New guy here with a few questions about career in aviation

[LDP1]

Hi everyone, joined this forum as looking for some advice and just to keep up my knowledge on the industry. A bit about me, I'm 25 years old and now at a turning point in my life having spent nearly ten years in retail and more recently driving HGVs, I've been in and out of attempting to get a start in aviation since I was about 16. When I was 21 istarted my PPL with plans to go onto CPL but had to stop due to funding.

I also tried to get in with NATs in their prestigious trainee ATC programme but wasn't successful. Now I want to know where I could possibly go next, I can work days on the side driving and this pays quite well in order to provide any funds needed. Some of my options are:

-I live in Manchester, Salford university do a degree called aviation technology which covers all the things I'm really interested in. You can go on to do a masters and get chartered aircraft engineer status. Would this be a worthwhile investment? Here is the link to it:

Aviation Technology with Pilot Studies BSc (Hons) | Undergraduate | University of Salford, Manchester (http://www.salford.ac.uk/ug-courses/aviation-technology-with-pilot-studies)

-Any other courses I could do either part or full time
-industrial placement if possible
-Sponsorship programme

I understand it is very competitive out there but if anyone can offer me some advice this would really help me out.

Many thanks.

[BaronVonBarnstormer]

One thing I did at uni was join the gliding club, which I ended up running for two years. This was a great experience and looks good on my CV. Does Salford have any aviation clubs you could get involved with like a flying club or UAS?

Speaking as an engineer, CEng is a long old road. You are talking maybe 10 years plus from where you are now, but is (arguably) where the money is. CEng also requires an MEng and a good amount of industry experience to meet all the required competencies. MEng is certainly worth while if engineering is a career that you want to pursue. The various grad schemes offered by big engineering companies like BAE, RR, Thales etc are all very competitive so a year in industry will certainly stand you in good stead. Very often you can get placements at these big firms who will then take you on after your final year. Some may even offer to sponsor your MEng and take you on after you graduate.

Hope this helps

[Will Swinburn]

Hi LDP1,

You haven't really mentioned what you want to achieve. Generally a goal would be to achieve a certain job role. But you've mentioned flying, engineering and NATS.

Start with your goal. When you've worked out what you want. Then look at the different paths you could take.

Adding some structure to your analysis will make it a lot easier to make comparisons and come to a final conclusion.