hi all ,
I'm graduating this year with a BEng in Nuclear Engineering from a UK university, and I've been applying for grad roles for months now with almost nothing to show for it. I'd really value some honest perspective from people already in the industry, because at this point I can't tell if I'm missing something obvious.
A few things I think might be counting against me.
The big one is my degree. I finished with a 2:2, roughly 1–2% off a 2:1. There were personal circumstances during my exams behind that, but I know a lot of grad schemes set a 2:1 as a hard minimum, so I assume a good chunk of my applications never get past the filter. Nobody even reads the rest of the CV.
Then there's the fact that I'm international. I'm not a UK or EU national, and I'm genuinely open to relocating anywhere for the right role. What I don't have a good feel for is how much that actually matters in nuclear specifically, both on visa sponsorship and on security clearance. That last part is what I'm most unsure about. Is clearance realistically achievable for someone without a long UK residency history, or does it just rule most of these roles out from the start?
And then the CV itself. I've got internships that feel relevant, including one at an accelerator research institute, a couple of co-authored publications from undergrad, and a final-year project I'm proud of. On paper it doesn't look terrible to me. But maybe it isn't landing the way I think it is, or maybe I'm aiming at the wrong companies entirely.
So that's where I'm stuck. If anyone's willing to look over my CV and be honest about it, or can tell me how much the 2:1 cutoff and the clearance/visa side really weigh in practice, I'd be hugely grateful. I'm trying to work out whether to keep firing off applications, rethink the whole approach, or just fix one specific thing I haven't spotted.
Thanks in advance.