Career change to engineering

[PitManeuver]

I graduated a few years ago (2008) with a BEng (Hons) degree in automotive engineering and recently have been looking into the possibilities of undertaking further study/work based qualifications in an engineering discipline. What would you think is the best route to a career change?

I don't have engineering work experience, but keen to understand how I could get back on course to pursue further mechanical engineering qualifications. My ideal career path would be automotive/aerospace or defence in a technician role to start with. Thanks for any advice!

[shirt]

depends. you're a little late in the day to be considered for many grad schemes. depends what you have been doing for the last 5.5yrs, what has caused the change in outlook etc. basically can you convince a hiring manager that they should take a risk. some companies [baker hughes is the only one i can think of off the top of my head] do take grad scheme applicants way later than the standard 2-3yrs out of uni.

failing that, look at what qualifications you need for the role you want to do. for aircraft tech you could look at something like this:

http://www.airservicetraining.co.uk/professional-a...

or even consider the raf?

[PitManeuver]

I've been in IT tech support for the last 4 years or so with a temp job before this. I'm currently 2nd line and doing quite well but my interest really lies in engineering and have just thought about a more hands-on and mechanical job recently. As most grad schemes look for a degree, maybe a second degree would be the answer in a more general discipline like mechanical?

I've been looking at areas involving Computer Aided Design lately as I did find parts of that in my degree interesting. CAD in the automotive or aerospace sector would also be of big interest. Trouble is most roles look for experience. The Royal Navy or the RAF do sound very interesting as well too!

[CubanPete]

I don't think a 2008 graduation will be frowned upon by anyone hiring for a grad scheme.

[edc]

I don't have any vacancies right now but if you want an entry level/graduate level role and a foot in the door then send me a CV. My company is part of one of the biggest aerospace businesses and our site is around the SW section of the M25.

[PitManeuver]

Thanks for your input everybody, much appreciated!

edc said:

I don't have any vacancies right now but if you want an entry level/graduate level role and a foot in the door then send me a CV. My company is part of one of the biggest aerospace businesses and our site is around the SW section of the M25.

Thanks edc, I've sent you a message.

[jkh112]

Even if you cannot get on a grad scheme you could still apply for positions as a junior engineer. My company has an annual grad intake for which there is a lot of competition, but we also take on junior engineers throughout the year.
If you send your cv I will take a look and get back to you.


Edited due to typos.

Edited by jkh112 on Thursday 13th March 14:58

[edc]

I have sent you an email back. Depending on the nature of your IT experience it may be more straight forward to slide diagonally to role biased towards software/test equipment/test lab or even more shop floor based testing. As with any role you need to identify those useful transferable skills.

[Engineer1]

You may struggle purely because you've been out of engineering long enough that you will have to prove you can still remeber the BS maths, I've been stuck in draughting roles because a lot of companies want proof I'm doing calculations now.

[PitManeuver]

jkh112 said:

If you send your cv I will take a look and get back to you.

Thanks jkh112 I will send you a message on here even just for your consideration. Many thanks!

Thanks everybody for your input, you're quite right it's been a while since I did the maths and calculations for engineering problems. Even to see what else is out there and the steps I'd need to take would be brilliant.

[Foppo]

PitManeuver said:

I graduated a few years ago (2008) with a BEng (Hons) degree in automotive engineering and recently have been looking into the possibilities of undertaking further study/work based qualifications in an engineering discipline. What would you think is the best route to a career change?

I don't have engineering work experience, but keen to understand how I could get back on course to pursue further mechanical engineering qualifications. My ideal career path would be automotive/aerospace or defence in a technician role to start with. Thanks for any advice!

How many more qualifications do you want? You graduated with a Hons Degree in Engineering why haven't you got a top job now? You have no practical experience that is what you need.

[MyNiceCarpet]

Maybe worth looking into national instruments courses - LabVIEW in particular.

Would probably suit your IT background and be more applicable to the industries you're going for.