Starting out in engineering later than most...

tommba

Hello. I am considering doing a honours degree in engineering specialising in the mechanical engineering area with open university by which time I will be close to 30 or so. I was wondering if it will go against me being older than other graduates starting off as from what i've seen most junior positions go to 22-23 year olds who have just left university. Also after completing a degree I might consolidate it with a full time masters and would like your opinions on what would be more marketable a masters in a technical field like aeronautics or a managerial one considering that I would like to become as competitive as I can be with getting a job and getting promoted within the job. Thanks.

tak

If you are doing it at OU then you'll find some other people of your age pusuing the same program. Most notably those ex-ship engineers who have come ashore after getting married, etc and whose marine eng qualification is made up of a mix of mechanical, electrical, electronic/control, etc along with a heavy practical input. Their qualification was so tailored to make it hard for them to get a handy job ashore, so they have to do a proper degree course again - often at OU since they may have to work at something by day.

It's far too early to say now what is going to be the right choice for you in 3/4 years time.

godtabh

tommba wrote:

Hello. I am considering doing a honours degree in engineering specialising in the mechanical engineering area with open university by which time I will be close to 30 or so. I was wondering if it will go against me being older than other graduates starting off as from what i've seen most junior positions go to 22-23 year olds who have just left university. Also after completing a degree I might consolidate it with a full time masters and would like your opinions on what would be more marketable a masters in a technical field like aeronautics or a managerial one considering that I would like to become as competitive as I can be with getting a job and getting promoted within the job. Thanks.

When I was in college there was a lad who I'd say was in his later 20's early 30's.

I think because he was older he was driven and did very well.

As far as I know he is doing very well at the moment

chris85

I think the older students are more motivated to do well and these days i wouldn't worry too much about age entering the workforce as 30 years old is fine.

The masters in a technological field makes a graduate very specialised and this can be a drawback as other fields will be less likely to take you on but the field you do your masters in would be very happy to have you.

Hope this is any help

Borzoi

Get qualified and get earning. A masters will really only delay things

stereoroid

Well, I'm about to start Structural Engineering with Architecture at UCD, at age (redacted), and they're definitely encouraging "mature students" in this area. Doing this kind of thing part-time is not a realistic option - I don't get how anyone can do a serious degree alongside a full-time job.

I don't think I'll know about the Masters until at least a year in - whether I'll want to do it, or if it will be possible. They seem to assume everyone will do it, but who pays for it, and two more years of rent? Those of you who have parents to sponge off of - take advantage, because once you're on your own, just living in Ireland is expensive.

mathias

I completed a masters while doing a full time job with IBM , it does take a lot of your spare time , but turned out to be well worth it in the end.

Pay no attention to the age thing , while I was doing mine I thought initially I might be the oldest one there , far from it , and as regards to work it makes no difference , if your good your good , the qualifications only get you through the interview , after that its what you do that counts.

dame

Open University courses are very expensive and I have two friends who have used Open University. One for Mechanical and one for Electronic-something-or-other. The first 3 years working at his then gave up on because he found it hard to find the time to complete the work and had fallen way behind in his assignments. The second is still doing his but says he wouldn't use OU again due to the cost and lack of support (for what it costs). OU have an office in Dublin but he says it can be weeks before you'll get a reply when you email a query and it is very hard to get anyone on the phone once you're actually enrolled.

I think if you can at all the best way is to go to college full-time. Look into grants (I don't know what's available), save money now and work part-time for the first 3 years. Is there any way you could join into 3rd year of a degree program somewhere? I know the colleges accept a limited number of people with good level 6 degrees as "advanced entry" candidates.

Don't let the age put you off at all. I think empoyers would probably like to employ someone who was a bit more mature and settled (some young guys can lose the head a bit when they get their first job and pay packets).

smooth operater

There were a few people in my class around the age of 30, no big deal. And as stated already, they seem to do quite better than average. Defo go for it.