Engineers of every discipline are much in demand both at home and abroad. Many graduates go directly into employment, but for those who wish to specialise in their chosen area of interest, there is a wide range of diplomas, higher diplomas and masters to choose from.

Engineering students are fortunate to be in a position to enter the job market immediately so are less likely to feel the need to pursue postgraduate studies. A job means money and jumping straight into your career; postgraduate study may mean more debt but demonstrates to employers your high level of commitment and your superior knowledge and skill base.

Within the engineering field, students may choose the postgraduate route because they are interested in specialising further in a particular area. Nowadays, there is a lot of competition for jobs and graduates may be tempted by postgraduate study as a way to set their CV apart from the crowd. However, employers will expect them to demonstrate the additional skills their studies have brought them.

A postgraduate qualification is also a useful tool if you are trying to change career direction and convert to another unrelated area, such as consultancy, teaching/lecturing, civil service, investment banking, law and technical writing.

What to expect

There are a huge amount of postgraduate courses to choose from in engineering at a number of institutes around the country. Collaborations with local industry are common, combining study and practical hands-on employment, and this is also another route to consider.

Depending on the provider’s resources, funding available for teaching, etc, engineering postgraduate courses may be offered as a full-time, taught one-year course or by research over two years.

An important recent educational issue in the engineering field is the implementation of the Bologna Declaration, which aimed to harmonise higher education standards in Europe. This is an important step in raising to Master degree the educational standard required of Irish engineers. In 2004, UCD launched the new ‘3+2’ engineering programme in line with the declaration. This three-year BSc (Hons) in Structural Engineering with Architecture leads on to a two-year Master of Engineering. On graduation from the Masters, students will have fulfilled the requirements needed to become a Chartered Engineer. Other universities and ITs plan to introduce similar programmes, which will provide students with the education and skills that are vital for our developing and progressing economy.

Funding

The Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (www.ircset.ie) and, in the UK, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (www.epsrc.ac.uk) provide funding for students wishing to continue with postgraduate study in engineering. It is also possible to obtain sponsorship of funding from industry if the topic being researched is of specific interest.

Written by David Casey, Careers Adviser at University College Dublin. This article appeared in postgradireland 2007.