How To Become A Civil Engineering Assistant: What It Is and Career Path

What is a civil engineering assistant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Karen Panetta Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a civil engineering assistant. For example, did you know that they make an average of $30.58 an hour? That's $63,615 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 7% and produce 22,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a civil engineering assistant?

Karen Panetta Ph.D.

Dean of Graduate Education, School of Engineering, Tufts University

This is a different generation of graduates, and many employers are going to want to know how you dealt with and responded to the COVID crisis. The response to this tells so much about an individual's ability to deal with and overcome adversity. They seek innovative, upbeat, and definite answers that show that students are prepared for anything and will be resourceful.

They are also looking to see what personal actions and community involvement students participated in. For instance, online tutoring for kids whose parents needed help homeschooling their kids while they worked, or using their engineering skills to 3D print PPE for local nursing homes and other at-risk populations.

Every engineering student comes out with technical skills, but the ones that used them, and showed their compassion for humanity, will be the ones that companies will want to hire.

ScoreCivil Engineering AssistantUS Average

Salary

5.0

Avg. Salary $63,615

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 14.70%

Black or African American 3.88%

Hispanic or Latino 11.39%

Unknown 4.66%

White 65.05%

Gender

female 34.36%

male 65.64%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.1

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a civil engineering assistant

Explore civil engineering assistant education requirements

Most common civil engineering assistant degrees

Bachelor's

68.1 %

Associate

11.0 %

Master's

7.3 %

Start to develop specific civil engineering assistant skills

Skills	Percentages
Construction Management	12.60%
Aided Design	11.68%
Retaining Walls	10.13%
Engineering Drawings	8.40%
Construction Projects	6.51%

Complete relevant civil engineering assistant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New civil engineering assistants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a civil engineering assistant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real civil engineering assistant resumes.

Research civil engineering assistant duties and responsibilities

Manage change order and RFI s to addressed any questions or concerns of sub-contractor.
Programme VBA tool to organize and manage operator-supply production data into a comprehensive data set.
Utilize AutoCAD and GIS systems.
Perform surveying duties including GPS systems, transits, and theodolites.

Apply for civil engineering assistant jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a civil engineering assistant job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do civil engineering assistants rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Civil engineering assistant reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2020

Pros

fast degree plan

Cons

I really like this carrer. Theres nothing about it that i dont like.

A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2020