G'day all.
I am posting this thread to get some direction and advice with regards to pursuing a career in maintenance/safety engineering. I have recently graduated as an aeronautical engineer with honours from an Australian university and I have been looking at graduate opportunities in the country for almost 7 months now.
A lot of my fellow graduates have leaped into the so called mining boom in Australia and have found jobs in Mechanical or other engineering disciplines. However I haven't been so lucky with a job because I really want to get into the aeronautical industry (so thats what I've been focusing on) and have a real passion for aircraft. I have done some exhaustive looking around in the past few months and found a handful of opportunities with regionals, the bigger airlines and some engineering companies (aero structural design with FEA analysis etc.) The issue is, not a single airline/company that I found is hiring graduates at the moment. Some say they aren't a big enough operator to take on graduates, others say we are not in a position to offer graduate employment. I also went to an external 'aviation employment agency' to ask if they could be of any help. They replied with a solid 'NO' and also told me that the last time they helped an airline advertise grad opportunities was close to a year ago. Tried the good old and effective way of door knocking and actually got some correspondence with engineers, without any luck ofcourse. I've tried pushing everyone to at least offer some work experience but they can't help me because I am not a uni student anymore and paperwork can only be done through 'accredited institutions' and not individuals.
Am I being too persistent in finding an operational/maintenance/safety engineering role right now? I know these roles have existed in the past and the employment outlook seemed promising at all the career fairs and what not throughout uni
but all of a sudden everything seems to have dried up. I know there is a decent requirement of AMEs and LAMEs as well as apprentices in Australia at the moment. The state government has initiatives in place to fund the training and development of such trainees but the requirement for engineers apart from the technician level is extremely limited. A lot of my enquiries for entry level engineering positions come back with a "sure!! our apprenticeship starts at...apply now!"
I feel like my 4 year degree was a total waste of time because these apprenticeships (which I envy
) are offered on a similar timeframe but with better job prospects! I understand the ame or lame role is hands on but having done some interviews in the past, the department head or the engineer in-charge asking me the technical questions had come up through the ame/lame ranks rather than having done a 4 year bachelors degree. I can't afford to undergo an apprenticeship at this point, both financially and time wise. But I can and will force myself if I make an informed decision and if it will improve my career prospects in the long run. Should I look into apprenticeships or should I keep pursuing for a grad position? I have looked into the GA sector, the Airlines as well as core engineering companies for opportunities. Can someone suggest any other avenues that I may have missed in my efforts? Ofcourse I am not looking to be spoon fed but any leads to opportunities or opinions about my general direction in seeking employment, will be really appreciated! Please give me any advice you can, it means a lot to me at this point in time!
Cheers
p.s - Haven't done so yet, but I am really close to looking at opportunities away from home and into countries where an aussie would have the right to work and live etc.