You crammed for your exams, the Final Report (and late nights to finish it) are all a distant memory and you have emerged as proud owner of a shiny new Engineering degree. Congratulations!

Sadly, several months have now passed; you still have not secured your first engineering job in a meaningful role. Every day you get the same story, it’s because of the recession, and companies are in hard times. Perhaps you are even getting a little concerned that you will ever get a job?

Fear not, Purple Squirrel is here with some motivation and advice to get you on the first rung of the career ladder.

1.       Don’t waste too much time (now) with Recruitment Agencies

Recruitment Agencies serve a valuable purpose to connect you with future career moves, but it is highly unlikely to be them that get you into your very first job. Instead you are better served applying directly to your target companies. Companies in a recession are doing as much talent sourcing as they can in-house, all in an effort to cut costs. That means they will call the people to interview who applied directly rather than via an Agency.

2.       Make a list (a long one) of your target Engineering companies and start getting in touch with their HR team

When I was looking for my first company it was back in the 80’s recession when times were equally tough as now. Let me give you my numbers. I mailed out 200 CV’s with a nice covering letter (was in the old days before email and website uploads), followed up with phone calls and received back 50 application forms. I was invited to one interview assessment centre, where I was successful. If you play the numbers game, one of your contacts will be fruitful. You will though need to apply the same dilligence and perfection to application number 155. Spelling misstake And pooor For,matting are absolutely not allowed. No.

3.       Try not to appear desperate, only apply to relevant companies you would seriously want to work for.

Sounds obvious, but your career will last a lifetime and you will want to be happy in your work. Match your list of target companies to relevancy from your degree, personal interests and any previous work experience. So take the time to research each company that you apply to.

4.       Use industry associations and forums to get a wider list of companies to apply to

At this point in your career you will have heard of the big players, but don’t just apply to the name at the top of the proverbial food chain. In these times of full service supply, the OEM will apply pressure to the Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers to carry the project workload, so this is where many of the job openings will be found. You won’t necessarily be familiar with all the names so these industrial associations and forums are invaluable to generate a wider list of companies.

5.       Be prepared to think laterally

A generalist Mechanical or Electrical engineering degree does not prepare you for any one industry. The technical know-how is transferrable across a range of sectors. Rail industry is currently booming, Aerospace is surviving, where Automotive is struggling somewhat. Companies are placing greater dependency on their teams in low cost regions (India, Eastern Europe and China especially). Great news if that fits your cultural background or you are willing to travel. Consumers still need Medicines and Food. Renewable Energy companies are also thriving. Companies who supply a diverse range of sectors for example in tooling, packaging or fasteners are more likely to be in better shape. Expand your industry Sector horizons beyond the obvious and there will be other graduate hiring opportunities.

6.       Ensure your time waiting for employment is spent in meaningful pursuits

However tempting, do not give up and spend all day with your Wii or Playstation for company. Employers will value the individuals who were still active mentally and developing beneficial skills for their future career. Register for a Masters course; take a practitioner’s certificate in either Project Management or CAD to build upon what you were taught in University. Register as an Associate Member for your engineering accreditiation.  Consider some charity fund raising work (everyone says they will one day, few actually do), or even go travelling. Your objective is to not stop adding skills and accomplishments to your CV just because you are temporarily without employment.

Get networking, stay connected

All industries have their various annual events in London, Birmingham, Manchester and also on the University circuit. These are ideal opportunities to meet new companies and hand out CV’s. Prepare your elevator speech - the 30 second introduction to you that makes someone want to keep your CV. Read the industry specific news, subscribe to daily RSS feeds. You are looking for the positive news snippets that give the clues that a company may be starting hiring soon - they won a new contract, opening a new factory, relocating a tech centre.

These are indeed tough times and you will need to take control of your own destiny to stay on top. Do not be disheartened by the rejections, treat every day as a new day. Your perfect job will eventually be there for you.

If you felt this was helpful to you, then do email your cv to mycv@purple-squirrel.co.uk and forward this on to another graduate job hunter. Better yet, send us a note and keep in touch when you are successful to secure your new job. Good luck!

The author Yvonne Paige is a recruiter with a difference, unlike many of her peers she graduated Brunel University in Mech Eng and had a successful multi-national career in  engineering, before taking a career break for family. These days she heads up Purple Squirrel, providing specialist recruitment solutions to Engineering Companies.

The government will announce today that the agency workers’ directive will not be implemented until October or December 2011 ­ the last possible date under EU law.

We understand that minister of state for employment relations and postal affairs Pat McFadden will make a statement later today and that the draft regulations will be published this morning.

The purpose of the directive is to give agency workers some of the rights of permanent workers after 12 weeks. Under the Directive “equal treatment” relates only to basic working and employment conditions of temporary agency workers (eg pay, working time); the Directive does not affect the employment status of temporary workers.

David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC),says: “With these announcements, the government is sending out a positive message to business. Additional employment legislation would be a real barrier to job creation at a time when unemployment could approach 3 million. 

“Small businesses consistently report that new employment legislation is the area of red tape that is most harmful to growth.

“Smarter regulation - reducing the burdens on business - is opening up as a key battleground between the main political parties. This can only be good news for the UK economy.”

However it is also true, that the skills in demand are not necessarily where the previous cuts were made. The candidates that Employers want are in many cases still gainfully employed. Employees are understandably cautious about changing jobs in the current economic environment. It will be interesting to see into 2010 whether low or even zero pay rises translate into sufficient malaise to stimulate the number of workers changing employers?

So advice from Purple Squirrel in these challenging times if you are still one of the unlucky ones without work, then try to remain positive and do not see what is now happening in the industry as a reflection of your ability or future potential. Get your CV polished and register your availability. Leave your current employer on good terms and always get a reference. Sieze opportunties to retrain and extend your skill set, even register as a student and add another degree. At Purple Squirrel we will use our skills, also as former engineers, to do our very best to connect you with as many relevant job opportunities as possible. Remember that competition will be fierce so try not to lose heart.

Chief Economist at KPMG, said recently, “Despite the recent flurry of more upbeat economic news, many firms still lack confidence in the recovery and continue to expect tough times ahead.”

“Most striking is the large number of firms planning to defer or cancel pay reviews. This conservative approach indicates that business remains unconvinced that current economic green shoots will lead to sustainable healthy growth in the near term,” he said. Average pay increase expectations have dropped below the rate of inflation to 1.7 per cent.

According to the CIPD, unemployment is is still on course to top 3 million in 2010. And it is far too soon to rule out another avalanche of redundancies later in the year as companies struggle to balance their year-end books.

Purple Squirrel can see that in some specialised engineering niches, there is a hiring demand. It will be interesting to see into 2010 whether employees become disgruntled with minimal payrises and more inclined to make the leap into anew company.

skills are in demand, for now at least, cautious budget plans seem to be the way ahead.

Tough financial times have required clear and decisive action by leaders of our automotive industry. Car sales in August were for Jaguar Land Rover back to 1966 levels. Their product line is all targeted at premium and luxury vehicles typically the first to take a hit in sales during a recession. Purple Squirrel has the inside story that they are in development of a number of hybrid drive, fuel economy and downsized derivatives - but these simply can’t come quickly enough. What will be going on now behind the scenes is a prioritization of resources to advance these projects as quickly as possible.

It is the same story in Ford if not worse. They have recently cut 150 UK contractors based in Essex, are moving work from UK to North America. I also read there are discussions about selling Mazda, currently the centre of engineering for small and medium vehicles, presumably so those jobs can go back to America too?  When I worked at Ford back in 2000 they used to tell us the share price was under-valued at $14 per share. Today the share price is Ford share price is on the floor at $2.40. This crisis all started with the run on fuel prices and the banks falling earlier this year.

All of the car manufacturers are taking a hatchet to their production volumes cutting output, extended holiday shutdowns. The automotive industry leaders that I talk have already cut their contractors and cut back on plans for expansions. For now they are trying to hold the ship together and reduce the fixed and variable cost base as much as possible.

A recession such as which we are now seeing will soon have the “Ripple Effect” not just through the logistics and supply chain but also beyond.  Obviously families now facing the prospect of reduced or no income, will not be hitting the shops no matter how tempting the sales, but it goes much further. Leisure sector, housing, holiday sector, even into nursery schools who will see a drop in demand if now one parent will be home to take care of children. One wonders how deep it will go and when the turnaround can come?

Employers have faced difficult times since the credit crunch, rising fuel prices and wider economic and confidence worries really took effect last year. Automotive industry had it’s worst August for new registrations since 1966. Automotive production output is being scaled back. This uncertainty is being reflected by new recruitment plans being put on hold and with slightly more employers now looking to reduce their staffing numbers than add to them.

Many employers anticipated these more challenging conditions and have taken steps to ensure their businesses are as robust as possible. Employers have also focused on training and improving workforce productivity. Even as we see redundancies in the labour market, the majority of employers want to avoid reducing their workforce. This should allow them to benefit from any pick-up in the economy.

It is not clear how long the current business climate will last. In the current conditions, it is not surprising that many businesses are not predicting any increase in hiring and are using temporary and contract workers to meet short-term demands.

The programme is part of the UK government’s Technology Strategy Board recent allocation of funding of £23 million for 16 innovative low carbon vehicle development programmes.

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“The website now provides Jobseekers, Employers and Contractors with online access to our range of recruitment services, says Yvonne Paige, Proprietor and Recruitment Director”.

A former successful Engineering, Programme and Business Development Manager, she has previously held high visibility posts in some of the world’s largest corporations. “After I had my family I just wasn’t satisfied with the level of roles accessible to me. Like many people I have always privately wanted to start my own business. Recruitment is an ideal way for me to use my industry experience to the benefit of my former peers and colleagues, 95% of companies struggle to find candidates for their job vacancies. The UK credit crunch is making that situation worse as people are fearful about their ability to sell and relocate for a new job and yet many potential candidates are struggling with fuel prices and long commutes.

I am always being asked why on earth I picked the name ‘Purple Squirrel’. Well all industries have jargon, recruitment is no different. I learned that a Purple Squirrel was the recruiter’s term for an elusive candidate with the exact qualifications to match the client role. I immediately liked the fact that it was different, memorable and a name I could build a brand around.

Purple Squirrel is definately a career choice and I am hugely optimistic and positive about the future.”