• Question: Do you have to have education after sixth form (eg uni) to be successful, or can you start from the bottom and work your way up to the same level as if you came straight from uni?

    Asked by oldb001 to Amit, Emily, Joanne, Martin, Paige on 16 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Martin Wallace

      Martin Wallace answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      I went to university after sixth form and was lucky to get a place and now have a degree because of it. This has meant that I coudl start in a company at a relatively high level.
      However there are lots of other ways of getting into engineering. It is definitely possible to get to be the same level as someone with a degree by starting from the bottom. Some of the managers I’ve worked for didn’t go to university but started as apprentices straight after school. Being an apprentice is a great way to learn because you get paid at the same time, and also the company will often pay for any additional studies you have to do – and give you the time off to do them. Apprenticeships give you a good hands on appreciation of the subject that you don’t get if you study at university.

    • Photo: Emily Bullen

      Emily Bullen answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      I’m not 100% sure to be honest, but I’ll give you what I reckon…
      I don’t reckon you could be an engineer straight off from 6th form (but you probably already realised that). You might be able to take a job as a technician (operating – or “driving” a plant), become really good at that, know the equipment inside out, and work your way up. That would definitely take longer than going to university, but different things suit different people.

    • Photo: Amit Pujari

      Amit Pujari answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      I have followed Uni path so I dont know much about working your way from the bottom to the top. Martin has alredy mentioned, how apprentice could be useful in engineering.

      But it also really depends on which profession you want to be in?
      For example if you want to be a chef, then you dont have to have a degree, work experience is sufficient. But suppose you want to be a scientist or a lawyer then you have to go to the University. You can not enter these professions without (degree) qualifications.

    • Photo: Joanne Davies

      Joanne Davies answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      Hello oldb001 🙂 Pleased to meet you.

      You can be successful working your way up from the bottom as well.
      It all depends on how far you want to go.

      If you want to do that though, I suggest you take some training while you work so that you have something on paper and you can learn some new things at the same time.

      They say it takes two and a half years to train someone out of university to do a job, where experienced people can hit the floor running and don’t need any training. Coming straight from uni doesn’t necessarily guarantee a higher level to start with. 🙂

    • Photo: Paige Brown

      Paige Brown answered on 18 Mar 2012:

      I’m not sure how it works in the UK… but in the United States, if you have an undergraduate college degree in Engineering, you can work your way up to almost any position in engineering through related experience as opposed to more school!

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