Graduate Opportunities Within The Engineering Sector
Choosing a career in engineering can make for a secure, and exciting, future. The world will always need engineers, and in a range of engineering fields, making engineering jobs among the most secure. With a large variety of sectors to choose from, there is an engineering area to suit everyone. You could choose between fields such as research, development, design, projects, maintenance, quality assurance and production, to name just a few; there is also much on offer in terms of graduate jobs. Here we take a look at some of the more common options for those interested in a career in engineering.
Construction and Civil Engineering
There are currently not enough graduates to meet the needs of industries requiring civil and structural engineers. Those looking for jobs in these disciplines will find there are a surplus of positions available.
Engineering consultancy groups tend to hire engineers from a variety of sectors, such as civil, structural and mechanical. Here you could be put to work on a variety of projects. Typically, trainees begin their career in design, moving on to managing projects, where you will be required to meet with clients and architects, playing a leading supervisory role to ensure that projects are carried out to plan.
At construction companies however, the emphasis tends to be on management rather than design. Although some engineers will be employed within design-and-build projects where they will complete the design work themselves. Employees within this sector could quickly find themselves organising and managing a construction site. With the current housing market downturn, it is hard to say what this will mean for the future availability of jobs within this sector, it will depend on how the economic situation develops.
However there are a variety of other sectors that seek to employ civil and structural engineers, such as the gas, oil and water industry, as well as the transport and rail infrastructure sectors. Visit the Guardian’s job pages to learn more about graduate jobs. In the meantime, here are a few ideas for the engineering graduate…
Chemical Engineering
The chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, agrochemical, biotechnology and food sectors all employ chemical engineers. Here you could be running a processing plant, with responsibility for the environmental effects of the plant, often giving you the opportunity to work on original ideas for improvement across the industry.
Electronic and Software Engineering
The telecommunications industry is a very popular area for electronic engineers. With multinational telecoms companies increasing their global reach, new opportunities within this sector are springing up all the time. You may be given the chance to test out and improve new technologies as a product analyst. Or you could be set to work on cables, integrated circuits, semi conductors, mobile phones and more. With mobile phones now providing a range of services including maps, music, games, photography, work within this field tends to be done in teams, with electronic engineers working closely with software engineers.
