Motorsport gap year, apprenticeship, job, career????

[J.I.M]

Hi, this is my first post so if its in the wrong section, or already been covered, my apologies and please point me in the right direction.

Im in my final year of college, and have the grades to do motorsport or automotive design at uni. BUT i prefer the practical side, ideally id like to get my foot in the motorsport industry without the need for attending uni, not because im lazy but because i dont see 3 more years of education being particualrly beneficial to me personally.

i am pretty pracitcal, i could strip a motorbike to the ground, not quite as good with cars, but would like to learn, and im pretty good with automotive desing, cad/cam programs etc.

basically what im looking for is any info of companies, organisations, individuals or even basic jobs that can help me get into the industry, not too fussed about pay at this stage, id rather just get started, obviously got a few months until ive finished my a levels so it dosnt need to be a quick placement, just any suggestions ideas, offers or similar.

any help would be great, and if you need any more info let me know, thanks very much
jim

[lotisi]

Hi Jim. It would be helpful if you let people know where you are based, there are loads of motorsport folks on here and one of them may be looking for you!

[J.I.M]

ok, thanks, im located near worcester, but would be happy to travel even on a worldwide scale.

also thought i might add i have some experience with both autograss and mx racing.

[awracing]

I know cosworth do an apprenticeship over near milton keynes.
Have you thought of the aerospace industry, get trained up and then switch sectors.

[Nic Jones]

awracing said:

I know cosworth do an apprenticeship over near milton keynes.
Have you thought of the aerospace industry, get trained up and then switch sectors.

That's what I'm trying to do!

[J.I.M]

thanks for the comments so far, ive previously looked at a few companies offering apprenticeships and there are deffinetly some top looking courses out there. all i seem to get from anyone i mention apprenticship to is, you have a levels you should be going to uni.

any other ideas/companies

cheers v much for the help

Jim

[bobthemonkey]

yeah, thats the probelm, nowadays an apprenticeship has been somehat devalued as degrees become the norm.

www.coventry.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate-full-time-a-z/a/1185 is meant to be very good, and mech.eng.degrees give you a nice range of 'backup' plans both in engineering genrally and in the City.

Althought the practical side may be a little limited in the first year (according to friends on similar courses) theres normally plenty of extra-curricular things to fill the gap - Formula Student etc. Bath is quite good for eng. as well, so buy a 205GTi and track it at Combe as its only 10mins up the road.

Edited by bobthemonkey on Saturday 25th November 13:16

[J.I.M]

yeh, came so close to applying to coventry for automotive design this year, and its deff my uni of choice if i decided to go next year, had a look round and all looks good leaves me reasonably local so can still see my mates and use the various tracks around here etc. BUT after looking through what the course entails it is alot of drawing and modelling whereass id really rather be doing something a bit more hands on.

unfortunatly it seems its either overly practical in the form of an apprenticeship where i keep being told im selling myself short and i should be taking a degree.

or its not practical enough in the form of drawing and making concepts out of clay without ever touching an engine.

maybe im asking too much but its something in between which im really searching for, where i can learn the practical side but also the development/business/design side of the inudstry and use the a levels even if just to a minor extent.

cheers again for all the input, keep it coming, thanks

jim

[Finchy172]

Hi there JIM,

Im on my placement year from a motorsport engineering degree at university.
This is my 3rd year and i return in ocotber 2007 to complete my 4th year at university.
I wrote in excess of 140 letters to race teams, manufacturers, car companies, etc etc

I had about 5/6 positive replies and 2 interviews from that lot

I chose a placement company close to home and one which i had minor links with before.
I also offered to partake in a 4 week voluntary placement over my easter break to gain some knowledge, get my foot in the door and also for the company to see what i was capable of.

They offered me the placement and i have been here since June 17th and leave Sept 30th 2007.

Now its all very hands on, i was given a car to engineer in a championship and fortunately for me that car actually won the championship. So that raised my confidence and ability within the team, and a small name for myself amongst the paddock and drivers. Which is something i could never buy or beleived i would acheive.

This is all i can really say, voluntary placements to start and get a feel and then see if they will offer you a job or as a placement year at uni.

Motorsport engineering invloves a huge amount of mangement and design, and 90% of my 1st 2 years at uni were management, CAD design, CFD, Engineering, Aerodynamics.

My placement company have been excellent with me, helping me out and giving myself more and more responsibility as time has gone by.

Hope that helps and im happy to answer anymore questions!

[pittersuk]

Hi

Im currently doing my masters year in Automotive engineering, its been my 5th year here aggghhh to long!, but let me tell you going to uni is one of the best things to do, especially when doing engineering. Theres so many oppertunities and youll be suprised what you need to know these days to work for a motorsport based company. Also lots of uni's have many links with local motorsport companys.

In the words of Murray Walker "GO, GO, GO"