Technical

"Technical" on its own is a catch-all label rather than a defined job. In UK job adverts it usually appears as shorthand for a technical support, technical analyst or technical trainee position - someone who works hands-on with a company's products, systems or equipment, diagnoses problems and explains them to colleagues or customers. Because the title is so vague, what the work actually involves depends almost entirely on the employer's industry: in software it means IT and support work, in manufacturing or engineering it means working with machinery, drawings and specifications, and in sales-led businesses it means being the person who understands the product in depth.

Starting salary: £22k–£30k
Live graduate jobs: 124 open now
Main way in: Direct application to a technical support, technical analyst…
They usually ask for: Because the title is generic, read the advert closely rather…

Approximate graduate salary

Typically somewhere around £22,000–£30,000 to start, though this varies widely - technical support and technical assistant roles at smaller employers and outside major cities tend to sit at the lower end, while structured graduate schemes in software, defence, energy and finance can start meaningfully higher. Shift work, on-call rotas and field-based travel often attract additional allowances.

What you'd actually do

Picks up logged issues or queries - from customers, internal staff or a monitoring system - and works out whether the cause is a user error, a configuration problem, a fault in the product, or something that needs escalating to a specialist team
Reproduces problems in a test environment or on a test rig so there is evidence of what is actually going wrong, rather than relying on the reported symptoms
Writes up findings: ticket notes, fault reports, test results, or internal knowledge-base articles so the next person who hits the same issue can fix it faster
Talks to non-technical people - customers, sales colleagues, operations staff - and translates what they describe into something specific enough to investigate

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Follows standard procedures and checklists for routine work (installations, configuration changes, inspections, calibration, maintenance) and records that they were completed
In a software or IT setting, runs queries, reads log files, checks configuration and occasionally makes small scripted fixes; in an engineering or manufacturing setting, reads drawings and specifications, takes measurements and works on equipment
Attends handover or stand-up meetings where open issues are reviewed, and flags anything recurring that suggests a deeper underlying problem

How graduates get in

Direct application to a technical support, technical analyst, technical trainee or technical assistant vacancy - by far the most common route, and many of these roles are advertised year-round rather than on a graduate recruitment cycle
Structured graduate schemes at larger technology, engineering, utilities, defence and manufacturing employers, which often rotate you through several technical functions before you specialise
Apprenticeship or school-leaver routes into technical work, then progressing alongside or instead of a degree - common in engineering, utilities and manufacturing, and worth knowing about because it means you may be working beside colleagues who came in without a degree
Internal moves from a customer service, operations or administrative role into the technical team, which is common where an employer prefers people who already understand the product

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Industrial placement years and summer internships in engineering or software, which frequently convert into graduate offers with the same employer
Conversion routes for non-STEM graduates - a computing conversion master's, or a vendor certification such as CompTIA, Microsoft or Cisco entry-level qualifications - which can be enough for IT-flavoured technical roles where the employer trains on the job

What employers ask for

Because the title is generic, read the advert closely rather than assuming: the required background differs enormously between a 'Technical' role in a software house and one in a precision manufacturing firm
For IT and software-flavoured roles, a degree in computer science, software engineering, information systems or a related subject is the usual ask, though many employers accept any degree plus demonstrable hands-on interest, home projects or a vendor certification
For engineering and manufacturing roles, employers generally want a relevant engineering, physics or applied science degree, HND or BTEC, and the subject genuinely does matter here because the underlying knowledge is used daily
Grade requirements vary widely - some graduate schemes set a 2:1 and UCAS points threshold, while many direct-entry technical vacancies set no formal grade bar at all and screen on evidence of practical ability

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Evidence that you can work through a problem methodically matters more than perfect academics: a portfolio, a well-documented project, a placement year or a part-time support job all count
Some roles require a full UK driving licence (field-based technical work), security clearance eligibility (defence, government, critical infrastructure) or specific safety certification such as CSCS or an electrical competency card

Skills that matter

Structured fault diagnosis

You need to isolate a cause by changing one variable at a time rather than guessing, because guessing on live systems or live equipment creates new faults.

Translating technical detail for non-technical people

Much of the job is explaining to a customer or a colleague in sales what has gone wrong and what you are doing about it, without jargon and without making them feel stupid.

Clear written documentation

Ticket notes, fault reports and knowledge-base entries are what other people rely on months later, and vague notes cause the same problem to be re-investigated from scratch.

Reading reference material properly

Manuals, API documentation, engineering drawings, specifications and standards hold the answer far more often than a colleague does, and the people who get promoted are the ones who look things up.

Calmness under pressure and prioritisation

When several things break at once, or a customer is losing money by the hour, you have to decide what gets attention first and keep working the problem rather than panicking.

Willingness to keep learning new tools and systems

Products, platforms and equipment get replaced regularly, so the specific knowledge you are hired for will date and the habit of relearning is what keeps you employable.

Putting these on a CV? We counted which skills 12,914 live graduate adverts ask for, and what to do with the answer — part of our application advice.

Where it leads

First year or two: handling routine and first-line work under supervision, learning the product or equipment in depth, and building up the range of issues you can resolve without escalating. Timelines here vary a lot depending on how structured the employer is.
Moving to second or third line - the more complex escalated work - or to a named specialism such as networks, databases, a particular software product, a particular machine type, or test and commissioning.
A fork in the road: deeper technical specialist (senior engineer, technical consultant, solutions architect, principal engineer) or sideways into a role that uses the technical knowledge differently - pre-sales, product management, technical training, quality, or technical writing.
Team leadership or management of a support or engineering function, which usually brings rota planning, service-level targets and recruitment alongside or instead of hands-on work.
In engineering settings, working towards chartered status (IEng or CEng) through a professional institution is a conventional long-term goal and employers often support it; in IT settings there is no single equivalent, and seniority is usually evidenced by experience plus certifications.

What people get wrong

“A job advertised simply as 'Technical' is a junior, dead-end role.”

It is a label, not a level. Employers use it as a department name as much as a job title, and the same word can head up an advert for a first-line support post or a specialist analyst role with real depth and progression.

“It is mostly solitary work with machines or code.”

A large share of the day is spent communicating - extracting a useful description of a problem out of someone who does not know what they are looking at, and then explaining the resolution in terms they can act on. People who cannot do that part plateau quickly.

“You need to already know the employer's systems to be hired.”

Most employers expect to train you on their specific products, because nobody arrives knowing a proprietary system. What they screen for is whether you approach an unfamiliar problem methodically, which is why interviews often include a 'walk me through how you'd investigate this' question.

“It's purely a technology-sector job.”

Technical roles exist across manufacturing, utilities, construction, defence, healthcare equipment, broadcast, finance and the public sector. The transferable part is the diagnostic approach, not the sector.

Where this varies

This title varies more than almost any other. In a software or SaaS business, 'Technical' usually means a support or implementation role: tickets, configuration, log files, customer calls, and probably a shift or on-call element. In manufacturing or engineering, it means hands-on work with equipment, drawings and specifications, often in a factory or on site, with safety procedures and PPE as part of the routine. In a sales organisation, a 'technical' role may be the product expert who supports the sales team on calls and demonstrations. In construction, surveying or built environment firms, 'technical' often refers to design and detailing work on drawings and building specifications. Public sector and regulated industries add security clearance and formal process; small firms give you far broader scope and far less structure. Always read the responsibilities section of the advert before assuming which version you are applying for.

See all 124 live Technical jobsFrom employers' own careers sites, updated daily Tailor your CV for this roleFree with an account, 3 a month

General guidance about the role across the UK market, not about any specific employer. Entry routes and requirements vary — always check the individual job advert.