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Career I Love vs Career in Demand

Hello, all
I'm currently taking a gap year from studying and am having a hard time deciding on what to study at university.

I live in the Caribbean and have completed an associate degree in Building and Civil engineering which entails maths, calculus, physics, chemistry, construction technology, land surveying, quantity surveying, statics, mechanics, autocad design and other subjects. I believe this is roughly equivalent to a foundation degree in the UK.

The two degrees that I'm looking to study are civil engineering or quantity surveying. I quite enjoy being able to design solutions to problems and I like seeing structures being built. I would like studying civil as that is closer to my interests(apart from the complex maths, bleugh). I know though that civil engineering is a much harder career to get into and there are many more students graduating into that field.

Quantity surveying on the other hand, I would be capable of doing and I would still get to see buildings going up, but I wouldn't enjoy it as much. From what I've researched, there is a major shortage of QS' around the world and so that would be an easier career to get into with possibly a better salary.

So my question to you is; which one should I pick?
(edited 7 years ago)
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Avatar for ruperts
ruperts
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Original post by Josh...
Hello, all
I'm currently taking a gap year from studying and am having a hard time deciding on what to study at university.

I live in the Caribbean and have completed an associate degree in Building and Civil engineering which entails maths, calculus, physics, chemistry, construction technology, land surveying, quantity surveying, statics, mechanics, autocad design and other subjects. I believe this is roughly equivalent to a foundation degree in the UK.

The two degrees that I'm looking to study are civil engineering or quantity surveying. I quite enjoy being able to design solutions to problems and I like seeing structures being built. I would like studying civil as that is closer to my interests(apart from the complex maths, bleugh). I know though that civil engineering is a much harder career to get into and there are many more students graduating into that field.

Quantity surveying on the other hand, I would be capable of doing and I would still get to see buildings going up, but I wouldn't enjoy it as much. From what I've researched, there is a major shortage of QS' around the world and so that would be an easier career to get into with possibly a better salary.

So my question to you is; which one should I pick?


I'd advise trying to get some work experience in both so you can see what they're both like in reality. You can't really tell what a job is going to be like day to day until you've done it.

After that, if you still prefer civil engineering, then do civil engineering. If you do QS then sure you might find it slightly easier to get a job (in the UK I don't think it's that much easier to get a QS job than a civil engineer job) and you might get paid a little bit more initially (again though in the UK the starting salaries are about the same), but if you don't enjoy your work then you won't progress as far as you could. You'd end up in a job you don't enjoy earning an OK but not brilliant salary. Whereas if you do something you've got a real passion for then that passion will likely take you a lot further, and you'll end up in a job you enjoy earning more money.

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