Any way to get into engineering type roles without the degree?

413x

413x

413x

Caporegime
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So I'm in a job of data science and I really don't have any love for it.

Always wanted to get into an engineering type role. I think I'd be suited for it. Other people think I'd be suited to it. Even my personal traits suit it.

I don't have time (31 years old) or money (need to fund a second degree) to to an undergraduate. And I know I can't transfer to an MSc or anything with my molecular biology degree.

Is there any hope Of getting out of this role into something more practical/creative?

At worst I'm considering taking on some sort of evening course in electronics or even basic electrician.

Unfortunately the last seems to be most feasible and least cost.
 
you could study part time - doesn't have to be an engineering undergrad either - could be mathematics, physics etc.. then engineering post grad

also if you're working in data science perhaps you could get on a post grad course providing you can demonstrate the quantitative skills - though I guess that depends on what exactly you do as a day job, whether it means using lots of mathematics, statistics, ML etc.. or whether it is a bit lower level using BI tools, spreadsheets

perhaps you need to decide what exactly it is you'd be interested in doing, or at least some general direction/path you'd want to explore as 'engineering' is rather broad
 
What sort of engineering? You're not going to land a job working on nuclear reactors without a fairly relevant background but you could be writing software within a week or so.
 
You could always try an Internship with the possibility of an Open University engineering degree, some core subjects already gained count towards future degrees depending upon the subject. Alternative is an apprenticeship or some sort of sponsorship for you.

I can only comment on the oil and gas industry but there seems to be quite a few internship positions if your looking at something like that. I hold a chemical engineers degree and a process engineers degree, I couldn't work in an office at all but I love my time off and the offshore rota suits me for the time being.
 
Depends on the field...
Get a job in an engineering department, with "Day Release to college" incorporated. Get your FD-Eng, HNC, HND or whatever they require, while still working. Apprenticeships are OK, but you get more money while working properly, like as a Technician. You can then branch out into your specialist field and end up being an Incorporated Engineer rather than outright Chartered, get your Member-ICE or whatever.

This is how many Civils do it, although the final full-time salary perhaps isn't worth the effort if you're staying in the UK, but still...
Also depends whether you want to work in the engineering field, or actually be an engineer... Techs can often specialise in some very niche industry skills, which earns them more than a fully Chartered up engineer...
 
Above info is good... Really depends what you want to do.

I would agree day release might be better than apprenticeship. At my company apprentices are generally 16yos and get paid only 13k!
 
I started an apprenticeship on the railway about 16 years ago, basically straight from leaving school. Been working as a Signalling Technician since then, its a pretty highly specialised role, and certainly a career path Id recommend to anyone. The money is very very good if you're willing to work some pretty unsociable shift patterns and thanks to the RMT our T&Cs are pretty good. They've recently funded me to do a HNC in Railway Engineering and will be progressing that to a FdEng and ultimately a BEng.
 
I'd mirror what Dowie said. Depending on what you do for a day job and the experience you have, alongside your degree you may well be able to get onto postgrad degree.

I wouldn't really consider engineering as a field you could really do an apprenticeship in, at least without a lot of formal training at university at the same time, but again that probably depends on what sort of engineering you're looking at doing. If you want more technician type jobs then it'll probably be ok, but you won't be able to get chartered without formal degree.
 
There are plenty of civil engineers who started off via apprenticeships. You still do the qualifications but get more vocational training. It's a good step into the engineering world for people without formal training.
 
I second the apprenticeship route. Part time study is another option. You might also want to consider software development where you can develop a portfolio which could get you considered for a lot of roles if that floats your boat.
 
ttaskmaster said:
Depends on the field...
Get a job in an engineering department, with "Day Release to college" incorporated. Get your FD-Eng, HNC, HND or whatever they require, while still working. Apprenticeships are OK, but you get more money while working properly, like as a Technician. You can then branch out into your specialist field and end up being an Incorporated Engineer rather than outright Chartered, get your Member-ICE or whatever.
Click to expand...


Day release is the best way to go if you ask me, thats what i done found an employer willing to this, i done it for 5 years and worked up to my HND. Saying that, it was 12 years ago when i was 22.
 
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