Latest news: Employers offer advice for engineers

Employers believe both professional qualifications and experience are vital for the progression of graduate engineers. 03/05/2012

Budding engineers have been advised by industry experts to combine skills gained from academic qualifications with hands-on work experience to make themselves attractive to potential employers.

A recent report carried out by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)  found that while degrees continue to be held in higher regard than apprenticeships among employers, professional qualifications and the skills they teach are increasingly appealing. 

The study, called Furthering Your Career, compiled data taken from interviews with both employees and employers across the industry. It revealed professional courses and apprenticeships provide valuable skills that serve to improve everything from customer confidence to goal setting within a company.

Damon Johnstone, project engineer at Brookfield Multiplex Australasia, commented in the report, ‘On the job training is invaluable, for me personally it is what I have benefited from most. Learning how to apply things in real life and how what you have been taught actually comes together puts everything in perspective. For a lot of people things only start to click when they can see it action.’

Furthermore, Michelle Watt, asset improvement engineer at Tata Steel, noted that professional qualifications demonstrate to employers that engineers are keen to continue the learning process that began with their degree.

The IET, formed in 2006 by a merger of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) and the Institution of Incorporated Engineers (IIE), aims to share and advance knowledge that promotes science, technology and engineering.