Engineering graduates more confident on jobs front

A recent survey by engineering students' career site gradcracker has revealed that two-thirds of engineering graduates are still reasonably or very confident about finding a job.

This contrasts sharply with the results of a recent NUS survey, which found that only a fifth (20%) of all graduates were similarly confident about their employment prospects.

And while another recent survey by TMP found that only two-thirds (66%) of all graduates would be prepared to relocate to find work, an overwhelming majority (93%) of engineering students are prepared to move.

The new gradcracker survey also found that a third (34%) of engineering graduates who plan to undertake further studies or take a gap year are doing so because of the perceived limits to their career prospects.  And just over half (53%) of engineering students said they'd be prepared to undertake unpaid work experience or internships if this increased their chances of finding work.

A further impact of the recession on career choices was demonstrated by the fact that 18% of engineering students admitted to rethinking which sector they should work in.  This included a notable drift away from the automotive industry in favour of sectors such as defence, transport and energy.

"We wanted to hear the views of our audience," said gradcracker's head of communications, Annie Greenfield-Edwards, explaining why the summer niche-market survey was conducted.  "Certainly many engineering employers have frozen or reduced their graduate programmes, but a good number have continued to recruit.  We were a little concerned that potential engineers might have simply given up hope in the light of generally negative news.  We were pleased to see that this is not the case."

The survey results can be viewed at gradcracker.com.