My wage was £364 a month which sounds like peanuts, but having only ever earned money from a paper round, this actually seemed quite a lot at the time. In fact just having any money in my bank account was a novelty.
My manager insisted that I would be required to do day release at college studying City & Guilds in Basic Engineering. This seemed to me like a win-win situation as I would be getting a qualification whilst earning at work. The course had some good and bad points. I seem to remember the theory side being pretty hard going and frankly a bit of a drag. However the practical side I really enjoyed, especially learning arc welding, gas welding, brazing, milling and turning.
After one year I gained some good practical knowledge about engineering and this coupled with on the job training meant I progressed quickly. I followed up this course with a City & Guilds in Computer Aided Draughting, my first introduction to AutoCAD. It was quite frustrating learning how quickly you could create drawings on CAD but then having to go back on a drawing board. It quickly became apparent that CAD was the future. I did 3 more years on day release studying City & Guilds in Advanced CAD, Electronics and a custom CAD course learning 3D AutoCAD & 3D Studio.
After 5 years of day release I had gained useful qualifications and had progressed well at my company. My apprenticeship had ended and my title was changed from draughtsman to mechanical design engineer which also included a pay rise.
Over the years I have worked with newly qualified engineers from university and although they are competent with the CAD software they seem to struggle with actual engineering design. I believe my combination of on-the-job training and college has shown that real world experience is far better than just theoretical knowledge gained from university.
Of course there are certain careers that will require a degree qualification from university such as an Architect, however I think people can get a bee in their bonnet about degrees and dismiss the fact that a time served apprenticeship can speak volumes.
It may sound a little obvious but you really need to ask yourself what career you want to pursue. There is no reason you can’t have a fantastic career as a CAD Draughtsman and earn good money especially if you go down the contract route. This can be achieved with an apprenticeship. This also applies to careers such as CAD Technician, CAD Engineer and CAD Drafter.
It is frightening to think that the average debt of a university graduate in the UK is around £44,000. By going down the apprenticeship route this can be avoided altogether. Having a few friends that went to university they seemed to have enjoyed the social side more than the actual academic part. All I can say is that proved a very expensive 4 years to get the same job title as mine.
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