23 replies to this topic

[Wise Old Elf]

I have a BEng in Automotive Systems Technology but no longer work in the Automotive world. After Uni car manufacturing was at an all time low with the massive job losses at Dagenham and Luton.

 

I did a lot of CAD work at college and Uni so had transferable skills. I started as a Contract CAD Monkey in Civil Engineering for £7 ph and moved to my second contract after 6 months on £18.50 ph. By the time I left that contract after 3 years I was doing 40 hours a week at £27 ph. That's a few quid and more than I would have earned working at Fords.

 

I am now a Consultant Traffic Engineer and I earn a good living. I suppose my tip would be to look at your transferable skill and if you do not have any get some. I did a night course whilst at Uni in AutoCAD (Release 10 DOS version for the anoraks) which turned out to be more valuable than my BEng.

 

If you want to get into CAD I would say learn REVIT or Civils 3D for the big bucks.

 

Jason 

[porl]

I've just finished my apprenticeship. I'd suggest you go through the NVQ route and try and get yourself on a college course at night time. People are always impressed with practical experience so it might be worth trying to get a Saturday job somewhere, even if its just sweeping up for now. Anywhere so that you can get your feet under the table. Sometimes its a waste of time doing a degree if you want to just do good old fashioned fixing things engineering.

[mini_mad69]

I'm pretty much set on the construction industry, I love working on cars and developing and making new parts, but I don't want to make it my job as I think it might take my passion  away from my hobby. See this is where I made the mistake, I wish I had got an apprentaship at 16, got some qualifications in that respect, learned more of the working world and what i wanted to do, earned throughout and then gone onto university at about this time in order to top up my qualifications in a more specific field. 

I know I want to be an engineer and I can trace back the exact moment when I made the wrong choice and went to the business side. My sixth form must have had targets to get us into uni, as I know I could have easily got a decent a-level in maths as I was getting a's throughout GCSE, but I was told to do other subjects and basically told and advised on the wrong way of doing things.

I have been messing around with anything mechanical since I was a toddler, playing with mechano and lego since I could pick things up, pulling my RC cars apart at 9 years old too clean the carburetor, pulling the engine on my mini at 14 years old etc i've always been practical. 

I went for a job in a power station in 2011 not longg after uni and was in the top 5 of 200 in the theory exam I had to sit, but failed at the last stage of the selection process due to an apparent lack of enthusiasm (which was actually nerves) . And that was the only response of about 100 applications for anything engineering related I managed to break into.

I want too look at a huge construction project and be able to think to myself, I am making this happen. I don't care how many hours I have to work, if it's going to cost the earth I don't mind, I'm putting in 50-60 hours a week at the moment in my current job to try and get ahead and not receiving recognition for it, so thinking might as well be putting in the same effort into moving into something I want to do.

I was just looking for advise in the best way to gain some qualifications to help the move into the industry. People have said go for the work based ones such as training schemes and apprenticeships, but I'm just not getting through the first stage. So figured next course of action is to get some pieces of paper to show how keen I am. So what in experienced peoples opinion is the way to go to get started? NVQ, HNC, HND etc?

[porl]

To get on any degree course I think you need an NVQ level 3 before you can do the HNC. I've done all the extra work to do a HNC but my boss couldn't pay for me to go on the course but he'd willingly pay for the other apprentice to go on it. I 'apparently' don't push myself.

[l_jonez]

Also don't get caught up on the title of 'engineer'. I work with several people who do a similar job to me but dont have engineer status because they didn't go to uni etc.


If your good at your job/trade then potential employers should take you on regardless of status.

[jd24-7]

I'm pretty much set on the construction industry, I love working on cars and developing and making new parts, but I don't want to make it my job as I think it might take my passion  away from my hobby. See this is where I made the mistake, I wish I had got an apprentaship at 16, got some qualifications in that respect, learned more of the working world and what i wanted to do, earned throughout and then gone onto university at about this time in order to top up my qualifications in a more specific field. 
I know I want to be an engineer and I can trace back the exact moment when I made the wrong choice and went to the business side. My sixth form must have had targets to get us into uni, as I know I could have easily got a decent a-level in maths as I was getting a's throughout GCSE, but I was told to do other subjects and basically told and advised on the wrong way of doing things.

I have been messing around with anything mechanical since I was a toddler, playing with mechano and lego since I could pick things up, pulling my RC cars apart at 9 years old too clean the carburetor, pulling the engine on my mini at 14 years old etc i've always been practical. 

I went for a job in a power station in 2011 not longg after uni and was in the top 5 of 200 in the theory exam I had to sit, but failed at the last stage of the selection process due to an apparent lack of enthusiasm (which was actually nerves) . And that was the only response of about 100 applications for anything engineering related I managed to break into.

I want too look at a huge construction project and be able to think to myself, I am making this happen. I don't care how many hours I have to work, if it's going to cost the earth I don't mind, I'm putting in 50-60 hours a week at the moment in my current job to try and get ahead and not receiving recognition for it, so thinking might as well be putting in the same effort into moving into something I want to do.

I was just looking for advise in the best way to gain some qualifications to help the move into the industry. People have said go for the work based ones such as training schemes and apprenticeships, but I'm just not getting through the first stage. So figured next course of action is to get some pieces of paper to show how keen I am. So what in experienced peoples opinion is the way to go to get started? NVQ, HNC, HND etc?

i think you need to stand back a little and think about what it is you want to do. It sounds like you are jumping around a bit between disciplines that are quite different.
i wouldn't get to hung up on degrees and qualifications, and doors closing because of your age.
i work as a designer of industrial machinery, i have an HNC in engineering, but my design work relies mostly on experience and a bit of aptitude. I have seen a lot of design engineers come and go, and the younger degree route people seem to struggle more than slightly older ones that have followed a more practical route.
At the moment there is a great shortage of industrial engineers, so if you are struggling to make progress in the direction you want , then you are either putting yourself across badly, or your talents lay elsewhere .
If all else fails, get a menial job in a small firm and work hard. If you have talent, it Will be spotted. I have done many jobs with in engineering from de burring metal to maintaining machinery, and purchasing to photocopying.
All of this variety has become my key strength- jack of all trades master of none!
It also pays a pretty good salary at the moment:-)

Jd

Edited by jd24-7, 15 May 2013 - 09:12 PM.

[porl]

Degrees don't always bring experience.

[Wise Old Elf]

My experience of people with Degrees and people that don't is that generally I earn a little more and am considered for more roles than others I know that do the same job. It was a slog to get my BEng and it cost me a lot of money as I did not have parents to bank role me but it was worth it in the long run.

 

Of course experience is also important but anything that gives you the edge over the guy next in the room is worth the time/money.

[EpicB]

I'm a Mining Engineer so a little different to the interesting motorsport engineering disciplines in here, however a few of my friends who are "mature students" some of whom have previously completed degrees which are irrelevant to the discipline of mining engineering (mine design, drill and blast design, geotechnics, ventilation etc) and so their way onto the course was through a one year "access" or "access to engineering" course run by a college which basically makes sure that candidates have a basic level of maths and physics required for an engineering degree. Perhaps this is something which might be of use to you if you were looking at civil engineering.

The term "Engineer" gets thrown around a lot these days so it's difficult to fully understand what you mean and want to get into, I have a cousin who is effectively a fitter and turner who's qualification is in engineering (it's not a degree), yet is at completely the opposite end of the spectrum to a Bachelor of Engineering in Civil, Mechanical, Mining Engineering etc courses which are similar in their make up due to the reliance of maths, physics and management.

If you really are keen, look into Mining Engineering! I'm biased I know but it's an industry in massive demand and the rewards (travel, security and salary) are fantastic, as well as providing a challenging career!