ETO Advice

[orbicim]

Hi everyone,

Want to say a big thank you to everyone on here as I have been reading it for a few months and been getting all the good information but I am at a bit of a sticky end and hope someone could help me.
I am a graduate with a BEng Hons in Electrical Power engineering and applied for the ETO scheme, 3 years at tyneside but have been told that there is an issue as in England I can not get a second degree as I studied in Scotland.
I had my interview the other day so I am still unsure whether I am successful or not but I am hoping that I am. The issue is that if I am unable to do the ETO course in Tyneside the other option is to do the engineering role at Glasgow and then specialise in ETO where I would be an engineer with a specialism. I don't really understand what the difference is between the two, other than there is a difference as it is two different roles. Can anyone please tell me what the difference in job roles would be? I know what an ETO job role is but what would the Engineer with the further study of ETO be?

Thanks for anyone who comments.

Mike

[GuinnessMan]

All sounds rather strange. The Engineering course is not below that of the ETO course. They don't train as Engineers and then do further training to become an ETO, they are two seperate schemes. Granted, the Engineering course does do a bit of Electrical work whilst the ETO doesn't do much in the way of mechanical stuff (so I've been told) simply because not all ships will carry an Electrical Officer. Out of curiosity does anyone know what the status of CoC's for sparkys? Last I heard they were finally getting their own? (How does the Manila Amendments play with that then?)

For your situation, as you already have a degree in Electrics of some kind, can you not do a fast track course that pretty much skips all the theoretical stuff and just has you do the practical workshop and sea going skills like the Engineering stream has? Do you really have to do a HND in Electrical Engineering?

(Also, just to add on, the only real "specialisms" we have within Engineering are you Dangerous Cargo Endorsements that everyone can get. We don't really have Engineer pluses as such)

[Bulman]

hey bud,

having a degree shouldn't be a down side, some companies offer fast tracks where you do less of the theory and more of the practical base and takes less time to qualify, there is a guy in my company that was saying how he had completed a degree in electrical engineering in Scotland and he is now doing a fast track to become a engineer.
From what i have read on here the main differences between the STC ETO course and other ETO courses that colleges offer are that at STC it is a dedicated ETO course, where as at the other colleges you will be with engineers then split off and cover more electrical based units, people said both courses have their ups and downs.

and Guinnessman i think this is the first year that they can gain a OOW as in my paper work it says i will be doing a OOW plus ETO FD and the sponsor mentioned something about it too me too, think it was something along the lines of our intake being the first to do it as part of the course.

[GuinnessMan]

hey bud,

having a degree shouldn't be a down side, some companies offer fast tracks where you do less of the theory and more of the practical base and takes less time to qualify, there is a guy in my company that was saying how he had completed a degree in electrical engineering in Scotland and he is now doing a fast track to become a engineer.
From what i have read on here the main differences between the STC ETO course and other ETO courses that colleges offer are that at STC it is a dedicated ETO course, where as at the other colleges you will be with engineers then split off and cover more electrical based units, people said both courses have their ups and downs.

and Guinnessman i think this is the first year that they can gain a OOW as in my paper work it says i will be doing a OOW plus ETO FD and the sponsor mentioned something about it too me too, think it was something along the lines of our intake being the first to do it as part of the course.

They might not be with the other engineers. The ETO's in Glasgow were off on their lonesome and then we were the Engineers.

For their CoC, about ****ing time!

[Squareleg28]

ETO specific OOW CoC being taken spring next year by the guys currently on the FD at STC

[Steve]

All sounds rather strange. The Engineering course is not below that of the ETO course. They don't train as Engineers and then do further training to become an ETO, they are two seperate schemes.

Some courses run/ran that way. There's a bit about it in the OfficerCadet archives.

[chris]

The first eto oral was this may at stc, my phase 5 will start mid jan ending with the oral at the end of may.

At this time its a uk only coc, not officially recognised by anyone else.

[orbicim]

Will that affect the work you can do and companies? Are the studying etos enjoying the work they do? Just trying to get as much info as I can

[chris]

As they say on QI, nobody really knows at this point. Some ships make do with engineers who have the electro-tech skills between them (the Electro tech material at Chiefs level contains a fair amount of the ETO course), some ships only employ ETOs with an EOOW ticket (from the old style ETO course) to assist with watch keeping and the offshore vessels and cruise ships seem to require fully fledged ETOs. I aim to work on the latter category of ships.

As I see it, P&O cruises will insist that all new ETOs it takes on have the new qualification and the rest of the cruise industry may follow.

Following on from earlier posts, as you already have a degree can't you just apply for a grad conversion scheme. I'd be bored out my mind sitting in class learning about quite basic theory compared with what must be taught at BEng Hons level. Although P&O aren't advertising an electrical engineering grad scheme as such, I'd get in touch anyway because I'm sure they had some at South Tyneside recently.

http://www.oceanopportunities.com/cadet/current_vacancies/graduate_or_apprentice_engineer/

Just to give you an idea, the hardest things we came across in the 2nd part of phase 3 when we started level 5 courses which are at HND level or 2nd year uni were complex numbers, circuit analysis using mesh and nodes and some mathematical modelling in the control lectures. This was all quite difficult for the class since it was the first time we had seen it, but 2nd time around it would probably seem very easy. I imagine they would be taught in first year of a regular university.

I'd say that everyone in the class enjoys working on ships. At the college, the more practical students struggle more in the classroom and vice versa. I never had much practical craft training at school as CDT had just been downgraded to DT, so my limited practical skills come from DIY at home and the metalwork classes from marine college. Annoyingly, this didn't cover welding.

Feel free to PM me, I've home on leave at the moment while I wait for my next ship, so I've got some free time.

[ETwhat?]

It really isnt clear how the new rules are going to affect what has been the UK's ETO route for a long time, which was to basically complete an Engineering OOW COC with a slightly different emphasis on what is covered but where you are first and foremost an Engineer, this was useful for a ship that needs a good electrical support above and beyond the normal engineers. However there until now was no real control on what an ETO was so a lot are simply shore based electricians who have covered the basic safety courses. The ETO CoC is basically aimed at replacing the second group, and with the new rules you wont be seen as or able to work on a ship as an ETO without the CoC page 118 http://www.imo.org/ourwork/humanelem...cuments/34.pdf gives what they are looking for as a standard. so you can get an idea of what the roles and responsibilites will be.My personal feeling is that the engineering route will become a more limited option compared to holding a dedicated CoC. As in the general case theres going to be a difference between doing a 3 year course with only electrical things to having a majority of the time covering mechanical systems obviously this wont be the same for yourself but then its still judged on the ticket that you hold. I also notice that Warsash used to offer their take on EOOW ETO's when i started but that doesnt seem to be the case on their web site any more. It may be worth talking to companies about the possibility of a fast track course, however given that currently ETO's are coming from one college and for small numbers fitting one person in may be unattractive.

[orbicim]

I have contacted about fast tracks but I don't mind going back to education as there is a lot of practical experience I won't have had, or training that I wouldn't have gotten. I also think meeting people like myself and attending classes is a good way of meeting other ETOS. You have all confirmed that I want to be an eto, not the engineer route. I find electrical, control and instrumentation a lot more interesting than mechanical systems, I originally did an HND in aircraft engineering before changing to electrical so I am happy with that. How was working offshore during your phases as an eto cadet?

[chris]

I've been on a work boat but it never strayed from coastal waters, so cant comment. I'm hoping my next ship will be offshore though.