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civil or mechanical and automotive engineering?

i have applied for the engineering foundation year to get into the engineering field and at the moment am thinking of either civil or mechanical. I have recieved a conditional offer from bradford where i wish to take the course. However am not sure which course to take either the civil or mechanical and automotive engineering after my engineering foundation year. am not to fussed bout the nature of the job, i just want to go for one which has better job prospects and has more £££££. so if anyone can tell me which one to choose i would really appreciiate it. Thanks.

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You want us to decide for you? Hehehe! Advice, thats all we can offer...

Well I did a foundation year too and started out doing astronautics then switched to mechanical. I found out the the 1st year (of the degree) was about 95% indenticle between subjects - check with your uni once you start the foundation course and that'll give you some idea of when you should be making the final decision.

By the way, you won't know for certain until you speak to students from those courses you are curious about. I've spoken to lecturers, employers, prof engineers (ok, my dad!) and friends about courses, but the bestest most useful advice came from current students in that field.

This is what I've found (in VERY general terms):

Civil - most people aren't passionate about structures (its hard to be) so are in it for the money and travel, is that what you want? Prospects are very good...

Mechanical - most flexible degree subject, most general/not specialised, very highly regarded and desired subject for employers, however I'd say it ranks just below civil in terms of job prospects ...

Automotive - very specialised so you're limiting your career prospects, be sure that you want to stay in automotive engineering if you pick this, plus most students are very passionate about the subject. Don't do it if you've only got a passing interest in fast cars. I'd say a lot tougher to get a job in the auto industry than civil or mech, not sure about the £££ though.

Research and bit more, then let us know what you've chosen! :smile:


....(psst, mechanical!) :biggrin:
Reply 2
black_mamba
....(psst, mechanical!) :biggrin:


Civil :smile:

Better job prospects, more money, travel and you get to say I built that new stadium etc!
Reply 3
black_mamba
Civil - most people aren't passionate about structures (its hard to be) so are in it for the money and travel, is that what you want? Prospects are very good...

I wouldn't say that's true at all, I must say me and quite a lot of other people on my course have enjoyed the Structural Design we've been doing. Also, there's much much more to Civil than structures - you can go into Water, Geotechnics, Environmental, Transport, Energy, Planning...
And as black_mamba said, the prospects for money and travel are excellent
am not to fussed bout the nature of the job, i just want to go for one which has better job prospects and has more £££££.
Regarding the starting salaries, I found the following in Times Online website (Education section):

Chemical Engineering - £21,049
Civil Engineering - £19,388
General Engineering - £19,327
Mechanical Engineering - £18,831
Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering - £18,589
Electrical and Electronic Engineering - £18,085

Original Source: HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency) 2002/2003

By the time when you complete your course and seek for engineering job, you'll ofcourse find higher amount of salaries compared to the above info. Nevertheless, you can expect to get higher amount of starting salary with a Civil Engineering degree than holding many other Engineering degrees.

However, when you finally get Chartered Engineering status after completing MEng or MSc in Engineering, you will then definately earn a lot (above £35k) both in Mech and Civil. So there remains little differences in the salaries of different Engineering disciplines when one obtains Chartered Eng status/Incorporated Eng status/Eng Technician status.
Reply 5
thanx for the information, i also found out from my brother in laws younger brother who did a mechanical engineering degree that he cudnt find a job even though he got a 2:1!!

i have looked in to both and feel that the civil and structural engineering is for me especially the £££ invloved and also career prospects.
Reply 6
blazing_bandicoot
thanx for the information, i also found out from my brother in laws younger brother who did a mechanical engineering degree that he cudnt find a job even though he got a 2:1!!

i have looked in to both and feel that the civil and structural engineering is for me especially the £££ invloved and also career prospects.

Horray! It really is much much easier to get a job.
Reply 7
One thing i warn you is that Civil has got very popular.

Students doing MEng in their final year this time probably got in with BBB/BBC. Nowadays demand is so high that you are looking at AAB/ABB. There is going to be some serious competition when you enter the job market (dont let that put you off though its still going to be a very demanded degree)
Reply 8
There's still going to be a massive skills shortage in Civil Engineering by the end of the decade due to loads of people reaching retirement age and not enough people coming in.
I completely agree with El Pollo Diablo. :smile:

It was highlighted in the UK Budget 2003 in Sir Gareth Roberts' review, "The Supply of People with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Skills" that the UK was suffering from a shortage of engineering, mathematics and physical science students at university and skilled workers in the labour market. This shortage could do serious damage to the UK's future economical growth. There is a shortage in sectors such as research and development and financial services for maths, science and engineering specialists.

So, foreign students at UK universities graduating from specific engineering, physical science and mathematics courses are now permitted to stay in the UK for one year after their graduation to take up employment.

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has created a list of eligible Science and Engineering courses. Only those who have studied approved courses are eligible to stay under the scheme. The subjects highlighted as being in decline are

mathematics

engineering

physical sciences

and courses have been labelled as eligible due to those subjects identified.

List of approved courses for the Science and Engineering Scheme

First Degree Programmes
:

A100 Pre-clinical Medicine A200 Pre-clinical Dentistry

C100 Biology

C200 Botany

C700 Molecular Biology, Biophysics and Biochemistry

D600 Food and Beverage Studies

F100 Chemistry

F200 Materials Science

F300 Physics

F600 Geology

F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences

G300 Statistics

H000 Balanced Combinations in Engineering

H100 General Engineering

H200 Civil Engineering

H700 Production and Manufacturing Engineering

H800 Chemical, Process and Energy Engineering

J100 Minerals Technology

J200 Metallurgy

J400 Polymers and Textiles

J500 Materials Technology not otherwise specified

J600 Maritime Technology

J700 Industrial Biotechnology

K200 Building



Hence, we can conclude that Civil Engineers have high job prospects in UK due to the specific skills shortage.
Reply 10
Do mechanical, its much better than all of them!

Automotive is basicaly, meachanical, but specilised. And imo, its to early to specialises that much.

As said above, the main people do cival is for the money, not becuase they like the subjet. Imo, thats a big MISTAKE.
- The money isnt that diffrent (see ASHIQUE's list) and its really not worth it do be doing somthink boring all your life!!

Plus, cival engineers are reallyy engineers at all! (dont tell enyone, but thats just a fact)

Daniel
dhutch
Do mechanical, its much better than all of them!
all i can say is you're completely biased... :p:
Reply 12
what are the career prospects for mechanical engineering and civil/structural engineering gradutaes say in about the next 7 years likely to be as by that time i would have finished my degree( hopefully)?

and like ashique said i can sense the biasness here!! like i said i honestly dont mind from the content of the two courses as they both do interest me, wot i want is to choose a course that has excellent emplyement prospects and excellent rate of pay in the next 6 - 10 years.

Which one from those courses provide me with this then?
Reply 13
dhutch
As said above, the main people do cival is for the money, not becuase they like the subjet. Imo, thats a big MISTAKE.


What makes you say that? I'm sure that if people were really in it for the money, there'd be other careers that could earn them a lot more.
Reply 14
<A-S-H-I-Q-U-E>
all i can say is you're completely biased...
Ofcoause i am. But so are you!
Reply 15
All i can say, is that i'd be bored stiff doing mechanical.... i don't give a rats arse about how a jet engine works. Much more interested in building something big!

To be fair i think both civil and mechanical have good employment prospects, civil slightly more because there is generally allways demand for building, whereas mechanical engineers work in manufacturing etc, industries which are not as big as they were in the uk.

I'm hoping i will be able to be involved with renewable energy projects, thats my dream at the moment. Wind, wave, anything would be great.

I'm pretty interested in geothermal energy too as i visited a geothermal plant, i wonder are there any engineering companies specialising exclusively in renewable energy systems...?
Zakatu
i wonder are there any engineering companies specialising exclusively in renewable energy systems...?


Yep, although I've only heard of a solar power specialist company (through the IMechE mag), I'm sure theres plenty more where that came from. :yy:
Reply 17
dhutch
Plus, cival [sic] engineers are reallyy engineers at all! (dont tell enyone, but thats just a fact)

Really? What makes you say that?
dhutch
Ofcoause i am. But so are you!
No... tbh, i'm not biased at all.

As for the starting salaries of different types of Engineers which I was talking about, I was just mentioning the facts by referring to the Times Online website.

In that post, I also mentioned this:

<A-S-H-I-Q-U-E>
However, when you finally get Chartered Engineering status after completing MEng or MSc in Engineering, you will then definately earn a lot (above £35k) both in Mech and Civil. So there remains little differences in the salaries of different Engineering disciplines when one obtains Chartered Eng status/Incorporated Eng status/Eng Technician status.
does that sound like a biased opinion? :confused:

Regarding my 2nd post in this thread, I was just explaining elaborately (and with some more info) on why I agreed with El Pollo Diablo on massive shortage skills in Civil Engineering for which there are more job prospects in this particular Engineering field. So, here again, I was NOT putting any biased opinion.

In reality, I never encourage anyone to go for Civil or any particular field of Engineering as it really depends on each person's personal interests and circumstances.

Earlier, I wanted to study Mechanical Engineering like my dad (who later continued his career in banking and later in business), but later on when I realized that it's got low job prospects in *my* country and I didn't have loads of interest in that particular field, I decided to do Civil (because of many good reasons) .

What I will advise the OP is to choose the branch of Engineering which he finds the most attractive or interesting subject to him both in terms of course content (check it in the departmental websites) and high job prospects.

If you have strong foundation (from A' levels or equivalent) in Mathmematics (having studied Further Maths and/or Pure Maths), then go for Mechanical Engineering or may be EEE (if possible). Otherwise, studying Civil Engineering or Environmental Engineering would be your best option also bcoz they are relatively easier than other branches of Engineering. :smile:

Hope that I am not sounding biased... :biggrin:
Reply 19
noooo, no way is civil easier....

Theres no way anyone can say that. Whilst its true that other branches use more "pure" maths than civil, that doesn't make it easier.