It is usually early on in their childhood that born architects will discover a fascination with Legos and Lincoln Logs. When they get a little bit older and discover Erector Sets and then their course is set. They may rush home every day to build something new while everyone else is out playing football. How can they turn their backs on that? No one should ever give up a passion because the economy may be in a poor state.
Architecture has plenty of opportunities available today. Go on any job site and you will get plenty of hits for your search. Go on industry-specific job boards and you will see hundreds of postings. How can that be with a struggling economy? Construction is being halted on major products all across the United States and homeowners are in the worst shape they have been in in a long time. Drive by developments that were full of activity as little as six months ago and all you see are empty lots.
It is easy to forget that engineers not only build things, but they also fix them. This is where you can find your own special niche in today's world, and it is one that is definitely worth exploring. Sooner or later the economy will get itself straightened out and we will start building again, but in the meantime, you can make an honest living fixing up what is already there.
As we stated, the economy is a mess. That being the case, where an owner of a building may once have considered ripping it down and rebuilding from the ground up, they will now go a different route. Shutting down a building for reconstruction is a costly venture. You not only have to pay for the reconstruction and demolition of a building, but you also have to figure on the loss of the business while you are down.
A lot of businesses are doing renovation. They can stay open for business during this process. This is where a structural engineer comes in. They have to come in and evaluate the structure and make their assessment as to what can and cannot be done and what the best way to go about it is.
Now think about all the businesses that this covers. We are not only talking about the small-business owners here, but major structures that sometimes take years to complete. There are high-rises with scaffolding going up and down the building that has been in place for four to five years at a time. What about stadiums and sports arenas? While there are a few teams that have the income to build a new facility—the Dallas Cowboys come to mind—few can boast that kind of stability to be able to take on a project such as that.
Most of these teams, college included, need to remain competitive to keep the fans coming out but cannot afford to build from the ground up. Cities are in trouble and cannot throw the money at these teams like they used to. The teams need to add luxury seating and to upgrade the facilities to keep the fans coming in. This is another ideal market for a structural engineer. If you specialize in this type of architecture, you will not only make it through this crunch, but you will also be ready when the turn finally happens and new structures are being built again.
If your true love is the construction of homes, you are still in luck. Homeowners are very unlikely to sell in this market as they have no shot of getting their money back on their investment. For the first time in a long time home value is decreasing instead of increasing. You would have to be a fool to unload a nice house today. What people are doing now is spending the money to make their houses into their dream house, or they are just getting it in better shape to sell it once the market actually does improve. All of these changes must be approved by an engineer and you will be there to answer the call.
Structural engineering is a solid career choice during a great economy as well as a poor one. No matter what, homes will have to be fixed, buildings will have to be improved and yes, some people will still build from the ground up. Any skilled engineer will always have a job regardless of the shape of the national economy.
