Friday 27th May 2011

Fancy A Career In The Automotive Industry?

Autocar-Courland Next Generation Award represents a fine opportunity for aspiring talent to get into the motor industry - and a chance to win £7.5k

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Often we spot forum posts from young PHers looking for a way in to the motor industry, so when we saw this from our neighbours at Autocar we thought it was rather apt.

It's called the Autocar-Courland Next Generation Award, and calls for students to enter a 'money can't buy' competition where they can get their hands on valuable work experience at companies like McLaren, Mercedes Benz, Peugeot, Toyota and Skoda in addition to a £7500 cash prize.

The Autocar-Courland Next Generation Award is a national competition to identify, support and develop top automotive talent of the future. Entrants from UK universities are invited to draft a 500-word response to a brief set by Autocar Editor-in-chief, Steve Cropley.

The winner will spend a month with each of the aforementioned partners, undertaking work experience that is tailored to their degree qualification and the sector of the auto industry they want to work in. At McLaren, for example, the winner will spend a month doing real work on real cars, not just making the tea or being shown around the MTC.

Initially, six entrants are shortlisted to present their ideas to the panel of judges. From there three finalists are chosen, who are invited to the SMMT dinner where they get to showcase in front of the SMMT guests before the final winner is chosen.

The scheme works too: Holly Robinson was a finalist in the inaugural year of the award and she now works for Audi UK. Last year's winner, Hari Meyyappan, had an idea about hybrid scooters and he'll be doing his work experience in Honda, Toyota and Peugeot's R&D facilities.

If any PHers fancy having a go at this challenge, visit this web page for details of how to enter. Please note, the deadline for entries is the 28th August.

 

 

[Conor D]

Alot of big ideas coming through from previous entrants.. I'll be keeping this in mind over the next few years.

All I need is a great idea..

[Al 450]

I know a lot of people who got the work experience based solely on either knowing someone who works there or just writing in. Every company has someone that handles work experience placements, usually in HR.

[TomCooper]

I'll be giving this a go
Need to get my thinking cap on!

[Atrophy]

All good jobs these days are based on: "its not what you know, its who you know"

[ArosaMike]

Atrophy said:

All good jobs these days are based on: "its not what you know, its who you know"

Not entirely true. I applied for my job at Jaguar Land Rover last year 'cold'. Well...I say applied for my job. I actually applied for something different, but was able to illustrate to those who interviewed me that I should be considered for a job that I'd only really dreamed of getting. Yes, that required people skills which I suppose is part of the whole 'who you know', but some impressive qualifications and a well written CV can only get you so far!

For the last 4 years I knew I wanted to be a test driver of some sort and I did everything I could to try and give myself the best possible opportunity. I focused on areas in my job at the time that were relevant and also took the decision to move back in with my parents to allow me to race for a couple of years to get some relevant experience in vehicle handling and testing. I think there are a lot of people around these days who think that things should be handed to you on a plate if you have the right qualifications. In reality though, you have to spend money and be determined to get the job you really want. Look at any good businessman who's built themslves up, and they've usually made some pretty huge sacrafices to get there like re-mortgaging, moving back in with parents, selling their car etc. You need to demonstrate that you're determined to make it. If you do, then it's much less of a risk for the company to employ you as they know you'll be keen to learn.

[DJRC]

Atrophy said:

All good jobs these days are based on: "its not what you know, its who you know"

Hmm, er...no?

[JuniorJet]

DJRC said:

Atrophy said:

All good jobs these days are based on: "its not what you know, its who you know"

Hmm, er...no?

It's about a balance of intelegence and networking.

[robinessex]

Oh goodie. Just spotted an automobile engineering vacancy on Jobsite for, wait for it......................£25,000 - £30,000/yr. Wow, I'll rush along, and join the queue. Or I could join the city, and get £100,000+bonus for betting on the future price of bananas. PS Engineering jobs are on the UK skills shortage list.

[arcticgoldfish]

robinessex said:

Oh goodie. Just spotted an automobile engineering vacancy on Jobsite for, wait for it......................£25,000 - £30,000/yr. Wow, I'll rush along, and join the queue. Or I could join the city, and get £100,000+bonus for betting on the future price of bananas. PS Engineering jobs are on the UK skills shortage list.

It's not all about the salary. In automotive, you won't have to commute into London, you probably won't need to live around expensive London. Oh, and people might like you.

[Collaudatore]

arcticgoldfish said:

and people might like you.

This is Pistonheads.
We don't "like" anyone or anything...

[BigBen]

robinessex said:

Oh goodie. Just spotted an automobile engineering vacancy on Jobsite for, wait for it......................£25,000 - £30,000/yr. Wow, I'll rush along, and join the queue. Or I could join the city, and get £100,000+bonus for betting on the future price of bananas. PS Engineering jobs are on the UK skills shortage list.

I was interviewing engineers this week. Not one of them would have been paid less than 30,000 should they have been successful. Any that were not I suspect would have had similar luck getting 100,000 in the city.......

Ben

[arcticgoldfish]

Doesn't £30k put you in quite a high percentile of UK earners?

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Salary-Expectations-Teens-Unrealistically-Believe-They-Will-Be-Earning-More-Than-60000-By-35/Article/201105215987951?f=rss

[robinessex]

Example of the 'value' put on engineers in the UK. Contract on Airbus work, circa £35/hr. Do the same job in Germany, get double that. Go figure. Who's screwing who?

[BigBen]

robinessex said:

Example of the 'value' put on engineers in the UK. Contract on Airbus work, circa £35/hr. Do the same job in Germany, get double that. Go figure. Who's screwing who?

Wow that is only about 75 large a year, I wish I could get screwed that badly.

Ben

[ArosaMike]

All very well looking at base salary, but remember that a good many automotive companies offer good rates of overtime. Ok, so it's not City money, but I'd say I'm definitely more than happy with what I get with overtime, and the difference is not as vast as you might expect. Add to that the fact that I genuinely look forward to going to work, spend most of the day with people I consider to be friends (i.e not back stabbing money orientated twerps) and get to indulge my hobby, I'm more than happy to take the difference in pay. It's not like what I earn now has stopped me from doing the things I enjoy!

[Eggman]

Am I missing something, or did the 2009 winner effectively propose a perpetual motion machine?

100kw of free energy from tyres, my ass.

[MarvinManUK]

I'll definitely be trying out this year.

[DJRC]

robinessex said:

Example of the 'value' put on engineers in the UK. Contract on Airbus work, circa £35/hr. Do the same job in Germany, get double that. Go figure. Who's screwing who?

£70 hr for the equivalent job to the £35hr rate in the Uk? Er, again no. You would be looking to start off on €500-550 a day, so say €70/hr. So not double at all. That is the international rate aswell, to get engineers from abroad, not what a domestic German contractor would be offered.

You might be able to negotiate an inbuilt pay rise to that rate if its for a multi yr contract.

[FWDRacer]

JuniorJet said:

It's about a balance of intelegence and networking.

Oh the irony

[britsportscars]

FWDRacer said:

JuniorJet said:

It's about a balance of intelegence and networking.

Oh the irony

Classic