Careers Fair sees continued increase in employer demand for top graduates

Sixty-six of the UK’s leading technology graduate recruiters will be attending the Engineering and Technology Careers Fair organized by ECS-Electronics and Computer Science and the Faculty of Physical and Applied Sciences at the University of Southampton on Tuesday 7 February.

Despite the economic downturn, and the current bleak news about graduate recruitment, highly skilled and capable graduates are still very much in demand, and Southampton students have a very strong reputation for the breadth and depth of their knowledge of different technologies, as well as for the strong mix of practical and theoretical understanding gained in their degree programmes.

This year’s Fair, the fifth in the series, is 25 per cent larger than last year’s. Companies attending will be offering graduate recruitment opportunities, as well as summer internships and industrial placements, and aiming to build relationships with students as they progress through their degrees. Many of the companies also sponsor student activities in ECS, provide prizes and awards for academic course modules, and pay regular visits to give technology presentations.

Imagination Technologies, one of the country’s leading technology companies, is a regular recruiter of ECS graduates, whose skills and knowledge fit well with the company’s needs. Its multimedia and communications semiconductor Intellectual Property (IP) cores are at the heart of today's most innovative and exciting consumer electronics products and the company relies on recruiting leading graduates.

“We believe it is critical for industry and universities to work together to mutually benefit,” says Raeeka Yassaie of Imagination Technologies. “As a company we are represented on the Industrial Liaison Board in ECS-Electronics and Computer Science. This helps us maintain a strong understanding of the teaching ECS delivers and we are also able to advise and influence so that the School can ensure it is producing graduates with the skills that industry needs.

“We attend and sponsor many events each year across UK universities with strong engineering and computing departments, including sponsorship of multiple events and attendance at a number of careers-focused activities in Southampton for ECS."

ECS has one of the UK’s best records for the employability of its graduates. In last year’s University league tables, Southampton's Electronics and Electrical Engineering employability ranking (indicating the percentage of students in graduate jobs or further training six months after graduation) was 97 per cent - the highest in the subject table.

“It’s essential that we produce graduates who have the skills and understanding to play an effective role in developing future technologies,” says Professor Neil White, Head of Electronics and Computer Science. “As a school we have worked hard over recent years to ensure that our courses are providing our students with the skills needed in the workplace. We also place a very high value on our employer liaison activity, including our annual Careers Fair and our Careers Hub web site.

“This enables students to work closely with companies who can sponsor projects and course modules, to take up summer internships and work placements in vacations, and to have the best possible information about employment opportunities.”

Over 1000 students attended last year's event, and so this year's Fair is already hotly anticipated. The event takes place in the Garden Court, Students' Union, on the Highfield Campus, from 10.45 am to 3.00 pm on Tuesday 7 February, and is open to all students in the University, with a particular emphasis on engineering and technology degrees.

This year’s Fair is sponsored by the IET – The Institution of Engineering and Technology, and the Fair helpers are sponsored by Snowflake Software, a local Southampton company.

The Fair brochure with a list of companies attending is here: http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/careers/resources/careers_fair_brochure.pdf

For further information about the Careers Fair or careers activity in the Faculty of Physical and Applied Sciences, contact Joyce Lewis; tel. +44(0)23 8059 5453.