Competition for top graduate jobs remains fierce and recruiters are looking for a range of qualities in their candidates, particularly:

• interpersonal
• teamworking
• IT skills.

You’ll need to demonstrate to employers that you are not only a good academic, but you have the technical, managerial and communication skills to succeed in your role, and make a positive contribution to their organisation.

Engineering project work

Engineering is dominated by project work, which can be unpredictable and time consuming.

Employers will expect you to be tolerant of uncertainty and resilient when faced with new challenges.

Show potential employers that you can cope with demanding projects by citing experience of project work at university, focusing on your contribution and how you coped with unforeseen problems.

An industrial placement or internship is also another excellent way of illustrating how you worked on a specific project.

Engineering work experience

A degree alone is no longer a guarantee of a top job – employers expect graduates to have experience of the workplace too. They want evidence that you are reliable, can work effectively as part of a team, and that you can handle responsibility.

Don’t worry if your work experience isn’t engineering-related. These skills can be demonstrated through term-time, vacation or voluntary work, although industrial placements are particularly valued.

IT skills for engineers

Engineering employers look for creative people with the technical expertise to take a good idea from conception through to completion, so it pays to keep your IT skills up to speed.

Employers are likely to be more impressed by graduates who have put in a bit of extra effort in order to acquire these skills, rather than those who have simply met the basic requirements of their degree course.

Topping up your degree studies with short IT-related courses or postgraduate courses is also a good way of impress potential employers.

Networking skills for engineers

Employers are impressed by the ability to build contacts, and you can demonstrate this in many ways.

Joining professional organisations gives you the chance to meet a network of professionals working in your chosen specialism, and will show employers that you are serious about your professional development.

Internships and placements are also a good way of building useful contacts, as are short programmes such as CRAC Insight courses.

Interpersonal skills for engineers

Communication skills are extremely important to today’s employers. A recent survey, carried out by Capita Learning and Development, revealed that 47% of businesses rate communication skills as the most important area in which to train their staff.

Employers want to recruit well-rounded people, and they increasingly look for evidence of:

• leadership
• communication
• teamwork.

Demonstrate that you are a teamworker by focusing on your involvement in activities such as team sports or group projects at university.

Flexibility in graduate engineering jobs

It pays to be flexible when looking for your first job, both in terms of where you work and your future development.

Increasingly, graduates are expected to be prepared to move out of their home area if they want the top jobs and should be flexible in their approach to where their first graduate job should be.

Once you start work, you will be expected to keep up to date on the latest technological developments. While there may be formal training, you will also expected to acquire new skills rapidly through self-directed learning and additional training courses.