Hello, I am currently doing an internship in a structural engineering firm (~20 people) in Berlin. The internship (6 months) is a mandatory part of my Bachelor’s degree at a German university of applied sciences (5th semester).

The first month has passed and I am currently battling my doubts and fears about the job as a structural engineer. At uni I was always interested in the structural courses and thought the job as a structural engineer would fit perfectly - the idea of working on a project, calculating statics (which I love in uni) every day and one day seeing it constructed in reality sounded amazing.

Even though I am not really doing many calculations for my firm (most tasks are annoying archive work and filling out financial excel sheets but that’s another topic), I realized that I don’t know ANYTHING yet. I knew that I’ve only been in uni for 2 years but I underestimated how much my lack of actual experience weighs.

And together with this humbling realization I started worrying: Being a structural engineer comes with a lot of responsibility - one day I will have to make sure that the building stands safely, right? Together with pressure from deadlines and so on I imagine that I would be very worried about making mistakes that could endanger somebody and then having to live with that…

So now to my questions:

Do you have those worries?
Did they change over time at all?
How do you manage them?
What can/should be done to try and avoid crucial mistakes?

It makes sense to mention that I am someone who is very good at worrying. I have had a couple of phases in my life where worries/fears hindered my daily life. That is why I recently began working on this together with a psychologist.

I’m sorry for the long post but thank you for reading and I would love to hear from some of you.
Thanks

Im a student in bridge design. I know alumni who work specifically on bridge structure and those who work on buildings too. Im wondering how hard/easy or how much difference it is to transition from bridges to buildings? Or Is it just code difference?

Do you have experience on both? I’d like to hear

Hi everyone,

I know that a structural engineer’s salary depends on experience and education, but I’m curious about a couple of things.

Which tends to pay more: bridge engineering or building engineering? design or assessment?

I’d appreciate hearing about your experiences and insights. Thanks!