I have an interview with a UK team next week! Please help!

[fizzer]

You know, monkeyboy makes a good point. If you really want to make F1 your career (and who wouldn't) work for peanuts, live in a box! Who cares If you're good you'll get compensated eventually.

[zac510]

If you're living/working around Oxford then there must be lots of student accomodation.
£25k is ok in London, but you have to share house. The cost of public transport would probably be equivalent to owning a car in a regional area.
In regional Bucks/Oxford etc rent general cost of living would be cheaper exceptv for owning a car.

[SLC]

For what position are you interviewing? You don't have to mention the Team name but it I'll be able to give you an accurate prediction for salary.

CFD aerodynamicist. Mostly post-processing and correlating/correcting for tunnel and track test data. Thanks for the help,

Is it a Junior position? How old are you? Do you have any motorsport experience? What are your academic qualifications?

PM me some details if you aren't comfortable with revealing that publically, but I'll be able to give you a pretty good idea of salary expectations.

[kilcoo316]

You'll not get by on less than 20K a yr.


For the hours you'll be working, you'd really need to be looking 30+ IMO.



Anyway, best of luck for the interview.

[SLC]

For the hours you'll be working, you'd really need to be looking 30+ IMO.

Out of interest, how many hours would you guys expect was required for an Aero position in F1?

[Sawtooth-spike]

As meny as needed to win?

[manchild]

I'm not an expert on this but if you're expecting to work overtime frequently isn't it better than to negotiate good £ per hour instead of negotiating net salary?

[bhall]

Out of interest, how many hours would you guys expect was required for an Aero position in F1?

I'm thinking that since a lot of teams have their wind tunnels operating 24/7, 8-12 hours a day at least sounds about right, depending on the number of shifts.

[West]

For the hours you'll be working, you'd really need to be looking 30+ IMO.

Out of interest, how many hours would you guys expect was required for an Aero position in F1?

For a junior position maybe 8; for a more senior position 10 or maybe overtime each day.

[AeroGT3]

Is it a Junior position? How old are you? Do you have any motorsport experience? What are your academic qualifications?

PM me some details if you aren't comfortable with revealing that publically, but I'll be able to give you a pretty good idea of salary expectations.

Its for a CFD post-processing position. It is not "Junior" or "graduate", but the requirement is for relatively low experience; < 2 years.

I am 21. Yes, young, but I skipped a grade in high school and will be completing both my BS and MS degrees in 4 years.

My motorsport experience only includes FSAE Aero lead for 2 years and a local BMW club race team for whom I designed, built, and tested a rear wing and front splitter. I've worked the last 2 summers for a large government contractor doing CFD and heat transfer.

Academic qualifications are an MS in Aerospace engineering with a very high concentration in aerodynamics. I've taken every fluids class offered at my university, and exceeded the actual number needed to graduate. I was involved in a rolling ground wind tunnel project, FSAE, a year long systems based spacecraft design course, and Chair of a student fee initiative committee (we were in charge of over $400,000 annually).

My interview is Thursday UK time, and if you need more details I will PM you. Thanks for the help, and for everyone else's responses. Very helpful and appreciated!

[monkeyboy1976]

You sound very well suited to an aero job in F1.
Just relax at the interview and make a long list of questions to ask and prioritise them. Make sure you cross off the ones that they give an answer to during the interview. Then read out the remaining top five or so.
Do as much research about the company as you can. Not just racing results/history etc... but where they are based, how big the team is, who their development partners are (engine supplier, CAD/CFD systems supplier etc...). There are a few F1 people who regularly post here and maybe Tomba and Principessa could also help?
Treat them as company rather than a racing team. Don't come across as a starry eyed fan. Obviously be enthusiastic but don't come across as too keen.
When you know more about the company, try and focus on your key skills that fit their requirements.
This might sound like obvious stuff so sorry if I have insulted your intelligence.

[SLC]

Is it a Junior position? How old are you? Do you have any motorsport experience? What are your academic qualifications?

PM me some details if you aren't comfortable with revealing that publically, but I'll be able to give you a pretty good idea of salary expectations.

Its for a CFD post-processing position. It is not "Junior" or "graduate", but the requirement is for relatively low experience; < 2 years.

I am 21. Yes, young, but I skipped a grade in high school and will be completing both my BS and MS degrees in 4 years.

My motorsport experience only includes FSAE Aero lead for 2 years and a local BMW club race team for whom I designed, built, and tested a rear wing and front splitter. I've worked the last 2 summers for a large government contractor doing CFD and heat transfer.

Academic qualifications are an MS in Aerospace engineering with a very high concentration in aerodynamics. I've taken every fluids class offered at my university, and exceeded the actual number needed to graduate. I was involved in a rolling ground wind tunnel project, FSAE, a year long systems based spacecraft design course, and Chair of a student fee initiative committee (we were in charge of over $400,000 annually).

My interview is Thursday UK time, and if you need more details I will PM you. Thanks for the help, and for everyone else's responses. Very helpful and appreciated!

Ok, cool. Generally if the position asks for any experience whatsoever it is not a "junior" position.

I'm assuming this is a UK based team you are interviewing with: From what you describe I would pitch a starting salary at around £26,000. You've got a solid academic background (which all of the applicants will have), but some applicable CFD and motorsport experience (which not all of the applicants will have, certainly not at 21.) You would be looking at a few more thousand pounds if you were a few years older with the same experience, that's just the way employment works over here.

From your post its not 100% clear if you've actually finished your degree - are you in your last year now?

I know a fair few people in F1 aero departments in the UK (I work in one myself!) so if you have any questions feel free to ask.

[ketanpaul]

I am a high school student so I am not in any position to give u any advice but from what I know of F1, I can tell u this. Opportunities dont come around everyday and u should make the most of them when they do come. So do anything to get in, and remember that promotions in F1 teams are regularly done, so the more hardwork you do, the better chance u have of getting in an even better job. So best of luck

[RH1300S]

I just want to wish you all the best luck! Hope you get it..........

[kilcoo316]

For the hours you'll be working, you'd really need to be looking 30+ IMO.

Out of interest, how many hours would you guys expect was required for an Aero position in F1?

A friend of mine that went through the undergrad degree with me is renting a house, and one of the other fellas there is working for williams... Shaun says he is working from 4pm to 8am... pretty much every day.

He has barely seen the guy and they've been in the same house for over a month.