Modern apprenticeship

[colnerov]

Engineers can even be found driving trains in America.

 

[Farside]

To continue kicking the can of worms down the road...
I've got a lot of respect for old-time engineers who started on the tools and went up through the courses and ended up with a degree (or equivalent) in it. A long hard slog, for most of them.
Not so much respect (hardly any at all) for an "engineer" who only has the paper.

 

[addjunkie]

To continue kicking the can of worms down the road...
I've got a lot of respect for old-time engineers who started on the tools and went up through the courses and ended up with a degree (or equivalent) in it. A long hard slog, for most of them.
Not so much respect (hardly any at all) for an "engineer" who only has the paper.

Big industry has changed in our life time, not sure if for the better or not.
When I first set out, bosses were older folk who had worked their way up through the stages. Proving their ability/ knowlege at each stage.

Now quite offten bosses turn out to be "fast track" graduates who seem to bounce through various stages of big companies, never in one job long enough to really be measured. Next minute they are your boss, and you spend half your life filling in the gaps in their knowlege as they missed those stages of their engineering learning process.

Not saying some of these guys arent clever, infact some are too clever, just lack experience in the real world.

 

[Burdekin]

To continue kicking the can of worms down the road...
I've got a lot of respect for old-time engineers who started on the tools and went up through the courses and ended up with a degree (or equivalent) in it. A long hard slog, for most of them.
Not so much respect (hardly any at all) for an "engineer" who only has the paper.

It’s one of the hardest degrees so you don’t get an engineering degree if you are lazy or stupid that’s for sure.

Having a trade background certainly helps but having been on both sides, there’s way more poor tradespeople than engineers in my opinion.

 

[Red'n'Black]

So I've been employed at my work as a semi skilled operator for a year now, we are industrial heating engineers building heat exchangers driers etc

Anyway they have now offered me a place as an apprentice engineer, I'm being trained as a machinist and its all old school at my work no cnc or anything and half the lathes are more than double my age lol

I'm 31 so it's a modern apprentice and most of it is all In house apart from next year where I have to go to college 2 days a week

I'll get my NC qualification and could also do my HNC in the future if all goes ok

My question is I've heard engineers who are qualified through a a modern apprentice aren't regarded as an "engineer" as such

Anyone heard that or am I being fed lies lol

As others have said I would grab it with both hands.
I went the university route 25-odd years ago (day job is designing medical electronics) but if I had my time again I'd go the apprenticeship route. Of the half dozen or so guys in their 20s we've taken on recently, by far the most useful were those that did an apprenticeship. The graduates were mostly ok but had a lot of catching up to do in terms of 'tricks of the trade'. One guy who did his apprenticeship did a degree as the final part of it, a lot of them seem to be structured that way nowadays.

Best of luck with it, whichever way you go.

 

[dobbslc]

Having a trade background certainly helps but having been on both sides, there’s way more poor tradespeople than engineers in my opinion

You're probably right! But what some so called "tradesmen" are, are actually just chancers off the street doing plumbing, electrical works pretending to be a tradesman! 4 weeks not 4 years training......

 

[Burdekin]

You're probably right! But what some so called "tradesmen" are, are actually just chancers off the street doing plumbing, electrical works pretending to be a tradesman! 4 weeks not 4 years training......

Yep. For me it’s also 4 years of low pay as an apprentice and then 4 years of having to pay to do uni.

 

[Revs1972]

Now quite offten bosses turn out to be "fast track" graduates who seem to bounce through various stages of big companies, never in one job long enough to really be measured. Next minute they are your boss, and you spend half your life filling in the gaps in their knowlege as they missed those stages of their engineering learning process.

Come across quite a few of these. Some are nice people, who are happy to be advised by us mere mortals as they are aware that they don't know it all, and some so arrogant and know it all that you end up getting so angry and annoyed with them and refuse to go to site if that little **** is there

 

[Seano]

Probably like many here I started my apprenticeship at fifteen when apprenticeships were proper ones and lasted for five years and usually where under the tutelage of one person for the five years, unlike these short term NVQ apprenticeships, I remember one tanker I worked on and was working with an engineer who had every bit of paperwork going but put a spanner in his hand and he was useless, the old Gladwegian I was apprenticed to used to always say You can have all the paperwork in the world but there is no substitute for experience, grab the opportunity with both hands, keep your ears and eyes open and always remember, there is no such thing as a stupid question, good luck with your training and I wish you well.