Need some advice from people in the know.

darragh o meara

Ok, suppose a bit of background first:

I have many years of mechanical and electrical ( mostly automotive and self thought )
Anyway I returned to college as a mature student in 2010 to do a higher cert in mechanical engineering which I finished last year. I've since progressed onto a b eng in manufacturing engineering which I finish in a few weeks. I have the option of going into a level 8 Bsc in computer aided manufacturing but I may also have an opportunity coming up to work with a company overseas as a graduate mechanical or instrumentation engineer which are areas I have a lot of interest in.

My dilemma is do I continue on and so my level 8?
Or do I take the graduate placement if offered it and return to do the level 8 part time in a year or two?
Or would my level 7 and a year or two experience make me more employable ?

mawk

Id say take the work if it's going. Experience is king really. it's often a long time before you bounce off the glass ceiling and you can always look at courses later when your employer may even pay for you!

darragh o meara

Cheers Mawk, it's a hard decision but I think your right the experience might be just the thing I need. I might not have the opportunity in a years time...

Demosthenese

Hard to go back to Part-time and complete a course though, especially if working at same time, kids etc etc ... but i'd agree its better to have the EXP in the bag these days, ALOt of overqualified people with no real life exp behind them.