How to find a job for a new engineering graduate
Discussion
Dr Slotter said:
That does sound poor at Soton. My own institution, which may well be Ranger 6 Jnr's second choice, does the following and most of it happened this year virtually:
- Regular careers sessions as part of the personal tutorial schedule in all years of study (CV checks, career path exercises etc.). Students can talk to their personal tutors at anytime about careers.
- Dedicated engineering discipline careers events with discipline specific companies coming along to promote themselves as an employer and deliver some generic careers presentations.
- Dedicated careers tutor in each Dept. to act as coordinators, first point of contact, and be the '...with a Year in Industry' course(s) leader.
- Dedicated careers team (5 people at the moment) for the Faculty who support students getting placements and grad jobs.
- Two skills weeks in 1st/2nd year with a strong emphasis on non-academic skills.
- Support as many extra-curricular engineering activities as we can.
- Plus the usual institution-wide general Careers Office support and careers events, and access to the careers support for a couple of years after graduation.
We certainly get good feedback from employers about all of this and we have a decent record of getting students placements and grad jobs in all the major engineering employers and many SMEs.
AFAIK Loughborough do a good job with this stuff.
Which university are you at ? - Regular careers sessions as part of the personal tutorial schedule in all years of study (CV checks, career path exercises etc.). Students can talk to their personal tutors at anytime about careers.
- Dedicated engineering discipline careers events with discipline specific companies coming along to promote themselves as an employer and deliver some generic careers presentations.
- Dedicated careers tutor in each Dept. to act as coordinators, first point of contact, and be the '...with a Year in Industry' course(s) leader.
- Dedicated careers team (5 people at the moment) for the Faculty who support students getting placements and grad jobs.
- Two skills weeks in 1st/2nd year with a strong emphasis on non-academic skills.
- Support as many extra-curricular engineering activities as we can.
- Plus the usual institution-wide general Careers Office support and careers events, and access to the careers support for a couple of years after graduation.
We certainly get good feedback from employers about all of this and we have a decent record of getting students placements and grad jobs in all the major engineering employers and many SMEs.
AFAIK Loughborough do a good job with this stuff.
GliderRider said:
Bristol is a good area to be in for a graduate scientist/engineer. As you are no doubt aware, you have Airbus, Rolls-Royce, MBDA, GKN, Atkins and Frazer Nash all in close proximity. Leonardo (Formerly Westland Helicopters).
Also Altran in Bristol and Bath (latter is more safety critical stuff). May be hiring, not sure.
GliderRider said:
Bristol is a good area to be in for a graduate scientist/engineer. As you are no doubt aware, you have Airbus, Rolls-Royce, MBDA, GKN, Atkins and Frazer Nash all in close proximity. Leonardo (Formerly Westland Helicopters).
Having done a degree in astronautics, it would be a shame for your son not to make use of the specific knowledge he has acquired. Have you and your son looked at the space careers website? Space Careers
Meeting and talking to people in science and engineering is a great way to find out what is going on and to make connections. Obviously Covid-19 restrictions will reduce the number of lectures going at the moment, however the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, (IMechE), Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) and the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) all have lectures (some on Zoom at the moment). I worked at Airbus Filton for a while, and regularly attended IMechE and RAeS lectures despite not being a member of either.
A list of space companies with UK sites can be found here: UKSpace
In addition there are companies such as Prismatic Ltd, which make high altitude UAVs, for which space knowledge is relevant. Most of their workforce is made up of recent graduates: Prismatic Ltd
ForHaving done a degree in astronautics, it would be a shame for your son not to make use of the specific knowledge he has acquired. Have you and your son looked at the space careers website? Space Careers
Meeting and talking to people in science and engineering is a great way to find out what is going on and to make connections. Obviously Covid-19 restrictions will reduce the number of lectures going at the moment, however the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, (IMechE), Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) and the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) all have lectures (some on Zoom at the moment). I worked at Airbus Filton for a while, and regularly attended IMechE and RAeS lectures despite not being a member of either.
A list of space companies with UK sites can be found here: UKSpace
In addition there are companies such as Prismatic Ltd, which make high altitude UAVs, for which space knowledge is relevant. Most of their workforce is made up of recent graduates: Prismatic Ltd
Thanks for the tips and links. I'll pass them on
Maybe I'm missing something, and will admit it helps to know what you're looking for, but within 3 minutes of logging into the Southampton University Careers and Employability Service Hub was then looking at detailed information and advice for the Engineering Sciences (Aeronautical, Mechanical, Ship) including career planning, degree related careers, graduate employment market, application advice and many more. Can see by the format exactly which IT application they are using, so the OP's son will have a personal dedicated login to that which will give him decent access to much more information than I looked at, should he choose to use it.
Ime too many students don't, or leave it until the last few weeks of the final year which frankly is too late. Should be engaging with this process throughout imo, certainly be well into it by year 2.
Ime too many students don't, or leave it until the last few weeks of the final year which frankly is too late. Should be engaging with this process throughout imo, certainly be well into it by year 2.
DeejRC said:
Chev, you have mail.
Aeronautics out of Saints are the magic words for certain ppl in certain industries.
Their careers peeps are either being numpties or complacent. They are arguably the best connected ppl into an industry in the country, outside of Loughborough or Leeds.
Which industries are they ? What about Oxbridge or Imperial College ?Aeronautics out of Saints are the magic words for certain ppl in certain industries.
Their careers peeps are either being numpties or complacent. They are arguably the best connected ppl into an industry in the country, outside of Loughborough or Leeds.
161BMW said:
DeejRC said:
Chev, you have mail.
Aeronautics out of Saints are the magic words for certain ppl in certain industries.
Their careers peeps are either being numpties or complacent. They are arguably the best connected ppl into an industry in the country, outside of Loughborough or Leeds.
Which industries are they ? What about Oxbridge or Imperial College ?Aeronautics out of Saints are the magic words for certain ppl in certain industries.
Their careers peeps are either being numpties or complacent. They are arguably the best connected ppl into an industry in the country, outside of Loughborough or Leeds.
Edited by DeejRC on Friday 18th June 09:51
DeejRC said:
What about them? The Oxford can find their arse from their elbow let me know and yes, Ive got an office and lab in Oxford and we know the Uni well.
I'm not really sure what you were trying to write there, but they are two of the top universities in the world for engineering, both in the global top ten.https://www.topuniversities.com/university-ranking...
People saying hard to get a job with 'just a BEng' etc...
All engineering sectors struggle to recruit. Don't fall down the 'I must get a masters or PhD' trap. It's not true. It hinges hugely on the individual.
A degree is a given on the CV. Every applicant is going to have one. You need to stand out and make yourself more interesting than the next person. Extra curricular projects at uni, private projects you've done yourself, problems you've solved, teamwork and/or leadership experience.
2 pages maximum in any CV and do not include the paper round at age 13.
All engineering sectors struggle to recruit. Don't fall down the 'I must get a masters or PhD' trap. It's not true. It hinges hugely on the individual.
A degree is a given on the CV. Every applicant is going to have one. You need to stand out and make yourself more interesting than the next person. Extra curricular projects at uni, private projects you've done yourself, problems you've solved, teamwork and/or leadership experience.
2 pages maximum in any CV and do not include the paper round at age 13.
HJG said:
People saying hard to get a job with 'just a BEng' etc...
All engineering sectors struggle to recruit. Don't fall down the 'I must get a masters or PhD' trap. It's not true. It hinges hugely on the individual.
A degree is a given on the CV. Every applicant is going to have one. You need to stand out and make yourself more interesting than the next person. Extra curricular projects at uni, private projects you've done yourself, problems you've solved, teamwork and/or leadership experience.
2 pages maximum in any CV and do not include the paper round at age 13.
I would agree with this, I graduated about 4 years ago with a BSc from a, at best, mediocre university. I have since gone on to work as a Design Engineer, Systems engineer and more recently Lead Systems Engineer. I've also had 3 offers of employment in the last 2 months without even actively looking to wanting to move from where I am currently. My other half who graduated with an MEng finds it no easier to find roles compared to me, and I have never had an issue with my degree being a BSc.All engineering sectors struggle to recruit. Don't fall down the 'I must get a masters or PhD' trap. It's not true. It hinges hugely on the individual.
A degree is a given on the CV. Every applicant is going to have one. You need to stand out and make yourself more interesting than the next person. Extra curricular projects at uni, private projects you've done yourself, problems you've solved, teamwork and/or leadership experience.
2 pages maximum in any CV and do not include the paper round at age 13.
HJG said:
People saying hard to get a job with 'just a BEng' etc...
All engineering sectors struggle to recruit. Don't fall down the 'I must get a masters or PhD' trap. It's not true. It hinges hugely on the individual.
A degree is a given on the CV. Every applicant is going to have one. You need to stand out and make yourself more interesting than the next person. Extra curricular projects at uni, private projects you've done yourself, problems you've solved, teamwork and/or leadership experience.
2 pages maximum in any CV and do not include the paper round at age 13.
I don't think that people are saying that a PhD is necessary, but a lot of engineering courses lead to an MEng at the end of the first degree, generally with an extra year that just frms part of the same course.All engineering sectors struggle to recruit. Don't fall down the 'I must get a masters or PhD' trap. It's not true. It hinges hugely on the individual.
A degree is a given on the CV. Every applicant is going to have one. You need to stand out and make yourself more interesting than the next person. Extra curricular projects at uni, private projects you've done yourself, problems you've solved, teamwork and/or leadership experience.
2 pages maximum in any CV and do not include the paper round at age 13.
If I were interviewing someone with a BEng I think it'd be normal to ask why they chose that route, and expect that a clear reason would be given as to why it made more sense.
It's the same sort of thing as asking why somoene chose Hull over Cambridge for Physics; you'd expect the best candidates to have chosen it for reasons such as proximity to family rather than because they thought it was a good course.
Northernboy said:
It's the same sort of thing as asking why somoene chose Hull over Cambridge for Physics; you'd expect the best candidates to have chosen it for reasons such as proximity to family rather than because they thought it was a good course.
Captain Blackadder : I then leapt on the opportunity to test you. I asked if he'd been to one of the great universities, Oxford, Cambridge, or Hull.Nurse Mary : Well?
Captain Blackadder : You failed to spot that only two of those are great Universities.
Nurse Mary : Swine!
General Melchett : That's right! Oxford's a complete dump!
Crudeoink said:
HJG said:
People saying hard to get a job with 'just a BEng' etc...
All engineering sectors struggle to recruit. Don't fall down the 'I must get a masters or PhD' trap. It's not true. It hinges hugely on the individual.
A degree is a given on the CV. Every applicant is going to have one. You need to stand out and make yourself more interesting than the next person. Extra curricular projects at uni, private projects you've done yourself, problems you've solved, teamwork and/or leadership experience.
2 pages maximum in any CV and do not include the paper round at age 13.
I would agree with this, I graduated about 4 years ago with a BSc from a, at best, mediocre university. I have since gone on to work as a Design Engineer, Systems engineer and more recently Lead Systems Engineer. I've also had 3 offers of employment in the last 2 months without even actively looking to wanting to move from where I am currently. My other half who graduated with an MEng finds it no easier to find roles compared to me, and I have never had an issue with my degree being a BSc.All engineering sectors struggle to recruit. Don't fall down the 'I must get a masters or PhD' trap. It's not true. It hinges hugely on the individual.
A degree is a given on the CV. Every applicant is going to have one. You need to stand out and make yourself more interesting than the next person. Extra curricular projects at uni, private projects you've done yourself, problems you've solved, teamwork and/or leadership experience.
2 pages maximum in any CV and do not include the paper round at age 13.
This is the bit that worries me regarding the CV:
The Chevalier de Recci said:
there is not much to say as other than studying he just plays computer games
vaud said:
Captain Blackadder : I then leapt on the opportunity to test you. I asked if he'd been to one of the great universities, Oxford, Cambridge, or Hull.
Nurse Mary : Well?
Captain Blackadder : You failed to spot that only two of those are great Universities.
Nurse Mary : Swine!
General Melchett : That's right! Oxford's a complete dump!
Exactly the reason I picked Hull...Nurse Mary : Well?
Captain Blackadder : You failed to spot that only two of those are great Universities.
Nurse Mary : Swine!
General Melchett : That's right! Oxford's a complete dump!
Northernboy said:
vaud said:
Captain Blackadder : I then leapt on the opportunity to test you. I asked if he'd been to one of the great universities, Oxford, Cambridge, or Hull.
Nurse Mary : Well?
Captain Blackadder : You failed to spot that only two of those are great Universities.
Nurse Mary : Swine!
General Melchett : That's right! Oxford's a complete dump!
Exactly the reason I picked Hull...Nurse Mary : Well?
Captain Blackadder : You failed to spot that only two of those are great Universities.
Nurse Mary : Swine!
General Melchett : That's right! Oxford's a complete dump!
Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff