Careers
FAQs
What positions are available for new graduate engineers?
How many engineers do you usually hire each year?
When do you hire each year?
Where will I work?
What is a typical work day like?
Do I have staff reporting to me?
What are my hours of work?
How much will I make?
Will I be paid overtime?
How many weeks of vacation do I get?
Do I get a company car?
Is there a pension plan?
Is there a health care plan?
What are the chances for advancement?
Do you encourage continuing education?
Do you provide assistance to students?
Can I visit your offices?
How do I apply?
What positions are available for new graduate engineers?
This year, we are hiring 12 new engineers. The numbers are split between project engineers for the field and design engineers for head office.
How many engineers do you usually hire each year ?
With the number of retirements in the past few years, we have been hiring 6 - 8 engineers each year. This year more engineers are required due to the number of retirements, and as present engineers move into management positions.
We hire throughout the year. We are trying to focus our recruitment of graduate engineers in late fall. Jobs will be posted in the fall for December graduates and May graduates. Other vacancies do occur during the year as people are promoted to new positions.
There are job opportunities province wide for engineers. Project Engineers (field engineers) work and live in communities across Nova Scotia. Design engineers are located in our Head Office in Halifax.
What is a typical work day like?
Project engineers divide their time between the office and the field. It’s up to you to decide where you’re required. There is a lot of interaction between you and your staff and also the contractor(s) performing the work. Every day is different.
Design engineers work in our design offices in Halifax. They can be working on locating a new route for a highway, detailed highway design, designing structures, or working on traffic operations, depending on the section you’re working in. The design engineers visit the field periodically to discuss their work with project engineers.
No matter which engineering job you’re in, it’s a team environment. Project engineers and design engineers work closely together.
Do I have staff reporting to me?
Project engineers have 3 - 10 people reporting to them. You’ll have an engineering aide who looks after the office work, an engineering survey technician who performs the field surveying, and a number of crew people who work with the surveyor and perform various tasks for you in the field.
Project engineers are scheduled to work from 8:00 am - 4:30 pm.
Design engineers are scheduled to work from 8:30 am - 4:30 pm.
Effective April 1, 2008
Entry level $42, 000 - $51, 000
2 years related experience - $43,800- $53, 500.
4 years related experience - $53, 500 - $65, 200.
Effective April 1, 2009
Entry level $43, 300 - $53, 100
2 years related experience $45, 100 - $55, 100
4 years related experience - $55, 100 - $67, 100
Yes. Any work outside of your normal hours will be paid as overtime or you can take the time as extra time off (or a combination of both). What ever suits your life style.
How many weeks of vacation do I get?
Project engineers start with 4 weeks vacation.
Design engineers start at 3 weeks vacation.
Why the difference - project engineers work ½ hour longer each day and are compensated with an extra week of vacation.
Vacation entitlements increase up to 6 weeks as years of service increase.
Vehicles are not provided to Project Engineers - you must have your own vehicle to travel to the worksites. You are well compensated for your vehicle use - you receive a monthly vehicle allowance. The current allowance is $847.05/month.
Design engineers do not travel on a daily bases like project engineers so they do not receive a monthly travel allowance. However, when you are required to
travel you are paid mileage. The current rate is 40.51¢ / kilometre.
Yes, you will become a member of the Nova Scotia government employee pension plan. For more information go to: http://www.novascotiapension.ca/publicserviceplan/newmembers
Yes, the government has an excellent health care plan. For more information:
http://www.gov.ns.ca/psc/v2/pdf/employeeCentre/benefits
/EmployeesHealthDentalPlanBooklet.pdf
What are the chances for advancement?
Your chances for advancement have never been better. There are a large number of engineers retiring over the next 10 years and management vacancies are continuously opening.
Do you encourage continuing education?
Yes - we are a strong supporter of continuing education. You will receive an extensive two-year professional and technical development program to ensure you have the knowledge and tools to do your job. We encourage our engineers to keep abreast of changing technology and to prepare themselves for moving into management positions.
Do you provide assistance to students?
Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal has a sponsorship Program for third-year engineering students. We pay your tuition and books for the third and fourth years; provide you with summer/co-op employment; and a full-time job when you graduate. Your return of service to us is based on the money supplied to you. For more information, click on this link :http://www.gov.ns.ca/tran/careers/careerBET.asp
We can match you up with an employee doing a job similar to the job you’re interested in doing. E-mail TIR_Careers@gov.ns.ca and tell us where you live and the engineering job that interests you with the department. Someone will be in contact with you to schedule job shadowing for an hour or a day - whatever you and the employee feel is appropriate.
How do I apply?
All jobs are posted on the Career Beacon website: http://www.careerbeacon.com/corpprof/govns/govns.html
Instructions for applying for all jobs are given with the job posting.