Hi,
In a bizarre twist, upon finishing university in June 2014 I gained a 2:2 BEng (Hons) Aerospace Engineering degree from the University of Liverpool. I had been successful on the British Airways Graduate program... until my degree result when they cancelled the contract as I missed the 2:1 classification requirement.
I had kept in contact with engineering bases however, the opportunity arose for me to become an Air Traffic Control Assistant at a UK international airport in November 2014. In a couple of weeks I shall be completing my final shift before moving across to my new job in Airport Operations.
I am more than happy that my degree has lead me into the aviation industry and I am ecstatic as to the route my career seems to be taking. Engineering wise, I became less and less interested as I came to the end of my degree due to the difficulty of trying to gain a hands on job within maintenance when I hadn't taken the apprenticeship route and the fact that other opportunities elsewhere were opening for me.
As for the graduate programme for British Airways, I was thrilled to have made it all the way through the application process and be lucky enough to have a contract. However, always accepting I needed a 2:1 I knew it'd be a tough ask due to my circumstances. Yet as you may know from this post I was unsure at what route I wanted to take whilst at university so the break I had after university gave me the time to think and mull over the opportunities/advice I had/received whilst at university.
So when the opportunity came up in air traffic I was thrilled to take it up and would not change anything about my career path so far to date at all.
For anyone still looking at maintenance engineering for an airline going from degree to hands on roles, make sure you look around at the Aircraft Maintenance Degrees and the Engineering Graduate Programmes and decide which is for you.
All I can say is that one thing is for certain during the 3 years since starting this thread... any experience within the aviation industry is invaluable for wherever you end up in it. Don't sit and do a degree assuming it'll be enough. Get yourself out there and see/experience whatever you can and take every opportunity. I for one wouldn't change a thing because it's worked out amazingly so far!
Cheers to everyone by the way for the advice in the past! It was taken on-board and although I may have gone a different route, it was all very worthwhile to highlight not just to me, but to anyone (especially in the UK with the huge increase in Uni Fees just after I started) considering a degree aiming for an aviation career just what needs to be looked into!
Thanks guys!
philw492