• Question: how long did it take you to get all your qualifications?

    Asked by Tjptaylor to Ashwanth, Jeni, Mark, Natalie, Stephen on 10 Jun 2016.
    • Photo: Jeni Spragg

      Jeni Spragg answered on 10 Jun 2016:

      Hi Tjptaylor!

      My main qualification is a degree in Chemical Engineering. It was a masters degree integrated with a bachelors degree, called an MEng.

      It took four years of studying. I also did a sandwich year (or placement year), where I spent a year out of uni working for a company. That meant I took five years between starting university and finishing.

      It sounds like a long time, but it was worth it! The placement year meant I took an extra year to graduate, but it was a great experience – it made the things I learnt at uni more real, as well as giving me some good skills. I was offered a job at the end too, which made my final year at university a bit easier.

    • Photo: Stephen Richardson

      Stephen Richardson answered on 10 Jun 2016:

      Like Jeni, I did a 4 year MEng. It then took me another 8 years to get chartered (CEng) – I just got the email telling me I’ve passed the interview for that this week! But I was working rather than studying for half of that time.
      Hopefully by the beginning of next year I’ll have an engineering doctorate (EngD) which will have taken me 4 years to complete.
      But hey, I like being a student!

    • Photo: Mark Gowan

      Mark Gowan answered on 10 Jun 2016:

      Hi TjpTaylor
      Like Jenni and Stephen, I studied at university for 4 years and undertook a years on site training after my 2nd year.
      I was sponsored by my first employer through University and I went to work for them after graduating. It is 18 years since I graduated and I am still learning and training is a constant part of your on going career
      There are lots of routes to getting your qualifications such as day release, where you work for a company four days a week and study for one day. This takes longer, but you get paid whilst your are training.

    • Photo: Natalie Wride

      Natalie Wride answered on 11 Jun 2016:

      Hi Tjptaylor!

      I went a slightly different route but still spent four years studying. I did a Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) for 3 years and then spent 1 year doing a Master of Science degree (MSc) because I wanted to focus more in a special area of Civil Engineering. I’m still working towards my qualifications – I’ve got about 3 years for my PhD and I’m also working on getting chartered like Stephen. It seems like a long time but being at University is very different to being at school! (I promise!)

      When I did my first degree I had a scholarship with the Institution of Civil Engineers called a QUEST scholarship which gave me some funding for studying and allowed me to get some work experience, working for a company in my summer holidays. This was great experience and really helped me when I started working. Like Mark said you’re always learning throughout your career 🙂

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