How long have you been doing this. – Tomorrow's Engineers Zone

Question: How long have you been doing this.
- Keywords:
  career,
  career path
Asked by anon-73934 on 23 Apr 2020. This question was also asked by anon-73910, anon-73912.
- Sophie Louth answered on 23 Apr 2020:
  
  I have been doing my current job for 2.5 years and before that I did a similar job for 1.5 years. And before that I was at University learning all sorts of things that are helpful for being an engineer.
- Claire Brockett answered on 23 Apr 2020:
  
  A very long time! I moved up to Yorkshire to do a degree, and I sort of took root. I’ve worked at Leeds University since 2007!
- Diana Mathew answered on 23 Apr 2020:
  
  For nearly a decade now! I’ve been working in industry for nearly 5 years and before that i was a research student for nearly 3 years.
- Douglas Wragg answered on 23 Apr 2020:
  
  I finally qualified when I was 22 years old.
- Katie Sparks answered on 23 Apr 2020:
  
  I was an engineer for around 7 years.
  I decided that I enjoyed sharing engineering stories and helping other people to do the same, so I’ve now moved on to a different type of role. I still use a lot of the same skills, but I do miss the projects I worked on!
- Louise France answered on 23 Apr 2020:
  
  I graduated with my engineering degree in 2007, and then did a PhD and have worked in this field ever since. During that time I have worked on lots of different projects, and worked all over the world!
- Alistair McConnell answered on 23 Apr 2020:
  
  Start my engineering journey when I was 17 at university, then through an undergrad, masters and PhD which took another 11 years I have been working in my current job for 2 years.
- Reshma Vora answered on 23 Apr 2020:
  
  I’ve been doing my current role for 3 years now, but have been working in total for about 7 years. There’s no set time frame for how long you may want to stay in a role. my first job i didn’t really enjoy much and only stayed there for 1 year, once you get into the industry its fairly easy to move around and go into different departments. You’ll never be trapped doing one job
- Stephen Lang answered on 24 Apr 2020:
  
  I have been working for my own company for 5 years. I have been an engineer for more than 40 years! Blimey I must be old!!!
- Kirstin Rouse answered on 25 Apr 2020:
  
  I’ve been working as an engineer since graduating from university in 2013, so that’s 7 years for me!
- Jennifer Hughes answered on 29 Apr 2020:
  
  I studied Product Design Engineering but I started my career as a designer, then draughtsperson in an engineering company and I realised that I could do what the engineers were doing so I asked to be transferred. That was 2009 and I continued to work as a mechanical engineer until 2016 when I started as a research engineer
- Kimberly Bartlett answered on 29 Apr 2020:
  
  I have been an engineer for 13 years now but I was doing engineering type things for as long as I can remember. If you are problem solving (getting things out of trees, working out how to make things work) or making things like Lego and K’nex you are probably an engineer in the making!
- Charles Sparey answered on 29 Apr 2020:
  
  In my case, I graduated from University in 1998 and then started work as a graduate design engineer working on 3G mobile telecommunications hardware and software projects. Since then I’ve moved around a fair amount, but stayed largely within the software or electronics fields, admittedly moving up the tree into management type roles. Currently i work as a technical project manager.
  
  So –
  (1) it is highly unlikely that you will end your career in the same way as where you started it.
  (2) Always learn new things and pickup new skills day by day.
  (3) Make the most of any opportunity as it arises.
  
  so – overall – 22 years or so.
- Conrad Manning answered on 29 Apr 2020:
  
  I’ve probably always been an engineer but left uni 5 years ago now having spent 4 years studying.
- Nicola Grahamslaw answered on 29 Apr 2020:
  
  I started my first engineering job when I first finished uni, that was 10 years ago but I have done 4 different jobs in that time!
  I did aerospace (designing bits of planes and helicopters) for 2 years, nuclear (stopping power stations getting too hot and keeping them safe) for 4 years, teaching for 2 years and now I’m looking after my ship and have been doing that for 2 years.
  2+4+2+2 = 10 years in total!
- Kate Davies answered on 29 Apr 2020:
  
  Hello,
  
  I have been working for my company for the last 9 years. I started out as a Design Apprentice when I was 18. My apprenticeship was 4 years long, then I spent a further 3.5 years as a Design Engineer while completing my HNC/HND and Degree. 6 months ago I moved into my current role as a Production Scheduler.
  
  Have a great day 🙂
  Kate
- Juan Carlos Fallas-Chinchilla answered on 29 Apr 2020:
  
  It’s been 20 years since I started Uni. I worked in construction for a year, in space propulsion for another year, and in research for few years including my post-grad degrees. I’ve been in my current role (civil aerospace) for 2 years and half.
- Rob Husband answered on 30 Apr 2020:
  
  I have been in my current job just short of 2 years as a graduate engineer, in November i’ll become a Software Engineer after graduating from the graduate scheme
- Jean-Luc Bulber answered on 30 Apr 2020:
  
  I have worked as an engineer for 25 years, in different roles, to develop manufacturing processes, develop products, and transfer complete production lines from one country to another one. I have also managed the engineering department, including our laboratory (to test products) and metrology (to check dimensional accuracy of our products).
  
  More recently, I have used my experience to find ways to improve existing production processes, to make them more effective (produce more parts) and more reliable (better quality).
- Helen Arch answered on 30 Apr 2020:
  
  I started an engineering apprenticeship when i was 16 which took 4 years to complete. I’m now 30 so i’m sure you can figure out how long i’ve been engineering for 😉
- Simon Porter answered on 30 Apr 2020:
  
  If you define an engineer as someone who solves problems of a generally technical nature using a variety of skills and techniques then I’ve been engineering all my life (I’m 37 this year)…!
  I decided I wanted to follow an engineering career path when I was at school. I remember choosing my GCSE options so I could continue to do Design & Technology (as it was called in my school). I then chose my A-Levels based on the subjects I needed to go to University and study engineering – Physics, Maths, and Design & Technology – these were also the ones I most nejoyed so that was a happy marriage. I was lucky enough to get a place at Loughborough to study Automotive Engineering.
  Since then I’ve spent 14 years doing a couple of different jobs in and around engineering that I’d never even been aware of, much less considered when I was at Uni…!
- Rohin Titmarsh answered on 1 May 2020:
  
  So far I’ve been working for 5 years as an engineer. I did an engineering undergraduate degree then joined a company that helps Jaguar Land Rover and other companies design vehicles.
  Then I joined the University of Warwick and I work in research to do with making batteries for electric vehicles and automation in manufacturing. Whilst I’ve been working I completed my masters degree.
- anon answered on 2 May 2020:
  
  I have been working as a design engineer for 3 years now. I graduated with a BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering and was working in my 1st job 1 week after finishing my studies! I love my job as it gives me daily challenges and problems to solve which I have trained for most of my life. I love making changes and developing new designs for people to use all around the world.
- Garrick Simpson answered on 4 May 2020:
  
  I have been in my current job for nearly 3 years. I have been working in an electrical job for around 14 years
- George McIntyre answered on 4 May 2020:
  
  I graduated in 2016 and have been an engineer ever since so a total of 4 years.
- Frances Askill-Kirk answered on 4 May 2020:
  
  I was a design engineer for 3 years and have been a product development engineer for nearly a year now!!
  
  So 4 years! Time goes so fast!!
- Owen Jeffreys answered on 4 May 2020:
  
  Well, I’ve been working in the engineering industry for about 6 years, and before that I was at college for 2 years studying engineering and even before that I was doing engineering as a hobby in my evenings and weekends. So I don’t really know when I started getting into engineering 🙂
- Martin McKie answered on 5 May 2020:
  
  I left secondary School at 16 then joined a further education college and studied a BTEC National Diploma in Engineering.
  
  I then went to University and Studied for the BEng (Hons) Degree for 4 years. A MSc for 1 year and finally a PhD part time whilst working to achieve my doctorate. The doctorate took around 7 years to complete part time.
  
  I’ve then worked in numerous roles but always in Engineering since achieving my degree. I’m 37 now, so I have been involved in engineering for 21 years.
  
  As an engineer I have worked:
  
  Initially in Casting Metals for a Small Company
  Then I worked for a large project engineering company on Petrochemical plants all over the country as well as working on a jetty that was designed to berth Nuclear Submarines.
  I then worked for Nissan again in casting metals
  I currently work for Jaguar Land Rover, I’ve worked in various roles. I love working with cars because it is one of my passions and on occassion I get to take the cars home to test them.
- Amber Villegas - Williamson answered on 5 May 2020:
  
  I’ve been working at my current company for 4 years but have worked for various equipment manufacturers for 12 years (since I left uni in 2004). So not really that long 😛
- David Linsell answered on 5 May 2020:
  
  I have been an engineer all of my working life. After degree course and training I started my first job in 1979 and retied from full time employment in 2019. I am still do some work in engineering.
- Colin Donaldson answered on 7 May 2020:
  
  I have been working in my current job in project management for 1 and a half years. Previous to this I was working as an Engineering Graduate for 2 years where I got to experience and get involved in various areas of the business and learn lots of different things. Before that I was at University for 5 years learning all sorts of topics that are useful to become an engineer.

Comments

Juan Carlos commented on 24 Apr 2020:

I worked in car mechanics from 1997 to 1999, then started Uni in the year 2000. Had jobs right after in construction and in space propulsion. Finished my MSc in 2009 and then worked for a couple of years in Research and in 2013 started my PhD. Got my current job after I finished my PhD in 2017 so it’s 20 odd years of never getting bored 🙂
Jennifer commented on 29 Apr 2020:

I studied Product Design Engineering then Product Design and Development, so I started off as a designer then draughtsperson. I realised I could do what the engineers I worked with were doing so I asked to transfer. That was 2009 and worked towards becoming chartered, then I started as a research engineer in 2016.
Fidel commented on 20 May 2020:

I joined my current job in August last year and before this, I worked for about 2 years as a graduate engineer.

Question: How long have you been doing this.