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Top 5 graduate employers in the engineering, R&D and manufacturing industry

Jaymes Carr

Careers Commentator
These 5 organisations were voted into GradAustralia's Top 100 Graduate Employers. Find out who tops the list in engineering, R&D & manufacturing.

According to the 2018 Association of Australian Graduate Employers survey, businesses in the engineering, research and development (R&D), and manufacturing industries offer among the highest average graduates salaries: between $68,000 and $69,000.

The promise of good pay is important to engineering students: in the 2019 GradAustralia Top 100 Graduate Employer survey, they reported the highest salary expectations. For such a reward, competition is fierce and, indeed, engineering students also anticipate submitting more applications for graduates jobs (19) than students from any other discipline.

So where are these same determined students hoping to go? The GradAustralia survey asked respondents to vote for the 100 most appealing employers in the country, and ten from the engineering, R&D, and manufacturing sector made the list. Of those, the top five were the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) (5); Boeing (28); Airbus (32); GlaxoSmithKline (52); and Cochlear (53).

Though they have engineering, research, and manufacturing in common, the top five graduate employers in this industry otherwise suggest a range of interests and academic specialisations among students: scientific research and innovation (CSIRO); aeronautical engineering, research, and development (Boeing and Airbus); pharmaceutical development (GlaxoSmithKline); and medical/biotechnological research (Cochlear).

Another thing the top five employers have in common is a strong reputation among current graduate employees, whose views have been shared on the GradAustralia website. For example, one Boeing employee praised the company as having ‘a fantastic team and work environment.’ They added that ‘the company itself has a good reputation which will open a lot of doors.’ Graduates at the other top four organisations have offered similar feedback.

‘What we often find among engineering students is a passion for the process of research and development,’ says Geoff Adams, co-founder of GradAustralia. ‘The Top Five graduate employers in this category each appeal to students by offering them an opportunity to focus on their passion for problem-solving in a supportive, reputable, and stimulating environment.’

Visit the GradAustralia website to search for graduate employers in the engineering, R&D and manufacturing industry.