Using your degree: Chemical Engineering

Using your degree: Chemical Engineering

What do Cambridge graduates do?

Cambridge chemical engineers find their way into many careers. Key employment area are technical roles (e.g. process engineer) within power, utilities and manufacturing, engineering consultancy, finance and consulting. Typically around 15-20% of Cambridge chemical engineering graduates undertake further study (typically a Masters or PhD programme)

Will employers want my degree?

The knowledge and skills you will gain as a result of your degree will be hugely valuable to a wide variety of employers and highly sought after. However it is important to also remember the need to develop and demonstrate your transferable skills such as: communication, teamwork, project management and commercial awareness. In other words, you should be able to provide evidence of your 'softer' skills in addition to your technical expertise. This will make you a more well-rounded candidate when you come to apply for opportunities that interest you.

If considering a career as an engineer, don’t just think about what area of engineering most interests you, but also what type of company is the best fit for you. Aim to get some summer work experience to develop a feel for this. Try looking for ideas for help with identifying your personal strengths and preferences. Then search Handshake for internships, jobs or graduate schemes you are interested in.

Using my degree

Careers within engineering, technical consulting and IT, data science are popular with engineering graduates. Engineering students are also sought after in areas such as consultancy and banking. Be aware that all of these sectors have a wide variety of roles on offer, so if you are interested in a certain area of work think about what you are good at and which roles might be a good fit for you personally. Network with alumni who studied chemical engineering, work within chemical engineering or a range of other areas. You can see what they do, their career to date and contact them for further information. Use LinkedIn in a similar way.