• Question: How long did you study to reach the skill level that you are at now

    Asked by anon-74787 on 3 Jun 2020.
    • Photo: Tom Rooney

      Tom Rooney answered on 3 Jun 2020:

      I completed a 4-year apprenticeship, then in 30years of experience I have completed a number of other study courses.

      In truth you never really stop studying – there’s always something new to learn

    • Photo: Sophie Louth

      Sophie Louth answered on 3 Jun 2020:

      I studied for four years at University for an undergraduate degree in engineering, however I am definitely still learning all the time.

    • Photo: Jeni Spragg

      Jeni Spragg answered on 3 Jun 2020:

      I did 4 years at university (an MEng course in chemical engineering). I also went back to university to do a research degree (a PhD) for four years, where I was in charge of my own research project. However, the PhD was an extra bonus because I was interested in the topic, rather than because I needed it for a job.

      A lot of the real learning starts once you’ve finished studying and you start to apply it in the real world. University teaches you some important engineering principles, as well as some very complicated details! In a job, you might forget the finer details, or how to do complicated maths, but find that other skills, like communication, teamwork, and curiosity, are just as important.

    • Photo: Conor Tickner

      Conor Tickner answered on 3 Jun 2020:

      It depends what you mean by “study”.
      I went to school from when I was 4 until 16, 6th form until 18, and then university until I was 23 (and I took some time out from a 3-year degree), but then I’ve been on training courses, developed new skills independently, researched topics, and learned a huge amount on the job, so my whole career has been studying of sorts.
      I’ve now been working for almost 6 years.

    • Photo: Neil Runciman

      Neil Runciman answered on 3 Jun 2020:

      I had a three-year apprenticeship and fourteen years of day release, but that is only the beginning, many training courses later, a typical annual CPD of around 50 hours and I am still studying.

    • Photo: Leah Edwards

      Leah Edwards answered on 3 Jun 2020:

      In terms of formal study, I did a 4 year Masters Degree at university. But university isn’t the only place that I have gained my skills from!

      I am working on being a better programmer, by learning things at work and doing courses in my spare time. Last week, I took a 4 hour long programming exam… By choice! Crazy huh. But it doesn’t feel so much like work when it’s something you enjoy.

    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 3 Jun 2020:

      I studied at university for 4 years including a year in industry to achieve my BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering. I graduated and started work in a structural/civil engineering company and have worked there a little over 2 years now. I am still learning each and every day and got many more skills to learn over the many years I will have as an engineer.

    • Photo: Asha Panchal

      Asha Panchal answered on 3 Jun 2020:

      I feel like I have been studying all my life! I went to shool, did my A-Levels, went to university, did an industrial placement, finished uni, did a PhD and am now working. But even if you aren’t sitting in class making notes, every day is a school day. Each experience teaches you new things that school or university might not be able to teach you.
      So if you asked me the same question when I retired, I’m sure I would give you the same answer; “I’ve been studying all my life!”

    • Photo: Juan Carlos Fallas-Chinchilla

      Juan Carlos Fallas-Chinchilla answered on 3 Jun 2020:

      I did a car mechanics apprenticeship (3 years) + 5 years MEng + 2 years MSc + 3 years PhD. In between have had roles in research, construction, and civil aerospace today. In total I’ve been 20 years in engineering as student andn as an engineer. As many other people have said here, there is lots of learning on the job and further training to be taken. We all need to adapt and keep learning new trends, techniques and theories.

    • Photo: Martin McKie

      Martin McKie answered on 4 Jun 2020:

      You never stop learning is the key here.

      I am constantly learning in my job and investigating new things. Technology and scientific theories are fast moving and you have to learn about them, keep up to date with them and how they can be utilised in your place of work.

      My formal education:

      2 years National Diploma in Engineering
      4 years BEng
      1 year MSc
      7-8 years PhD (Part Time)
      3 years PGC in Project Management (Part Time)
      2-3 years NVQ 4 Management (On the job vocational qualification)

      Not all one after the other, some were completed in parallel with others.

      Around 15 years working in industry.

    • Photo: Gillian Steele

      Gillian Steele answered on 4 Jun 2020: last edited 4 Jun 2020 8:45 am

      I studied for 4 years at Cardiff University to graduate with masters degree plus one year working in industry in the middle of my university degree before I started work as a graduate engineer. I have now been working in the industry for 5 years and have progressed from graduate to assistant to engineer level. The next step for me is to hopefully become a senior engineer and sit my Chartership Professional Review with the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).

    • Photo: David Linsell

      David Linsell answered on 4 Jun 2020:

      Well the basic package was: First degree – 3 years; post-degree application and operation training – 1 year; first proper jobs 2 years; Master’s Degree – 18 months. But in every job and in every year I have been learning more and more. Now 40+ years on from the first degree and I am still learning.

    • Photo: Rachel Edwards

      Rachel Edwards answered on 10 Jun 2020:

      Hello! I work in a university developing new technologies, so I studied for 4 years for an undergraduate degree, and another 3 to get a PhD. Both of these were in Physics, and I then spent a while doing research in different places (including the US) before settling back in the UK. Quite a few of the people I work with in industry also got a PhD, or an EngD, which is similar to a PhD but much more focused on industrial problems. My husband did 4 years of undergraduate Physics, then moved to optical engineering straight away, and has worked in industry since.

    • Photo: Giorgio Bindoni

      Giorgio Bindoni answered on 12 Jun 2020: last edited 12 Jun 2020 1:20 pm

      The truth is I never stopped studying. Yes, I did 4 years at Uni and then a couple of years at pilot school, but in whatever job you are involved, you never stop studying and learning.
      I have 50 years in the job and every time I do an audit I ask myself: What have you learned new this time?
      Bottom line: You never stop studying…. and learning

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