• Question: Does it take a long time to train to become and engineer?

    Asked by Katy Brightwell to Alex, Chris, Mohamed, Rik, Victoria on 6 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Chris Waters

      Chris Waters answered on 6 Mar 2015:

      At the very least you’ve got to be willing to commit three years to getting your degree, but as an Engineer you’ll never stop learning and improving your skills. As a professional you’re expected to keep up to date with the latest news and rules about your industry and maybe even attend further training courses depending on where you work. Some people don’t consider you fully qualified until you pass a test and become a registered Engineer – this can take several years of work experience and additional learning once you’ve started work.

      This sounds like a lot, but if you’re genuinely interested in your job it doesn’t even feel like work – learning more and more only makes your life easier and lets you work on more challenging projects so many people do it gladly!

    • Photo: Rik Allen

      Rik Allen answered on 6 Mar 2015:

      Hi,
      I think this has to be a “yes and no” answer. I left school and started engineering an intern pre-university – others may go into an apprenticeship and start that way. Like that – you can start being “an engineer” almost straight away.
      Most people I know in the business have at least one degree though – and one part I like most about what I do is that I’m always learning.

      Some of the best engineers I’ve met have been the interns and students that don’t have lots of qualifications or experience – but they do think like an engineer.

      Rik

    • Photo: Alex Shenfield

      Alex Shenfield answered on 8 Mar 2015:

      I don’t think you ever stop learning as an engineer. I feel very fortunate in that I enjoy what I do, so constantly keeping up with the latest technologies and doing further training doesn’t feel like a chore to me.

      In terms of formal training, I did a 4 year undergraduate degree and then spent another 4 years doing my PhD. I then also had to do an 18 months part time teaching qualification when I started my first lecturer post.

      Whilst this may seem like a lot of work, I genuinely can’t think of anything I would have changed in my career path – and it has definitely been worth it to be where I am now! I get to satisfy my curiosity about a whole range of stuff, and much of what I end up teaching in my courses is a direct result of messing around with electronics for fun!

    • Photo: Victoria Sharpe

      Victoria Sharpe answered on 15 Mar 2015:

      Depends what level you want to get to – apprenticeships can be 2-4 yrs, degrees take four years and if you want a PhD that’s another three. I studied to masters level and graduated at 22, 4 years later I applied for my chartership to the imeche

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