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Post by mre81 on Jan 4, 2012 22:07:05 GMT
Firstly think very carefully before quitting university. Despite all the nonsense spouted about courses being pointless there is a distinct earning advantage from completing a degree. Starting but not finishing a degree without a very convincing reason will always raise a question on your CV. The whole further education set up these days is very different to when I studied and I would want to be very sure before making a change in career course especially if there are financial liabilities for you to fund. I also think you have a slightly skewed view about engineering - most of the engineers I know don't go round wielding hammers! They are office based and are asked to use their expertise to support proposals, develop plans or give their professional input or approval. This is more rail than bus biased and there are, of course, operational engineering roles too. The general jobs market is awful at present so be sure before leaping out of further education. TfL is losing jobs at a tremendous rate at present and the pressure for further cuts and reductions will carry on for years in my view particularly if the present Mayor is re-elected. I am a casualty of that process myself. You may wish to think more broadly about transport and consider expanding your studies to cover language skills for those parts of the world where there is a real need for transport expansion - India, Asia, Australia, South America, China. You might "cut your teeth" in the UK but a willingness to consider broader horizons while you're young might give you a very good career path in transport be it operations, engineering, planning or management. There are the big transport groups, consultancy organisations plus parts of the public sector that could all give a basis from which to build. Thanks for the very informative post! By engineering I was talking about the manual work...wasn't sure what else to call them. I will carry on at university judging by the current jobs market, but I will continue to research any transport jobs which may suit me, and if I manage to find a job (unlikely I know) I will possibly quit uni. Sorry to hear about you losing your job! After reading this, I'm glad you are not too set on quitting any more. I dropped out 2/3's of the way through my degree. I didn't regret doing it at all..... for the first few years, but as I've got older, I've regretted it more and more. If I could have my time again, I would most definitely stay on at University. Having said that I do now have a decent job and lifestyle, but that doesn't stop me regretting it- if nothing else, a lot of my friends can put B.A/M.A etc after their names which I can't, (although one suggested I just put 'B')! |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2012 15:38:40 GMT
I agree with all of the above, I regret not staying on at school / college and doing better, although I have enjoyed my time driving coaches and buses and as a Controller and Inspector and Servcice Delivery Officer amongst other jobs, I urge you to get your degree, there are jobs which will be coming up as a lot of us older types retire, also there will be jobs coming up in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe etc. as their respective Governments realize we, in the U.K. have the ability to turn their poor transport systems around.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2012 14:40:02 GMT
Alex, mind if I ask what degree subject you are doing?
As others have said, the job market is in a dire state at a moment. It's worth waiting it out and arming yourself with a decent qualification.
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Post by daveb0789 on Jan 6, 2012 15:34:00 GMT
Train drivers don't need formal qualifications and the average salary is 41k.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2012 18:26:40 GMT
Alex, mind if I ask what degree subject you are doing? As others have said, the job market is in a dire state at a moment. It's worth waiting it out and arming yourself with a decent qualification. I am doing Geography, which I chose as it is the only subject I like, and a lot of it can relate to transport. Yes I will be waiting it out, but i'm finding university very difficult which is why I wanted to try and find a job. |
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Post by john on Jan 7, 2012 20:08:04 GMT
Alex, mind if I ask what degree subject you are doing? As others have said, the job market is in a dire state at a moment. It's worth waiting it out and arming yourself with a decent qualification. I am doing Geography, which I chose as it is the only subject I like, and a lot of it can relate to transport. Yes I will be waiting it out, but i'm finding university very difficult which is why I wanted to try and find a job. The first year can be very daunting. I started at the age of 21, 3 years after leaving college so forgot what education was all about. It took some time to adjust but I have to say that I had the greatest time of my life there and met some fantastic people. I did Accounting and Finance and finding a job in that sector is also very difficult. Companies are either making their criteria very exclusive OR there are just too many people going for one job. It doesn't mean that it makes your degree useless though. Just because you have a degree in one subject matter doesn't mean you can't do another job as the skills you learn from completing the degree can be used in so many other sectors. What I recommend is speak to your mates at uni. Let them know what you're finding difficult and see if they can help in any way. If you have no luck there then speak to your SU and see how they can help. Unlike school or college, university WILL help you out and sort your problems. They listen and genuinely do understand your problems. If that isn't enough, just having the joy of graduation and knowing that you completed that course will give you a huge sense of achievement  |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2012 20:39:25 GMT
I am doing Geography, which I chose as it is the only subject I like, and a lot of it can relate to transport. Yes I will be waiting it out, but i'm finding university very difficult which is why I wanted to try and find a job. The first year can be very daunting. I started at the age of 21, 3 years after leaving college so forgot what education was all about. It took some time to adjust but I have to say that I had the greatest time of my life there and met some fantastic people. I did Accounting and Finance and finding a job in that sector is also very difficult. Companies are either making their criteria very exclusive OR there are just too many people going for one job. It doesn't mean that it makes your degree useless though. Just because you have a degree in one subject matter doesn't mean you can't do another job as the skills you learn from completing the degree can be used in so many other sectors. What I recommend is speak to your mates at uni. Let them know what you're finding difficult and see if they can help in any way. If you have no luck there then speak to your SU and see how they can help. Unlike school or college, university WILL help you out and sort your problems. They listen and genuinely do understand your problems. If that isn't enough, just having the joy of graduation and knowing that you completed that course will give you a huge sense of achievement Thanks John! |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2012 23:05:30 GMT
Sounds as though you are doing a very useful and relevant degree Alex. Let us know what's bothering you, though PM if you prefer, as some of those issues might be easily sorted out once you've spoken to the right people at uni.
There are transport consultancies and bodies like TfL hiring graduates, and a degree in geography will certainly stand you in good stead. Although activities are low at the moment things are likely to pick up in the next year or so what with the infrastructure projects that have been announced not that long ago. In addition bus companies hire graduate trainee operations managers. If you are interested in this sort of jobs then I'd definite recommend you finish your degree. Bare in mind social mobility isn't what it used to be a few decades ago where people would start from the shop-floor and go all the way to the top - these days without a degree it's much more difficult to get far beyond entry-level jobs. So while you are already at uni, don't give it up too easily!
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