This is a great place for draughting/drafting standards info (but not acad related).
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That's not how things work in the UK - You gain an apprenticeship with a UK company and they give you training - they also sponsor your education through a local college and give you time off work to attend college (usually one day per week) until you are a fully qualified engineer. The downside is the wages for an apprentice are much lower than a fully qualified engineer. A company will use all its resources to help a person to become fully qualified.
The company I presently work for will teach the person all aspects of the job - Which is why I am teaching the person to use CAD. He may not necessarily become a full time CAD user, which is why we don't pay for external training. He will probably end up becoming a system desinger - With CAD experience, which will help him in his future career.
Looks like the UK has a better attitude towards training Engineers - Maybe that's why we lead the world forward in most aspects of Engineering.
Looks like quite FRANKLY we do have the time!
BTW I am now in possession of training material.
Melanie Stone
@MistresDorkness
Archibus, FMS/FMInteract and AutoCAD Expert (I use BricsCAD, Revit, Tandem, and Planon, too)
Technical Editornot all those who wander are lost
Thanks Melanie - This is commonplace in the UK - And has been as far as I can remember.
The UK government subsidise companies for taking apprentices on and allowing them to learn via the method detailed above. It's good for Apprentices - Great way to learn and it's also good for character building and gaining experience.
So I've heard, my husband is from the UK and has told me about a few of the differences re: education... and the building industry.
While he hasn't worked in the industry since moving to the US, he's certainly become acquainted with our educational system, as I've completed uni and our oldest son has started school.
Melanie Stone
@MistresDorkness
Archibus, FMS/FMInteract and AutoCAD Expert (I use BricsCAD, Revit, Tandem, and Planon, too)
Technical Editornot all those who wander are lost
Well, it was commonplace up until around the 1970s and (thank deity of choice) it's been resurrected in recent years but there was a massive hole in engineering education for many years with apprenticeships almost non-existent.
I've just been speaking with a contract agent who confirms that there is a great demand for people in my age group (60-70) whilst there are engineering graduates that no-one wants to employ and (almost) no-one available in between these two groups.
Hey, if they're really desperate, I know one in his 40's with a good civil and structural engineering background who would LOVE to be making English rates whilst telecommuting from rural USA.
According to my boss and some local connections, it's extremely hard to find a good Mechanical Engineer around here (specifically HVAC) who knows a bit of ductwork from a hole in the ground. It took us years to find a person that could actually do the work, rather than just having a degree... unfortunately, he's rapidly nearing retirement age, as are the two existing engineers we had.
Melanie Stone
@MistresDorkness
Archibus, FMS/FMInteract and AutoCAD Expert (I use BricsCAD, Revit, Tandem, and Planon, too)
Technical Editornot all those who wander are lost
Sounds like a decent system, AFAIK there are some apprenticeship programs in the US & Canada, but all I've ever heard mentioned are for building trades; masons, plumbing, electrical etc. For office or design work, no such formal beast exists to my knowledge. Here it's get the schooling first, and then jump in the deep end of the pool. And hopefully get some hands-on construction as unskilled labor while in school so one does in fact know a rafter hanger from a hole in the ground!
See, Government _does_ create jobs!
I've never heard of apprenticeship programs for engineers, short of EIT (engineer in training), who are in class *first and foremost* and rotating through job assignments for the practical experience. Might be due to the difference in disciplines - our engineers stamp drawings, do calculations, and take responsibility for confirming that designs are safe and follow code. Our designers are not engineers, but they still go to school to learn the basics of not only the software but the industry as well. While we do some training to allow them to take on greater roles, we never hire straight out of high school. They have little to no knowledge of the industry, software, or work practices.
As a side note, the technical school I went to does a high level of programs for the trades as well as technical training for designers and junior engineers. Both sides work with the other, with those in the technical/design side getting lab time (in some very modern facilities now too e.g. digital drilling simulator) and the trades people getting class time. There is no way to graduate without passing the labs or classroom courses so they are guaranteed to have that useful cross training.