DS struggling to get an engineering job

[Enginer]

DS graduated in engineering with a 2.2 from Oxford. He didn’t apply to jobs while a student as the course was too intense.

He’s now really struggling to get anywhere with jobs. He’s applied to a few graduate schemes but got nowhere. He’s got as far as second interview with a speculative application but that’s it.

He is getting increasingly low about it and I’m worried about him. His mental health isn’t great anyway due to previous issues and he’s quite isolated as many of his friends have moved away.

Has anyone got any tips to pass on? Any good recruitment agencies to try? Is he stuffed because of his 2.2? He would like to live at home for the moment (London area) so maybe that is also part of the problem as many jobs are elsewhere.

To answer possible questions in advance, his CV looks quite good I think. He’s got some good internships on there and he has done things outside of formal study that are relevant to engineering (personal coding projects etc).

I used to work with Engineering UK and nearly all employers would screen out applicants if they haven't a 2:1. Either that or plenty of experience.

He may need to do further study?

Quite a few companies are opening grad schemes at the moment. He could try some environmental companies, the larger ones will have grad schemes and the smaller ones won't be too fussed by the 2:2. Also, renewable companies. There are government schemes to train people in renewables so the jobs might be easier to come by.

Its a tough jobs market out there. My DS is just going into his 3rd year of a Comp Sci degree and is applying for jobs at the moment. There is a far few being advertised but there are also a lot of people applying.
I think your DS will have to look further afield geographically and Im sure smaller companies wont be so hung up on a 2:1. A relative got a grad job with a 2:2 Electronic engineering degree at a smaller company this summer.

Has he tried BAE?

It does feel a bit unfair that a 2.2 from oxford is ruling him out but scrape a 2.1 from mediocre university and you’re allowed to apply. It’s clearly a really challenging course and employers are clearly missing great talent.
I would suggest getting to some career fairs and meeting recruiters in person - might be a way of getting round the ‘computer says no’ approach!

He is not being ruled out for everything as mentioned above MOD requires 2.2. And above For their scheme. But he needs to widen geographically and consider all opions for few years to get experience . A 2.2 is still a good honours degree !

@GrossEncountersoftheTurdKind a PP who seems to know their stuff was scoffing at the very thought of someone applying to BAe with a 2.2.

He is now looking further afield.

He does have a driving licence.

He is signed up to his careers service and the various jobs databases.

I think another part of the problem is that each application takes him hours. He meticulously researches each company and uses that knowledge to hone his application. He doesn’t enjoy writing per se so he can’t just scribble down any old waffle (and that would be pointless anyway).

It’s shocking how long some applications take. One of my kids looked at jobs where they would only give the vaguest of details about the job and job package but expected him to spend hours on his application and pre application aptitude tests. He really didn’t mind putting the work in for jobs he knew he was interested in but when they wouldn’t give any idea at all of starting salaries or details about the job other than a very generic job title then he didn’t want to waste his time (or their time).

This is why degrees need to be changed.

I asked DH who is an engineer and does aero / mechanical / materials and he said only looking in London will be a big issue. He said closest to London he knows that maybe worth trying is Frazer Nash otherwise he needs to look outside London.

Thank you @SilkiePenguin and your DH. It seems obvious now that everyone is pointing it out.

@Anotherglass I have sent you a PM.

I know it’s a very long way from London

https://careers.sellafieldsite.co.uk/vacancies/

but they recruit a lot of engineers (about 200 a year) Pay is good& cost of living is low! DS has some friends here.

@toooldforbrat TY. He’s interested but they seem to want a minimum 2.1.

My son didn't go to Oxford, quite the opposite, he's been unemployed for most of 2 years. He's finally got a good job by being prepared to move to the other end of the country. Got a bedsit and a crash course in survival despite a tendency to anxiety. It can be done.

Has he seen this

https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi?SID=c2VhcmNocGFnZT0xJnNlYXJjaHNvcnQ9c2NvcmUmb3duZXI9NTA3MDAwMCZqb2JsaXN0X3ZpZXdfdmFjPTE5NzM2MTMmdXNlcnNlYXJjaGNvbnRleHQ9MTU3MjgzOTE3JnBhZ2VhY3Rpb249dmlld3ZhY2J5am9ibGlzdCZwYWdlY2xhc3M9Sm9icyZvd25lcnR5cGU9ZmFpciZyZXFzaWc9MTc2MTI0MzczOS0xYzcyZDJjNTQwMDBkYmVkYTQ1YjVhMDc0ODFjNDgyNGYwYmY0YzQ0

@OnlyOnAFriday looks fab and would definitely be of interest but they want minimum 2.1 alas. (I’m pretty sure he’d have had a happier time and achieved a better degree if he’d gone to a different uni but we are where we are.)

If he really wants to get into engineering then I'd get him to do a MEng masters and try to pull up his 2:2 to a 2:1 overall. How to do this: go for a thesis topic that plays to his strength - if he's a writer pick a topic that will be wordy, if he better in labs then pick a lab based thesis. He needs to get better at exam prep - its pretty straightforward to get a 2:1 if you've polished up on past exams - questions are often recycled.

The above wouldn't be the thing I'd do though unless he really wants to go into engineering. Instead, I'd get him to go into accountancy. Join a firm who will pay for him to get qualified as he works.

Sorry just read the whole thread and I can see your son already has done an MEng. My sister did one too in chemical engineering and then applied to accountancy at BAE. They paid for her to get qualified and moved her around the country to various offices, a year at a time. She's 27 and earning 70k now at a job based in London. Id see if your son can do the same.

Yeah, this makes a mockery of whole blind recruitment process. Someone who has got a 2:2 from Oxbridge has studied at a far more difficult and demanding pace thatn someone who got a 2:1 from the uni down the road which needs bums on seats to survive and whose A-level requirements are much lower. Ludicrous.

Has he considered doing entry level Audit if he’s having difficulty getting an engineering job?

A 2:2 isn’t great. It’s an average of 50-60% on assessments - so he’s got almost as much wrong as he got right. A Masters may help, or can he go into a related field?

Continued thanks for the helpful suggestions, insights, commiserations. DS is implementing many of these suggestions as we speak and I’m extremely grateful.

As for the minority, I had to google to remind myself of a joke from my childhood.

It’s an old Irish joke where a hopelessly lost tourist asks an old man by the side of the road "Can you tell me how to get to Dublin?". After a few minutes thinking, the man replies "Well, you don't want to start from here".

I’ve got a different perspective on General engineering from some rather negative posts upthread, based on comments from my DD and a friend of hers. She specialised in electronics and is happily employed in that field; often of course her electronics is controlling a piece of machinery and she says having more understanding of mechanics than if she’d done pure EEE is a real advantage in understanding requirements and design considerations. Her friend is in aerospace - I think at the sharp end of Hard Maths but obviously these are complex systems and he said he finds many of the aspects of the broader degree very useful all the time interacting with colleagues - mech, electronics, materials, structures.

so - maybe your ds should think about which roles his broader degree can be a positive advantage for?