Engineering Apprentices

drrat

[FONT=&quot]Any newly qualified Engineer types wish to offer some thoughts advice.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]My son who is studying his A Levels with an intention to move into an Engineering career is having a crisis of confidence over his A levels, he was an straight A student at GCSE. He wants to get a Job and quit and try and get on an apprenticeship with a decent company. Failing getting a placement at a decent company, any company will do that will allow him to go to college. That is his thinking.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]I have tried to tell him that to get a half decent career in Engineering he at least needs his A levels or maybe a placement with a good company. Ideally he needs his degree and to get a graduate job with a decent company.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]I have tried to embellish this with estimates of likely incomes. However my knowledge is limited and at best guess work based on my limited experience. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Anyone have any solid advice they can offer?
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shark_DB

I did A levels then waited a few years before finding anapprenticeship and my only regret is not having done it straight fromschool as there were 16 year olds with me earning just as much as Iwas . We do have graduates come in at supervisory level pre loadedwith debt but personally I prefer the experience I have gained andbeing paid for it too! The company has also paid for me to gain anHND part time and there are others who have gained a full degree. Istill have the route available in to management if I wish but I amearning a good wage and find I have a good work life balance as I amplus I enjoy what I do.

I would suggest going with a major national employer such asNetwork Rail Power stations etc. as these tend to have better payscales and chances of promotion as opposed to those I know of whohave worked for small local firms

Dunroamin

Why not encourage him to apply for apprenticeships with decent companies whilst continuing with his A levels? Leaving education for a good alternative is a totally different situation from just dropping out in the hope that something turns up.

dori2o

I did my apprenticeship through British Aerospace/BAE Systems and not one of us had A Levels. many went on to go to University on the back of the company to get degrees in various subject matters. All of us had to do some form of college course. Those without 5 A-C passes did a City and Guilds course over 2 years. Those with 5+ A-C grades did an ONC (Ordinary National Certificate) in years 1 and 2 and a HNC in years 3 and 4.

Depending on your ability to work hard during the 4 years of college and based o the tutors assessments it was then own to the company to send you to University.

A levels are not needed at all in Engineering. Many of the engineers we had at aerospace were not A Level qualified, but, they had something that is far more important, experience and a knowledge of the products they were producing.

If he doesn't want to continue with A Levels and can get an Engineering Apprenticeship with a decent company, then I would say Go For It.

He has loads of time with which too do a degree later in life if he chooses. Learning a trade will keep him in work for many years. The same cannot currently be said for a degree. Just look at the number of post grads on this forum scratching around for NMW jobs.

getmore4less

In my day(70/80) you got sponsered by the big boys(aerospace,car oil,train....) to go to university to do engineering degrees as an apprentice.

I think some still do allthough some only have graduate programs.
and regular apprenticeships

One advantage of getting beyond "A" is engineering opens up a lot of other opportunities as it covers a broad subject material.

hellokitty08

My town has a lot of engineering companies so I have worked with quite a few in my time.

If your son is serious about an apprenticeship get registered with the apprenticeship service, www.apprenticeships.org.uk he will find vacancies available on the site that he can apply for.

In my expereince you dont need a degree to get a good job in enginnering, an apprenticeship is fine. However if you do want to achieve a degree many companies are happy to continue to train apprentices up to degree level.

saintjammyswine

Go through the apprenticeship route. He can go from Advanced to Higher app (L3 - L4) and if he wants to, many colleges also offer A Levels running in line with the course for areas such as Engineering, usually in subjects like Maths, Sciences etc.

drrat

thanks for the advice lads.