r/newbrunswickcanada • u/Ally_89 • 5d ago

NBCC

Hey, has any one here completed the one year civil engineering technician program at NBCC? Was it helpful for finding work? What kind of work did you end up getting? Curious as I'm looking to go back to school to upgrade my skills. Also posted in r/Moncton

2 Upvotes

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u/STRIKT9LC 5d ago

Good program, but unfortunately, the market has become saturated with graduates.

Big money in Plumbing. No joke. School for one year, then work for 4 years and write your last 3 blocks/redseal and youre set. Guys under 30 that i know are charge $70-$100/hr

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u/Far_Cardiologist6388 5d ago

Feels like every job is over saturated.. besides the shitty ones 👨🏻😉

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u/STRIKT9LC 5d ago

Lol...for sure, but it really extends to all the trades right now. Great time for a young person to get into them. Lots and lots of money and eventual freedom to be had

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u/Far_Cardiologist6388 5d ago

I would have to disagree on “All trades right now” it’s definitely not all. Automotive technicians you get shafted. Electricians seem a bit over saturated. Carpentry if you want to be lowball on every job. All depends on if you’re talking residential or commercial too.. A lot of variables.

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u/Goivacon2 4d ago

A good automotive technician at a good dealership is doing well. A lot of the guys who complain are the guys who just do tires and brakes all day. The guys who are really good at it are making decent money

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u/STRIKT9LC 5d ago

Really? My experience with my friends in those fields is quite different, but i suppose its all relative

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u/Far_Cardiologist6388 4d ago

Same I have family and friends in those fields. I’d personally never become an auto technician (three generations in my family) and can confirm it’s been a downward trend since the early 2010s. Carpentry family member as well, owns his own business for 20ish years, told me not to go that route when I was talking to him about what trade I should take in today’s market. I was enrolled in the NBCC Electrical course and even paid the deposit. Ended up taking a low tech job (I do have a CS degree) cause bills had to be paid and wanted to get my own place and I had focused on school for 5 years already.

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u/CableManNB 3d ago

How about pressure welder or truck mechanic?

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u/N0x1mus 4d ago

Go for the Technologist 2 year program instead. Way more opportunities.

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u/Worldly-Industry5207 5d ago

The tech program is not as good as the technology program as far as getting a job. Most private sector employers need technologists, but techs can typically be trained on the job if the person is willing. New Brunswick is a bit of a weird place. Irving and a few other large companies account for a vast majority of the work, so you'll probably end up working for JDI or one of its "group of companies". The other big players would be large engineering firms where employment can ebb and flow depending on projects ie. you might get laid off in the winter/ when it's slow. UNB graduates lots of engineers and they are increasingly being offered technologist jobs as companies don't want to pay engineering wages. There just aren't enough big projects in NB outside of what JDI, and other large companies are doing. The other option is government, but their wages haven't kept pace with the private sector, and they max out at around 50k. You could spend years earning 42k with little increases every year until you plateau.

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

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u/Worldly-Industry5207 5d ago

Yeah I work out of province from NB in this field. NB sucks for job stability/ wages / overall engineering culture. The lack of competition is a big part of it. The companies can always find someone to take their wage. Some of the bigger players don't really care about your schooling either. I've seen laborer's doing the role of a technician/ technologist. They do it poorly, but enough to get by. There is some work consulting on projects after they have gone completely FUBAR, or stuff that the large company tried to push through with no engineering standards. I see this a lot with Irving. Laymen doing engineering work, but Irving is untouchable so the Engineering society never gets them sanctioned for practicing without a license.

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u/alpine4life 4d ago

graduated from civil 20 years in may... I'bve always had were great jobs... likely the most respected course out of NBCC/CCNB

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u/Ally_89 2d ago

Could I DM you some questions? Looking to learn about the job.

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u/alpine4life 2d ago

yup, go ahead

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u/fa113nreign 5d ago

So you guys are saying it'll be hard to get a job in NB with a diploma in electrical engineering technology

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u/Worldly-Industry5207 5d ago

Definitely hard in that field for sure. That is a good program at NBCC and companies hire direct from the college.

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u/fa113nreign 5d ago

Hard but not impossible right? I mean I'm gonna be doing it but I just wanna know what the market is like in terms of getting a job and overall stability.

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u/Worldly-Industry5207 4d ago

I have friends that graduated from that program and didn't have any issue finding a job in Moncton. That was probably 5-10 years ago though. There are quite a few manufacturers in the industrial park that hire EET grads.

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u/fa113nreign 4d ago

Thank you I appreciate the insight. Despite your friends graduating some time ago. It still shed some light on the profession. I would like to believe that the demand for technologists have only grown over the years

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u/Worldly-Industry5207 4d ago

I think you're probably right. I understand it's a pretty hard program. Lots of people fail out, so if you graduated, employers know you have work ethic.

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u/fa113nreign 4d ago

Okay I'll definitely try my best because I wanna work in the field

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u/ohmygooddness 4d ago

Based on my experience there are absolutely jobs for an electrical engineering technologists around NB. NB Power hires a ton, and consulting firms are often looking for drafters. OP was asking about the civil technician program which I believe is only 1 year vs 2 years for a technologist. Also electrical vs civil is just vastly different work

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u/fa113nreign 4d ago

Thank I appreciate it. Are you in the field?

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u/justinx1029 1d ago

I’d echo what some other comments say and try for the 2 year course. I work for a project management firm and our last 5 hires were NBCC graduates. Our latest hire did the 3-year construction management program. I did mine before they restructured the course, I did a 2-year construction management program. Otherwise everyone else in our office are mech engineers oddly enough, lol.