Automotive jobs

[ereeiz]

I've ran a small race team, worked on a BTCC/ GT/ Historic F1 team, been a technician at TRW building/ refining/ testing/ R&D'ing column drive EPS, currently work for Delphi as a rig technician (I forget the fancy title), worked for the MOD removing comms systems (in vehicle), General Dynamics fitting comms systems (in vehicle), fitting/ upgrading/ calibration of weapons systems for Thales, ran a garage, and at least 10 other jobs in one way or another related to cars/ automotive.

The way it goes (in my experience) is like this;
Motorsport- just turn up at a race, or at their unit and say you want to work for them, don't care what as, just anything. Within a day or two you'll inevitably get dragged into helping whatever situation the team is in now due to not enough money for things. Long hours (I mean weeks on end sometimes building an entire car on your own from scratch, 16 hr days, sometimes longer if travel is involved too/from a track). You have to love it, really love it and sacrifice a lot of your life, say bye bye to a mrs, projects, friends, any commitments you've got outside work. It WILL consume your life. I've never worked for a large, or factory based team. It may differ for them, but again when I've asked others, they've pretty much said the same as I have.
All that being said it is a fucking great atmosphere. I've never had such a feeling of elation after a car burnt out (after me pointing the flaws out before and saying it wasn't safe) and managing to create a custom loom, fabricate bits, rebuild it all and get it ready for a race the following week (then it won ). The hours are long and the work is tough, but you'll love it. Oh, you won't earn anything much either.
May be different if you have a degree, etc? Dunno.

OEM suppliers. They love paperwork. If you don't have a piece of paper to say you can do something (whether or not you actually have the skills to do the job is another point) then you will find it hard to get there. Having a mate working there helps, once you get your foot in the door and show your willingness and talents, people soon forget you don't have a degree, especially when you continually point their flaws out and highlight better ways of doing things
It's the "foot in the door" thing really. I've applied for 100+ positions at JLR (I generally stick to contracting as it's more money and the same perks legally after 3 months as a perm. employee, claim back fuel money, living expenses, etc) and heard nothing back from the majority, had an interview for something or other, I forget now, all went well, smiles and handshakes.......no reply. You'll get that time and time again. But when you get the job, it's worth the hassle.

Ultimately, if you aren't happy with your life, change it. It's your choice 

[z3i]

Thanks for the ereeiz you sound like youve done a dammmm lot! haha

ive been in contact with Birmingham uni (alot of friends went there and rated it highly) they've said it would be better for me to do the foundation degree and go from there. i like the sound of the 5 axis programmer/machinist. how much of this is covered on the mechanical engineering degree?

I looked into other jobs as a painter, its 8 months till i finish my apprenticeship. ive been thinking and talking to people about this. i am a confident painter. but im not sure id cut it as a fully qualified painter as they want you to be 140% efficient etc. but considering the only thing ive painted for the last two months is wheels. im not gonna be fast enough or have the experience, will have the qualification.

im not sure, been looking at engineering jobs, but i dont even understand half of them lol. atleast on the bright side if i quit my job to go to uni i havnt got much to loose! can get a job at tescos stacking shelves for more money and more future prospects
thanks guys, still confused at what i want to do/whats out there

[z3i]

Powertrain rig testing sounds awesome!!! i can imagine thats hard to get into
fuck it, im gonna do it. its now or never and i hate work so may as well everyone on here seems to pretty dam well for themselves especially andy and pete lol

[PeteG40]

surely you'd be best off doing 8 months more just to get the apprenticeship finished?  as most courses enrol during the summer anyway dont they?

[z3i]

surely you'd be best off doing 8 months more just to get the apprenticeship finished?  as most courses enrol during the summer anyway dont they?

Yeah just looked that up, suppose on the bright side i get my apprenticeship, time to save up and uni.
Just have to put up with the job for 8 more months lol

[Andy]

I'd deffo stick out the apprenticeship, at least then you've got something to show for all your efforts so far! And maybe it'd help you get a part-time job as a painter whilst at uni?

Other option is to look at part-time study and see what your options are there.

[Kustom]

If its motorsport you want to get into, I would look at a Uni which has good links to motorsport. I think Oxford brookes as the best reputation amongst F1 teams for example and these links help you get industrial placements etc. I went to Hertfordshire and whilst the course was good, the night life sucked lol.

Also if you dont have a maths A-level a foundation degree is a great way in, I did one and I dont think held me back, just added an extra years worth of fees onto my loan

If you think youd rather be on the mechaincal side of things, all the F1 teams take apprentices. This usually involves moving around all the departments, then if your good enough they off you a job.

Alternativly if you want a non apprentiship role, get a job anywhere you can trainee machinist or composite laminator or composite trimmer. These jobs come up very regularly in F1 but they prefer to take on experienced ppl. The composite jobs in particular pay pretty well.

[z3i]

I'd deffo stick out the apprenticeship, at least then you've got something to show for all your efforts so far! And maybe it'd help you get a part-time job as a painter whilst at uni?

Other option is to look at part-time study and see what your options are there.

I have got my mechanical apprenticeship to show for atleast 3 years of it most bodyshops arnt open weekends, and painting is one of those things (practice makes perfect) if your not doing it day in day out you start too fall out of touch with it. Though theres no harm in asking around

I thought about part time, but the decent mechanical uni's are atleast 100 miles away. And to be honest if im spending 9k a year on tuition fees and living costs, i want to devote all my time to uni to get the best results i can

Either way with work ill have to wait as uni doesnt start till september next year so ill be finishing the apprenticeship regardless. Im so annoyed, i had the oppertunity to go to uni after college, but was so worried that i needed to get out of working at tescos and got offered the job at bmw, it sounded all glitzy at the time, looking back i should have gone to sixth form. But hey thats life, my gf is going to uni too and shes 24 so i dont feel too old

[z3i]

If its motorsport you want to get into, I would look at a Uni which has good links to motorsport. I think Oxford brookes as the best reputation amongst F1 teams for example and these links help you get industrial placements etc. I went to Hertfordshire and whilst the course was good, the night life sucked lol.

Also if you dont have a maths A-level a foundation degree is a great way in, I did one and I dont think held me back, just added an extra years worth of fees onto my loan

If you think youd rather be on the mechaincal side of things, all the F1 teams take apprentices. This usually involves moving around all the departments, then if your good enough they off you a job.

Alternativly if you want a non apprentiship role, get a job anywhere you can trainee machinist or composite laminator or composite trimmer. These jobs come up very regularly in F1 but they prefer to take on experienced ppl. The composite jobs in particular pay pretty well.



I did a day release at oxford brookes and it was awesome! But like yoof said, they show you an awesome workshop and loads practical equipment but you spend most of the time in the classroom
im not fussed about a loan, as long as i get a job i enjoy and well paid
Not bothered about night life either lol, im not a drinker and very sociable either haha! Ill be spending most of my time trying to catch up on the maths im lacking on

for these OEM apprenticeships can you only apply online? What happened to things like scholarships? Where companys would pay for degrees? My step dad did one with ford back in the day, earned dam good money! £60k plus with ot and bonus, maintaining the robots at the transit production factory.... Until it close down....

[Kustom]

Not sure on the OEM front but when I was at uni the only full scolarships I heard about were all of military origin (RAF mostly as there were a lot of Aero course). I have heard of people going back to uni to study for a masters degree or phd paid for by companies, but no undergraduate degrees.

That said I worked for three years before I went to uni, so when I applied I was classed as an independant student. This meant that student fees were calculated from my income rather than my parents. Obviosly being on a full time course my income was bugger all so my local council paid all my tution fees

I didnt do A-level maths at school, but I knuckled down in my foundation degree and breezed the maths, which gave me a good basis for the maths parts of rest of the degree.

Course wise it depends what you want at the end of it, what kind of Job do you want? More pratical/hands on or design based?

[z3i]

Youve done exactly what im thinking of doing then lol. Ive been working for 4 years so the same rules may apply?

Have you finished your degree now? Definitly hands on. Im still unsure of the jobs you get from automotive mechanical engineering once finished, theres lots of design based ones, but what hands on mechanical jobs you can go into with good pay from the degree
Thanks for the reply mate

[z3i]

no apprenticeships at JLR but sent them my cv

[Kustom]

I graduated 5 years ago with a BEng in Automotive engineering and Motorsport. I like most people on my course have gone on to do a more design based role although I got lucky and work in Research and development for a small F1 team which allows me to get some hands on work too.

Some of my friends on other courses such as a BSC in Motorsport technology now have much more hands on roles travelling as part of a race team (Alms etc). This type of course also has the added advantage of requiring less maths. In fact I could have gone straight onto a BSC course without doing a foundation degree.

[ereeiz]

I went to Oxford Brookes before going mental and leaving (in a nut shell....no pun intended).

I remember the glitzy open day, they wow'd me with it all but in reality, you're (well, any engineering course) going to be spending about 26 hrs a week in lectures and the practical lessons are pretty non existent at first, I ended up telling the guy that was "teaching" us how to remove a wheel from a car after watching him jack it up and wonder why he couldn't crack the wheel nuts with a brace. not impressed. In fairness though, he wasn't the lecturer, just someone standing in. I think in all that day I spent 5 hours in there mostly shaking my head and feeling disappointed.

The night life seemed alright, I didn't go out much, spent most of my time in the union or in my room playing battlefield vietnam. I think for me, it was the wrong place to go. I have a few mates that really enjoyed it though. I only really keep in touch with one mate and he's got a good job with Honda.

I had no qualifications going into the course apart from a diploma in IT hardware & networking. I found the maths hard as I'd never done any higher stuff (dropped myself down to be with mates when at school.....silly idea with hindsight as it sent me down the wrong path) and the drawing stuff (for me) is impossible, matched with a patronising old cunt who was pissed up/ hungover lecturing us.... just didn't work. I loved all the chemistry, physics and other subjects, I think your brain is wired to understand certain things naturally though, if you can't find a way round/ help the bits where you struggle then it'll be tough. That being said, I'd do it again if I could turn back the clock, I'd perhaps change a few modules though and actively seek help (which I wasn't aware there was at the time). Perhaps I wouldn't have cracked then, haha.

That all sounds really bitter :/ Not meant to be. I'm also in the finish your current qualifications camp. Start talking to Uni's now too, you can find out who they partner with, contact companies, get sponsorship. I know when I was at TRW they offered education, I think Delphi does too (they offered me something if I went perm.) seems crackers not to if you're a business. You can claim the money back! That could be another way round for you, create a business and write the costs off against that. Not sure how to do that though, just something I've heard about.

[Yoof]

ereeiz - My guess is Ken Martin?