An Engineer said they regret choosing civil engineering due to poor work-life balance and mental toll.

A 33-year-old working professional has caught social media's attention after stating that they regretted their decision to choose civil engineering. The engineer detailed how a toxic work culture, lack of work-life balance, and severe mental toll led to deep resentment toward the industry. The engineer admitted to reaching a breaking point, wishing they had pivoted to information technology much earlier in their career.

"I wish I hadn't chosen civil engineering, or at least immediately switched to IT. I tried government job exams but couldn't make it," the user wrote in a Reddit post.

The engineer highlighted that they worked on a construction site for a year before moving into Building Information Modelling, also known as BIM.

"Later, switched to BIM, hoping for better work-life balance. But there is none. It's just that I have to do the same amount of work mentally, at one place, inside an air-conditioned office," the engineer said.

"I work on international projects. But, Thanks to Indian managers abroad, who have no life and keep working all the time and force others to do the same."

Despite the work pressure, the engineer pointed out that they were not earning much, adding that it was perhaps too late to switch to another stream.

Social Media Reactions

As the post gained traction, social media users advised the engineer not to give up and try steering their career into academia or coaching.

"My father has spent 40 years in Civil engineering. Try steering your career into academia or coaching if you don't want to step into fieldwork," said one user, while another added: "Why is it too late? You could think about doing an MBA or M.Tech and switch to management or other roles."

A third commented: "On the contrary, across multiple Premier engineering institutions across our country, many top-ranked individuals have opted for civil engineering. As long as AI continues to massacre roles and responsibilities in the IT streams, civil may emerge as the winner."

A fourth said: "You should have tried goverment jobs after gaining some experience. Some vacancies are based on experience also."