Civil Engineers are probably the best-known engineers around. They build structures that have defined epochs, withstood eras and continue to inspire awe today. You should be proud to be able to call yourself a civil engineer. Whether you are a full-time employee, looking to earn a few extra bucks by the side, or you are a self-employed engineer, simply trying to get your business up and running, there is much scope in freelance civil engineer.
Whatever your preferences for choosing to freelance, you can be assured that freelance civil engineering is a career that will give you a comfortable life, and low pressure, low stress working environment like your home.
Jobs for Civil Engineers
Your duties as a freelance civil engineer will include being able to work with construction crews and other junior engineers to build residential or commercial structures. You may even discover or invent alternative processes for the fabrication of cement, or maybe even use a newer mix of chemicals to achieve the desired effect. To elaborate, let us have an in-depth look at some of the duties that will fall under your purview, as a freelance Civil Engineer:
- Undertaking technical and feasibility studies including site investigations
- Using a range of computer packages for developing detailed designs
- Undertaking complex and repetitive calculations
- Liaising with clients and a variety of professionals including architects, subcontractors, etc
- Compiling job specifics and supervising tendering procedures
- Resolving design and development problems
- Managing budgets and project resources
- Scheduling material and equipment purchases and delivery
- Ensuring projects run smoothly and structures are completed within budget and on time
Even as a freelance civil engineer, you may well need to be away from home for long stretches. Overnight and weekend stay may be required for site inspections. Site engineers and managers can be on call 24 hours a day. Your sites may not be as easy to reach as you would wish them to be, but do not let this dissuade you from it. Travel abroad may be possible if you wish to temporarily work with a large consultancy company.
Civil Engineering Skills
To be a good freelance civil engineer, there are some skills that you should consider mastering. You should be able to engineer, re-engineer and reverse-engineer aspects, but the job role will often demand more from you. Some additional skills you should consider include:
- Mathematical skills
- Complex Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Scientific Skills
- Decision Making
- Operations Research
- Operations Analysis
- Coordination
- Active Learning
- Self-motivated
- Able to work remotely
- Systems Analysis
- Quality control
- Deductive Reasoning
- Equipment selection
- Social Perceptiveness
- Working with all materials
Civil Engineering is a graduate level course, often requiring four years of intensive study. You should work towards a degree or a certification to avoid heartbreaks and get that dream job. Learn Civil Engineering, MIT OpenCourseWare, AIU, About Civil Engineering and WizIQ offer many options to learn online, either in the course or self-training video formats, which can supplement your degree.
Being Successful As A Freelance Civil Engineer
You need a healthy mix of guile and doggedness to get the job done. Talent alone counts for nothing in this field. The freelance job market research sets store by a mix of experience and talent, and you may have to tread the same path to attract generous prospective employers.
To ensure early success, you could:
- Offer to do projects for minimum fees, sometimes for free
- Bid the lowest for a project on freelancer portals
- Start a blog, backlink it to more visible blogs
- Create a website, or at the very least, a web page
- Advertise your services on social media platforms
- Understand the engineering requirement intimately
- Sharpen your communication skills, as it would help you get more jobs
- Master Engineering Basics
[Also Read: Freelance Mechanical Engineer ]
Civil Engineering Pay Scale
Most of the revenue generated by you will depend solely on your ability to market your services and your credibility with previous employees.
Usually, freelance portals offer various kinds of payment models. In the fixed-price model, the price is usually pre-determined. The hourly model is the most popular and employers usually pay a predetermined sum per hour. Finally, in the project-budget based model, you often need to auction for such projects. Usually, a fixed price model may range from $20- $200 and upwards, while you have to pitch for hourly projects, and budget payments, which usually range from $5- $35 an hour, with average payments at $22 per hour.
Finding Work
Many websites, forums, and portals offer hundreds of jobs to freelance engineers like you. Elance, Odesk, Peopleperhour, and Guru offer many opportunities for freelance civil engineers around the globe.
[Also Read: Freelance Electrical Engineer ]
Resources
Civil Engineering is a graduate level course, often requiring four years of intensive study. You should work towards a degree or a certification to avoid heartbreaks and get that dream job. Learn Civil Engineering, MIT OpenCourseWare, AIU, About Civil Engineering and WizIQ offer many options to learn online, either in a course or self-training video formats, which can supplement your degree.
