Which engineering employers offer summer internships or industrial placements?

Relevant work experience isn’t essential for getting a graduate engineering job – however, it certainly helps. TARGETjobs Engineering’s recent Student Survey found that finding a placement was a major worry for undergraduate engineers, so we’ve put together a quick guide to opportunities offered by leading UK engineering employers. You’ll find both summer internship and industrial placement options.

Engineering internships for summer vacations

Of the 16 leading engineering employers featured in TARGETjobs' employer insights, 13 offer summer internships of some description. Some are open to any student, while others are limited to those who have just finished their penultimate year.

• AB Agri: does not appear to offer summer placements.
• Airbus: a summer placement scheme is offered, though places are limited.
• Atkins: summer placements are available for students at any stage in their degree.
• Babcock: offers a ten-to-twelve-week summer internship programme.
• BAE Systems: does not appear to offer summer placements.
• BP: runs an 11-week summer internship for students in their penultimate year of undergraduate or postgraduate study (some internships are also open to third-year students undertaking a five-year sandwich course).
• E.ON: sometimes runs summer placements on an ad hoc basis, but has no official scheme.
• Jaguar Land Rover: offers a three-month summer internship.
• Mott MacDonald: offers around 100 vacation placements, ranging from several weeks up to 12 weeks.
• National Grid: a number of 12-to-14-week internships are available to students during the summer between their penultimate and final years at university.
• Network Rail: does not appear to offer summer placements.
• npower: offers around 10 summer internships, but comments that these will be filled mainly by candidates who have previously participated in the company’s Energy Challenge and Future Leaders competitions.
• Rolls-Royce: runs summer placements that tend to last between 10 and 12 weeks.
• Shell: runs an internship scheme for university students in their penultimate or final year of study, typically lasting eight weeks over the summer.
• Siemens: has a limited number of summer placements.
• Transport for London: offers summer placements in mechanical engineering or civil engineering.

Additional employers offering summer placements include Dialog Semiconductor, Imagination Technologies and Lloyd’s Register.

Engineering industrial placements

Currently 13 out of the 16 engineering companies featured in the employer insights offer sandwich year placements for engineering students. Typically these last for 12 months, although in some cases they can be shorter. Some are restricted to penultimate year students, while others are more flexible.

• AB Agri: does not appear to offer year in industry placements.
• Airbus: placements of six to 12 months are available to undergraduates. It is also possible for final-year students (including masters students) to take a placement lasting between five and six months.
• Atkins: industrial placements between eight and 12 months long are available for students who require a year in industry as part of a sandwich course.
• Babcock: sandwich course placements of six months or one year are available.
• BAE Systems: one year industrial placements are available.
• BP: runs year-long industrial placements for students in their penultimate year of undergraduate or postgraduate study (some placements are also open to third-year students undertaking a five-year sandwich course).
• E.ON: runs 48-week work experience placements.
• Jaguar Land Rover: offers 12-month industrial placements.
• Mott MacDonald: has 30 industrial placements each year throughout the UK in a range of disciplines, lasting between six and 12 months.
• National Grid: provides one-year placements designed to fit into sandwich courses.
• Network Rail: is not currently offering engineering placement years (although IT ones are available).
• npower: offers ten one-year placements to penultimate-year students.
• Rolls-Royce: provides placements of six to 12 months. These can be either part of a sandwich degree course or as general industry experience, and can start at different times of year depending on university schedule and availability.
• Shell: runs industrial placements for university students in their penultimate or final year of study. These typically last for 12 months, although they can be shorter.
• Siemens: offers a limited number of one-year placements, to be taken as part of a sandwich course.
• Transport for London: has one-year placements in transport planning or project management for university students in their penultimate or final year of study. However, neither programme is specific to engineering.

Additional employers offering year in industry placements or similar include Dialog Semiconductor, Imagination Technologies, Schlumberger, Thales and Vauxhall.

Other work experience opportunities

Two recruiters featured in the employer insights also offer other work experience opportunities for student engineers.

• Airbus: has some international placements lasting three to 12 months that are available to UK applicants, though these are restricted to students who speak the relevant language.
• National Grid: holds an eight week ‘Power Academy’ course open to undergraduates studying a suitable engineering degree from one of National Grid’s partner universities: Bath, Cardiff, Imperial College, Manchester, Queen’s University Belfast, Southampton, or Strathclyde.

Getting an engineering job without work experience

Employers’ views differ as to how important it is for graduate scheme applicants to have engineering work experience. A number point out that, while they value it, they are very happy to consider graduates who can demonstrate the required competences by drawing on other areas of their lives. These might include extra-curricular activities, voluntary work, part-time jobs or work experience outside engineering.

See the TARGETjobs employer insights for full details of the competences engineers need for graduate schemes, and the work experience opportunities offered by leading engineering recruiters.