Job

[motorsportmad97]

Hi, i'm 15 and utterly, utterly in love with motorsport. I am reasonably clever and next year will be sitting, Maths, English, Technological Studies,Technological Drawing and Physics at higher (nearly equal to A levels). One problem is I can't work out what to do with my life. I would love to be involved in motorsport but I'm just not sure what as. It has to be a decent salary as I am confident that I could find a well paid job in engineering, but it just wouldn't be as fun. Another problem is that I live in rural Scotland, my nearest race track is Knockhill which is a ferry and a 2 and a half hour drive! Can anyone help?

[Mark]

Where in Scotland? Big place.

Firstly. Continue with your studies. Especially physics etc. Then the best way in is to volunteer - you won't get paid. But if you want to be involved in motorsport at the highest level you'll need an excellent degree so study towards that. You will of course have to move but you would in going to university anyway.

[motorsportmad97]

Hi, thanks for your reply. I live in Cowal, I would love to volunteer but it is very impractical. Do you know which kind of degree would be useful, not many offer automotive engineering up here.

[D-Type]

Any form of serious engineering will give you a useful background. The discipline doesn't really matter as it's not so much what you learn as learning to think as an engineer. In motor sport the need is for innovation not replicating what hasd been done before, ie what's needed is fresh thinking and the ability to apply it.
Going back into history: Enzo Ferrari shod mules, WO Bentley learned his engineering with the Great Western Railway, Colin Chapman studied structural engineering, Eric Broadley was a quantity surveyor.

[Jag_Warrior]

Hi, thanks for your reply. I live in Cowal, I would love to volunteer but it is very impractical. Do you know which kind of degree would be useful, not many offer automotive engineering up here.

Computer engineering (like my girl's nephew is pursuing), mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, etc. But it sounds like you may have to move away from home. To get what I wanted, that's what I had to do too. It may be hard to accept now, but that's just how it is sometimes. Best of luck to you.

P.S. I tried to get my cousin interested in engineering when he was about your age. I even bought him a nice computer to make his studies easier. But a little after that, he discovered girls. I think all he's ever done on that computer is send FaceBook messages to his silly little friends. He's now at a junior college pursuing a degree in Fast Food preparation or some such foolishness. I don't know what he's taking. Don't care anymore. I tried. But I've given up on him now. Take something science/technical/engineering/math (STEM) related. Don't take the easy way out. Make us proud.

[motorsportmad97]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I think mech E appears to be a good well rounded course, and there are uni's not too far away which offer it.
I have friends like your cousin! I just tell myself that I'll save the girls until I have a career while the ones who had them at school will be lonely and in a crap job!

[Jag_Warrior]

A couple of days after I wrote my response to you, I got an email from a recruiter that I've used over the years. His focus is mainly automotive and he had about two dozen job openings he wanted me to look at... either for myself or people I might refer to him (for a finder's fee, of course :) ). It was everything from mechanical, manufacturing, quality and electrical engineers to a couple of management positions. At least here, even in automotive, anyone with engineering or project management experience can find a good paying job (the job openings I saw on the list ranged from $60K/yr on the low end to over $150K/yr + bonuses, depending on experience).

Go for it! The sky is the limit!!! And if you can find the time, maybe talk to my young & dumb cousin for me - stupid, kid. Buy him a computer and send him to school and he'd probably try to eat the computer and ____ the teacher. :rolleyes:

[Koz]

Take something science/technical/engineering/math (STEM) related. Don't take the easy way out. Make us proud.

And for the love of god, do not go anywhere near any business or humanities programme, but the electives should be broad as possible.
Nothing beats a technical education.


Hi, thanks for the reply. I think mech E appears to be a good well rounded course, and there are uni's not too far away which offer it.
I have friends like your cousin! I just tell myself that I'll save the girls until I have a career while the ones who had them at school will be lonely and in a crap job!

Then move, you will not regret it. From my experience in university:
Unless you are going to studying with people that you know, it will be difficult making friends with fellow classmates. Especially if classes are packed in with hundreds of people and you never see the same person twice in the multitude. In the first year or so you tend to hang out with people who you live with in dorms, not the people you study with. Your maturity will increase exponentially, unless you can't control the drinking, drugs or the girls.

Save girls for later?
Donkey poo!

You only live once, have fun, enjoy yourself, !!SOCIALIZE!! <-- Most important thing. As important as your education, if not more.
Just stay in control of your life and direction and don't get too carried away by stuff that happens in the middle.

[Jag_Warrior]

Back when I got my MBA, back when the dinosaurs were roaming the earth, the "perfect" advanced degree combo that people were going for was the JD/MBA - though I didn't take the time to go for the JD portion (too much work - too much studying - too much stress... not enough time for booze & girls! :D ). I've always been of the opinion that we should cull the herd when it came to lawyers anyway. And I feel the same now. There's still way too many of them. So with today's tech environment, I think the perfect advanced degree combo these days would be a Masters in Engineering (electrical or computer science) and an MBA. If I had it to do all over again, that's what I would go for. Though I remember the kids I knew in the undergrad E-school and they never slept. So maybe I'd just go for a minor in Engineering. :p :

My cousin probably is a lost cause... and that really saddens me. But in addition to his engineering and computer courses, I'm trying to encourage my girl's nephew to also take as many business courses as possible. The kid really is very bright. Now that he's old enough to take care of himself, I would even consider adopting him. But when he asks me how I got this or how I got that, I explain to him that while it's very important to know how to build something, being able to get it built (at a profit) is what puts money in one's pocket. Understanding both engineering (STEM) and business gives one a tremendous advantage.

I envy Motorsportmad. I really do. While I've spent my days off calculating what other schemes I need to play out to retire early, he's just getting started. The world is his oyster! Go for it, lad!