Are you starting your career or education in Electrical engineering in the UK? If yes, your future is undoubtedly bright. Electrical engineers enjoy good packages and rewarding projects in the UK. However, the road to success is also filled with certain challenges you. Let’s get into details.
9 Top Challenges Faced by Electrical Engineers in the UK
If you know in advance about the top 9 adversaries of being an engineer in the UK, you’ll be better prepared for them. So here they are.
- Keeping up With the Latest Industry Trends
Electrical engineering is an evolving field. There is always some upcoming new version of electronics or some latest protocol for electrical safety. And you are expected to be an expert with all the newest knowledge.
However, it’s obviously hard to be updated with all the latest stuff along with the ongoing hectic job, project, or study schedules.
- Maintaining Your Mental Sanity
You got the hint of this challenge in the previous point. Electrical engineers are supposed to update themselves while doing their job or studies constantly. This can develop irritation, frustration, and ultimately anxiety in anyone.
Vibrant work culture and positive communication can be a saviour. Similar effective strategies will also help you face the challenge of multitasking and stress management.
- Saving Money Without Cutting Corners
It’s highly unsafe to compromise on the quality of electric work. No one wants an electrical hazard in the workplace or at home. Therefore electricians are expected to provide quality material and services at a reasonable cost.
For that, you will need to collaborate with the contractor at the construction level for methods like prefabrication and building information modelling (BIM).
- Being Safe From Electrical Accidents
There are high chances of injuries and fatalities of electrical workers because of working closely with electrical equipment. Therefore it’s your primary need to maintain electrical safety in the workplace.
You will need to ensure that your employer or contractors understand the importance of electrical safety. They must provide you with all the mandatory electric safety gear for yourself and others working at the site.
- Establishing Sustainable Practices Like Renewable Energy
Renewable energy is rapidly changing the game in all industries. Maintenance and updating of generators will be more frequent. The usage of smart grids and renewable energy hybrid power systems will also increase.
And these are just a few examples. You will need to know how to fulfil the energy needs of a particular establishment using sustainable practices.
- Frequent Changing of Job & Workplace
This challenge is pretty much in every field. But since you may work more on contracts, you will see frequent changes in people you deal with, place of work, and working conditions.
It will help to develop the ability to adjust to changing circumstances quickly. The smoother your job transition will be, the better you will perform.
- Dealing With Gender Bias as a Female
If you are a woman, know that you may be treated differently or trusted less by some (not all) people. You can always prove your worth with your work.
But it may take time. Keep patience. Try to find people at your workplace who only believe in the best person for the job irrespective of gender.
- Learning & Unlearning Phase
Thanks to your education, you are about to become or are already a successful engineer. But some things you learned during your education are pretty far from reality.
You need to manage your work’s cost, timelines, and quality in the real world. All the troubleshooting you do may not be from the textbook. It can be a suitable solution according to your knowledge and experience.
- Managing With Less Workforce
The UK needs 250000 new engineers every year. This number doesn’t seem to be getting matched soon. What does that mean for you? You might think that it’s a good thing that you will be in demand.
But this fact also means that you will be working with less than the required workforce. And the staff churning will be more due to high demand in the market.
Bottom Line
The purpose of this post is only to prepare you for the upcoming challenges. But it certainly doesn’t intend to show that engineering is a less lucrative or less rewarding career. In fact, it’s one of the highest rewarding careers in today’s world of creation, innovation, and technology.
Written by Jeson Pitt. Jeson works with the marketing department of D&F Liquidators and regularly writes to share his knowledge while enlightening people about electrical products and solving their electrical dilemmas. He’s got the industry insights that you can count on along with years of experience in the field.
