Graduating with a 2.2 in Civil Engineering, What career options do I have?

I'm not sure this is right. Most engineering firms require 2:1 these days. And on top of that quite a few require masters. There are some that accept 2:2s though and yes what's you've got the job, won't matter really your degree classification.

Undertaking a masters might be an advantage here OP.

Are these companies in South Asia international companies that operate in the UK? Because it's always a good bet asking companies for jobs that you have already done work experience for.

Going abroad to work for a bit might help, there's more engineering jobs outside of UK, and having got a good degree at a good uni would be attractive. Once you've done a bit of work and got the experience, then you could easily come back to the UK. Maybe work in South Asia for the companies you've done work experience for?

I've also heard unis bump up degree classifications if you're only a bit out? Have you talked to the uni about it?

Bottom 10%, is that an official figure?

Partly because believe it or not it's a f'ing hard degree (all disciplines) hence a 2:2 isn't all that bad, partly because there's hardly any engineers hence employers can't be picky and partly because exams in engineering don't really test your applied ability, it only really tests the theory part. The theory is of course important but some people perform far better when actually applying their learned knowledge to projects than they do explaining it on a piece of paper.

I studied computer science, probably just as difficult - you cant get away with a 2:2.

Yes, but unfortunately comp sci grads aren't that sought after atm for whatever reason.

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2727591&highlight=computer+science

I don't think this assumption is correct, there is a huge demand for programmers especially given that a lot of things are electronic nowadays.

Yes, but unfortunately comp sci grads aren't that sought after atm for whatever reason.

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2727591&highlight=computer+science

I've been told that it's partly because people have comp sci degree but cannot actually programme properly. Or that companies give the job to physics or maths grads who cannot programme at all.

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Whoever told you that is wrong.

Considering that most of the modules are programming based, there is no way you can get a 2.1 in CS if you can't program. The one's that can't - drop out.

Well he's met people who really cannot programme. In fact he's sat in an interview and someone with a high 2.1 from a respectable university said they cannot programme without a book in front of them. (I've read to him what you said and he stands by what he said)

That's the problem, right there.

It is well known that the top unis for CS are too theoretical.

I studied in Aberdeen, we had guys from Edinburgh/St Andrews transfer to my degree course from theirs because theirs was way too theoretical.

Probably (wouldn't know since I've never studied CS) but companies tend to go for those who graduated from 'good' unis so essentially hiring those who cannot programme.

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Aberdeen is a good uni, just not top.

Ironically, it is really good for engineering - North sea, oil and gas industry.

Same with Swansea (person who said what I mentioned earlier went to Swansea) but some companies would take into consideration better ranking uni over actual skills.

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Yeah, well, don't moan then if you are not getting the best programmers.

To be fair though, if someone goes through a CS degree and cannot program, it is shocking. They should at least be better then a physicist who just does matlab.

A good CS degree requires you to learn Object oriented principles as well as learn multiple languages.

When I did my degree I had to write a **** load of code.

Yeah. Unfortunately that's why the good ones could be unemployed.

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The whole system is a mess tbh.

Graduates in general are finding it hard.

The good thing for IT guys, is that the start up scene is starting to boom - worked on a project, got nominated for awards, competitors are now copying my work. So they should look beyond so called "top companies".

Still amazes me how engineers get away with 2.2s though.

Yeah. I know someone who got a low 2.2 in physics and was offered an engineering job but someone with a first in MEng couldn't get anything.

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They must be pretty damn incompetent if they can't get a job with a 1st class MEng.

Thanks for your response. The company I worked for is actually an international company (mainly Middle East and South Asia), but not really specialised in Engineering. They're a plastic company that also has sub-divisions in civil engineering. And boosting the grade up is something I considered right on the day of my results. Tried very much but needed to have a higher average at least one of the semesters, which didn't quite work out. But that's pretty much out.

Also, I've heard from quite a few people that getting a 2:2 in engineering is far better than getting a 2:2 in pretty much any other courses.