What do employers say about ITS?
…we have recruited more UK and overseas students from ITS than any other academic institution…
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“Jacobs has a long-standing commitment to recruit postgraduate students
from major UK universities. Each year we employ up to 20 postgraduate students, in transport planning
and economics, into our UK offices. Over the years we have recruited more UK and overseas students
from the Institute for Transport Studies than any other academic institution. This reflects the high calibre
of candidates we receive from ITS and the success we have in integrating these students into our
project teams. We have found ITS postgraduates to have a sound knowledge of the underlying theory
and practice of transport planning and economics, and to have the practical skills required to implement
these in our diverse range of UK and international projects”.
Stephen Rutherford, Managing Director, UK Transport Practice, Jacobs Consultancy
...ITS has been our primary source of Masters students for many years...
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“As one of the UK's longest established independent transport consultancy's
JMP seeks to attract top class transport Masters students. For many years ITS at Leeds has been the only
academic institution that we have routinely visited as part of our annual recruitment campaign. We
choose ITS because many years of experience of recruiting students from their courses has given us
the confidence that the people we will recruit will quickly settle into our project teams and will add value
to our consultancy services from day one. We currently have more than 20 staff who have completed
either one of the Masters courses or a PhD from ITS and they range from three MSc 2010 graduates just
embarking on their careers in consultancy in our Birmingham and London offices, to the Associate
Director who heads up our Economics capability (MA Transport Economics 1996), to one of our Executive
Board directors (MA Transport Economics 1983). We have also sponsored a number of our staff who
joined us without a transport Masters to enable them to undertake a part-time MSc at ITS. They have
gone on to become team leaders in our modelling teams, our appraisal teams and our Smarter Choices
teams”.
Alan Beswick, Board Director JMP Consultants
Graduates sourced from the Masters courses at ITS tend to be among our high-fliers...
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“Graduates sourced from the Masters courses at the Institute for Transport
Studies tend to be among our high-fliers. The courses prepare them for a successful career in transport
consultancy, combining a rigorous understanding of theory with pragmatism focusing on project delivery.
The majority of ITS Leeds graduates that Mott MacDonald has employed over the past 10 years
have been strong numerically, a plus-point in applied transport planning. It has been rare for us to
say No to anyone with a post-graduate qualification from the Institute”.
Tom Van Vuren, Divisional Director at Mott MacDonald & ITS Visiting Professor
What do employers look for when recruiting?
A degree from ITS is a great start towards a job and career in transport, but in a competitive market, students also need to have a firm grasp of what employers want. In the presentation below, Nigel Foster and Judith Owens, both from Arup, describe the wider attributes that employers look for when recruiting graduates.
Arup is one of the largest and most respected global transport consultancies. There are strong links between Arup and ITS; Nigel Foster, Director of Arup, is a graduate of the MA Transport Economics at ITS. Nigel sits on the ITS advisory board and is involved in the recruitment of ITS students to Arup. Judith Owens is Arup’s Senior Human Resources Manager for the North of England and Scotland. In her presentation she describes the corporate process for identifying and recruiting the best graduates, the types of graduates Arup recruits, and the subsequent opportunities for them to develop their skills and careers.
