Fighting Natural Disasters How to Build a Career in Saving Lives - CareerAlley

Fighting Natural Disasters How to Build a Career in Saving Lives - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. A career in civil engineering can be profitable financially, but more importantly it helps to safeguard and even save the lives of countless ordinary Americans. There are various types of civil engineers, such as structural engineers, maritime engineers, and environmental civil engineers. While the job description of each specialized field of engineering is slightly different, all civil engineers play an important role in helping to save lives and/or make sure that individuals are not put at risk needlessly. Civil engineers essentially handle the upkeep of a citys infrastructure, ensuring that bridges, dams, roads, and highways are properly built. This is an ongoing job, as structures deteriorate over time and need to be repaired or even replaced in order to ensure that people can use them safely. Civil engineers also make sure that new construction projects are safe and environmentally friendly. Civil Engineers and Natural Disasters Civil engineers also help cities and municipalities develop a plan for how to deal with one or more natural disasters. Naturally, the plans drawn up will largely be based on which natural disasters a particular area is prone to and so each city and state will likely have a slightly different plan. The plan outlines precautions that can be taken to avoid widespread damage. Civil engineers also know which types of buildings structures will and will not be safe in a natural disaster and so may give advice regarding issuing a voluntary or mandatory evacuation order for a particular area of town. Civil engineers then help to clean up the damage after a natural disaster. They help to rebuild affected areas and make sure the new structures are safer than the previous ones so that future damage can be averted. When a natural disaster occurs, civil engineers will help to issue health and safety regulations for the general population as well as for those who are tasked with cleaning up the debris. Because civil engineers have a good understanding of how buildings are made, they know whether or not certain buildings should be left standing or torn down. They also know which large buildings should be used as shelters and how many people can safely be accommodated in any given building. How to Build a Career in Civil Engineering A person who wants to build a career in civil engineering should start by focusing on the right skills. A person who is interested in a career of this nature will need to have good interpersonal skills, a strong foundation in math, science, and IT skills as well as a strong work ethic. The ability to speak more than one language is not required but it is a plus, as many cities in the United States today have large minority communities that a civil engineer may need to communicate with, especially in the event of a disaster. Requirements and Training An aspiring civil engineer will need to have a bachelors degree in this field, along with specialized training in the area of his or her expertise. However, these are the basic entry-level requirements; those who want to take on large projects such as those touched on above will likely need a masters degree in this particular field. Civil engineers play a big role in saving lives when a natural disaster occurs. They also play a role in keeping people safe every day, as they make sure that a citys infrastructure remains safe and in good condition at all times. Furthermore, they help to create natural disaster plans that limit damage and loss of life should a flood, hurricane, earthquake, or some other natural disaster occur. Those who are looking for a career that benefits the general public in a tangible way should seriously consider taking one or more courses in civil engineering. Author Bio William Stevens is a blogger who writes articles in relation to civil engineering. This article was written to explain rewarding career opportunities in this field and to encourage students to seek degrees such as a Master in Civil Engineering. This is a Guest post. If you would like to submit a guest post to CareerAlley, please follow these guest post guidelines. Good luck in your search. Visit me on Facebook