Future For Irish Engineers?

11315841

I’m applying for engineering courses beginning next year but am not yet decided on which area of engineering to apply for.

I will be a mature student going back to college. I completed an arts degree about 4 years ago and have worked in a number of unrelated jobs since. I’ve honestly been thinking about other course options since before I even finished the arts degree, but now after years of uncertainty about what to do I’ve decided to go back and get a qualification that will hopefully lead to a career afterwards. Because I’ve already been to college I will be paying full fees to do the course, so I am serious about doing this. I would be 30 when I graduate.

I’ll be doing the course in Sligo Institute of Technology (not possible anywhere else) so the options I am considering are:

Electrical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Mechatronics
I’ve looked into and read quite a bit about each of these areas and job / career paths leading off from them. Right now I am mostly leaning towards Civil Engineering. It is what I find I am most interested in and I think I would like to work in a construction related career rather than a manufacturing related career.

It would be incredibly helpful if anyone could give their opinions on or any insider experience into the choice I’m trying to make. There is a whole range of material I’ve read provided by colleges on the subject but I just want to hear from people not trying to push their course etc.

The Questions I Have Are:

Which of these areas do you think is likely to be in demand and employable in 3-5 years?

What is the career progression / money like in these areas?

What is the day to day work like in these areas?

How are Sligo Institute of Technology graduates seen by employers in these areas?

Any who has done any of these courses I would love to hear from?

Thank you to anyone who reads that or replies.

thebsharp

I studied Civil Engineering and have found the industry to be very unpredictable. I graduated in 2007 and it's been in a constant state of flux since then. I honestly couldn't predict a year ahead. The recession means there's been a lot less people studying civil over the last number of years so this might benefit future graduates.

A significant part of the industry relies on government spending on infrastructure and that's not something we've been good at in Ireland on a continuous basis. This leads to a boom and bust cycle with accompanying swings in jobs and wages. There are also large differences between what individual employers pay in the Dubin. My guess is the majority of civil engineers would be on between 40,000-50,000 for the bulk of their career, based on past experience in different consultancies. I've found you have to move to get large wages increases.

I enjoy the day to day work. It's the main reason why I didn't go after money by switching to finance.

Can't say I know much about Sligo IT. Jennings O'Donovan are a good civil eng. consultancy based in Sligo. Be worth getting in touch with them.

Prenderb

If you're interested in it and enjoy it you have a good chance of being satisfied by it. As bsharp says, you won't get rich from it, but many find it a challenging and satisfying career. Whatever area you find yourself in, know that you'll be saving lives and improving the economy but nobody will know about it or appreciate it.

To your first question - nobody knows, unfortunately. That said, if you're willing to travel, engineers will often find work abroad when there's none here. Civil engineering has not been a popular course in recent years though, as bsharp also points out, so that you may find there are less of you competing for more jobs when you graduate.

Career progression and money are usually solid enough. If you're lucky enough to work at the cutting edge, you might find yourself advancing quickly but with a lot of pressure. That's more likely in mechatronics or something like that.

I've been working broadly in the civil/structural area for a few years now. In the private consultant's office, you'll likely find yourself spending a couple of years designing parts of buildings or drainage systems and preparing planning applications, then after a couple of years maybe less you'll be managing a small job through planning, after that you'll be working on or managing progressively larger projects and builds.

Others work as engineers in local authorities or other public bodies managing day to day issues like potholes, building projects, road realignments, waterworks schemes, drainage improvements - as a client it's a different side to the job but you'll have expertise from a consultant usually to help if necessary. That's more "soft skills" as you manage the delivery of the job with respect to budget, client requirements, and could end up dealing with the public a lot.

Even within those areas there are scopes for specialisation. From the civil/structural point of view you can for example specialise in designing buildings, bridges, or work as a site manager. You can end up moving into something like fire engineering or energy work (building services might have an advantage there!)

As to Sligo IT? I don't have an answer for you. All courses are HETAC graded so that sort of standardises everything, however in general there is a perception that the ITs provide great practical courses, with the universities being regarded as more theoretical. Get a job and after a couple of years nobody will worry where it came from, because ultimately it doesn't really matter. If Sligo suits you, and the course content floats your boat, I think it's as good as anywhere.

I would suggest you consider whether the course offers you a chance to taste each sector - for example in Dublin, UCD's first year is common so you learn a little from each of 4 fields. TCD's is 2 common years. I'm not sure about other courses, but it is something that I found useful in my own study as I wasn't 100% sure. Doing aspects of each side helps you solidify your choice with actual experience of the course content.

Hope that helps!

budhabob

Good advice above.

Sligo IT would have a good engineering reputation! As others have said, civil engineering has been in a state of flux, but engineering skills are transferrable to other areas so its not as limited to just construction.

11315841

Thanks to everyone who replied. This is great info.

Turbulent Bill

OP, unless you're absolutely sure what speciality you'd prefer to do (rare in anyone without experience), I'd encourage you to do a general engineering course for at least a year or two. At worst it'll confirm your preference, and more likely you'll be exposed to things you really enjoy.

Second-guessing what the job market will be like, especially over a career, is impossible. Pick something you like, work hard to get good at it and it should reward you with a decent, fulfilling career.

Captain Slow IRL

Turbulent Bill wrote: »

......... Pick something you like, work hard to get good at it and it should reward you with a decent, fulfilling career.

I disagree with this; The other side to this is that you can end up hating what you once loved doing. Find an interesting, challenging career would be better argument.

I completed my mechanical engineering course in Sligo recently. From my own experience, if you did mechatronics with the view of becoming a controls engineer you should get a job fairly easily. But it's an incredibly hard job!! The mechanical course in Sligo is based heavily around design and using Solidworks CAD software. I had no experience of this prior to college and really got into it. If you've an arts degree, it could stand to you when it comes to designing aesthetically pleasing products/components.

The first year in Sligo features a lot of common modules for mechanical, electrical and mechatronic. If you wanted to change your mind after the first year, you should be able to - I was offered this but stuck with mechanical. The lecturers there are dead on and are very easy to get on with, with 1 or 2 exceptions. Be warned that the maths is very hard but do-able with lots of practice.

Since getting my degree, I've worked as an engineering technician (fixing automated machinery) and am currently working as a process engineer. This is less hands on and more cad/office based work. It's a very interesting field to be in and I am very happy to go into work most days.

mickdw

Ive a civil Engineering degree from Itsligo going back to 2001.
The other branches you mention interest me alot and to be honest i would have studied
mechatronics if that course existed back then.
In terms of how It Sligo graduates are perceived in the workplace, in my opinion you would have no issues, in fact likely favoured over university graduates for construction site work. The university graduates would be better qualified for design work.
The construction world is a rough game. Long hours, uncertainty, workplace continually moving, high pressure deadlines all the time etc.
I work for myself now and find it much more civilised.
I would be of tge opinion that money on the construction side of things is ok but when considering the hours worked, its actually poor.

Turbulent Bill

Captain Slow IRL wrote: »

I disagree with this; The other side to this is that you can end up hating what you once loved doing. Find an interesting, challenging career would be better argument.

I was thinking in terms of the OP's course choice, i.e., pick something you think you have an interest in rather than how the job market currently looks. Once chosen you just have to knuckle down and do it, maybe with good choice of options.

Fully agree about seeking out an interesting career once you start working. In my own experience, interdisciplinary work (electro-mechanical etc.) is great for this as you're constantly learning something new and out of your comfort zone.

eeguy

Turbulent Bill wrote: »

I was thinking in terms of the OP's course choice, i.e., pick something you think you have an interest in rather than how the job market currently looks. Once chosen you just have to knuckle down and do it, maybe with good choice of options.

Fully agree about seeking out an interesting career once you start working. In my own experience, interdisciplinary work (electro-mechanical etc.) is great for this as you're constantly learning something new and out of your comfort zone.

Second this.

Cant talk about civil ( think its bouncing back now after the recession) but plenty of elec and mechanical work around the place, especially in medical. You'll probably have to move around to get a job, though there are plenty of startups in Sligo.

My own advice would be to really focus on what your CV is going to say when you hit 3rd year. I've read countless grad CVs and they're nearly all identical. Only the ones that have something unusual, an interesting project, work experience an interesting branch of engineering or extra curricular stuff tend to get interviews with me.

Grades are important, but being able to show a genuine interest in the field, away from the academic if gold when you're looking for a job.