Open Uni BEng, MEng - Where can you go from here?

flambo33

Hi, So I would like to study Engineering & go into Civil, Structural or Mechanical Engineering, however the only real option open to me is distant learning and undertaking one of the following courses at the OU.

BEng - http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/qualifications/q65
MEng - http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/qualifications/m04

These degrees are both quite general and when entering a career within Engineering, it would usually be a degree within the particular field of Engineering which you are interested in, like Civil.

I've asked the OU to explain what I'd actually be able to do after completing one of the above and they basically read of their website ((note that some careers may require further study, training and/or work experience), which is pretty none specific, so I didn't actually get an answer that was useful to me.

Has anyone studied with them doing quite a general degree and or knows where you can go on completion career wise, or what aditonal studying you'd have to undertake and where to go into a specialized feild?

Any info would be great, as i'm a little lost and disheartened.

motorguy

flambo33 wrote: »

Hi, So I would like to study Engineering & go into Civil, Structural or Mechanical Engineering, however the only real option open to me is distant learning and undertaking one of the following courses at the OU.

BEng - http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/qualifications/q65
MEng - http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/qualifications/m04

These degrees are both quite general and when entering a career within Engineering, it would usually be a degree within the particular field of Engineering which you are interested in, like Civil.

I've asked the OU to explain what I'd actually be able to do after completing one of the above and they basically read of their website ((note that some careers may require further study, training and/or work experience), which is pretty none specific, so I didn't actually get an answer that was useful to me.

Has anyone studied with them doing quite a general degree and or knows where you can go on completion career wise, or what aditonal studying you'd have to undertake and where to go into a specialized feild?

Any info would be great, as i'm a little lost and disheartened.

Surely any sort of qualification in a field like this merely gets you to the position whereby you have the qualifications to apply for graduate jobs?

Your next challenge would be getting an employer to accept a mature graduate over someone straight out of school and university.

Once you're in a role, thats where you gain experience and seek to specialise.

getmore4less

In my day the best way into engineering was to get sponsored to do the degree through on an apprenticeship.

Might be worth looking for jobs that can grow into the field you choose.

jrtfan

My OH read Mechanical Engineering at Uni (brick, not the OU). Something he told me might be worth your while bearing in mind, namely that his degree steered him very much towards a desk-bound type of role in Engineering (whereas he's much happier getting his hands dirty).

As to what he's done work-wise since leaving Uni, his early career was an immediate diversion into Electronic Engineering (typesetting industry). From there, he slowly moved into more of a mechanical/electrical/electronic combined role within factory environments. One job had him travelling abroad as a service engineer, accompanying factory-specific processing machinery and supervising its installation at the foreign plant, then undertaking the training of local staff in its use. Another job put him in charge of keeping the baggage handling system up and running at one of the UK's major airports. Currently, he looks after a food (raw veg) packaging plant, making sure everything keeps running smoothly, supervising mechanics and fitters, identifying possible ways to improve plant productivity, etc.

For the sort of engineering he does, he also needs to keep up with any electrical certification compliance schemes as required. As 'on the job training' did used to cover much of this type of work in the past, it's more of a formality in his case and he'll attend something like a 3-day course, in order to obtain the necessary bit of paper to carry on doing what he's been doing for years lol.

When it comes to fact-finding, the name Siemens keeps coming up over and again in OH's field of work as being industry-standard when it comes to manufacturing. I'm not an Engineer so this is about as far as my knowledge extends - but their website does look quite interesting, and it includes sections that cover Career Paths, Apprenticeships, Internships, Jobs at Siemens and so on. It would almost certainly be a good place for you to begin you research into certain branches of Engineering. http://www.siemens.co.uk/careers/en/working_at_siemens/career-paths.htm

Can't help you with Civil or Structural, I'm afraid. Good luck!

wordswords

@motorguy is right. An engineering degree will qualify you to apply for engineering graduate schemes. The OU degree is a serious, hardcore, engineering council approved degree though, so it will be substitutable for where it says 'engineering degree' on the application form for these graduate schemes.

The best thing you can do is look up engineering graduate schemes in companies you would want to apply for, ring them up, and say you would want to apply to a company like that in X years time when you finish your OU degree, would you be in with a good chance? And see what they say.