Over the past five years, the number of graduates entering the defence industry has been declining steadily and many of the sector’s top employers have struggled to fill entry-level vacancies. But with employment prospects for university leavers in other areas looking more and more uncertain, there is expected to be a resurgence of interest in defence careers in the coming months.

One of the key problems in the sector is a shortage of engineering and technical graduates. Data from the UK Graduate Careers Survey 2008, a nationwide study of this year’s new graduates produced by High Fliers Research, shows that more than a third of those who had studied engineering had no intention of working as engineers. They opted for better paid City banking or consulting positions. With fewer of these alternative jobs on offer next year, this dropout rate for graduate engineers is expected to fall.

This is welcome news for the defence industry. Almost a fifth of the jobs on offer from employers in the latest edition of The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers are for defence- related roles, and graduate vacancies in the sector are expected to increase by about 10 per cent next year compared with this year’s levels. This is in marked contrast to the wider graduate employment market, where vacancies are expected to fall by 1 per cent.

The largest defence recruiters are the Armed Forces, which are set to take on at least 2,000 new officers in the next 12 months, and BAE Systems, which plans to hire about 300 graduates for its defence businesses.Rolls-Royce, the aero engine manufacturer, and QinetiQ, a defence technology and security company, are each looking for 150-170 graduates, while the Ministry of Defence’s civilian Defence Engineering and Science Group and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory are expected to take on at least 200 recruits in the year ahead.

For those interested in working in intelligence, there will be up to 500 vacancies at GCHQ, the Government’s communications headquarters, and at MI5. Both recruit a wide range of technical and non-technical graduates, including mathematicians, linguists, surveillance officers and electronics technicians.

Starting salaries in the defence industry vary considerably but those joining the best-known employers can expect to earn between £22,000 and £30,000. Recruitment for next year has begun at many organisations and early application is advised.

Martin Birchall is managing director of High Fliers Research

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