Local authorithy or Contractor?

5948ai

Hello i'm new to boards but just felt what people think of my situation. I am a graduate civil engineer who has two offers one with a local authority and another with a major contractor nationwide. Starting salaries are similar for both, but I wondering what job I should go for (advantages & disadvantages of both). Any comments appreciated

Johnniep

I might be a bit biased, but I work in the private sector in a design office (structures) and could not imagine working for a local authority! Would definitely recommend staying away for the LA's

Depending on what you want, there are currently jobs everywhere in the engineering sector, and depending on what you want to do. Don't settle for a job. Think about what you want and then find a company that does that kind of work.

You are a civil grad right? Do you know what field you want to get in to.....drainage, roads, structures etc?

5948ai

Thanks for reply, yea i'm a civil grad who would be interested in getting into the drainage area. I know contracting is hands on with long hours (8am - 6pm) but it might be a good foundation with a steep learning curve which might stand to me later on. I'd be interested what people think of contracting.
If I was to go down the local auth' route if I was to move on to consulting would I find it easy to find a job?

godtabh

LA are easy jobs and in no way will you be pushed. Most of there work is sent out to be done in the private sector. I'm currently working on about 6 county council jobs.

I wouldnt bother with the county council. Then again I wouldnt bother with the contractors either but I'd pick them over the county councils

Voodu Child

I work with a big contractor. Hours are long (i regularly do 65+ hours a week), and the work is tough, but you'll get a lot of experience and move up the ladder very quickly. The money is also fantastic, and pay increases tend to be huge. Starting salaries may be similar, but you WONT be on 50 or 60+ after 3 years experience in the council.

A job in the local authority will afford you easy hours, minimal stress and pressure, and a enjoyable working environment. Your experience in the council wont be worth a damn if you go looking for a job elsewhere - employers will look at you as a lazy person who took the easy option. Ive always looked at it as a place to 'retire' when you start having kids and want to spend more time with them or whatever.

If i was you i'd take the job with the contractor. In the long run it'll be worth it.

5948ai

Thanks for information. Decided on the local authority in the end, judging by the responses here it probably wasn't the right decision but i'll just give that a shot now.
I'll give it a year or two anyway and maybe look to move into private industry then (if they'll have me!). Hopefully i wont have grown lazy and fat in that period

Dundhoone

voodoo_child wrote:

I work with a big contractor. Hours are long (i regularly do 65+ hours a week), and the work is tough, but you'll get a lot of experience and move up the ladder very quickly. The money is also fantastic, and pay increases tend to be huge. Starting salaries may be similar, but you WONT be on 50 or 60+ after 3 years experience in the council.

A job in the local authority will afford you easy hours, minimal stress and pressure, and a enjoyable working environment. Your experience in the council wont be worth a damn if you go looking for a job elsewhere - employers will look at you as a lazy person who took the easy option. Ive always looked at it as a place to 'retire' when you start having kids and want to spend more time with them or whatever.

If i was you i'd take the job with the contractor. In the long run it'll be worth it.

I see you have already chosen.
I would have advised Consultancy or Contracting to you as the best way to get experience & start out. Its my experience( from working with LA engineers) that local authority engineers do not support each other/communicate/discuss project problems in the same way a consultancy would. In short I dont think you are going to learn much, and I think every engineer would agree that you get feck all from a degree, the real learning is year 1 and 2 after graduating.

The last entry grade for the local authority is Executive Engineer, and that needs a minimum of 5 years. So you can have 5-6 years good experience behind you before getting into LA.
I think the above opinions of the local authority are cliched and not accurate, the LA engineers I have worked with on public projects in the majority have been hard working individuals under considerable stress and pressure in some cases. While its not a 60 hour week job, it is involved and is now more people management and liason work rather than engineering design.
LA's are generally understaffed on the technical side IMO, and completely constrained by outdoor staff over-unionisation. Imagine being put in charge of a project where all your staff dont listen to you, are unmotivated and know that they cant be fired? Now imagine your boss enquiring of you why nothing is getting done.....and your frustration!

Voodoo, although you have oppurtunity to earn 50 - 60 k you also work a third more hours - you would be on basically the same hourly rate as LA or consultancy. Its life outside work vs extra cash. There will come a time when you just dont want to do that anymore as you've said.
While you might find working a normal 40 hour week relaxing, I dont think you will find it quite the retirement you were hoping for.

5948, try out the LA, you wont be doing yourself any damage. If you arent going anywhere, move to consultancy or contracting after a year or so and try that for a while!

5948ai

Cheers dundhoone, some insightful stuff there. As I said before I decided on the LA in the end mainly because it's close to home and the money is good. I also want to get back into team sport again after it took a back seat while i was away in college and I think the La will afford me the time to do that. While contracting would have been a good learning experience the possibility of being shifted around the country which was only made clear to me when i got the contract in writing doesn't appeal to me at the moment.
Will probably give the La a year or so and probably move on when I have a bit of experience and financial stability. Thanks again for all replies.

Voodu Child

For what its worth, my opinion on the council was based on experience - ie I worked as an engineer in the local authority for 4 or 5 months. So whether my opinion is cliched or not, i stand by it.

The OPs reasons for choosing the LA (close to home, plenty of free time to play sports etc) are completely understandable, and i wish him/her well in the future. However, they are the same reasons that most contractors would NEVER hire someone from the LA.

breadmonkey

Voodoo,

I'm in my 3rd year of a Civil Eng degree at the moment. Working 60+ hours a week seems really sh!tty and I don't know if I could hack it. On the other hand, I couldn't handle the LA environment as described. I would prefer having responsibilites, deadlines etc and can't probably couldn't take the bureaucracy/laziness etc.

Do you get much time for socialising? Do you have a wife/girlfriend? How much time off do you get a year? Do you feel like all you ever do is work? (I hope you don't mind me asking).

Voodu Child

Breadmonkey,
Your concerns are common. Plenty of people couldnt hack it. For me the hours didnt come into it, working on site was what i wanted to do, I had no interest or aptitude for design etc. If there was such a thing as a construction site that worked 9-5 id jump at it, but working long hours is how things get built. The site hours might be 8am-6pm, but when you factor in paperwork, late/early concrete pours, getting set up for the day etc, 7am-7pm is the norm. Thats a basic 60 hour week, before you factor in a couple of extra hours here and there for critical pours, Saturday work etc.

The only advice i can give is to forget the hours and ask yourself what you want to do, and make your decision based on that (If you dont know what contracting & consultancy involve on a day to day basis, feel free to ask away). Unless you enjoy your job, even the shortest day will eventually seem intolorable. Conversely, even a 14 hour day can fly by if youre doing something you like.

breadmonkey

voodoo_child wrote:

(If you dont know what contracting & consultancy involve on a day to day basis, feel free to ask away).

Actually I probably don't could you elaborate? Are you a site engineer for the contractor or an RE for the consultant?

Voodu Child

breadmonkey wrote:

Actually I probably don't could you elaborate? Are you a site engineer for the contractor or an RE for the consultant?

Im a site engineer for a contractor.

breadmonkey

Shouldn't you be working?:p

lil-buttons

Why not go try for a job in a consultancy office, The engineers in my office work form 9-5 every day and are very busy but most of them are trying to get chartered now to and are gona stay to get their chartership(more money) and then moev on to a handier number!

Anywhere u start as a graduate u end up being the skivy and workin late anyways! Its only for 6mths to a year but u learn so much in that time period trust me!

Dundhoone

voodoo_child wrote:

For what its worth, my opinion on the council was based on experience - ie I worked as an engineer in the local authority for 4 or 5 months. So whether my opinion is cliched or not, i stand by it.

I cant argue with your experience - its been different to mine. Maybe I just get the best out of the ones I've worked with.:p

I consider that working on site for a contractor is probably the most challenging area of engineering in terms of both hours responsibility. The costs of scheduling a large piece of work and then forgetting something vital can be serious. I've always regretted that I've not done any site work yet.
I'd advise any grad to do a year of site work at least. RE on the consultant/client side is a less demanding form of site work IMO.

Consultantcy is grand, sometimes the hours are 9-5 and sometimes you do a month of late nights, but at least its not consistent! I guess the point I was making is that in general , hourly rates are fairly similar, although rumors abound of all those lovely landcruisers and bonuses in the land of contractors rep!!