Djfingers crossed, I should add it will depend what your specialisation was in industry as to how easy it will be to get contract work again. On the mechanical side of things there has been no real radical changes in the last twenty years, also when you consider how long some projects lasted (Merlin, nearly 20 years from concept to production) then a 5 to 10 year break would not see you that far out the loop.
But on the Avionic/s side of things a five year gap would probably have more of an impact.
Anyway I have returned to engineering on two occasions, first time after completing the initial training (cpl/MEIR fATPL) and the second time as described before.
Theycallmemaurice,
If some one intends to be pilot then I too find it staggering that they wouldn't study an aviation related degree. However once you start searching for flying jobs you will soon become very demoralised at how little credit you will get for an aero degree. A high percentage of the pilots out there will only have studied the technical side to the ATPL level; therefore it shows you can still safely operate an aircraft without properly understanding the technical aspects.