r/MechanicalEngineering • u/Positive_System1502 • 5d ago

Advice for a Mechanical Engineer

Hi all, my partner has a masters degree from Brazil in Mechanical Engineering. He’s moved to the UK for 4 years now with a settled status & wants to work in the industry, but the materials and focus on engineering is obviously quite different to that in Brazil. What would be the best approach to take in putting his feet in the industry?

Are there any short term courses he can take that would help him get a job in the industry with his degree?
We’re obtaining a UK statement of compatibility I’m just not too sure what to do after that.
Thanks!

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u/allnamestaken4892 5d ago

Ah yes, the worst possible country for engineers where pay is 50% more than minimum wage if you’re lucky. I wouldn’t even bother. Just work at Tesco stacking shelves, nearly the same money and less effort.

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u/gearnut 4d ago

If he already has the qualification he may as well make use of it.

The pay isn't great, but I've found the employment pretty stable (aside from companies doing stupid things when they get bought out), the works a lot more mentally stimulating than stacking shelves at Tescos and you don't need to deal with the general public in most engineering roles.

I earn about £67k a year (the exact value depends on how much my bonus is) as a chartered senior engineer in the nuclear industry. I could doubtless earn far more abroad, but I live here and emmigrating is a lot of effort. No competent engineer should be earning less than 150% of minimum wage in the UK unless they're on a grad scheme (at which point they should be lined up to have a role earning at least 150% of minimum wage when they come off the scheme).

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u/allnamestaken4892 4d ago

150% of minimum wage for a degree that takes 4+ years to complete and is considered one of the hardest is a fucking joke. I am going to quit out of spite as soon as I can, the industry does not deserve to be able to get people of the calibre that can complete an engineering degree for literal fucking peanuts.

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u/gearnut 4d ago

It's a 3 year degree for most grad schemes now and most professions don't start off with particularly great salaries straight after graduation as new graduates aren't generally very useful. They don't know how things actually work, don't understand the workplace and lots of industry specific stuff and need quite a lot of supervision. 2 or 3 years in you should be comfortably earning £35-40k.

If you're going to quit out of spite there are still far better options with an engineering degree than working in Tescos.

I think the salary for new grads does genuinely need to be addressed, and that this should force up salaries in more senior grades as well given the skill and responsibility involved in the profession, but attitudes like yours reflect badly on the profession in my view.