Career By Design

Hi everyone, 

I'm a freshman and also newly married. It's hard for me to find a civil engineering job in my country because there is no more civil engineering job opportunities and also because I have only 13 months of experience. Now I received a job offer with a very good salary,  but it is not in the civil  engineering field. I hate to work in another field but there is no sign  of any civil engineering job. I found it difficult to decide to accept the offer or to wait until I can find civil engineering job. What do think I should do??

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Abu Ahmed Aff.M.ASCE
Al Jazera State
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Abu, 

Don't be discouraged by this. I came to the US in 2012 to study civil engineering and did not find a job in that field until I graduated with my masters in 2018. I was unable to find any civil engineering job while in school so I had to take a lot of part-time side jobs like maintenance, custodial, wastewater treatment operator, quality control technician, etc.. I write about my story in a Member Voice (find here). I would encourage you to take that job, gain experience, learn new skills, and try to get the most out of it. In the meantime, do more research on jobs in your area and knock some doors (even if they do not have any job postings -  they are likely to think of you whenever they are ready to hire). 

Good luck with your job search and feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

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Luis Duque EIT, A.M.ASCE
Structural Engineer
Broomfield CO
luis@...
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