No experience But want to change my career at 23

No experience But want to change my career at 23

Author
Discussion

Jeni19

Original Poster:

11 posts

104 months

Saturday 25th July 2015
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Hello everyone,

I need advice on how to start up a career as a mechanic in The UK.

I graduated with a 2:1 in psychology, but don't want to continue in this field.

I've always been fascinated by how moving objects work and would spend time on engineering YouTube videos. My long term goal is to one day go back to uni and learn about mechanical engineering but I always thought hands on practical experience would be priceless knowledge, hence I want to start off as a mechanic, save up and pay off my debts first for my Psychology degree.

I have no experience other than passion and interest. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you

Paradaxos

135 posts

117 months

Tuesday 28th July 2015
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Be careful. You might be better off going into a graduate traineeship to do with running a garage or dealership and getting involved with the mechanics on your own terms.

Actually being a mechanic professionally seems like a lot of effort on uninspiring machines for not much thanks.

BoRED S2upid

19,641 posts

239 months

Tuesday 28th July 2015
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Apprenticeship? Find a local garage who will agree to take you on and train you on the job. Expect very long hours and very little pay.

DuraAce

4,240 posts

159 months

Tuesday 28th July 2015
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Join the military?

a311

5,789 posts

176 months

Tuesday 28th July 2015
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Mechanical engineering has little to do with cars/engines etc IME. It's course dependant but if you're interested in engines etc something more specialised like automotive engineering may be more interesting. You won't go far wrong with a mechanical or any engineering degree.

A lot of the first year of any engineering is getting everyones maths up to a similar standard.

Jeni19

Original Poster:

11 posts

104 months

Tuesday 28th July 2015
quotequote all
a311 said:
Mechanical engineering has little to do with cars/engines etc IME. It's course dependant but if you're interested in engines etc something more specialised like automotive engineering may be more interesting. You won't go far wrong with a mechanical or any engineering degree.

A lot of the first year of any engineering is getting everyones maths up to a similar standard.
Thank you for making me aware that mechanical engineering has little to do with cars. What is the job market like for someone with an automotive engineering degree?
Also I've looked into mechatronics....building robots but unsure whether this will allow me to find a job in the UK. what else would you suggest that leads to a specialist role in engineering?
That's exactly why I posted here... I need every type of opinion to broaden my perspective, so thanks a lot!

Jeni19

Original Poster:

11 posts

104 months

Tuesday 28th July 2015
quotequote all
[quote=DuraAce]Join the military? [/quote


It's out of my league....

Jeni19

Original Poster:

11 posts

104 months

Tuesday 28th July 2015
quotequote all
Paradaxos said:
Be careful. You might be better off going into a graduate traineeship to do with running a garage or dealership and getting involved with the mechanics on your own terms.

Actually being a mechanic professionally seems like a lot of effort on uninspiring machines for not much thanks.
Thank you for the tip. I'll think about it

Jeni19

Original Poster:

11 posts

104 months

Tuesday 28th July 2015
quotequote all
BoRED S2upid said:
Apprenticeship? Find a local garage who will agree to take you on and train you on the job. Expect very long hours and very little pay.
Thanks for the tip smile

Gargamel

14,957 posts

260 months

Tuesday 28th July 2015
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Can I ask why you did a psychology degree, there must have been a time when you wanted that.

So how is the current dream different from back then.

Also why would you only stay in the UK, why not find some global experience in say robotics?

Finally, how's your Maths going to hold up in a Mech Eng degree?

Jeni19

Original Poster:

11 posts

104 months

Tuesday 28th July 2015
quotequote all
Gargamel said:
Can I ask why you did a psychology degree, there must have been a time when you wanted that.

So how is the current dream different from back then.

Also why would you only stay in the UK, why not find some global experience in say robotics?

Finally, how's your Maths going to hold up in a Mech Eng degree?
Good question..Well I did psychology because it was the easiest thing I could do because my parents wanted me to go to uni. I never had much guidance so I really didn't know what I was doing at 18/19.... just went with the flow. But I've always been curious to find out how things worked, I even fixed my Mac desktop I bought second hand from a computer fair.
I have an A in maths from GscE s, and at uni I always used to get top grades for statistics. More than my lab reports.
And I will only stay in the UK because theres no place like home.

Asterix

24,438 posts

227 months

Wednesday 29th July 2015
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What always fascinates me when I watch 'How do they do it' (or whatever it's called) on Discovery, I'm more interested in how they invented/engineered the machines that make the stuff, than the actual stuff itself.

I'd love to have thought about that when I was at school.

Asterix

24,438 posts

227 months

Wednesday 29th July 2015
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DuraAce said:
Join the military?
Opps - just saw this post.

I was Infantry reserve (Royal Anglians) and when I joined the Regulars I ended up as a Vehicle Mechanic - got to work on some amazing kit - everything from a tiny generator to the Challenger MBT.

There's also the Air & Avionics Techs that work on the helis.

If you go in as an REME officer, you'll be an admin bod basically.

Jaska

722 posts

141 months

Wednesday 29th July 2015
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Jeni19 said:
Good question..Well I did psychology because it was the easiest thing I could do because my parents wanted me to go to uni. I never had much guidance so I really didn't know what I was doing at 18/19.... just went with the flow. But I've always been curious to find out how things worked, I even fixed my Mac desktop I bought second hand from a computer fair.
I have an A in maths from GscE s, and at uni I always used to get top grades for statistics. More than my lab reports.
And I will only stay in the UK because theres no place like home.
Hate to go OT but this is exactly what is wrong with the UK, why do we have a culture that causes people to spend 3 years and £30k+ on something that they dont actually know if they want to do? Especially in this case where someone has A's in maths, uses hands on electronics etc. No wonder we have a skills shortage!

I did the exact same thing OP, but somewhere in the second year realised I quite liked my degree subject after all so have stuck with it since - Do you not think there's a career for you in Psychology at all? Sounds like you have your mind set though.

Gargamel

14,957 posts

260 months

Wednesday 29th July 2015
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Jeni

Hi,

I googled Engineering Apprenticeships, I looked on the Indeed link - there are around 5000 hits

http://chj.tbe.taleo.net/chj01/ats/careers/requisi...

Like this one

Crack on - there is nothing holding you back. Get on a recognised scheme with a decent sized employer, don't piss about under cars - that's a weekend hobby.

CountZero23

1,288 posts

177 months

Wednesday 29th July 2015
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Sounds like you're still unsure exactly what job you want at the end of the training. You certainly don't need a degree to be a car mechanic.

Take your time, work out what job you want and then find the easiest / cheapest / effective way to get one.

Bear in mind how much you need to earn to have the life style to aspire to. Froma quick google I found a poisiton in Oxford for a mechanic, they want three years experience and are paying 20k. fk that. You'd stuggle to live in a bedsit in Oxford on 20k.

http://www.indeed.co.uk/cmp/Oxford-German-Car-Spec...

Would rather listen to neurotic middle class types whinging on my sofa for £100 per hour and spend the cash ona nice garage and collection of classics to tinker with.


a311

5,789 posts

176 months

Wednesday 29th July 2015
quotequote all
Jeni19 said:
Thank you for making me aware that mechanical engineering has little to do with cars. What is the job market like for someone with an automotive engineering degree?
Also I've looked into mechatronics....building robots but unsure whether this will allow me to find a job in the UK. what else would you suggest that leads to a specialist role in engineering?
That's exactly why I posted here... I need every type of opinion to broaden my perspective, so thanks a lot!
I can't answer what the prospects would be like for someone with an automotive based degree, an engineering based degree is your ticket in to a lot of careers. What you do after that is how you build a career.

IME the higher up the ladder you go the less hands on work you'll do. There's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be on the tools and being a tradesman/technician. The difference between this and being 'an engineer' is do you want to be the person doing the job or the person, running and planning the job?

Mechatronics is quite niche, I did some modules when I was at uni a lot of it was programming etc but times move on. We have a robotics team and they're a mixture of mechanical and electrical engineers. If you're unsure I would suggest maybe doing a main branch of engineering such as mech, chemical or electrical. Afterwards a good way to specialise is to consider doing a a masters degree. There are quite a few optional modules to undergraduate engineering courses.

If you want to go down the degree route on choosing a course I would check that it's accredited with the relevant professional body. I'm an engineering manager and if/when hiring I must admit I couldn't give two about which university the candidate went to, although I appreciate there are good and less good universities. I'm more about how I see them fitting in etc-like I said the qualification is your way in only.

valiant

10,067 posts

159 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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To be honest I'd avoid the auto sector as the pay is poor and I don't think you'll have long term job satisfaction from it.

You need to go big. Trains and aero pay good money, have good career progression and I think you'll have more contentment dealing with a Virgin Pendalino rather than Mrs Smith's ageing Micra.

All train companies, and I imagine it's the same with the airlines, run apprenticeship schemes that will lead onto good careers with plenty of transferable skills so you can move around a bit.

Think outside the box!!

mph1977

12,467 posts

167 months

Friday 31st July 2015
quotequote all
DuraAce said:
Join the military?
about the only way a graduate will get the training the OP wants , as no civvie street training provider is going to touvh the OP unless they self fund ...

Asterix

24,438 posts

227 months

Saturday 1st August 2015
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mph1977 said:
DuraAce said:
Join the military?
about the only way a graduate will get the training the OP wants , as no civvie street training provider is going to touvh the OP unless they self fund ...
...but not as an Officer, they're basically admin bods and workshop managers. If you really want to get to play with the kit then you need to start off as a ranker. Officers don't do any trade training.