baza31
Member
Registered: 19th Apr 03
Location: yorkshire
User status: Offline
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I did 4 years to become a sparky- at some points i got pissed off but i stuck it out. Only last week I have been approached and asked to work at Heathrow wiring Xray machines. £2000 a week(well 11 days), hotel paid for etc etc.
get a qualification and you cant go wrong
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Hamish
Member
Registered: 4th Apr 05
Location: Ashtead, Surrey Drives: 100bhp Mint with Hole
User status: Offline
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cheers for all the advice guys, come to the deciecion that i should take the exams: if i pass i pass and if i fail ill apply for an apprenticeship 
 corsa tomtom
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Tommy L
Member
Registered: 21st Aug 06
Location: Northampton Drives: Audi wagon
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thats what i said
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RichR
Premium Member
Registered: 17th Oct 01
Location: Waterhouses, Staffordshire
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second year is always the worst of any course - year three should be much better! I nearly left uni in year 2 for the same reasons - too much theory not enough practice; but so glad I continued now
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Rob H
Member
Registered: 28th Oct 00
Location: Staffordshire Drives: Astra SRi
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by LiVe LeE
second year is always the worst of any course - year three should be much better!
What he said! I did two years on my Mech and Auto engineering course and coming up to exam time i just felt i was in too deep and couldn't be bothered. Had applied to about a dozen companies for a placement year and nothing came out of any of them. Gave my exams a half arsed effort, only to get a call back afterwards from the one company i'd been for an interview with to be offered a job  . Ended up having to explain the situation to my gaffer so i could have a fortnight off to resit 40 credits worth of exams  (was borderline between not recomended by the uni, and having to re-sit the year!). Anyway, ended up scraping through my exams, having a mint year working in industry (to which i used about 1 lectures worth of stuff i'd learnt at uni!), then started back at uni for my final year in september, with my exams starting in may. It's given me a totally different persepective on going about uni work this year taking the last year out, as you can apply some of the stuff your learning to other parts, and those that you can't you just have to tell yourself it's worthwhile because you can't pass the degree and get the job you want without it!
As quoted above though, the difference between Y1&2 is massive, with Y1 seeming to be a bit of a doss year, and more about settlingin and making friends, then year 2 you think "I did ok in the first year, second should be fine", hence you put in the same amount of effort, but then come exams in the summer your shitting it cause you haven't kept on top of it and you've forgot most of what you've learnt!
Differences between Y2&3 are fairly minimal really, for my course it's actually seems to have been a little easier this year than the second, but it think it's more because i knew from the outset what i needed to do.
Stick with it mate. I very nearly threw it all away in your position this time 2 years ago. Instead i've managed to do well this year by putting the effort in, and using the lecturers and my classmates to help me out with bit's i'm stuck on. Got the hardest part to come now with finals coming up, but I'm now looking forward to going back to where I worked last year in July, and buying myself a brand spanking VXR with the obscene amount of money they'll be paying me - enough incentive to MAKE me want to learn the Parameters associated with underdamped second-order systems  .
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Hamish
Member
Registered: 4th Apr 05
Location: Ashtead, Surrey Drives: 100bhp Mint with Hole
User status: Offline
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cheers for that mate, im ment to be on plcement next year to, but i havent found anything yet, i think ill jus try and get through these exams first
[Edited on 13-04-2007 by Hamish]
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Rob H
Member
Registered: 28th Oct 00
Location: Staffordshire Drives: Astra SRi
User status: Offline
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Keep looking mate, there are jobs going, it's just not easy to find them. Have you joined the Year In Industry Scheme? A lot of people I worked with were part of that, and they seemed to be quite good at finding people jobs .
One other thing to consider is that nearly all the apprentiships cater for people who's just done their GCSE's, so you'd have wasted 4 years if you started one, as A levels are only useful for going to uni with really. Even if you have to resit the year you'd still get their quicker if you went the uni route now!
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Hamish
Member
Registered: 4th Apr 05
Location: Ashtead, Surrey Drives: 100bhp Mint with Hole
User status: Offline
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yea true
Year in Industry scheme? havent heard of it. Info, Link? My uni advertise jobs on the intranet we have but thats all they do  . And i got turned down from AP racing, that was the only interview i had
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Mertin
Member
Registered: 12th Oct 05
Location: Scotland
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Colin
Im 24 & looking to start an apprenticeship as an instrument/electrical tech off shore. Its 3.5yrs training, 1.5yrs on shore in a workshop where you do gsvq II & III + an NQ in Engineering. Then 2yrs off shore, you attend college the weeks your on leave to complete an HNC.
Moneys not too good to start with, erm £100 a week for the 1st 18 months, then you go off & the money creeps up a bit, 16k for the next 12 months, 19k for the last 12 months then your time served & go straight onto 42k a year!
Ive got a test tomorrow for one company, fingers crossed!!
Im 6 months into the coursa as a mechanical technician. Id highly reccomend it
Im with ecitb
You get accomodation if away from home, travel money for going to and from college and get travel money for going home at weekends if you choose 5 day accomodation
I think cogent (or opito as their now known) are cunts. Never got back to me after my aptitude test and one of my mates didnt hear back from his interview till 3 days into the course. Also, you get less holidays and dont get a half day every fourth friday Only thing is you get paid monthly rather than fortnightly and get free dinner at the college canteen
[Edited on 13-04-2007 by Mertin]
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Rob H
Member
Registered: 28th Oct 00
Location: Staffordshire Drives: Astra SRi
User status: Offline
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. Don't be scared to try stuff that may not be in your field. You mentioned that your degree is Mech eng based, so try applying for jobs in those fields too, even if it's not particularly what you want to do, any experience in a relevant field will help . I'm doing a mech and Auto degree but worked in a factory that makes electronics! .
www.yini.org.uk 
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Hamish
Member
Registered: 4th Apr 05
Location: Ashtead, Surrey Drives: 100bhp Mint with Hole
User status: Offline
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yea i may have to start looking further afield. Cheers for all your help though mate
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Rob H
Member
Registered: 28th Oct 00
Location: Staffordshire Drives: Astra SRi
User status: Offline
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No probs, good luck with it .
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