• Question: I’m thinking of becoming an engineer when I’m older what’s it like and is it hard to get a job as that role

    Asked by Sun🥐Some🥨Person to Tonia, Sam, Emily, Ejay, Edgars, Charnett on 7 Jun 2019.
    • Photo: Edgars Kelmers

      Edgars Kelmers answered on 7 Jun 2019:


      It is hard to study to finish engineering degree, but afterwards it is easier to get a job.

      Well, all jobs eventually become repetitive and boring. But engineering jobs are nice because you have more freedom to change your job. For example, I worked in a medical company, but there where many workers who studied electronics, car or airplane manufacturing. You learn basic skills as mathematics and programming, which allows you to work in any industry you would like to.

    • Photo: Emily McNee

      Emily McNee answered on 8 Jun 2019:


      There are more jobs than people coming out of the different pipelines at the moment. The amount of engineers retiring is higher than those joining.

      There are different pipelines to becoming an engineer both university and apprenticeships both bring different experience and skill sets into teams which is needed to come up with innovative and ground breaking solutions.

      It can be hard at times especially when you aren’t naturally good at something but this is when having people around you helps as what you may not be good at they may be and can help you become better.

    • Photo: Tonia Tzemanaki

      Tonia Tzemanaki answered on 8 Jun 2019:


      I think that it is not hard to find a job as an engineer, but it might be harder to find a job on exactly what you really like – if you insist though I believe that you will.
      My job at the university is quite rewarding – I feel good working for good causes and also working with and teaching students. Every day is different and that keeps it very interesting. I also get to travel a lot, meet new places and people. At the moment I am in the middle of a work trip in Germany and I have visited other universities, laboratories and researchers to discuss projects that we can do together and also be inspired by their work.

    • Photo: Charnett Chau

      Charnett Chau answered on 9 Jun 2019:


      I agree with Edgars. The studying part would be the toughest and job wise it is relatively easy. With a engineering degree you have so many options in terms of what type of work you would like to pursue. My class mates are now working in different areas – pharmaceuticals, finance, project management, government, consulting, oil and gas. Engineers fits in everywhere essentially.

    • Photo: Ejay Nsugbe

      Ejay Nsugbe answered on 10 Jun 2019:


      Getting a good degree in any Engineering discipline-is hard work.(Edgars hits the nail on the head here) You sometimes find students who start an Engineering course and get shocked and overwhelmed by the workload and technical difficulty associated with the degree. But that being said-as long as you stay devoted and hard working, you should be able to pull through.
      Re jobs, now that’s an interesting one.Engineering solutions tend to be required in most walks of life, so as a result you find Engineers working in various sectors and disciplines-as touched on by Charnett. This coupled with the recent boom of start-ups, Small-Medium Scale Enterprises(SME’s) and of course Corporate Empires, chances are that you’d more than likely be able to get a job as an Engineer.
      The challenge becomes being able to land a job at a recognised company/organisation which allows you work in an area where you’re interested in and also provides you with associated competitive level training and pay-now this is what takes some doing. In my experience, in order to successfully achieve this, some of the key givens which you need to have include(but are not limited to);a good degree, internship/work experience, volunteering, an ‘it factor’ which makes you stand out-and also a bit of luck.

    • Photo: Sam Gaughan

      Sam Gaughan answered on 10 Jun 2019:


      Getting a relevant degree certainly isn’t easy, but there are a lot of jobs out there, people with our skills are in short supply at the moment, so you will have a lot of options to choose from.

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