New job nerves!

[killa]

So on Friday I had a bit of a surprise. After over 6 months of looking for a new job, I received a letter from one of the places I went for an interview for, 15 minutes from my door.
So naturally I’ve accepted as I really need the change.

That’s the good part but I have some things running through my mind about the move which I wanted to sort out.
Firstly, my current workplace isn’t the most organised or professionally driven company, internally. Things are quite strict here so I wanted to know my rights really.
I’ve handed in my notice to the boss on Tuesday but he hasn’t been in for three days now, he’s still out today. Not so much of a problem as the letter is dated.
I had booked some holiday last month, for April. Starting on the 19th I booked three days leading to the good Friday and then a week ago I booked the three days mid-week of the royal wedding. So if I am able to take these holidays my last working day will be the 18th of April.
I’m just thinking of worst case scenario, if they tell me I can’t take the holidays booked. Is that something they can make me do, work through until end of April?

The second thing is about the new job. Not only are they prepared to get me up to speed with Inventor 3D CAD they are willing to sponsor me to do a degree in Engineering.
Now I am prepared to do this, don’t get me wrong, I’m going to give it my best shot but I’m very nervous about it.
In 2008 I passed my ONC level Mechanical Engineering course at college, moved companies to this one and since then, nothing. No offer of training at all. I’ve done well IMO to get where I have done at my current job but it’s not been without the stress of lack of knowledge.

I’m particularly shite as maths for a start. Not only did I do extracurricular maths after 6th form, I did a small NVQ course in my first job and then higher level maths in college while doing my engineering course. I seem to have a sort of numerical dyslexia, maths goes through me like a bad curry.
I needed help through college, a friend who worked with me at my last place had my back. This time there won’t be anyone I know. And I hear you NEED to understand certain aspects to even comprehend what goes on in lectures. So any reassurance would be great, am I over thinking all this??…I feel like I’m going to let them down and feel like the only engineer to be struggling knowledge wise.

Thanks
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[GhostRider]

Yeah you'll probably need some good maths skills for engineering, but you'll find ways to cope and some old fashioned lock yourself in the library for 10 hours obsessing over the problems never did anyone any harm.

They say you need good maths skills to work in science, but I don't even know my 12x tables (well, know probably 70% but if you asked me 7x9 off the bat I'd just stare at you blankly).

If you know the equation, it's just a case of substituting numbers, looking back I think GCSE maths and above is made overly complicated just so someone somewhere can sound like a smart cunt. The thing you will realise is that you can forget 90% of the utter useless shite they taught you in school/collage, focus on the maths that matter and get used to handling that, and before long it will become second nature.

GhostRider
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[dogbot]

If they've offered you the job, they clearly believe that you're competent and capable of learning any skills that may be or become necessary.

Give yourself a chance...

[cornish]

^^^ agreed! Finding any job at present is an accomplishment so the company must think you are worthy of the post and the attendant investment in the courses etc. It is hard but try not to think of yourself as not worthy of it because you clearly are.

As for the maths thing, i am of perfectly average intelligence but for some reason inexplicably thick when it comes to maths. The only way to deal with it is as Ghost rider suggested, work really hard at it and don't be intimidated by people who are trying to make themselves out to be more clever than they are. My maths teacher at school considered himself something of a smart arse. Whilst i rarely went to his lessons i did study away from an environment where i was being made to feel thick.

It was worth it, he was convinced i'd do really badly in the GCSE exams. . . . . .he nearly shat a lung when i told him i got a B.


EDIT: randomly, i went on to further and higher education and none of the crap he considered to be important has ever been of any use to me at all. There was one occasion where my then flatmate and i were stoned and bored enough to use Pi to work out which pizza offer gave us the greatest area of pizza for our money but that's it.
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[chris-red]

The only issue with your holiday is that you earn holiday per month, say you get 24 days a year from Jan 1st, you earn 2 days holiday a month. If you have taken 12 days so far this year and you leave at the end of April they will dock you 4 days pay to cover the holiday you haven't earned.
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[angryjonny]

[killa]

I’ve taken the opportunity to give me a chance, I know I will work hard to get the job done.
It’s been a child hood issue for me with math’s…I’m still terrible at algebra and the equations I had to do at college made little or no sense.
I started to get into it towards the end of the course but since then I’ve not had to touch anything of the sort. I don’t think this will help when I throw myself into several years of a degree.
I think one of the first things I’m going to do will be to dig out my old college stuff and have a look through it.
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[JP7]

It sounds like a great opportunity mate, you've quite probably been selected over and above a great number of other people so it's quite an achievement.

Personally I'm not a big fan of change, I like it when things stay the same and I'm out of my comfort zone if anything changes. I'm about to be transferred into a new role at a different location so I've got some of the nerves that you have! It could be that you're worried about leaving your own comfort zone.

Once you get into the swing of it, it should slot into place for you.

Best of luck with the new job!

[Suntan Sid]

Don’t sweat it, just to make you feel better, I use “Inventor” occasionally, “Civil 3D” plus common or garden "Cad" all the time. I’m currently designing concrete reinforcement, and I jacked in A-levels when a job opportunity popped up.
You’ll be fine, if it’s something you’re, genuinely, interested in, you’ll pick it up because you want to.

Also what “Chris-Red” said about your hols is correct!

Good luck.
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[J4mes]

You need this for your maths:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1403942463/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=013120193X&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=10CQ5620B60WKE4ZMMSB

Sure it's expensive, but everyone who I have spoken to who has a degree in any engineering subject recommends it.

[GhostRider]

[SoND]

Having the ONC is a good start, look through all of your old material and see how well you know it all. Having a strong interest in the subject is half the battle.

The maths isn't over the top difficult, depending on the area you will be focused on. I've found John Bird has some very good books, he approaches the maths from a very applied sense with lots of real-world problems to solve. If you're having problems with the basics, start with the basics. A solid understanding in them helps loads when you get to the more complicated stuff.

Even in this higher level book there is a section at the start for revision of basic problems, though it rushes through it a little quickly. You'll be studying the higher level at uni but there is no harm in having the basic book too.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Higher-Engineering-Mathematics-CMath-FCollT/dp/185617767X/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301590804&sr=1-6


There is a lot of mechanical principles and science you will have to get your head around, you're probably familiar with some of it at a lower level. This covers a lot of it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mechanical-Engineering-Principles-CMath-FCollT/dp/0750652284/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301593600&sr=1-1
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[Clanger]

Killa, I too am serious duff with numbers...but I managed to do my BSc (Hons) Degree because the Maths makes sense when it's applied. I think you'll find the same.

Don't be put off by going that extra leap...if you need extra tuition, the tutors will offer it. You can always ask for additional help / tutorials along the way if need be.
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