Industry insights - Engineering
There is a wide range of work available in this sector including:
Non-engineering graduates can find careers in engineering as accountants, HR, IT, sales and marketing professionals and many more.
Many large companies also employ more than one kind of engineering graduate. For example, large oil companies recruit chemical, civil, electrical, electronic, mechanical, software and structural engineers.
In 2008 there were 470,305 engineering enterprises employing 4.5 million people in the UK (Engineering UK, 2009/10).
The UK has the sixth largest manufacturing industry, which alone employs 3 million people.
The number of registered engineers is estimated to be between 369,000 and 568,000. The Engineering Council estimates that approximately 180,000 of these are either incorporated or chartered. (Engineering UK 2009/10)
The following profiles are examples of key jobs that exist in the engineering sector. To find the job roles that best match your skills and interests, see what jobs would suit me?
For even more career ideas, take a look at types of jobs.
Specialist online recruitment agencies such as Matchtech , Gradcracker and Thomas Telford Recruitment hold jobs for most types of engineers.
See the Engineering Graduate Job Search for the vacancies of all the major engineering firms. Company websites also hold their own graduate training scheme information and vacancies.
Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) , Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) are just some of the professional institutions that provide job vacancies, careers advice and accredited training for new graduates. Professional bodies also provide information on smaller companies who do not widely advertise their vacancies. You can apply to these companies speculatively.
Graduate training schemes are common in large companies, and generally commence in autumn. Smaller companies tend to recruit when required.
Find out more about job application advice.
A BEng or MEng in a relevant discipline is usually sufficient for entry into graduate training schemes. A 2:1 or 2:2 is desirable, depending on the company.
Key skills required in addition to a degree include:
These skills can be gained in many jobs, through sport, volunteering or involvement in university societies.
Entry to most areas of engineering does not require a postgraduate degree.
For research posts in academia or in industry, a Doctorate (PhD) is usually required.
A Masters may help with entering an area of engineering that did not form part of your MEng/BEng. Discuss your options with potential employers or with a careers adviser.
Once employed, gaining a professional qualification, either chartership (CEng) or incorporated engineer (IEng) is the next step. These show you have achieved a benchmark level of competence and commitment to continuing professional development (CPD) in engineering.
To become a chartered engineer (CEng) you need:
To gain CEng status, you will need to submit a written report and satisfy an assessment panel that you have the skills, specialist knowledge and competence to practise as an engineer. It is possible to achieve CEng or incorporated (IEng) status within four to six years after graduation.
To become an incorporated engineer (IEng) you need:
You can still become an incorporated or chartered engineer if you do not have academic qualifications. Further information about the assessment process can be found at the Engineering Council .
Many graduates training schemes offer one or both of these options. Most graduate engineers aim for chartered or incorporated status in the early years of their careers. They then progress in specialist technical areas of engineering, as managers of ideas, people and resources or through diversifying into areas such as marketing, HR or sales.
Many senior-level engineering posts require chartered status.
The engineering sector has several big players that often recruit from the full spectrum of engineering degrees.
Aerospace is the high tech end of the sector requiring recruits to have strong academic backgrounds. It is dominated by global companies like Airbus and Boeing who build aircraft and Rolls-Royce and General Electric who build engines. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) and BAE Systems also recruit big numbers of graduates as do MBDA and several others. The sector attracts all engineering degrees except civil.
The automotive industry for graduates is small, but dominated by global companies such as Honda, Nissan, Toyota, General Motors and BMW. Design and development roles in the UK tend to be with Bentley, McLaren and Williams. A passion for cars, excellent team and communication skills are required to succeed in this fast paced industry. The sector attracts all engineering degrees except civil.
The built environment sector is suffering from the recession. Employment in this sector is expected to recover. Amey, Arup, Atkins and Mott MacDonald are historically big recruiters. Good team and technical skills are important. Civil/structural, control, electrical, electronic, environmental, mechanical, power systems and telecoms degrees are ideal for this sector.
The chemical industry includes petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, water organisations, engineering contractors and rapidly growing biotechnology companies. The industry is involved in areas as diverse as water desalination, medicine and paint. It is a global industry, offering travel potential. Big players include Air Products, Akzonobel and BASF. There are opportunities for most types of engineer apart from aerospace, automotive power systems and telecoms.
Defence forms a large part of engineering recruitment offering opportunities to most types of engineering graduates. Organisations recruiting such as BAE, Dstl and QinetiQ are large, offering a diverse range of opportunities to graduates with solid engineering backgrounds.
The electronics industry includes component manufacturers such as Intel, Wolfson Microelectronics and CSR and equipment manufacturers like Sony, Philips and Sharp. The electrical sector covers a wide range of industries including transport, construction, telecommunications and manufacturing.
The energy sector has opportunities with large globals such as ExxonMobil and BP but also with smaller companies in key areas such as exploration and oil rig construction. Engineers are also needed in power generation companies that use nuclear, wind, hydro, tidal and solar power. Large globals such as EDF Energy and E.ON coexist with smaller concerns which develop niche areas such as solar power. This area is open to most engineering disciplines.
The railway network is a major recruiter of graduates from many disciplines. The biggest of these is the infrastructure operator Network Rail. Other recruiters are the train operators, consultants, rolling stock suppliers and London Underground.
In telecoms, key players are household names like Nokia, Ericsson, Siemens and Vodafone. Cutting edge technological developments define this sector. Business awareness is a must. This area recruits mainly electrical, electronic, software and telecoms engineers.
The utilities sector covers electricity, gas, water and waste management and the large number of major utility companies such as npower, Scottish Power, and Thames Water.
SMEs are organisations with less than 250 employees and an annual turnover of no more than £26million. Working for a smaller company can be rewarding because you are more likely to forge a path for yourself within the company, although opportunities to try other departments may be limited.
SMEs are unlikely to use the testing and assessment techniques of larger companies, or follow lengthy recruitment procedures. SMEs are more likely to advertise their vacancies through the local press, university careers service bulletins, local graduate vacancy listings, jobcentres, and word of mouth, rather than rely on their reputation and a presence at graduate recruitment fairs.
Careers services should have listings of jobs with small firms; see also the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).
It is possible to become self-employed or work freelance within certain sectors once you have built up experience. Opportunities mainly exist within consultancy.
Find out more about self employment.
Engineering is a global industry and profession. Many graduate recruiters offer opportunities to work overseas, either for a short time or more permanently.
Getting the offer of work abroad depends on:
Some large graduate recruiters offering overseas opportunities: BG Group, BP, Faber Maunsell, Jacobs, Mott MacDonald, MWH, M.W.Kellogg Limited, Procter and Gamble and Rolls-Royce.
The professional status of chartered engineer affords international respect. The Eurlng qualification from the European Federation of National Engineering Associations (FEANI) is accepted in most European countries.
There is worldwide recognition of registrants and holders of Engineering Council UK (ECUK) accredited academic qualifications.
Many countries outside of Europe have signed up to the Washington, Sydney and Dublin Accords. This means that academic qualifications accredited by the Engineering Council at chartered, incorporated and engineering technician grade are accepted as meeting those countries' academic requirements.
To become professionally qualified with the Engineering Council as CEng, IEng, EngTech or ICTTech you must be a member of a licensed professional engineering institution, who will act as the awarding body for your registration. Currently there are 35 of these and they are listed on the Engineering Council website.
The Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) produces information on the international work of its members citing which are active in different countries. Project work could take you anywhere; the Hong Kong metro, airport terminals in Toronto and Tel Aviv, an oil platform in the Philippines and the Channel tunnel are among their completed projects.
Gaining work abroad becomes easier once you have gained two or more years of industrial experience. It is unusual, but not impossible, for a graduate with a first degree to immediately gain employment in the USA.
Future trends in engineering are dominated by government commitments to combat the effects of climate change and at the same time meet our demand for energy. The Climate Change Act of November 2008 legally binds the UK to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. It is widely accepted that to do this the country will have to develop the full suite of low-carbon energy supply technologies already available including nuclear, renewable energies and carbon capture and storage. Engineers are central to the development of these and even newer technologies.
Some of the latest new technological solutions to reduce carbon come from the field of geo-engineering. These include solar insulation solutions such as sun shades or discs sufficient to reduce the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth. These work in the same way as space mirrors, which are aluminium threads that are inserted into the space between the earth and the sun reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the earth. Another development is synthetic trees which attempt to directly remove CO2 from the atmosphere, about a thousand times faster than their natural counterparts.
Engineers and scientists are also looking closely at geothermal heat mining technologies to generate electricity with virtually no emissions. One of these is geothermal power plants which use subterranean steam or hot water to turn turbines that produce electricity. Early in the summer of 2010 it was announced that the Eden Project in Cornwall would be the site of the first of these power plants. Supporters contend that geothermal power could supply between 10 - 20% of the UK's electricity needs.
Wind energy is projected to offer the largest opportunity for growth in renewable energies and in engineering jobs. The London Array, 12 miles off the coast of Kent and Essex is predicted to develop into the world's largest wind farm. Recruitment commentators suggest that wind farms offer similar kinds of work to that in other sectors such as oil and gas: working at sea, at height, safety type roles and managing the transmission and distribution of large quantities of power. This suggests that engineers could transfer their skills and experience between energy sectors.
A type of solar power, photovoltaics (PVs), is a process in which solar cells convert sunlight directly into electricity and is under development in Wales, which is home to the UK's largest solar energy plant.
While costs are still high, the government is supporting hydropower development in the form of a £12billion barrage between Cardiff and Weston-Super-Mare, which some estimate will provide around 6% of the UK's electricity needs.
Hand in hand with the search for low carbon solutions to our energy needs, engineering designers may soon work to carbon as well as financial budgets, and all professional engineers have to make sure their designs conform to using the most sustainable kinds of tools, materials and energy. In support of this, the Engineering Council has developed six principles to guide engineers but at the same time enabling them to meet their professional obligations. Read more about them at the Engineering Council Guidance on Sustainability .
‘Engineering Graduates for Industry’ (February 2010) by the Royal Academy of Engineering states that the supply of graduate engineers is not projected to make up for retiring numbers of engineers. Predicted shortages are most pronounced in energy, utilities and civil engineering. By 2017, over 580,000 new workers will be needed for the manufacturing sector alone.
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