729.

Many of our students boost their employability by taking advantage of our exceptional Professional Training placement programme, which enables you to spend a year gaining valuable work experience with a relevant company, and often leads to a job offer on graduation. This is one reason why we were awarded Best University Careers/Employability Service at the National University Employability Awards 2022.

While on placement, I’ve developed a better understanding and appreciation of the work that goes into the design and maintenance of infrastructure. Being able to see how some of the calculations and engineering principles I’ve learned at university are applied in real life, and using software to do this, has been really interesting. Anna Toms, MEng Civil Engineering

Students can also further their career prospects through the unique Surrey/ICE Scholarship scheme, which matches you with a leading company in the civil engineering industry for practical training and work experience throughout your time at University.

I applied for the Surrey/ICE Scholarship scheme which partners students with a company throughout their time here. I was lucky enough to be successful and am partnered with Hewson Consulting Engineers in Guildford, where I spent my Professional Training placement year as a student engineer. Abigail Vine, MEng Civil Engineering

Careers with a civil engineering degree

There are numerous jobs that will relate directly to your degree. These include:

  • Building control surveyor
  • Consulting civil engineer
  • Contracting civil engineer
  • Nuclear engineer
  • Design engineer
  • Structural engineer
  • Water engineer.

As our graduates are highly numerate, literate, computer literate, organised, confident, business-minded and commercially aware, they are also very attractive recruits for companies operating in many other professions, including management, banking, accountancy, software development and so on. Potentially unexpected careers include:

  • Building services engineer
  • Environmental consultant
  • Sustainability consultant
  • Construction manager
  • Engineering geologist
  • Patent attorney
  • Quantity surveyor.

Civil engineering graduate jobs

Recent graduates have entered employment in roles such as:

  • Atkins, Structural Engineer
  • Balfour Beatty, Highways and Transport Engineer
  • Costain, Site Engineer
  • Hewson Consulting, Bridge Design Engineer
  • Mott MacDonald, Engineer
  • Skanska, Design Engineer
  • WSP Developments, Design Engineer
  • Amey, Graduate Engineer.

Discover more about our civil engineering degrees, our award-winning Professional Training placement scheme and student life at Surrey.

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