Total career change to engineering at 30???

Hi everyone

A bit on my background:
I’m 30 and considering a total career change. I got 4 A’s in Chemistry, Biology, Maths and Physics at 18. I applied for medicine and optometry, didn’t get any med school places so I went on to do optometry. I ended with a 2:2 ( this was in part due to some personal issues- I had to take care of someone who was depressed and suicidal for a lot of the three years), but a 2:2 is enough to graduate and proceed to qualify as an optometrist. I’ve been practising optometry since. I am good at my job and currently hold a steady well-paid job, but I’ve come to the decision that it’s not something I want to do for another 35-40yrs. It feels like an awkward time in life. I’d be a lot older than other students but also too young to continue in a job I’ve decided I want to move away from.
A lot of my friends are optometrists, doctors, dentists, and physiotherapists; and from speaking to them and my own work, I don’t feel Id like to move into any of those fields. What I’m most interested in is civil engineering,which sounds like a big crazy change. When I was in school girls didn’t do engineering so it was not something that was ever considered for ressons which did not include my academic abilities or personality. My boyfriend (who works in engineering) thinks I should consider project management and he said some of the project managers where he works (large aerospace firm) aren’t engineers. But I’ve looked into that and, I think, they may not be qualified engineers but they at least have engineering background, which I do not.

So my questions are
1) what do people think?
2) is this feasible? I have a mortgage, but no children.
3) how would I go about doing this? When I applied for uni at 18 I had done placements at two hospitals, two GP surgeries, two dentists and an opticians. As well as volunteer work at community centre, primary school, hospice and care home. I want to get work experience to see more if it’s something I do really want to do but I’m not sure where to start. My BF can’t get me anything (he’s tried).
Will my 2:2 be a huge block to unis?
Should I apply for uni full time? I could locum at the weekends as an optometrist for money or look at an apprecticeship (I briefly dating someone who got his BEng this way, but he was 16 when he started the apprenticeship.

Any help will be great. Thanks

Thanks for the replies everyone

Im fairly certain I’ll be able to self-fund. As I’ve missed 2019 entry I’ll have at least 18months to work and save. My boyfriend was not at all supportive. We are not no longer together.

I’ve got a few things I need to do
1) find work experience. I know a couple of engineers who I can speak to but when I looked at the bigger companies they only seemed to offer work experience to people in school, maybe worth a phone call in the new year. Should I just phone or email as many companies as possible to try to get work experience?

2) phone universities re: entry requirements. My A levels were 12yrs. So I got 4 A’s but will they count as they’re so old? Or would I have to redo A level or do an access course first?

You can get full funding for part time STEM courses (including engineering) from SFE. So if you pursue a part time course (which is not uncommon for engineering courses) you can be fully funded. This would also allow you to work alongside the course, possibly in a related capacity or possibly not (but would at least help support yourself financially). As an alternative to that, you can do a degree apprenticeship in engineering; these are reasonably common, including in civil engineering. You would earn (admittedly, probably a lot less than you do now) while you're working and getting the degree, and you'd be working directly in the industry. There is also always the option of doing a full time course, but you would need to completely self fund this (tuition fees and living costs; bearing in mind tuition fees are £9250 per year currently, rising in line with inflation)

Most universities will expect you to have undertaken some recent academic study to prepare for the course. I'd suggest contacting universities to see what options there are, but probably the best options would be either an Access to HE course or OU study. You should check with them which Access courses (if any) they accept and/or which OU modules would be appropriate. Importantly, make sure any Access course satisfies their requirements for mathematics background, as this seems to vary a lot for them; OU modules are probably a more straightforward route for most courses, but as always, check with the providers.

Alternately you could take A-level exams again, self studying or doing a distance learning tuition course (or with local tutors); some degree courses however may expect the science endorsement (practicals) for any science A-levels you take (in the newest sitting that is), and this is both expensive and hard to find, compared to just sitting the exams as an external candidate.

You can get an Advanced Learner Loan for an Access course (which will be written off if you complete a degree subsequently) and A-levels, although there is a maximum for this (which I don't know unfortunately). You can be funded for OU under the part time arrangements above; do note however, this second degree funding will likely follow the same format of length of degree plus one year's worth of funding, so I would suggest not taking more than 120 credits with the OU without verifying you can transfer into a higher year of a relevant course. Many courses would expect two level two modules for entry, so check how that works out with the credit amounts and prerequisites etc.

Finally, you could apply to degree programmes including a foundation year - these will cover the relevant A-level equivalent material in a preliminary year and then subject to performance in your final exams, you would progress into the main degree. While these are common for engineering, I don't know how many (if any) will be available for part time courses. This is just basically another year of the degree and you would be funded (or not) by SFE as above for that. Often these do take mature students who have taken A-levels but are some years removed; however, following the golden rule, contact the course providers of any courses being considered to check their requirements in this regard.

Work experience isn't necessary to apply for an engineering course, although might be valuable for you to confirm your interest in working in the area. However, I would recommend focusing on going over the above options to figure out the best route into the course, before spending too much time trying to find work experience. If some comes your way, and you are able to pursue that without financial issues, by all means do so, but don't lose any sleep if you can't, it's really not necessary as far as applying goes.

@Doonesbury @PQ and @Smack might be able to advise on various aspects as well...?

This is a very helpful read THANK YOU

I looked at apprenticeships as you said I’d be able to work and gain experience while learning but I was concerned it would take too long and that undergrad would be the ‘fastest’ way in. How long does an apprenticeship take? I looked at a few but the advice seemed to be aimed at 16yr olds.

I’ve just read on the Cardiff website that they offer a prelim year into engineering. So realistically if I have to do a prelim year, or foundation course I’d be looking at getting into undergrad at 33 and graduating at 37? I’m very concerned that no one will want to employ a 37yr old grad.

Where could I study engineering part time? My house is in the south west as are my working connections. Ideally I’d stay at home for financial reasons but that does limit me to Bristol, Bath, Cardiff which are all full time courses.

Thanks

Also thanks for the note on work experience. When I was in school we were told it was so important. I did 8 weeks worth of placements, and that’s not including the weekly placements at primary schools and care homes!

A foundation year is just one year - this is presumably what Cardiff's prelim year is. It's really just an extended degree course, rather than a year then a course, normally; you just get a BEng, for example, in 4 years rather than 3, or an MEng in 5 rather than 4.

I think degree apprenticeships are usually about 6 years, but bear in mind usually employers are invested in you and train their degree apprentices with the intention of retaining them after they "graduate". As such often it's just continuous into a grad type role (you'll probably be doing comparable work in the last couple years of the apprenticeship anyway). This may vary however. Although I'm loathe to recommend their department based on my experiences there, given you'll presumably be working at a firm otherwise most of the time...Exeter do have a Civil Engineering apprenticeship programme, and that being in the southwest might be a good option for you.

For part time courses, try searching on UCAS (I believe you can filter for part time courses). However not all show up on there (for example Anglia Ruskin, Coventry, and Oxford Brookes offer some options but don't seem to come up), so check individual providers. That said a cursory overview makes it look like there may not be as many as I thought! However, do contact individual universities to see if there are any arrangements that can be undertaken for part time study even if nothing is specifically listed; some don't have any formal programmes in place but permit students to study part time on certain courses (e.g. UCL).

You could also do part time/distance learning study from somewhere (e.g. the OU) and then complete the course with a top-up course full time somewhere or transfer into a higher year of a full time degree (probably second year). You would need to pay fees but just for the top-up year(s), so you could save at least one year of funding potentially (or two if you account for a foundation year that way too).

Employers can't discriminate against you based on age, and given women are already underrepresented in the profession, they open a big can of worms if they start discriminating against you in any capacity! Of course, you would be starting at the same "rung" as any other grad usually, but presumably that is expected anyway so not really a major issue.

In terms of work experience, for medicine (and most allied health professions) work experience is very important and normally required, but for basically every other degree it's definitely not

Given your interests and background I would be tempted to look into Masters degrees in Engineering Management. There’s a lot of courses out there and you might find that your experience in healthcare and your BSc are enough for entry. You would need to do some research and talk to universities about your interests, background and motivations (it might be that an OU module or too would help) to find the right fit of course for you. I would recommend some networking via linkin too - stalk some people working for companies and doing the sort of work you want to do, contact them and ask if they will answer some questions about their job and experiences. You might well stumble across a mentor who can help you figure out what exactly you want to do and what information and study you need to get there.

For part time courses, try searching on UCAS (I believe you can filter for part time courses). However not all show up on there (for example Anglia Ruskin, Coventry, and Oxford Brookes offer some options but don't seem to come up), so check individual providers. That said a cursory overview makes it look like there may not be as many as I thought! However, do contact individual universities to see if there are any arrangements that can be undertaken for part time study even if nothing is specifically listed; some don't have any formal programmes in place but permit students to study part time on certain courses (e.g. UCL).

I’ve got a few leads on work experience type things. Just waiting to hear back from them in Jan. I’ve got two friends of a friends who are civil engineers. One is going to ask her office if I can come in for a week. I’m waiting hear back from the other (she’s away). Another friend’s sister is a nuclear engineer and she’s said she’s happy to sit down and talk with me next time she visits.

I’ve looked at engineering management. Only briefly online. It looks like a type of project management? Or is that’s completely wrong?

I think my interests are maths and problems solving and building. When I bought my house I was so interested in looking at the plans and the retaining walls and garden slopes and the house design. I think that’s why I’d like to do work experience and talk to as many engineers who will sit down with me. I need to figure out if engineering is the job I think I want.

Given your A-levels, I would look into applying directly to year 1 of a BEng/MEng degree. If you can go straight into year 1, that would probably be preferable to doing an access or foundation course. You would probably have to have to go over the previous materials to make sure you are up to speed, though.

I think the biggest hurdle may be finances, especially as you have a mortgage. Unfortunately I don't know much about this area, but others have provided good advice.

I fully agree with you when you say that "I need to figure out if engineering is the job I think I want". From what you've said so far though, it probably is. Maybe either that or architecture.

@Slightly puzzled Can I ask why you want to leave your career as an Optometrist? Also, how difficult was it to do a degree in Optometry and qualify? How will you keep up with your mortgage repayments if you were to go back to studying full time again?

Sorry about all the questions. I'm a mature person who is also considering a career change and have been feeling very lost

I’m going to answer these in reverse order if that’s ok.
1) my mortgage payments are quite low and so are manageable. I live VERY frugally (taken many comments from people saying I live like a homeless person (rolls eyes)). My plan for this is to save enough before starting retraining and as I’ve maintained good relationships with past employers and networks I could do locum work in the area during the holidays/ weekends. A colleague of mine does medicine and locums one day a week as an optom (more in the holidays) to cover his bills. As another backup I have a spare room and so could take a lodger tax-free under rent a room.

I did the degree a few years ago so can’t really remember too much about the difficulty. Sorry

Why I want to leave is a slightly more complicated question. I’ll be as succinct as possible. I just don’t feel it’s right for me to do for another 30yrs. I like talking to my patients and explaining things to them, talking about their needs etc, but it’s so repetitive. now I want to work with the other side of my brain that loves creating, designing and puzzle solving and taking resources and working with them efficiently and I’d like to try to do that outside of playing boardgames.

What are you thinking of changing from/ to?

I’m going to answer these in reverse order if that’s ok.
1) my mortgage payments are quite low and so are manageable. I live VERY frugally (taken many comments from people saying I live like a homeless person (rolls eyes)). My plan for this is to save enough before starting retraining and as I’ve maintained good relationships with past employers and networks I could do locum work in the area during the holidays/ weekends. A colleague of mine does medicine and locums one day a week as an optom (more in the holidays) to cover his bills. As another backup I have a spare room and so could take a lodger tax-free under rent a room.

I did the degree a few years ago so can’t really remember too much about the difficulty. Sorry

Why I want to leave is a slightly more complicated question. I’ll be as succinct as possible. I just don’t feel it’s right for me to do for another 30yrs. I like talking to my patients and explaining things to them, talking about their needs etc, but it’s so repetitive. now I want to work with the other side of my brain that loves creating, designing and puzzle solving and taking resources and working with them efficiently and I’d like to try to do that outside of playing boardgames.

What are you thinking of changing from/ to?