Careers and employability
Employability is about more than just getting a job – we are committed to helping our students gain the necessary experience and knowledge for their future careers, along with the skills to identify opportunities and make the most of them.
Graduate prospects in ECS
Employers, students and staff talk about the opportunities and support that help ensure excellent graduate prospects for our students.
Our record for graduate employability is outstanding and our students have a great reputation with the UK’s leading companies. We run our own Careers and Employability initiative in ECS, working closely with a wide range of partner companies and supported by ECS graduates who are keen to pass on their knowledge and experience in mentoring our students. We aim to ensure that our students are fully aware of the choices and opportunities open to them in their graduate careers, and that they are well prepared for the application and interview process with every opportunity to achieve their full potential.
Around 400 graduate jobs and summer internships are advertised each year to ECS students on our Careers Hub. We run our own annual Careers Fair in February each year, with over 90 companies present in 2016, and we support a full programme of employer visits to ECS, including recruitment presentations and workshops.
The majority of our graduates will enter business or industry as engineers, consultants, analysts, or developers across transport, energy, security, future technology development, global manufacturing, online retailing, gaming, banking and finance, communications and the media. A large number of our graduates (over 70%) secure roles with our Laureate and Affiliated Companies and we continue to build partnerships with leading companies each year.
Our courses, our project work, and the vitality of our ECS community are fundamental to our students’ success in gaining excellent graduate positions.
Highly skilled graduates in huge demand by world-leading companies
ECS graduates have an excellent reputation for the breadth and depth of their technical knowledge, as well as for the strong mix of practical and theoretical understanding gained in their degree programmes.
ECS Careers HubMy degree gave me not only the technical but also the interpersonal skills to fully prepare me for my employment. Every element of the programme was recognised by employers as vital skills that most graduates do not have. The personal support from tutors and lecturers over the years was above and beyond what I expected and it helped secure a brilliant graduate job due to guiding the creation of work to be proud of.
In addition to the ECS Careers Hub the University’s Career Destinations service offers a wide range of services and support to students at all stages of their university life, and for up to three years after graduation, including:
- support in gaining work experience and exploring future career options
- an extensive vacancy database of part-time and temporary jobs as well as permanent posts for graduates
- opportunities to attend talks and workshops on a host of topics including interview techniques and CV writing, many led by leading employers
- access to five high-profile careers fairs which attract over 150 local, national and international graduate recruiters
- a comprehensive careers library and careers advice website to support all your career planning activities
Careers and Employability at ECS
Careers Fair Director, Joyce Lewis gives an introduction to the annual Engineering and Technology Fair.
I’ve had an amazing time at ECS. It’s such a creative environment driven by enthusiastic academics and hard-working students who share a passion for engineering. What I have achieved as an undergraduate is beyond all expectations I had before starting university and has increased my appreciation of the power of group collaboration. As we move on to the next chaper in our lives I really look forward to seeing how fellow graduates shape the world around them and how our common thread, ECS, has prepared me for a career in this fast-paced industry.
Current students of electrical engineering have really timed it right – the job opportunities are amazing. We’ve got to invest in the UK power industry for the next 40 years, and there are challenging and financially very rewarding careers out there.