By bizn_fun 
Alex Bethell, a final-year student in computer systems engineering at Bath, did his year in industry at a defence-related firm. He enjoyed the work and wants to pursue a career in the sector.
But he is concerned about ending up working on “slightly older systems”, which may have to be maintained for 40 years.
His cohort of students, he said, wants to work at the cutting edge, doing design, “or at least verification testing, things like that”.
This means smaller firms, which tend to be more focused on innovation and have a younger workforce, may be more attractive to younger entrants than traditional “prime” contractors.
The defence sector’s historic over-reliance on ex-military people reduces the pool of possible candidates, and may also be off-putting to younger recruits. “They’re essentially the subject matter experts,” Mr Hillier explains. “So, we need them to understand how our customer thinks, to support what we’re developing.”
But when it comes to engineers, he continues, it makes sense to cast the net wider. “In fact, sometimes it’s better that you’re not [ex-forces], because you’re more likely to have other skills that we might use.”