Where should I work in the UK?

[Freak'n Big Panda]

Hey guys, I'm going to be graduating with a degree in computer engineering at the end of the summer and I need to start applying to jobs. I'm looking for something graphics related in either hardware or software. I checked out PowerVR but apparently they have some rule where they only hire EU grads? What is the deal with that? Seems to be against their best interest as a company. The only other company I've checked out is ARM, and I'm going to be applying to a bunch of their positions within the next few days.

Anyways I'm looking for suggestions as to what companies I should be applying to.

Thanks

 

[PixResearch]

AFAIK the UK government changed the rules on hiring grads from outside of europe in summer 2010. Every UK company can now only hire a limited number of non EU citizens each year...

This change has tended to mean that the small number of places each company is allowed to use for non EU citizens get saved for more senior hires or for specific skills. I'm sure all the companies in the UK would welcome applications if you have a special skill they require, relevant experience or higher qualifications. Hiring general grads from outside the UK isn't trivial though. Tbh, I think most of the high skill employers in the UK aren't too delighted by the change because a lot of their skill base came from outside the UK before the rules were changed. It's not just the computing/electronics industry who're affected. It also won't be limited to just ARM and PowerVR/Imagination Technologies but is a UK wide thing.


In terms of where to work... Assuming you can get past the tier 2 visa limits as a non EU citizen - then realistically you want to aim for the area around London, Cambridge and Oxford (i.e. the south east of the country). That's the "silicon valley" of the UK. There are of course lots of companies doing well across the country and doing interesting work and there's a thriving academic community but in terms of income and the density of people doing what you're interested in - London is pretty much the gravitational centre. Both Arm and PowerVR are based in this tech area.

 

[Grall]

If I had the tiniest chance in hell of getting hired, I'd apply to CERN... The stuff they do is hella interesting and cutting edge.

 

[Freak'n Big Panda]

No way I'd get hired by CERN... I don't even find what they do to be that interesting TBH. Feels like they're at a dead end.

 

[KimB]

No way I'd get hired by CERN... I don't even find what they do to be that interesting TBH. Feels like they're at a dead end.

At a dead end? They're just getting started with the LHC, which is a huge project, and there are also a number of other projects. And they also hire quite a few software engineers.

But regardless, whatever you do, send out a lot of applications, because in the current jobs climate, you can't really afford to be picky.

 

[Freak'n Big Panda]

Really? None of my friends have had any issues. Regardless I'd rather not work then get a shitty job, quite seriously. Shitty jobs where you aren't advancing your career and or learning anything are a huge huge waste of time & energy.

 

[KimB]

Really? None of my friends have had any issues. Regardless I'd rather not work then get a shitty job, quite seriously. Shitty jobs where you aren't advancing your career and or learning anything are a huge huge waste of time & energy.

Well, I don't know what the unemployment rate is like in Canada, but in the US the unemployment rate among recent graduates is around 16%. And bear in mind that not getting a job will also be very damaging to your career.

At any rate, I obviously wouldn't suggest doing anything that you'd really hate. But I would suggesting thinking very hard about not narrowing your focus too much.

 

[Freak'n Big Panda]

I would only be unemployed for four months or less after graduating. I dont think that would have any effect on my career really. id lose my shit if I had to do applications engineering or something along those lines, im going to hold out until I get something with actual design work.

 

[RudeCurve]

With zero experience you might be better off doing internship...

There are a lot of Engineers with real experience that are out of work at least here in the US.

 

[Davros]

Madame Fifi's escorts...

 

[Freak'n Big Panda]

I do have experience via the Co-Op program @ my university

 

[manux]

I do have experience via the Co-Op program @ my university

It's not much when you might be competing with much more senior people for the same jobs.

My advice is that try applying first to equally demanding but less interesting positions/companies and use the interviews and whole process to improve your interview skills. After practice round you know what your value is in job market+you know how the interviewing process works. This should make it much more likely for you to succeed when applying for your "dream" position.

 

[Mintmaster]

Well, I don't know what the unemployment rate is like in Canada, but in the US the unemployment rate among recent graduates is around 16%.

Well, that includes a lot of arts degrees that aren't very useful. People with professional degrees, like computer engineering, are much better off.

Here's what the picture looks like overall (so not just recent grads):
http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm (not sure how the got 8.2% average unemployment when their own data shows >9% for 2010, but whatever...)

For comparison, this is what it was like in the past:
2003 - http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2004/fall/oochart.pdf
1998 - http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/1999/Fall/oochart.pdf
(I'm having a hard time finding data for all years that separates masters, professional, and doctoral from general higher level education...)

Those with professional degrees are doing fine right now, and only have 0.7% higher unemployment than the good old days of 4.8% general unemployment in 2003. Basic bachelor degrees are +2.1%, associate degrees +3.0%, high school grads are +4.8%, high school dropouts are +6.1%.

The recession is clearly not very uniform in its impact...

 

[KimB]

Well, that includes a lot of arts degrees that aren't very useful. People with professional degrees, like computer engineering, are much better off.

Here's what the picture looks like overall (so not just recent grads):
http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm (not sure how the got 8.2% average unemployment when their own data shows >9% for 2010, but whatever...)

For comparison, this is what it was like in the past:
2003 - http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2004/fall/oochart.pdf
1998 - http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/1999/Fall/oochart.pdf
(I'm having a hard time finding data for all years that separates masters, professional, and doctoral from general higher level education...)

Those with professional degrees are doing fine right now, and only have 0.7% higher unemployment than the good old days of 4.8% general unemployment in 2003. Basic bachelor degrees are +2.1%, associate degrees +3.0%, high school grads are +4.8%, high school dropouts are +6.1%.

The recession is clearly not very uniform in its impact...

It's basically always the case that those with good educations do better than those without, and this is especially the case during an economic downturn.

The point of focusing on recent graduates is that they don't have much experience, so they are often beaten out by the large number of unemployed but experienced workers.

 

[GMâ„¢]

Taking PowerVR and ARM out of the equation you could do far worse than pick any Town or City along the M4 corridor in South-East England. Reading, Slough, Newbury and Swindon in particular are home to all leading tech companies, such as Intel, Microsoft, NVIDIA, SGI and Vodaphone, Out of interest have you tried sending your CV to NVIDIA UK in Theale, Reading? You never know what opportunities that could throw up.

 

[Mariner]

Good Lord. You're actually recommending somebody moves to Slough of all places?

Just kidding.

 

[cjo]

Good Lord. You're actually recommending somebody moves to Slough of all places?

Just kidding.

I very almost posted exactly the same thing, but without the "Just Kidding", and a reference to the poem which begins "Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough! It isn't fit for humans now" by John Betjeman. I grew up there, and wouldn't go back

Vodafone is a (relatively) nice place to work, with a good campus in Newbury, but when I was there the R&D department did nothing related to computer graphics - the closest thing that I was aware of was an encryption scheme for mobile TV. Lots of their work was based on standards related stuff - they certainly weren't doing anything related to mobile phone graphics (in either hardware or software), they tended to leave that anything like that to the phone manufacturers.

 

[Mintmaster]

It's basically always the case that those with good educations do better than those without, and this is especially the case during an economic downturn.

I'll bring this to another thread to avoid making this thread into a political/socioeconomic one.

The point of focusing on recent graduates is that they don't have much experience, so they are often beaten out by the large number of unemployed but experienced workers.

Yeah, but my point is that there aren't many unemployed engineers, doctors, etc right now. When everyone with professional degrees are feeling the recession much less than everyone bachelors and associate degrees, I guarantee you that when you restrict yourself to recent grads you'll see the same thing.

I doubt more than 5% of recently graduated engineers are having trouble finding a job. My own and Freakin Big Panda's experience reflects that.

 

[GMâ„¢]

Good Lord. You're actually recommending somebody moves to Slough of all places?

Just kidding.

Only to work, not to live there. I wouldnt wish that on my worst enemies.

 

[MrGaribaldi]

Have you thought about ARM Norway? They are actively looking for people
Trondheim jobs
Salaries should be quite good, being Norway, and Trondheim is a nice city not too expensive.

Or in ARM Sweden in Lund.
Neither should have any problems with non-EU graduates.

Might also want to try direct contact with graphics related companies, be it Tomas Akenine-Möllers group at Intel, located in Lund Sweden, research companies like Sintef.no in Oslo or Trondheim (hetcomp.com) or Simula.no in Oslo Norway (if you like GPGPU), or game companies that focuses on graphics like EA Dice, Crytek etc.

Crytek is good in that all positions allows you extend the engine with personal projects. Dice has something similar with friday work, or so I understand.

If you haven't gotten an interesting job offer by the start of august, you could do worse than attend Siggraph in Toronto. The job fair might not be the largest, but the people you meet in the halls...

Anyways, just a few ideas you probably have thought about before. Good luck with the job hunting!

EDIT> I realise these are not UK jobs, but all companies I've listed should have English as working language (a bit unsure about swedish Intel though) and at least the norwegian ones should not have any problems hiring people from Canada.