It can be a daunting moment when you're about to graduate from university. Suddenly you're no longer thinking about studying and lectures, but instead on what you need to do to find a job.
For engineering grads, successfully landing a graduate position requires more than just having great grades. Here are three things you can do to boost your chances of getting the role you've been looking for.
1. Develop your soft skills
Engineering is discipline where the hard technical skills are of the utmost importance. But because of that, they're also the skills most graduates will prioritise, sometimes to the detriment of softer skills like communication, leadership and creative problem solving. While they may not be as vital as the more technical skills, soft skills can serve as important differentiators between yourself and other graduates.
2. Don't cast your net too narrowly
While there's nothing wrong with focusing on a dream position, it's important in the early stages of your career to not narrow your scope too quickly. There are many jobs that engineering graduates can do, but that mightn't be immediately obvious when you're in the midst of your studies. Data from Engineers Australia shows that (as of June 2018) only 56.3 per cent of people with engineering qualifications in the labour force work in the industry. Whether this is through choice is impossible to know, but it's always worth exploring whether you're interested in roles outside engineering that your degree would nonetheless help you obtain.
3. Consider contract work to gain experience
An unavoidable fact of the job market is that permanent graduate engineering positions are few and talented graduates are many. One way to make yourself stand out and gain valuable experience during the time you're looking, is to take contract roles. If you didn't pick up a lot of work-experience during your degree, taking some time afterwards to get some experience in the field with contract work could be just the thing your CV needs to give you a better chance when applying for a permanent graduate role.
If you're ready to find your dream engineering job, contact Monash Talent today.
