Engineering Career Guidance
Discussion
Hey guys,
Read through the subforum a bit and enjoyed some of the posts, the recent merchant navy one has got my feeling of wanderlust back.
Basically im a 26 year old 3rd year apprentice mechanical engineer. I have to say I never thought i'd end up in the profession, but after falling for cars and realising i'd always been fascinated with how things worked, it all slotted into place.
There is a problem however, recently the training side of this has slumped and ive started to hit a steep part of the learning curve. Basically my employer is about to lose a lot of bench engineers to retirement, they are trying to train us up to replace them but these guys are never given the free time to train, i think my entire training has revolved around being given verbal instruction and being left to it, finding something hard asking for advice and then left to it again.
I've had a bit of bad luck with a couple of instances of long term sick due to a hernia creeping up on me and something else, i can understand why my employer probably has a bit of bad feeling towards me, however i wanted to spend a good few years working somewhere into this company and making something of it but the recent change of attitudes and things have left me feeling a little lost, gaining engineering certificates while having been taught in a haphazard way makes me think it'll be worth nothing.
Is there any advice you guys might be able to give? I know this is a bit too long, but maybe some impartial advice will help.
Read through the subforum a bit and enjoyed some of the posts, the recent merchant navy one has got my feeling of wanderlust back.
Basically im a 26 year old 3rd year apprentice mechanical engineer. I have to say I never thought i'd end up in the profession, but after falling for cars and realising i'd always been fascinated with how things worked, it all slotted into place.
There is a problem however, recently the training side of this has slumped and ive started to hit a steep part of the learning curve. Basically my employer is about to lose a lot of bench engineers to retirement, they are trying to train us up to replace them but these guys are never given the free time to train, i think my entire training has revolved around being given verbal instruction and being left to it, finding something hard asking for advice and then left to it again.
I've had a bit of bad luck with a couple of instances of long term sick due to a hernia creeping up on me and something else, i can understand why my employer probably has a bit of bad feeling towards me, however i wanted to spend a good few years working somewhere into this company and making something of it but the recent change of attitudes and things have left me feeling a little lost, gaining engineering certificates while having been taught in a haphazard way makes me think it'll be worth nothing.
Is there any advice you guys might be able to give? I know this is a bit too long, but maybe some impartial advice will help.
Finish the apprenticeship (as hard as that may be). And just try your best to pick stuff up as you go along. It will be a steep learning curve, especially as the current skills and knowledge within the company is being lost. This is the perfect time to try and prove yourself. I suspect if the shop floor workers are ageing, so is middle and higher management, so there may well be some excellent opportunities for you.
I did an engineering apprenticeship, although the company and fitters were/are generally excellent and really receptive to new guys coming through. Though the workforce is ageing at an horrific rate and there are deficites throughout the company....i've been out of my apprenticeship for 18 months, and just took a test engineer role, with a starting basic basic of £29k, with scope for progression and other allowances.... not bad for someone at 22.
So yeh, try as hard as possible, even if the company isn't great to work for, get some experience and move elsewhere - the skills deficit is massive in the UK at the moment.
I did an engineering apprenticeship, although the company and fitters were/are generally excellent and really receptive to new guys coming through. Though the workforce is ageing at an horrific rate and there are deficites throughout the company....i've been out of my apprenticeship for 18 months, and just took a test engineer role, with a starting basic basic of £29k, with scope for progression and other allowances.... not bad for someone at 22.
So yeh, try as hard as possible, even if the company isn't great to work for, get some experience and move elsewhere - the skills deficit is massive in the UK at the moment.
Hi,
Probably one of the very few topics I feel comfortable posting on
.
I finished my apprenticeship (electrical) back in 2006, had a year out of my time and then got made redundant. Took on a job as a breakdown/maintenance tech at a local food company, lasted a year before I had an opportunity to move into a design office.
Never looked back since then going from Electrical/Instrument Designer, Senior Designer, Systems Engineer, Systems Team Lead and now I'm a Systems reliability and safety engineer (ESD/F&G, that sort of thing). Anyhow the point Im getting at is make the most of your time now and take any opportunities that may arise. If I had one peice of advise is seriously consider going on to doing your degree.
Typical wages for a mech tech I imagine to be anywhere between 25 - 40/45k (dependant upon industry/overtime etc). Typical wages for a mechanical engineer would be closer to 60k or +£40p/hour if your contract.
I went back to do my degree part time...its not easy and I wish I had gone full time when I had the opportunity.
Probably one of the very few topics I feel comfortable posting on
.I finished my apprenticeship (electrical) back in 2006, had a year out of my time and then got made redundant. Took on a job as a breakdown/maintenance tech at a local food company, lasted a year before I had an opportunity to move into a design office.
Never looked back since then going from Electrical/Instrument Designer, Senior Designer, Systems Engineer, Systems Team Lead and now I'm a Systems reliability and safety engineer (ESD/F&G, that sort of thing). Anyhow the point Im getting at is make the most of your time now and take any opportunities that may arise. If I had one peice of advise is seriously consider going on to doing your degree.
Typical wages for a mech tech I imagine to be anywhere between 25 - 40/45k (dependant upon industry/overtime etc). Typical wages for a mechanical engineer would be closer to 60k or +£40p/hour if your contract.
I went back to do my degree part time...its not easy and I wish I had gone full time when I had the opportunity.
I have been thinking maybe I want to in the future .... do a degree in Mechanical Engineering MEng at Imperial College as I love cars is my passion and I am good at Maths and Sciences. Well I particularly enjoyed Physics at school. I already have a degree from Imperial in Maths 2:1 but working as am actuary kind of leaves me unfulfilled. I am 30 now. What's holding me back one of the things is my age , plus will be 4 hard (enjoyable) years and obviously I will have to finance myself unless maybe i could secure engineering sponsorship. Would love ultimately to work with cars .... BMW M in Germany ideally or for big car manufacturer or aviation.
Like you, I found the engineering maths pretty easy (+80%avg over 2 exams at L5/6), and also like you, I financed my degree myself although this was before the fee hikes!
My advice would be to do something that makes you happy and that your interested in!. Careful with the mechanical engineering degrees as I understand it there are automotive specific degrees (ludborough if Im not mistaken) which may fast track any future progression into motorsport roles.
Kudos for the 2:1 Maths degree - not sure I could stick 4 years of pure maths!
My advice would be to do something that makes you happy and that your interested in!. Careful with the mechanical engineering degrees as I understand it there are automotive specific degrees (ludborough if Im not mistaken) which may fast track any future progression into motorsport roles.
Kudos for the 2:1 Maths degree - not sure I could stick 4 years of pure maths!
Pete102 said:
Like you, I found the engineering maths pretty easy (+80%avg over 2 exams at L5/6), and also like you, I financed my degree myself although this was before the fee hikes!
My advice would be to do something that makes you happy and that your interested in!. Careful with the mechanical engineering degrees as I understand it there are automotive specific degrees (ludborough if Im not mistaken) which may fast track any future progression into motorsport roles.
Kudos for the 2:1 Maths degree - not sure I could stick 4 years of pure maths!
The maths degree actually involved 2 years straight maths and 1 year in the Imperial College Management school which was covering business related topics and actually more interesting (& easier) than maths. The maths at university is a lot different from A Level Maths IMO and harder. I had a high 2:2 from first 2 years of maths. Then very high 2:1 in the final year at management school. Was hard especially the exams as I had a tendency to doss then cram for the exams over Easter. That method doesn't work with actuarial exams.My advice would be to do something that makes you happy and that your interested in!. Careful with the mechanical engineering degrees as I understand it there are automotive specific degrees (ludborough if Im not mistaken) which may fast track any future progression into motorsport roles.
Kudos for the 2:1 Maths degree - not sure I could stick 4 years of pure maths!
It may sounds obvious but I do believe in that in Engineering the first 3-4 working years are crucial to strengthen theoretical knowledge with field experience.
Especially in my case the Italian 5 years mechanical/automotive Engineering degree in Turin gave me a solid base but I totally lacked practical knowledege to solve real problems. Choosing a first jobplace where they were immediately asking answers from me could have been fatal.
Working abroad in Germany and France also helped me a lot to understand slightly different approaches.
Try to get the most from more experienced engineers you are working with but at the same time try to always be open minded to think and look for new ways and solutions. I made a huge amount of errors trying to find new solutions for long established approaches but it also happeneed that I discovered some quicker and better solutions when I had close to zero experience...
Especially in my case the Italian 5 years mechanical/automotive Engineering degree in Turin gave me a solid base but I totally lacked practical knowledege to solve real problems. Choosing a first jobplace where they were immediately asking answers from me could have been fatal.
Working abroad in Germany and France also helped me a lot to understand slightly different approaches.
Try to get the most from more experienced engineers you are working with but at the same time try to always be open minded to think and look for new ways and solutions. I made a huge amount of errors trying to find new solutions for long established approaches but it also happeneed that I discovered some quicker and better solutions when I had close to zero experience...
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