Queen Mary, University of London
careers

Career and Profession

With a little thought most people can make a list of products and activities of the electrical and electronic engineering industry. The list would certainly include consumer electronics products like personal computers, mobile phones, microwave ovens, and digital video disks, and perhaps also public services like radio and TV broadcasting, or electricity transmission.

But consumer products and even power stations are only a small part of the industry. Probably 90% of electrical, electronic and computer engineering, like all engineering, is not seen by the public - it's not secret, but it's unnoticed and taken for granted. Most electronics engineers are not designing consumer products but the electronic and computer systems that run the factories, not designing mobile phones but the networks and computers to operate the mobile phone systems.

The electrical, electronic and computer engineering industry is principally concerned with providing the myriad of specialist electronic instruments and systems that make life safer, more convenient, more reliable, and more interesting. It's concerned with flight simulators and body scanners, global positioning satellites and remote sensors, computer information networks and safety-critical industrial control.

These special applications are what British industry and British universities are so good at – so if you think you could develop and manage tomorrow's technology, if you have talent and vision, this is the career for you.

Career Opportunities

Many career paths and opportunities are open to the graduate in electrical, electronic, or computer engineering, with something to suit all personalities and aptitudes.

You may wish to work on the research and development of new technologies and applications - either in the laboratories of a large manufacturer or in a smaller contract research and development company where there would be opportunities to work with a variety of clients. For this type of work, career progression is through project leadership into positions of increasing technical challenge and responsibility.

Alternatively, you may prefer to be working with large projects that require skills of organisation and leadership. Initially this might involve working at a junior level in support of major projects, but with increased experience the career path opens into senior project and company management.

Whether you are interested in a career that stays very close to the latest technologies or one in which you use your technical skills to move into engineering management, you can be sure of a career that is absorbing and creatively satisfying. There is no need to worry about finding a job either - there is a great shortage of professional engineers in the UK and the competent and motivated graduate is likely to receive many offers for well paid jobs.

Incidentally, we have over 700 companies on our database of current graduate opportunities in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, and Queen Mary has an outstanding Careers Office which will help you to focus on the right career and give practical advice for completing job applications and preparing your cv.

Professional qualifications

When you join us as an undergraduate, you will be welcomed as a junior member of the profession and encouraged to become a student member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE). The IEE is the "professional home" for electrical, electronic and software engineers in the UK. This, along with your accredited degree studies, is your first step towards becoming a Chartered Engineer.

As a Queen Mary student in London, membership of the IEE brings very real benefits because you are close to the facilities of the IEE building at Savoy Place which includes the library, the refectory, the reading rooms, etc. The very active London Younger Members Group organises meetings and visits, careers planning events and all kinds of social activities

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