• Question: How long have you been working as an engineer and was it your dream job?

    Asked by nadeem to Alex, Claire, Kate, Marcus, Neil on 17 Jun 2014.
    • Photo: Claire Brockett

      Claire Brockett answered on 17 Jun 2014:

      I have been working as an engineer for 8 years now (15 if you include my degree and PhD). It wasn’t initially my dream job from school, but once I started my degree I knew it was something I would love to do – and have loved it ever since.
      I think I’m really lucky that I have a career that I can make plans with, and be ambitious with (I eventually want to lead my own research group). It is my dream job now, as I get up every day with interesting things to think about and do, and quite often I feel really inspired. My job is something I enjoy and want to do, and you’ll catch me smiling about it most days 🙂

    • Photo: Marcus Johns

      Marcus Johns answered on 17 Jun 2014:

      I’ve been studying as an engineer for 7 years now, of which one was spent on a placement year working for a company called Mast Carbon.

      I decided to become an engineer after reading a sign at Imperial College that said ‘Chemical Engineering Stores’. Just thought that chemical engineering sounded like a cool thing to do and here I am! (I did make sure that it was something that I wanted to do first though.) I never imagined that I’d be doing the work that I do now in tissue engineering, was another slightly impulsive decision made around a year ago, but am really enjoying it.

    • Photo: Alex Lyness

      Alex Lyness answered on 18 Jun 2014:

      Hey nadeem,

      I think I’ve been an engineer all my life! I’ve been designing, building and fixing things for as long as I can remember. Finding out after my work experience when I was 15 years old that you could get paid to do these things was a great moment and the main reason I chose engineering at university.

      I’ve never looked back. I’ve spent time working in industry with different companies and also at university studying to get degrees (and letters after my name). Currently I work at Loughborough University but with companies all over the country, it’s the perfect mix and I am very happy doing it right now.

      I think I may have finally grown out of my dream job when I was a child (which was working for Lego!) and find the thought that some of my ideas will help people get better more rewarding than playing with bricks!

    • Photo: Kate Niehaus

      Kate Niehaus answered on 18 Jun 2014:

      I’ve been studying engineering for the past 6-7 or so years. I’ve never really had a “dream job,” but I enjoy my work now everyday, so that seems pretty good to me!

Comments