Nice to see my old thread bumped up. Having finished the 4 years and earned a 2:1 MEng hons it's time to search for a job.
Course was certainly a fun one and kept me on my toes
Congrats! Any idea what you want to go into?
Chemical engineering
- Thread starter Yojimbo01
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Congrats! Any idea what you want to go into?
Did you do a BEng or MEng? I'm planning on applying for the MEng, but from what I've read online, opinion is divided as to whether it is worth the extra year.
If I can be coy about when I took my A-Levels, I'm hoping I could pass as pretty near to a 'normal' aged uni student. I may be nearly 27, but I still get ID'd at bars, clubs, cinemas etc.
I'm not concerned about not being able to find a decent job upon graduation. Unless I totally mess up and get a rubbish final grade, I imagine good chemical engineering graduates are highly employable. Also, chemical engineers are in demand around the world, so the fact that the qualification provides worldwide job opportunities is a big plus.
I've wasted the last 5 years of my life in a dead end job - about time I put it right!
As an aside, given that there seem to be a fair few Chemical Engineers on here, it would be interesting to hear when and where you graduated from, and where you now work.
Thanks for the help and advice, guys.
I work in Nuclear too, which company are you with? Are you in consultancy?
Did you do a BEng or MEng? I'm planning on applying for the MEng, but from what I've read online, opinion is divided as to whether it is worth the extra year.
If I can be coy about when I took my A-Levels, I'm hoping I could pass as pretty near to a 'normal' aged uni student. I may be nearly 27, but I still get ID'd at bars, clubs, cinemas etc.
I'm not concerned about not being able to find a decent job upon graduation. Unless I totally mess up and get a rubbish final grade, I imagine good chemical engineering graduates are highly employable. Also, chemical engineers are in demand around the world, so the fact that the qualification provides worldwide job opportunities is a big plus.
I've wasted the last 5 years of my life in a dead end job - about time I put it right!
As an aside, given that there seem to be a fair few Chemical Engineers on here, it would be interesting to hear when and where you graduated from, and where you now work.
Thanks for the help and advice, guys.
Definitely do an MEng, makes it much easier/simpler when it comes to getting chartered. In my experience employees tend to prefer an MEng as well.
I work as a Production Engineer working for an operator in the North Sea (onshore based, supporting offshore). Graduated with a 2.1 MEng from Bath.
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Sorry for the delayed response.
I did the BEng initially. I wanted to do an MEng with brewing and distilling but the Uni dropped it when I was half way through.
I went back to do an MSc in brewing and distilling as that was my passion.
I agree the MEng is a fast track to chartered from friends' experiences and well worth it.
I, however, now work for an international brewer and am a member of the IBD instead of the IChemE
I did the BEng initially. I wanted to do an MEng with brewing and distilling but the Uni dropped it when I was half way through.
I went back to do an MSc in brewing and distilling as that was my passion.
I agree the MEng is a fast track to chartered from friends' experiences and well worth it.
I, however, now work for an international brewer and am a member of the IBD instead of the IChemE
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Do the MEng if you can, it's the standard nowadays. Either that or a post grad MSc.
I graduated 2:1 MEng from Heriot Watt this year, now working for an oil and gas consultancy. Very happy with it, you're making a good choice
I graduated 2:1 MEng from Heriot Watt this year, now working for an oil and gas consultancy. Very happy with it, you're making a good choice
Good job prospects at the moment: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ailing-oil-fields-string-fatal-accidents.html
Also lots of ex-Heriot Watt students in this thread!
Also lots of ex-Heriot Watt students in this thread!
That wouldn't be enough to entice people to work there for a respected company. You'd be wanting at least double that for that job.
That being said, at least your CV would read that you could work under pressure in hostile environments.
I also work in O&G. But came from a Physics degree. Had my first job lined up long before sitting my finals, and didn't feel the need to stay on for the Masters. At the end of the day, that first years pay was quite large, and I think it would have taken a decade or so to make that back in employment, so wasn't worth it for me (I still had an Honours though).
I was also a mature student (ish), graduating at 27. I work as a service hand though, so do get to see a reasonable amount of the world, and not just stuck on the same rig / office for years on end. I like it that way. But the big money is elsewhere. One of my mates is a production tech on a rig and has an unbeatble pension, and a very healthy salary. And he doesn't even have a degree. Last year he matched a cabinet members salary with ease. He does do some overtime though.
I've been looking at whether it's worth doing a fourth year or not on my degree - 2nd year Chemist
- but it certainly seems the better choice to do the masters year. Makes it easier to become chartered later on and does help you stand out from the crowd.I'm quite sure it would help. But as I had my job offer before sitting my degree finals, it was a no brainer. I doubt I would have got any more pay as a trainee if I had a masters instead of the honours, and even if I did, it would have been a max of a couple grand. When compared to what I made in that first year, it would have taken over 20 years to make that up, assuming a similar average yearly increase.
That being said, perhaps if I had entered a different field, this might not have been the case. But my experience of industry thus far is that what you do at uni gets you your first job. The experience you gain thereafter gets you your next job / pay raise. So by the time I was 4 years into my career, my qualifications were all but useless. Certainly the position I am in now I didn't get from my qualifications, but my experience in the first job I took after leaving uni (that I held for around 4 years). That obviously netted me my second job, which was the best paying job, in Europe at least, in that field, and was the basis for salary negotiation for my current position. Which is exceptionally well paid for what it is (off the back of my strong negotiating position coming into this job, I was paid substantially more than the other guy in my position, despite his 30+ years experience).
But again, it may be different in other fields of work.
That being said, perhaps if I had entered a different field, this might not have been the case. But my experience of industry thus far is that what you do at uni gets you your first job. The experience you gain thereafter gets you your next job / pay raise. So by the time I was 4 years into my career, my qualifications were all but useless. Certainly the position I am in now I didn't get from my qualifications, but my experience in the first job I took after leaving uni (that I held for around 4 years). That obviously netted me my second job, which was the best paying job, in Europe at least, in that field, and was the basis for salary negotiation for my current position. Which is exceptionally well paid for what it is (off the back of my strong negotiating position coming into this job, I was paid substantially more than the other guy in my position, despite his 30+ years experience).
But again, it may be different in other fields of work.
As xs2man says, it would probably help.
For subjects such as science and engineering a masters generally helps, and for some companies it's expected/required (probably just to reduce the number of candidates/graduates they have to screen).
And as you mentioned, it tends to make chartership easier/quicker.
For subjects such as science and engineering a masters generally helps, and for some companies it's expected/required (probably just to reduce the number of candidates/graduates they have to screen).
And as you mentioned, it tends to make chartership easier/quicker.