Today's employers are looking for more than just high academic achievers in their new recruits. They are seeking highly adaptable individuals who are equipped both with a deeper understanding of their chosen field and with the knowledge, skills and wherewithal to operate on both a national and international level. They are also seeking employees who demonstrate a willingness and commitment to skills updating and continual professional development. Some employers see graduate study as indicative of a student's commitment to ongoing professional development and learning new skills throughout their working life.

Graduate Study

In today's competitive recruitment market mechanical engineering graduates eager to succeed and climb the career ladder have to think carefully about the best way to improve their employment prospects and keep abreast of today's cutting edge technology. One option is to embark on a graduate course in engineering.

The number of engineering graduates taking a second degree has been growing in recent years. Many do so because they want to improve their employment prospects. For others it is a foundation for further learning and an opportunity to specialise in a different subject area because of a late, newfound interest in a particular field. Although a second degree does not automatically guarantee future employment success, or a more prestigious and highly paid job, statistics do indicate that the employment prospects of students with graduate degrees are improved.

While some companies regard second degrees as irrelevant, preferring industrial experience to higher qualifications, many now stipulate a graduate degree as a prerequisite to moving up the responsibility ladder. This is driven in part by the increasingly global nature of the employment market and by the rapid pace of technological change.

The Opportunities and the Benefits

Studying Mechanical Engineering at graduate level is not an easy option. It involves a great deal of hard work and determination, but for those who decide to go down this route the opportunities and benefits are numerous. Apart from improving job prospects and gaining a competitive advantage in the job market graduate study offers an opportunity to:

Acquire a necessary qualification for a further career move;
Gain deeper specialist knowledge in a chosen field;
Develop completely new skills, and expand on others;
Broaden one's horizons and depth of understanding;
Gain a better understanding of companies in various engineering and geographical sectors;
Do industrial or academic research and learn research methodology;
Play a key role and make an impact on a company and one's own development.

In addition, for those students opting to study a graduate degree (in part or in whole) in a different country from their country of origin, it provides an opportunity to study and develop expertise in a foreign language, and gain insight into and knowledge of a different country's culture and systems. In fact, mechanical engineers with language skills who have worked in more than one country are becoming increasingly sought after, particularly as many companies now have international partners or subsidiaries.

Where Should I Study?

Education systems, standards and qualifications vary from country to country. There are definite benefits to be gained from studying for a postgraduate qualification in a different country, particularly for students living in a country where training in a particular subject to advanced level is lacking. However when opting to study abroad, it is important to select somewhere where the standard of education is known to be high and the final postgraduate qualification is one that is internationally recognised. The UK is a popular choice among foreign postgraduate students for this reason. UK universities are acknowledged as being among some of the best in the world in terms of the standards and quality of their postgraduate courses and the research posts that are on offer.

UK graduate qualifications include an MSc, the Integrated Graduate Development Scheme (IGDS), MBA (Master of Business Administration) and an MPhil, MRes or PhD undertaken by research. Students have access to the latest publications and equipment and many of the UK university graduate engineering modules are structured to provide an international element; for example, Sheffield Hallam University offers a module on International Product Development, which involves Mechanical Engineers working on European wide products and liasing with different companies abroad.

Many students chose to study for their graduate qualification in the UK because it enables them to experience the British culture and improve their working and spoken English, now used universally in the business world.

Undertaking postgraduate study in the UK can be particularly beneficial to foreign students if they have the opportunity to forge links with a company in the UK that also operates in their own country. They can then act as a liaison person for that company when they return home.

Likewise UK companies and universities try to maintain links with students once they have qualified and returned home because it encourages good working relationships and builds good communication networks throughout the global market.

In some instances international students stay on for a time after they have completed their course, continuing to work for the company they have been involved with during their study period.

Funding and grants are available for foreign students wishing to study in the UK through various scholarships and charitable trusts, via Universities and some Institutions as well as the British Government and British Council Award Schemes. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, for example, has a number of scholarships available including the Clayton Grants for members undertaking graduate studies or research in mechanical engineering at an approved centre. European funding is also available under the European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students - the Socrates Erasmus Scheme. The UK Erasmus Council provides top-up grants for some 10,000 students each year who are doing a degree in the UK and part of their degree in another country. All UK universities and every country in Europe, apart from Switzerland are part of the scheme and graduate degrees in Mechanical Engineering are among those particularly encouraged.

The UK welcomes foreign students, and last year in a campaign to encourage more international students to study here the British Government and British Council introduced a package of changes designed to make the process of applying to study in the UK faster and simpler. These include making visa arrangements more user-friendly and easing restrictions on taking paid employment. They are also reducing the need for international students to reapply for leave to remain in the UK whilst studying. In addition the Chevening Scholarship Scheme is to be expanded with funding from government, universities and business to support an extra 500 scholarships on top of the current 2200 students.

About the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE)

Founded in 1847, IMechE is the market leader in the field of mechanical engineering, manufacturing and allied technologies, and has approximately 83,000 members in 120 countries. Playing a vital role in the education, training and professional development of mechanical engineers, IMechE acts as an international centre for the development and transfer of mechanical engineering technology.

Membership of IMechE is recognised professionally throughout the world. Members and Fellows are recognised as 'Chartered Mechanical Engineers', and are given exemption from part or all of the professional registration examinations in many countries that have statutory requirements.