Hello together,
I recently left a large engineering firm and am currently considering what it would mean for me to return to an employed role. I'm comparing being self-employed as a structural engineer versus roles in construction management or specialized engineering fields like forensic investigations. I've found it difficult to justify the traditional structural engineering path financially if other roles could offer similar compensation ($130K–150K annually) with less stress or fewer hours.
So, I would have some questions:
- How many years did you work for someone else before going independent?
- What services do you find yourself providing most often?
- What's your average hourly billing rate?
- Approximately how many hours do you and your team work per week?
What do other self-employed structural engineers think about this? What are your experiences and how do you evaluate different work models in terms of financial reward and personal satisfaction?
Looking forward to your answers.