Is an engineering job the right career path for you?
ENGINEER yourself a secure future.
Whether you are an IT engineer or a traditional engineer, all engineering roles involve conceiving, designing, building and maintaining something, be it machines and structures or IT and data systems.
As people who design the systems on which society depends, engineers are sought after and can command high salaries – but Britain is not training enough new workers.
Just under half of traditional engineering firms say they are struggling to recruit staff and one in five engineers currently working in Britain will retire by 2026, making shortages more pressing.
In the digital sector, a quarter of companies cannot find enough IT and software engineers.
So if you’re looking for an exciting new career path that offers job security and good pay, here’s how to move into tech.
What is the difference between a traditional and a digital engineer?
Say the word “engineer” and you probably think of someone working on building a machine or a road. That is the traditional role of an engineer.
It is usually split into sub-disciplines, including civil engineers who create buildings, roads and other infrastructure, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers and even nuclear engineers.
Digital engineers also create, but they design and build software systems so that organizations can run their IT programs.
What salary can I earn as an engineer?
The average salary for a traditional engineer is £38,900.
The starting salary for qualified engineers is around £25,000, but chief engineers can easily earn more than £100,000.
The average salary for a software engineer is £52,500, but the entry-level salary is also high, around £42,000. Experienced workers earn up to £75,000 per year.
What are the routes to work as an engineer?
Most traditional engineering jobs require a degree, so you can study engineering at university and then get a job, or do an internship and ‘earn while you learn’.
To progress to an engineering degree you will usually need at least two A-levels, with the most popular courses requiring three A-levels and A/B grades.
Entry requirements vary from CCC to AAA, with universities and colleges most often requesting ABB.
More information can be found at: www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/job-sectors/engineering-and-manufacturing/how-to-become-an-engineer.
To become a software engineer, you can obtain a foundation diploma, a higher national diploma or a degree in computer science. Discover the best route for you at: nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/software-developer.
What prospects are there for climbing the career ladder?
A lot of! Engineers create the systems we all need to live and work, so there will always be high-quality jobs in the sector.
Software engineers can advance to senior developers or move into related areas such as systems design, IT architecture and business systems analysis.
There is a high demand for well-paid consulting positions or you can even start your own business.
For traditional engineers, the next step is Senior Engineer, and then a direct route through related roles such as Technical Manager, Chief Engineer or Program Manager. The highest role is that of Director of Engineering.
Ready to build your own future? These are the best tech jobs on offer this week from Sun Jobs.
Software Engineer – Full Stack, Aviva, London
Looking for stacks of cash? This exciting opportunity is for you.
The job: Aviva is looking for one Software Engineer – Full Stackwith a strong programming background, based in Bristol, Norwich or London, requiring travel to the London office at least once every two weeks.
What you will do: You will deliver excellent and timely customer results through continuous development and delivery, contributing to improvements to development standards and practices with the aim of increasing delivery quality and efficiency.
You need: You have experience developing in a wide range of programming languages, and you are eager to learn and implement new languages. You have a good working knowledge of Agile and continuous implementations, DevOps and AWS, Azure or Google Cloud.
Apply now: See further details of this rolealong with other jobs Aviva.
Manufacturing Engineer, Babcock International, Plymouth
Can you produce the goods? Then this is an excellent first or second job.
The job: Babcock International is recruiting a Production engineer on the Davenport site.
What you will do: You will support maintenance, repair and overhaul activities, inventory management, technical and life support.
You need: You have proven production experience, good knowledge of engineering and production processes and a high level of computer knowledge. You will be trained to degree/ONC/HNS level, or study for a degree in a technical discipline, and have the opportunity to obtain security clearance for this role.
Apply now: Find out moreor discover more options with Babcock International.
Cloud engineer, UBS, London
This job as a cloud engineer has much more to offer than just a bright spot!
The job: Global asset manager UBS is looking for a new one Cloud engineer.
What you will do: Working collaboratively across the organization, you’ll help design and build next-generation business applications, write high-quality, reusable code, and write professional, clear, and comprehensive documentation; and apply best development and DevOps practices, making effective use of available technologies.
You need: A background in development using a major language such as Python, Golang, Java, C# or JavaScript, and proven experience using tools such as Terraform, Azure DevOps, GitLab Cl, Maven, Gradle, Jenkins and TeamCity. You are used to contributing to open- or inner-source projects and have worked with scripting languages such as Windows PowerShell and Bash.
Apply now: Apply for this positionalong with other options UBS.
Discover thousands of open vacancies for jobs across the UK now on The Sun Job Board.