Career in Civil Engineering: Courses, Admission, Jobs, Salary

Civil Engineering is one of the core engineering discipline which involves design, construction and maintainance of infrastructure such as buildings, roads, bridges, dams, airports, and water systems.

If you have an interest in design, construction and possess creative skills then pursuing a B.E. or B.Tech in civil engineering, could be the best career path for you.

Civil engineering is also one of the oldest professional degree in the field of engineering, earlier it was known as “Military Engineering”.

From the iconic architectures like the great pyramid of Giza, Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower to the modern marvels like Burj Khalifa & Petronas tower are some of the remarkable examples that highlights the importance of Civil engineering and its values in our day to day life.

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In this article, we will explore career in civil engineering, courses offered, eligibility criteria, admission process and job opportunities.

Civil Engineering – A brief History

Civil Engineering is one of the oldest branch of engineering, its history can be traced back to the ancient civilizations when the mankind started building shelters, monuments & roads.

The ancient civilizations like Rome, Indus Valley, Mesopotamia & China were known for developing roads, cities, irrigation system, drainage systems, architectural marvels like Colosseum, pyramids and the great wall of china.

During the industrial revolution in 18th to 19th century, the civil engineering was formally adopted as one of the major engineering discipline.

In the year 1818, Institution of Civil Engineers (UK) was founded and later in 1828, civil engineering was declared as the professional programme in London.

During this period major developments in civil work were carried out by constructing, railways, tunnels, bridges and canals.

Civil Engineering Course Details

Candidates can pursue a 4 year B.E. or B.Tech in Civil engineering and comprises of 8 semesters. The civil engineering degree is offered by many universites and colleges in India.

The course curriculum of Civil Engineering focuses on both theoretical and practical aspects of construction, structural analysis, surveying, geotechnical engineering, transportation systems, environmental engineering, fluid mechanics, and the design of infrastructure like buildings, roads, bridges, and dams.

Below is the key highlights of civil engineering degree in India:

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Civil Engineering Courses in India

Candidates can pursue diploma, undergraduate (UG), and postgraduate (PG) courses in civil engineering. Below we have listed different types of courses and their duration:

The academic criterion of civil engineering is divided in three courses/programmes as follows:

1. Diploma courses leading to the polytechnic diploma of 3 years duration.
2. UG courses leading to the B.Tech (Bachelor of Technology) degree of 4 years duration.
3. PG courses leading to the M.Tech (Master of Technology) degree of 2 years duration.

Beside these, it is one of the broad research fields leading to the PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) degree.

Some other courses of Civil Engineering are listed below:

Diploma Courses

• Diploma in Civil & Rural Engineering
• Advance Diploma in Civil Engineering
• Post Graduate Diploma in Civil Engineering

Bachelor Courses

• Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in Civil  Engineering
• Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in Ceramics & Cement Technology

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Master Courses

• Master of Technology (M.Tech) in Civil Structural Design
• Master of Technology (M.Tech) in Building Technology & Construction Management

Eligibility Criteria

For admission to diploma courses and UG courses (B.Tech), candidates must have passed 10+2 with Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry as the compulsory subjects.

For UG courses, some universities has mandatory percentage criteria for admission to their B.E/B.Tech program.

For admission to PG courses (M.Tech) candidates must have completed bachelor’s program in a relevant discipline.

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Specialization (Sub-disciplines)

Civil engineering is one of the very vast field and it is divided into various specializations. Candidates can pursue PG diploma or master’s in the following specializations.

• Materials Science And Engineering
• Coastal Engineering
• Construction Engineering
• Earthquake Engineering
• Environmental Engineering
• Geotechnical Engineering
• Water Resources Engineering
• Structural Engineering
• Surveying
• Transportation Engineering
• Municipal or Urban Engineering
• Forensic Engineering
• Control Engineering

In most countries abroad, the civil engineering graduates need to be certified by the professional body after completion of their degree in civil engineering.

For this certification process, you will have to comply a range of conditions including mandatory exam and work experience before being certified.

After certification, candidates will be designated as the Professional Engineer (USA, Canada & SA), a Chartered Engineer (Commonwealth Countries), and European Engineers (European Countries).

Admission Process

To get admission in civil engineering courses, you are required to qualify the national level entrance exams like JEE Main 2025. JEE Main is considered for admission in NITs, CFTIs and many state government colleges across the country

For admission to IITs, JEE Advanced 2025 it is mandatory to qualify. Some private universities conduct their ow n entrance exams for admission to their UG programs in civil engineering.

Some of the university specfic exams include:

• BITSAT 2025
• IPU CET 2025
• BVP CET 2025

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Top Colleges and Universities

Here we have listed some top colleges to pursue courses in the field of civil engineering:

Jobs & Career Opportunities

“Lots of job opportunities are available for the Civil Engineers in both public and private sectors”.

As a civil engineer, candidates have plethora of career opportunites in public as well as private sectors. Candidates can work with public sector units (PSU’s) like NHAI, Indian Railways, BHEL, ONGC etc.

In private sector, candidates can work with construction and real estate companies like DLF, Godrej Properties, L&T, Sobha developers etc.

Candidates can work in various construction projects like buildings, towns, canals, city planners, road & rail transport, dam & bridge/dams and any workplace wherein the building/construction/physical creativity or natural resourcing creativity is involved.

Here are some reputed firms which require the civil engineers whenever:

• Emmar Properties
• DLF
• Godrej Properties
• Marafiz Contracting
• European Contracting
• Ralls Contracting
• Black Cat Eng
• Sedrat Al Khaleej
• Silver Falkon
• Contromet
• MedGulfPunj Lloyds Ltd
• White Young
• PCC
• Shapoorji and Pallonji
• Al Jadeed
• Double Crown
• Specialized Contracting
• Unicon Development Constructions
• PAC Constructions

Salary

The salary of civil engineering graduates varies based on their experience, skills and job location. The entry level salaries for freshers starts with INR 3-7 (Lakhs per annum) in India.

Professionals with 5-6 years of industry experience and working in managerial positions can expect salaries in the range INR 10-20 LPA.

Civil engineer working in the counties like UK, USA, Canada, Europe and Australia in the tech roles are getting salaries in the range between $50000 to $80000 annually.

Book & Study Material

During the course of civil engineering, you will get to know about the design, hydraulics, construction, earth mechanism, soil mechanism, construction management, computer methods, structural machine, environmental nature & issues and traffic & transport.

The top recommended books of Civil Engineering are as the follows:

Basic Civil Engineering by S Ramamrutham

Basic Civil Engineering by Satheesh Gopi

Basics of Civil Engineering by Subhash Chander

Basic Structural Analysis by C.S. Reddy

Advanced Reinforced Concrete Design by N Krishna Raju

Analysis of Structures by T S Thandavamoorthy

Geotechnical Engineering by Donald P Coduto

Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering by Steven L Kramor

Hydraulics & Fluid Mechanics by Modi

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