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What concerns do electronics engineering students have about finding careers in the industry after graduation?

nlarson

Do students have concerns about being able to find work in electronics engineering after gradutation?  Many students seem to be taking on jobs after graduation not in their field just to pay the bills.  Is this the case with you?  Did you find a job in your field after graduation or did you take a job outside of the industry?  Are there any engineering concentrations that you might not have explored if there were more jobs available?

Parents

  • There are plenty of grad schemes for electronic engineers in the UK, but not nearly as many as there are for civil and electrical, since there are so many big consultancies based in the UK. The main problem is that they don't really tend to have technical questions as part of the interview process. Since they tend to be graduate schemes rather than standard roles, the questions are often the generic "tell us about a time when...", coupled with a numerical reasoning test. For that reason, a lot of potentially great young engineers never get to show off what they can actually do when it comes to engineering because they fall at the first computerised hurdle. Saying that, the hardest online test I ever did was the BBC recruitment one for technical grads.

     

    It's not surprising that a lot of engineering graduates end up in the financial sector here, since the wages are better, and engineers are highly valued for their logical reasoning skills. There is also the issue that if you specialise too much it becomes difficult to find a job that you're qualified for. There are only so many nano technology jobs on the market!

     

    At the moment, it's more of a case of take what you can get, since the economy doesn't exactly make it easy to pick and choose. Comparatively, we're very lucky to have such a wide ranging degree, since our skills make us adaptable to a load of different jobs.

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  • There are plenty of grad schemes for electronic engineers in the UK, but not nearly as many as there are for civil and electrical, since there are so many big consultancies based in the UK. The main problem is that they don't really tend to have technical questions as part of the interview process. Since they tend to be graduate schemes rather than standard roles, the questions are often the generic "tell us about a time when...", coupled with a numerical reasoning test. For that reason, a lot of potentially great young engineers never get to show off what they can actually do when it comes to engineering because they fall at the first computerised hurdle. Saying that, the hardest online test I ever did was the BBC recruitment one for technical grads.

     

    It's not surprising that a lot of engineering graduates end up in the financial sector here, since the wages are better, and engineers are highly valued for their logical reasoning skills. There is also the issue that if you specialise too much it becomes difficult to find a job that you're qualified for. There are only so many nano technology jobs on the market!

     

    At the moment, it's more of a case of take what you can get, since the economy doesn't exactly make it easy to pick and choose. Comparatively, we're very lucky to have such a wide ranging degree, since our skills make us adaptable to a load of different jobs.

Children