Mature Student Mechanical / Automotive Eng

Big Nasty

I'm strongly considering doing a BE in either Automotive or Mechanical Engineering as a mature student (38).

My preference would be to concentrate on Automotive but there doesn't seem to be a lot of employment in that area here while there is a lot more jobs in the broader mechanical engineering. Thoughts / advice?

Also I would have to do this part time which would mean four years for the degree - how would prospective employer realistically look at a 43 year old graduate?

Any help / advice appreciated.

CatFromHue

The Automotive industry isn't really in Ireland at all, we don't make cars here, it is big enough in England though. Not sure about Europe.

Do a search on Totaljobs.com for Automotive and a fair few positions come up.

I didn't know you could even do an Automotive Degree in Ireland to be honest.

There sometimes is a good bit of crossover between degrees so you may still be able to do Automotive but end up being employed as a Mech Eng. You'd have to look at the course content. For example I studied Aero Eng but have been pretty much a Mech Eng since.

I don't see much of a problem with a 43 year old graduate as you would be ahead of other graduates as you would have other industrial experience that could be brought to the table. It could be a problem in some places I don't really know but I wouldn't see it as being a biggie.

A friend of mine got on a grad program when he was 30.

Shy Ted

I remember when I did my undergrad, we had a mature student in our class who was in his fifties. When I did my postgrad, one of the guys was pretty much near retirement age (he just wanted to do it for himself).

Personally I would consider the mechanical engineering route, as it covers a wider range on the jobs market including automotive. I don't know anything about automotive engineers or how their qualification is perceived here. But as CatFromHue said, its very common for different engineering courses to crossover. Most of my modules were attended by Mechanical, biomedical, technical design, and engineering management students.

If you have a passion for automotive, you could select a University or IT that have a formula student program.
It's primarily a final year project for mechanical engineering students to build and race a car in Silverstone. I don't know if its available to part time courses though.
Some colleges give excellent resources to their formula student teams and it can be very competitive to get onto the team.
Its not uncommon for students to go on to gain employment with F1 teams.

A friend of mine did formula student, and he says that it has always being received very positively on job interviews.

jdawson

I'd suggest mechanical as it potentially gives you more options. It's very broad and you never know what elements you'll enjoy more than others until you get started. After you graduate there's a good chance you may end up working in an industry completely unrelated to automotive and enjoying it.

Big Nasty

Cheers for all the advice lads - think I'm gonna run with Mechanical alright.

CatFromHue

Can you even do Automotive in Ireland?

If so you could try and do a Diploma (Level 7 I think they're now called) in Mech Eng and then try and transfer to the Automotive for the Degree (Level 8 I think they're now called).

mawk

Cit run a three year ordinary degree in automotive as I understand.

A buddy of mine lectures them and doesn't think very well of them :-/

I'd choose mech