By Deanna Pienaar, EIT, Aff.M.ASCE
I wish I’d known how wide the range of career paths can be in civil engineering — especially within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
My education and early years of employment focused on geology and geological engineering rather than civil engineering itself, though I did take a number of civil engineering-related classes in college. Initially, I thought civil engineering involved mostly running calculations and doing advanced mathematics, which did not interest me. But I began to question that stereotype after meeting some civil engineering students and then working alongside professional civil engineers during my first jobs after college, which took me out into the field for the oil and gas industry.
Over time, as I performed many civil engineering duties, I came to realize that the field offers a wide variety of opportunities, that you can find an exciting career path no matter what your background or interests. And while math is definitely integral to civil engineering work, it is generally math that helps you solve real-world problems rather than theoretical equations. Equally important are the teamwork and communication skills you’ll need to move projects forward.
In my case, after about a dozen years in the private sector, mostly doing geotechnical and construction engineering work, I joined the Corps in 2015 as a civilian employee civil engineer, where I work on the operations side for several reservoir dams and levees in the Fort Worth, Texas, area. But I’ve also had the opportunity to work on construction projects for the Corps and to participate in its emergency response efforts.
Recently, I went to the Hawaiian island of Maui to work with contractors who were removing debris in the aftermath of the devastating 2023 wildfires there. During my time on Maui, I helped improve the efficiency between personnel rotations, guided data management efforts, and improved other aspects of the workflow. It was an incredible experience.
While I am fascinated by the current and future challenges that operations work presents, these other assignments I’ve had with the Corps have opened up other civil engineering career paths I might someday explore.
The transition from private- to public-sector work is not always easy, but one of the greatest selling points for working as an Army civilian is that you’ll never get bored! With more than 500 career paths and numerous forms of training and opportunities, I always have the ability to learn and do new things.
Deanna Pienaar, EIT, Aff.M.ASCE, is an operations technical maintenance lead civil engineer at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
