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Asked by anon-74817 to Will on 9 Jun 2020.
Question: You said you did a year in industry. Would you say it was worth it or is it better to continue with studies and work afterwards?
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Will Smith answered on 9 Jun 2020:
Hi Lauren! The year in industry was one of the most useful things I did. I did mine just after I finished my A Levels. I wanted to do it to check that engineering was really what I wanted to do before I started on a difficult degree.
I was given lots of differnent projects and it sparked areas of interest for me that I am still facinated by today. There wasn’t much pressure because people knew I didn’t know very much yet. When applying for other jobs it gave me loads of experience to talk about. I got to live in a place I probably wouldn’t have gone to otherwise as well.
My concern when I started was that if I took a year out I would forget things that I had learnt at school and that starting a degree would be harder. If anything the opposite was true, I compounded the things I had learnt, used them at work and found it much easier to get started at university than some of my peers. You also get the opportunity to take part in a distance learning maths course, which was really useful.
On top of that you get paid, the company I worked for even paid some of my tuition fees and offered me a job straight away when I finished!
Comments
David commented on :
Engineering studies are important and teach the theory of how any why things work. But unless the theory can be translated into practice it remains just theory. Time spent in a practical, working, environment is essential for the development of good engineers. It is there that you will see some of the theory put into practice. You will see the limitations of real life. You will see how people and technology interact, for good and sometimes bad. And how people behave with each other. Whether the practical element comes before the theory, as part of a sandwich course, or as a block after graduation is less important than just doing it.
Asha commented on :
Hi Lauren,
I did a year in industry too and cannot tell you how useful and important it was. Although I did not use all of my technical knowledge from university, I was able to develop my soft skills (interpersonal, communication, leadership etc.). Books can only teach you so much, experiences fill in the pieces…
Doogie commented on :
I didn’t do a year in industry, but 3 out of my 4 summer breaks I was able to get process engineering work. It was invaluable, as I learned a lot of the things you don’t learn at university – prioritisation, dealing with people, what process plants actually look like etc.
As an employer, I know that people who have had successful placements are much less of a risk, and are much more likely to perform well in an interview (provided they don’t make things up!).
Marie-Louise commented on :
I recommend to everyone to do a year in industry, or at the very least summer placements – as the others have said, this gives you invaluable experience in working in a corporate/work environment and some interviewers won’t look at CVs unless there’s experience on there
David commented on :
I 100% recommend a year in industry! It is a great opportunity to actually find out if you enjoy engineering in the real world. I know a lot of people who finished 5 years of study only to find out that they did not enjoy engineering.
It is also vital from my experience in getting a foot on the career ladder. Having worked in the industry will give you a chance to meet the people who you will work with and some may even be responsible for hiring you, so use that opportunity to network as much as possible and make a great impression.