The First Employment Survey highlights a strong contribution to growth, innovation and research in France

The 2021 edition of the First Employment Survey of graduates of the Ingénieur Polytechnicien Program of the École Polytechnique shows that nearly half of them start their careers in companies, mainly in France.

Indeed, 47% of graduates join companies, both large groups and SMEs, in the industrial sector, which recruits more than two-thirds of them (66%), but also in banking and finance (19%) as well as consulting (9%).

Recruited in most cases (80%) before graduation, the vast majority of them are satisfied or very satisfied with their first job. The survey confirms the School's performance in terms of the employability of its students.

An average gross annual salary of 73,000 euros

Their average gross annual salary is up from the previous survey: 73,000 euros, including bonuses and all countries combined, compared with 70,000 euros for X2013 graduates. The average gross annual salary in France for engineering graduates is 37,771 euros, compared with 58,000 euros for X graduates, according to the June 2020 survey of graduates of the Grandes Écoles conducted by ENSAI - École nationale de la statistique et de l'analyse de l'information and the Conférence des grandes écoles - CGE).

The United Kingdom and the United States remain the top destinations for expatriate graduates. Among internationals, Brazil is making inroads as a destination of choice, attracting 17% of them.

The top civil servant jobs attracted 13% of X2014s, a similar proportion compared to the previous survey.

One in three graduates in research and innovation

Nearly a third of graduates go on to pursue a doctorate, while 3% of them start their own business, mainly in high-tech sectors.

The preferred fields of study remain Physics (29%), Computer Science (18%) and Applied Mathematics (12%).

All the graduates of the X2014 class who have chosen to become entrepreneurs are company founders and 25% have benefited from support within an incubator. Nearly three quarters of them created their startup within their graduation year and more and more of them are launching businesses abroad (20% compared to 9% for X2013).

You can access to the 2020 First Job Survey brochure here.

Key Figures from the Survey:

• 100% of graduates are employed within 6 months after graduation.

• 80% of graduates are recruited before graduation.

• 47% are employees of a company

• 33% are pursuing a doctorate

• 13% work in the public sector

• 3% engage in entrepreneurship

• The gross annual remuneration of business graduates (including bonuses) amounts to 73,000 euros

• Almost 70% of French and international graduates start their careers in Europe 

* The 2021 First Employment Survey on the promotion of graduates of the Ingénieur Polytechnicien Program in 2019 (X2014) was carried out among 487 students, including 398 French and 89 international students.