Manufacturing decline hits graduate engineer numbersRichard WilsonEngineering is being upstaged by so-called ‘newer’ technology industries such as IT and media when it comes to attracting university graduates.
However, the good news is that if you are an electrical and electronics engineer you have an 8 out of 10 chance of finding a job within six months of graduation, according to a new report, called ‘What Do Graduates Do? 2002’.
More worryingly the report highlighted the continued decline in manufacturing industries, which has left its mark on graduate employment. The number of graduates in electrical and electronic engineering fell by 13 per cent to 2,817 last year.
The report examines the final destinations of the 2,000 UK graduate cohort and reveals that, of the 76.3 per cent of electrical and electronic engineering graduates who found work within six months of graduation, 83.1 per cent achieved jobs of professional status, ie. a job requiring a degree or equivalent academic qualification.
Of these employed graduates over a third (37 per cent) found employment as engineering professionals (such as design, development, electrical and electronic engineers) and 27.3 per cent as IT professionals.
While graduate opportunities as a whole have rarely been better, with 95 per cent of new graduates who want a job find one within six months, there has been a shift away from the historically buoyant graduate employment sectors such as engineering and sciences.
The survey found that those most likely to be in full-time work six months after leaving university were graduates in accountancy, civil engineering, computing, business and management studies and media studies.
According to the AGR, the “What Do Graduates Do?” survey shows how the graduate market place has shifted to reflect the continuing decline in manufacturing industries and the increase in women graduates, who now account for a record 56 per cent.
"The graduate employment market has never looked healthier," said Mike Hill, chief executive of the higher education Careers Services Unit.
“Current predictions suggest that graduate employment has now peaked and students should beware complacency – this time next year a graduate job will not be a foregone conclusion,” he warned.
Of last year's 210,000 graduates, nearly 70 per cent went straight into a job - at an average salary of just under £18,000 - while nearly 20 per cent continued their studies.
The report also concluded that employers looked for business awareness, work experience and initiative as well as skills in team working, problem solving and communication.
The annual survey is published by CSU, the higher education Careers Services Unit; AGCAS, the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services; and UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service.