I'm considering changing careers... would like a career in engineering... any advice?

[Bipolar]

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Two questions, really...

1. What's the future like for the civil engineering industry (i.e. job opportunities, salaries, etc.)?

2. Any advice/thoughts on the difficulties associated with changing careers at the age of 35?





Basically, I'm considering going back to university to study for an engineering degree... probably civil engineering... or, one other option is bio-medical engineering... (with the qualifications I already have, I can do an MSc in bio-engineering in one year, whereas a BEng in civil engineering would take me at least three years - much longer, more expensive)...

Of course, it's going to be extremely expensive - university fees are pretty crazy, and also, my income will be greatly reduced (as a full-time student, it will be difficult to hold down a decent job at the same time)... so of course, that's something I'll have to deal with...

But aside from that, I'm wondering - can anyone advise - what would be the other problems associated with changing careers at the age of 35 (I expect I'll be around 35 by the time I complete another degree)? I'm thirty now, and I'll have to plan carefully if I'm going to seriously change careers at my age, so even if I do decide that I'm going to do it, I expect it will be many months before I even start another degree...

I mean, what's the civil/structural engineering industry looking like now? What are job opportunities like? What's it like in India? What's it like in other parts of the world? What's the starting salaries like? What's the future for the civil engineering industry? Is it possible to predict/forecast what the next thirty years will be like?

What qualifications are necessary to enter the civil engineering industry? Is it possible to go there with a bio-medical engineering background? I mean, I wonder if transferable skills from other engineering disciplines will allow me to enter into civil engineering?

I think, one other problem is, when starting late in life, does that make it harder to progress up the career ladder? What's the psychological effect of having to work with younger graduates? I'm assuming that the vast majority of civil engineers are usually around 22-23 years old when they graduate, and I don't know how I'll feel having to work with much younger colleagues who may be professionally senior to me...

Any thoughts? Any advice? Thanks in advance...