The demand for engineers from overseas with a work visa, and British or EU passport in many specialisations is strong. The challenge is to uncover the opportunities that best match your experience because the projects and employers tend to operate a little differently.
The Opportunity
Employment Scope
A variety of project sizes and specialisations allow you to leverage your experience and advance your career.
Demand
Most qualified engineers with more than two years of experience will do well in the UK.
Lifestyle
You can choose to balance work with travel or focus only on work while you are in the UK.
Before we proceed, here’s an interview I conducted with Alex Wraith from Amida Recruitment in the UK, where we discuss the demand for engineering recruitment and the trends within the UK market
Because engineering is so diverse and specialized, many skills you learn at home can often be applied to different fields or projects. This has its challenges but also great rewards. A classic example is a mining engineer with planning experience. Many engineers have strong planning or project management skills, leading to contract positions in a wide range of projects, such as the £14.8B Crossrail tunnelling project, despite there being no significant mining industry in the UK. Although many positions are contract, you can expect to earn between £36,000 – £ 55,000 per annum depending on your position, experience, and work location.
In general, civil engineers have opportunities in various sectors like construction and transportation. Mechanical engineers will find opportunities in sectors like aerospace, automotive, construction, and manufacturing. Electrical engineers can find roles in diverse fields like utility companies and electronics. All engineering offers a variety of career paths depending on experience and specialization.
Roads and Highways
If you have good experience you can find work in consultancies, construction, government in roads, highways, drainage design, or project management. Positions are available with local authorities, private consultancies, or roads and highways associations.
Relevant software to know: AutoCAD 2D and 3D, Civil3D / PDS / MircroDrainage or other equivalent software
Desirable Knowledge: Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB), S278 Agreement and S38 Agreement
Continue reading: Essential Guide for Roadways & Highways Jobs
Traffic and Transport
The traffic and transportation recruitment industry is thriving. Many of the upcoming projects in the UK aim to upgrade and construct new road networks and bridges and thus require transport engineers.
Recruitment agencies frequently offer excellent positions with good potential earnings. Pay rates are relatively high, and opportunities are available across the UK. Both contract and permanent roles are typically available with private consultancies or within local government departments.
Relevant software to know: AutoCAD, Junctions 9 and LinSig, Civils 3D
Continue reading: Essential Guide for Traffic & Transport
Water
Large asset management and network redevelopment projects are nearly always underway because the UK’s water and sewerage network systems are old and constantly need attention.
Regional Water Authorities manage assets and services in their areas. Positions are available with these water authorities or with engineering consultancies on secondment to water authorities for specific projects.
Available opportunities and positions: Employment opportunities are available for those with experience in designing and planning sewerage or water treatment, water network hydraulics, leakage detection techniques, monitoring/reporting of leakage levels and other issues associated with the clean water industry. Available positions can be located in private engineering consultancies or local government engineering departments.
Relevant software to know: Micro Drainage, ArcGIS, Storm Water Management Model, MODFLOW, Hydrus, GeoHECRAS or equivalent software.
Continue reading: Essential Guide for Water
Geotechnical
Geotechnical engineering is an area of intermittent recruitment activity from both a design office as well as a site-based perspective. Design positions exist with many engineering consultancies and local government authorities. Site-based positions are as consultant’s representatives or with contractors on-site with earthworks and other related geotechnical works.
Available opportunities and positions: Skill shortage is the main concern in the geotechnical industry as experienced geotechnical engineers are retiring. This creates exciting opportunities for you to become a geotechnical engineer in the UK. Opportunities can be found majorly in the private sector such as construction organisations or consultancies. Oil and gas companies and environmental consultancies also recruit geotechnical engineers. The demand for entry-level geotechnical roles is thriving driven by the increasing need to repurpose land and existing buildings.
Continue reading: Essential Guide for Geotechnical
Structural Engineering
Structural Engineering Positions are continually available for candidates with experience in the design of civil, infrastructure and building structures.
Civil design projects include infrastructure such as bridges and tunnels as well as buildings of all descriptions from stadiums to multi-storey commercial. Skills and experience in design, project management and draughting of structural steel, and reinforced concrete components (including RC Detailing)are always in demand for all types of projects for engineering jobs.
Available opportunities and positions: Jobs continuously available include Bridge Design Engineers, Tunnel Design Engineers, Building Design Engineers, Structural REVIT technicians, Structural CAD technicians and Project Engineers with construction management experience.
Relevant software to know: ETABS, SAP 2000, STAAD PRO, SPACE GASS, Microstation, Microsoft Project, AutoCAD and Autodesk
Continue reading: Essential Guide for Structural Engineering
Mechanical and Electrical
Within the Mechanical and Electrical engineering discipline, building services design engineers are traditionally in demand; particularly for commercial, office and institutional (Health, Education) projects. Projects include new-build and refurbishments and can be located throughout the UK, though they do tend to be available mostly in the greater London and Midlands and North West (Birmingham up to Manchester) area.
Available Opportunities: Engineering firms are running short on qualified candidates as the need for green engineering grows. Engineers are key in creating solutions to combat climate change. Green engineering encompasses a wide sector and this includes mechanical and electrical engineers. It is important to note that recruitment agencies will often have specialist consultants for sub-sectors of engineering industries.
Rail
The UK has an extensive rail network that requires constant maintenance and expansion. Positions can be with private engineering consultancies, publicly owned entities or within government. Projects can require rail-specific experience or can be more general construction projects where a range of backgrounds is suitable.
Previous experience required: While previous experience in rail is ideal, backgrounds and skills which can be transferred to the rail industry, including general construction site work as project engineer, project manager, site engineer etc particularly with skills in scheduling and planning, or estimating and cost management, can be beneficial as well. Rail positions are often filled by engineers who have worked in a safety-critical environment on electrical or mechanical projects such as signalling, ventilation and tunnelling projects.
How to Prepare
Formatting Your Resume
- Be Specific: Be sure your resume includes specific details about your project experience. The most common challenge for recruitment consultants is ‘not enough information or detail!’ For each project, indicate the type of project, the work carried out, your job position, your duties and responsibilities, the approximate project value, the duration, and the project result if applicable.
- Relevant Software Skills: It is very useful to include the industry software packages with which you are familiar or proficient – either under each project or in a separate ‘Relevant Software Skills’ section.
For more assistance on British resumes in engineering — see our section on How to Write a Resume.
- Include a Maximum of 5-6 Projects: If you have far too many projects to list, please choose five or six representative projects.
- Tailor Your Resume for Each Application: If the scope of your project experience seems too wide – you are better off leaving information on and your UK recruitment consultant can tailor your experience to a given job.
For a degree-qualified engineer you will ideally be qualified or have 1-2 year’s solid experience in your home country. The possible exception to this rule is if you hold an EU passports or Ancestry Visa where you can be considered for permanent positions on an equal footing with your British recent graduate counterparts.
Table of Contents
FAQs
Answers to some questions you might have
How much will I earn?
Most entry-level engineers with a high-profile employer can get around £25,000 to £32,000 per year. While salaries from small and medium-sized or regional employers tend to be slightly lower, often between £20,000 and £25,000.
Those arriving for work with over four years of experience may expect their contract salaries to start around £30,000 to £40,000 per year. It is also important to note that your contract rates (hourly) often increase relatively quickly as you gain experience.
Specialist Engineers and Project Planners, or those with skills and experience in high demand, can sometimes start on relatively high contract rates, or permanent salaries without having British experience. Examples in the current market include Structural Design, Traffic and Transport, Water Modelling, Project Planning, Rail, Tunnelling, Quantity Surveying and Estimating.
How soon should I start registering with agencies to find a job?
You can register with agencies who will guide you to ideal opportunities close to when you arrive; however, because the demand for engineers is strong, you likely can find a job within a few weeks of registering and arriving in the UK. Generally, the earlier you apply, the greater amount of jobs you’ll be able to explore before deciding on which is best for you.
Is there currently a high demand for Engineers in the UK?
Yes! The market for engineers across multiple industries is strong. If you’re a qualified and experienced engineer from overseas, this means the likelihood of you finding an engineering job in the UK is high, especially when you register with agencies that have a long list of available opportunities.
Where are engineering jobs located in the UK?
Engineering jobs are available throughout the UK but are most heavily concentrated in and around London. Different specialisations will be more common in certain areas than others. For instance, mechanical and electrical engineers find the most opportunities in London, Bristol, and Manchester.
What's the easiest way to find an engineering job in the UK?
You have three options:
- Registering with recruitment agencies
- Applying for jobs
Because researching on your own can be quite a hassle, we suggest registering with agencies. Agencies can get to know you, your skill set, your experience and the kind of lifestyle you’d like to lead during your working holiday and connect you with the opportunities they’ve already put in work to find.
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