Short Termism
I started off with a traditional apprenticeship straight from school at age 16 did some time in the military then advanced through work experience, night school and City and Guilds to secure a type rated UKCAA Aircraft Maintenance Engineers Licence. I was also proud to be a member of Britain's last Craft Union (the ETU). While certifying B707s for Big Airways I was a signatory to the Certificate of Maintenance and although I could sign off a complete check within the avionic categories and despite the fancy gold letters on the cover of my licence, my job title was 'Certifying Lead Tradesman' Given my background, Tradesmanship is a word that I do not take lightly.
But the world has moved on. I'm sure everyone is comfortable and happy with their existing salary and conditions but for those of you who only read the first three pages of The Sun "Wor Tony" (as he's known in Sedgefield) and his cronies are changing the education system and administrative law within the EU is also coming into play. Traditional vocational training schemes have all but disappeared and in future more young people will enter the job market from further and higher education; a shift that will change whole career structures in all industries.
For those who are about to start their careers now, old time career advice is inappropriate for they will face a different future. 'ragspanner' is correct to point out that inexperienced graduate engineers are underpaid, but his suggestion of getting experience first then going for a degree may be misguided. By the time our new starter has acquired his licences and picked up some type approvals and experience he is also likely to have picked up a few years, a wife and a family. Money is then indeed an issue! Then comes the not so minor issue of getting time off to study; in future, employers will be recruiting existing graduates from the expanded output of further education - will they then be as amenable to giving existing workers time off for study as they are today (not)?
These are the things I considered in giving my advice and I still stand by it. Young people who are just about to leave school now will have a brighter future in the long term if they graduate first then settle down to working. The old ways will no longer suffice and those who opt for short term gain will find themselves competing with better educated but equally qualified people later in their careers. Short termism is always a mistake.
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Through difficulties to the cinema