Looking for a Civil/Construction Engineering Job

[thelankymanx2]

I have been in the US for about 6 months now and I am still looking for a job in Civil/Construction Engineer field and have been told that unless I find a job very soon my work visa will be cancelled and I will have to leave the country. I currently have a visa to work as an Civil Engineer for any employer. I have 2+ years of experience and a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering. Obviously I want to stay as I have a girlfriend (which I moved here for), I love the mtb trails, have made many friends, have done some MORE trail maintenance and have joined the DCMTB Team. I want to stay in the USA I just need a job to do it.

If anyone is able to help me find a job it would be immensely appreciated. I can email Resumes/cover letters out, just PM me.

Thanks in advance
Alistair

[jvanbrecht]

While I cannot help you with the job aspect.. if you moved to the country to be with a woman.. the next logical step would be marriage. I do not advocate marriage for the purposes of perm resident status, however if you love her, you may as well marry her, probably easier then finding a job in the current market.

[toonces]

I can vouch for the trail work. Here's a pic of Paul, Alistair and Randy working on a bench cut for the Cross County Trail along Difficult Run downstream from the Leigh Mill Road crossing at the MORE trail work day on April 19 this Spring.

Hmmm. Maybe I should submit this to the photo contest. "Thelankymanx2 travels from Australia to the Washington metropolitan area to volunteer for work on local multi-use trails. And while here, he impresses as a pretty good mountain bike racer too. " ;)

http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/7158/img0437ky1.jpg

[DisplacedSunDevil]

sent you a PM

[thelankymanx2]

While I cannot help you with the job aspect.. if you moved to the country to be with a woman.. the next logical step would be marriage. I do not advocate marriage for the purposes of perm resident status, however if you love her, you may as well marry her, probably easier then finding a job in the current market.

I had thought of getting hitched and while I do love her dearly it will not overcome the initial problem of me not having any work. Also I have been told by some other expats that it would take upwards of 4 months before I would be able to legally work in the US. I am starting to run out of dosh to pay the bills.

Toonces - I still have not ridden the CCT. Will have to give it a try before I leave. I seem to remember that removing that stump was alot easier said than done. I would replace "pretty good mountain biker' with " average mountain biker. How is the work that we did on the day holding up esp after the hurricane we received?

The DC area should be very proud and thankfull for what MORE does for trail advocacy/trail maintenance in the area. Coming from Melbourne Australia where there is no central body advocacy and the number of trails leaves alot wanting.

[jabberwocky]

I wish you good luck, but times are not exactly good for construction related fields (which includes civil engineering). Most builders are just working to stay afloat, which means not a lot of new construction is happening. Since new construction work is down, pretty much all the building-related fields are tight.

I'm an architect, but I don't really have all that much experience with civil engineers. I've worked with VIKA (http://www.vika.com/) and Loiederman Soltesz (http://www.lsassociates.net/) before, and both are sizable firms that you could try.

Just out of curiosity, do you have any structural engineering expertise?

[denisvtt]

The green card lottery (http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/) is about to kick off for this year. Australia is on the list of eligible countries. The downside is that the green card you might win would be given to you in... 2010.

Google "green card lottery" or "Electronic Diversity Visa Lottery" for more info.

FWIW, that's how I got my green card, and pretty much how everybody I know got theirs.

[thelankymanx2]

I just checked out the Green Card Lottery on Wikipedia

"Over 6.4 million applications for the 2008 Diversity Visa Lottery were submitted" for 50,000 positions. Not very good odds. Also you do not get told if you have won until May the next year. It would mean I could work in any industry but would not help me atm.

Jabberwocky - Lots of people have told me the same thing. Not a good time to be looking for a job in the USA esp in the construction/engineering field. I do not have any structural experience greater than building some retaining walls and a bridge deck. There was a job a VIKA I applied for. Thanks

[thelankymanx2]

Just found this are part of the job requirements on Loiderman Assoc careers site. Couldn't help but laugh

Physical Requirements:

Being seated for up to 8 hours a day.
Use of stomach and lower back muscles to support the body while sitting.
Communicate verbally by phone, email and in person.
Listening skills required in person and via telephone.
Movement repetition; such as drawing.

[jabberwocky]

Jabberwocky - Lots of people have told me the same thing. Not a good time to be looking for a job in the USA esp in the construction/engineering field. I do not have any structural experience greater than building some retaining walls and a bridge deck. There was a job a VIKA I applied for. ThanksAh, ok. I asked because my firm was considering hiring a structural engineer a while back to handle certifying our designs for lateral loading (all our architects are already trained to do gravity calculations). But they would need to be licensed in Virginia, and I doubt we are actively looking at the moment anyway. Like I said, times are tough. We haven't laid anyone off, but we are all on reduced hours and definitely aren't looking for new employees. And we are doing better than many other firms out there.

I'll ask a few of the other architects here if they know of any other good civil engineering firms in the area. Some segments of the building industry are actually doing ok (mainly the commercial side) so there should be some firms out there looking to hire.

Best of luck to you.

[denisvtt]

I just checked out the Green Card Lottery on Wikipedia

"Over 6.4 million applications for the 2008 Diversity Visa Lottery were submitted" for 50,000 positions. Not very good odds.
That's misleading. Precisely because it takes 2 years to actually get the visa, there are many applicants who apply and then drop out, even if they get selected. There's also the fact that many applicants move after they apply, and thus get notified at an address they no longer live at. My understanding is that once a selected applicant declines the visa (or, more likely, doesn't respond) they take the next pick, and so on. I got mine that way, and my girlfriend of the time (now my wife) got hers that way too. This endless reassignment of winning entries is part of the reason why it takes 2 years to get everybody their visas.

It would mean I could work in any industry but would not help me atm.
I know. That's the downside. :(

[halfinch]

jabber is correct - jobs in the engineer market are tight right now. I moved from fairfax to texas in january. several firms were laying off at that time and others would be in the future imho.

the dc market has a pretty decent list of firms, such as..

dewberry and davis (va)
a morton thomas (md)
vika (va)
loiderman (va)
cp johnson (va)
burgess & nipple (va)
pbs&j (va)
bury+ partners (va)
christopher consultants (va)
engineering groupe (va)
bc consultants (va)
bowman consulting group (va)
tri-tek... and so on.

I would also look at fairfax county parks - as they employ field engineers and you might be able to obtain a position working on the park jobs under/planned for construction. worst case - expand your horizons and check regionally for employment - i.e. the greater dc/md/va market.

[denisvtt]

the dc market has a pretty decent list of firms, such as..

dewberry and davis (va)
a morton thomas (md)
vika (va)
loiderman (va)
cp johnson (va)
burgess & nipple (va)
pbs&j (va)
bury+ partners (va)
christopher consultants (va)
engineering groupe (va)
bc consultants (va)
bowman consulting group (va)
tri-tek... and so on.
One of my current clients is Rodgers & Associates in G'burg, MD. According to their web site (http://rodgers.com/careers.php) they appear to be looking for at least one "Senior Project Manager / Land Development Engineer" and one "Environmental Autocadd Technician." I'll try to get more details.

[thelankymanx2]

I am more Entry Level. I have 2.5 years of experience. So Senior Project Manager might be a little above me althoug I would appreciate the salary from such a job.

Being Entry Level is one of the problems that I am facing. Most job are wanting 3+ years of experience while I have 1.5 years in Construction and 1 year in Traffic engineering.

I will look into the Green Card a bit more. Would be good to have options.

[g_barr]

Being Entry Level is one of the problems that I am facing. Most job are wanting 3+ years of experience while I have 1.5 years in Construction and 1 year in Traffic engineering.
Al - check your PMs.

[BikerMiker]

Geosyntec has your resume. Check in with Arcadis as well.

mike

[tombowti]

I work for the Fairfax County school system. While I don’t know the specifics, they do have a large, diverse, engineering staff so you might find something there. Good Luck

FCPS.edu

[snappster]

I work at Micron in Manassas. They like peeps with engineering degrees. If you wanna DO engineering look elsewhere, but if you want a fairly good paying job, or any job to stay in country, check em out. I think the starting pay is around $62K/yr. http://www.micron.com/jobs/northamerica/index.aspx

[gddavid]

I am more Entry Level. I have 2.5 years of experience. So Senior Project Manager might be a little above me althoug I would appreciate the salary from such a job.

Being Entry Level is one of the problems that I am facing. Most job are wanting 3+ years of experience while I have 1.5 years in Construction and 1 year in Traffic engineering.

I will look into the Green Card a bit more. Would be good to have options.

I sent you a pm.

-George

[thelankymanx2]

So after looking for work in the US with no success and the current meltdown of the economy unfortunatly my visa will expire very soon and I will be off to Dubai to try and get some work there. I thought that I had a job lined up at a construction company but they renegged because of the 'downturn in the construction industry.

Thanks for everyone who passed on my resume or gave me some contacts. I was good to know that there was some people out there who were gunning for me. Also cheers to the locals who have showed me around the local trails. Be proud of the work that MORE put into building and maintaining trails they are very good quality and some of the best I have ridden.

If anyone is up for a ride in Dubai send me a PM and I will take you out for some desert single trail riding.

So long and farewell.

[jabberwocky]

Wow dude, I'm really sorry you couldn't find a job around here. Given how things are sucking in the construction industry it isn't that surprising, but I thought you had a good chance of at least finding something. :(

Good luck in Dubai.

[mjbrox]

I work at Micron in Manassas. They like peeps with engineering degrees. If you wanna DO engineering look elsewhere, but if you want a fairly good paying job, or any job to stay in country, check em out. I think the starting pay is around $62K/yr. http://www.micron.com/jobs/northamerica/index.aspx

My buddy works/worked for Quimonda and his visa was tied to his job.

Needless to say it is tough for him to be a semiconductor engineer right now.

He is looking into the solar industry

[mjbrox]

So after looking for work in the US with no success and the current meltdown of the economy unfortunatly my visa will expire very soon and I will be off to Dubai to try and get some work there. I thought that I had a job lined up at a construction company but they renegged because of the 'downturn in the construction industry.

Thanks for everyone who passed on my resume or gave me some contacts. I was good to know that there was some people out there who were gunning for me. Also cheers to the locals who have showed me around the local trails. Be proud of the work that MORE put into building and maintaining trails they are very good quality and some of the best I have ridden.

If anyone is up for a ride in Dubai send me a PM and I will take you out for some desert single trail riding.

So long and farewell.

WOW Dubai?

That kinda sucks, but I bet the work will be good.

Wow! that is just such a big change of enviroment.

[thelankymanx2]

Yer Dubai will be a change of atmospehere and environment. I will sorely miss the sweet singletrail in the area. That and tree and rain.

There is a mtb group over there but they are all expats and I think that there is only about a max 20 of them. Because of the heat they can only ride in the late arvo and that is usually only for half a year because the other half if 130F with 90% humidity. Will just have to get use to it I guess.

Things in the US were not looking good when I got here. They are even worse now.

[Squirrel_Girl]

So after looking for work in the US with no success and the current meltdown of the economy unfortunatly my visa will expire very soon and I will be off to Dubai to try and get some work there. I thought that I had a job lined up at a construction company but they renegged because of the 'downturn in the construction industry.

Thanks for everyone who passed on my resume or gave me some contacts. I was good to know that there was some people out there who were gunning for me. Also cheers to the locals who have showed me around the local trails. Be proud of the work that MORE put into building and maintaining trails they are very good quality and some of the best I have ridden.

If anyone is up for a ride in Dubai send me a PM and I will take you out for some desert single trail riding.

So long and farewell.
Wow, Dubai! If you have to go, why couldn't it have been a couple years ago? :) I had a one day layover there and I tried to get some mountain biking in, but the one outfitter who *used* to over mountain biking, quit because people kept breaking bones on their trips. The employee coordinating the trips was very friendly and helpful and took me on a "free" trip as he was doing some other stuff, and just let me ride along. We drove over some dune and saw a 2 day old baby camel. We also saw some road riders/racers. That guy just sent out an announcement a few days ago that he's starting his own business.

I'd consider getting a job over there for a while. It would be an interesting experience. I have a friend whose husband had a job for 10 years in Oman. There's some cool scenery in the mountains of Oman, not far from Dubai.