Hiring Civil Engineers

What do civil engineers do?

• Direct engineering activities, ensuring compliance with environmental, safety, or other governmental regulations.
• Manage and direct the construction, operations, or maintenance activities at project site.
• Inspect project sites to monitor progress and ensure conformance to design specifications and safety or sanitation standards.
• Compute load and grade requirements, water flow rates, or material stress factors to determine design specifications.
• Plan and design transportation or hydraulic systems or structures, using computer-assisted design or drawing tools.
• Provide technical advice to industrial or managerial personnel regarding design, construction, program modifications, or structural repairs.

Core tasks, O*NET OnLine, 17-2051.00.

What does it take to become one?

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

O*NET Job Zone 4, SVP (7.0 to < 8.0). O*NET OnLine.

Employers commonly list experience with Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D, Autodesk Revit, Bentley MicroStation, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software for this role.

What do civil engineers get paid?

BLS OEWS, May 2025 publishes a wage for civil engineers in 92 of the metro areas in this build. The median ranges from $75,910 to $130,280 a year depending on the metro, with a midpoint of $99,410. This is what employers pay, place of work, not a single national figure and not what any one person takes home.

BLS OEWS, BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 17-2051.

What does hiring one cost?

The same as any role: tier, not location or salary, sets the fee. Across all six tiers the published range is $6,240 to $54,340 per search. For scale, the highest published median for civil engineers in this build is $130,280. A contingency firm hiring at that level would bill roughly $26,056 to $39,084 on the first year salary alone, 20 to 30%.

Frequently asked

How fast can a civil engineers search fill?

23 to 35 days, 2 to 3x faster than a typical contingency search, per the recruiting provider's published figures.

What if the hire does not work out?

A 45-day replacement guarantee, at 50% off a repeat search for the same role.