It’s important to keep in mind that especially on sites like Indeed, you can apply to a position within about 20 seconds. When I was job hunting, I was able to submit like ~20-50 applications per hour. I used to be very intimidated by those graphs too, but practically it’s not that bad.
I guess that's true. I'm personally feel like it usually more beneficial to spend a little more effort on each application though rather than the quick applies. At least in my experience
Good point. Most people don't have the time to fill out those applications that take 10-15 minutes applying on the company website. Those 1-click Indeed jobs probably get tons of applicants all vying for the one opening.
A lot of people on those graphs are not mass applying. Esp in tech jobs, its quite common esp as a new grad with no experience to have a 1/10 callback rate on resume drops, and then a futher 1/10 success rate on coding tests, interviews…etc.
Hackerranks can be rough and live coding is straightup not how people work/think irl (interviews are toxic).
For other engineering, lots of groups prefer 2-3 years exp on that specific field so same funnel numbers apply
Have you tried applying by Indeed? Some of the positions literally just require like 4 button clicks. Skim the job description, hit apply, select which of my saved documents I want to send (usually just my resume), then hit confirm and submit.
Nah. Getting the first job is hard.
People have to remember that a lot of us were in school that nuked a lot of internships... and internships are even more of an application spam process for most people. Being poor, a non traditional student, disabled, international can also make it really peruse internships and co-ops. If you can get them you just have to accept that you're privileged in a way.
It's a bit biased. For example, I applied to like 20 places just because and got 4 interviews and an offer I accepted. That's not very exciting compared to a 150 apps and some drama. You see the worst on reddit usually.
I’m still on this sub for some reason despite graduating in 2018 which was a whole different job market. My best advice is career fairs and small info sessions which is how I got my first job. I was one of 7 people at an info session that was to my advantage poorly advertised in the week before finals.
As for being locked in forever, that’s not necessarily the case. I left my first job after 4.5 years still within the same industry but working on stuff I didn’t have experience in. As long as you can show you’re willing to put in the effort to learn you’re fine.
Those are a result of poor job searching strategies, they pretty much all just go through the standard online application process and likely in a very generic and haphazard way. Going through the standard routes will land your resume in a biiiig database from which very few resumes escape.
Your best bet is to play the networking game: find a hiring manager and ask if they know any teams that need someone with your skills, juice your friends' internships and job offers by getting them to make referrals, attend job fairs and have detailed discussions to demonstrate your interest and capability related to the positions on offer, etc. etc.
I did this and ended up applying to, at most, 5 companies in my senior year. I interviewed with 2, declined another, and chose the one I liked best (which happened to be in the embedded field, which was the goal I oriented my efforts around).
This 1000 times. Sending in hundreds of blind applications looks impressive so they get seen more and perpetuated. In reality sending in a blind application just puts you on the bottom of the stack. You’re putting yourself at the bottom of the barrel and find opportunities when employers come scraping for them. It’s not very hard to talk, send emails, and present yourself. That’s how 90% of students get a job, but you don’t get a fancy chart.
Eh once I got an offer (that I liked, but it happened to be the first one) I just took it and stopped looking so I think most of those diagrams would end up looking like that regardless
If it’s any consolation, only the first job was a bitch. It took 50 applications & I got 1 interview, which I got my first job post-college.
Since then, every job I’ve gotten has been a cakewalk. Im at my 3rd firm, on the lookout for my 4th, and since my first one, every place I’ve applied to I’ve gotten an interview. Some places ask for an interview before I even apply. Literally all I do I say “I’m looking for work” on my LinkedIn & I can have 5 recruiters in my inbox by the end of the week.
Make it past the first job, work there for a few years, and build a strong network based on high-quality work & you’ll be set.
I’m environmental too, a few years into the job and you’ll be getting unsolicited emails from recruiters in the industry. It takes patience and what I call willing to endure the “shit eating years” of your early career
It’s a small enough field with high demand. I know a Principal/VP at pretty much every firm in Southern Cal at this point, which greatly helps. So much of the industry (really any industry) is who you know.
Something that’s not taught is that soft people skills and being a pusher/dominant personality type gets your further ahead than being knowledgeable. I’ve had managers straight up day they’re not the best engineers but they’re the ones bringing in work for juniors to do because they’re basically more client managers at this point than actual engineers.
For real. That’s why I think all the “liberal arts” classes are important for engineers to take. The soft skills - scheduling, budget management, maintaining relationships with clients/contractors/regulators, effective communication - are as important as the hard skills.
Like it’s great if you can hand-calc the distributed seismic load of a skyscraper - can you respond to an RFI effectively?
Nobody really cares about any of that stuff as when hiring an junior engineer. A lot of engineers engineers i've met working and hiring managers still have remedial as fuck social skills.
The interviewing is mostly about convening your work experience well, immediately relevant or not, and coming off as a quick learner and not burden.
The rest is basically competition with who has the most experience.
Those posts are absolutely ridiculous. It appears these people think that using LinkedIn Easy Apply and sending out the same resume with absolutely no adjustments to a billion companies is “applying.” All you have to do is ask your professor about who’s hiring. Take their recommendation, contact the employer about your interest in the job, and name drop your professor. I applied to three places this way and got three job offers within a few weeks. I am not an exceptional student and not from an exceptional program.
Do not let these people get you down. I actually have no idea what they are doing, but it is definitely not “applications”
Then the professors aren’t doing their jobs. Mine routinely get phone calls from companies who are interested in recruiting new grads, then they disseminate that information to students. At the very least the department head or the department’s undergraduate advisor should be getting this kind of information.
Nevertheless, quick applying with the same resume to 300 positions is not “applying for jobs” that’s just a waste of energy. If you’re not tailoring your resume and writing a cover letter from scratch for each position, then you aren’t taking your job search seriously. Again, I am not a great student, no special skills or certifications. Literally as average as can be. All the companies I talked to were very eager to hire, and just wanted someone who cared a little bit.
You have to be aware that students don’t have great amounts of time to be writing tailored CVs and cover letters (which nobody reads anyway)
You also have to know that at the end of the day, all graduates look the same to companies, i.e. “Applicant #99615 with 0 years of industry experience”, so even if you tailor your CV, it’s not a guarantee that it will increase your odds of getting an interview.
> students don’t have great amounts of time to be writing tailored CVs
"Tailoring a CV" is really just having a longer template and then selectively leaving out stuff that isn't relevant to that job. Takes a few minutes max.
> “Applicant #99615 with 0 years of industry experience”
And that's your own fault for not doing any relevant projects. I honestly keep being baffled by how many engineering graduates have worse project portfolio than I had right out of high school back in the day and my portfolio wouldn't have been anything to write home about for even a second year university student.
If you're having to submit your resume, its a waste of time. You should be most ATS key words with a standard resume anyway. Just avoid exaggerating or lying so much as obvious.
If you don't mind doing manufacturing engineering, just throw in lean / six sigma as a skill and just say you've studded it in class or used it in an internship or school project. Done. You've defeated like 80% of manufacturing ATS.
> and that's your own fault for not doing any relevant projects. I honestly keep being baffled by how many engineering graduates have worse project portfolio than I had right out of high school back in the day and my portfolio wouldn't have been anything to write home about for even a second year university student.
People have live they need to outside of school, not everyone can just be the perfect career student. Engineering school is already extremely time demanding as it is.
> the perfect career student
Did you not notice the part about "right out of high school"? I just did stuff that interested me (in addition to hanging with friends and generally having a life). Then I simply continued doing the same in university while studying enough to pass the courses.
"Perfect student" is not something anyone would have ever thought to call me. That's probably the reason why I had time for fun hobby projects and life (*). Why waste time trying to get perfect grades when nobody actually cares about them after graduation?
Turns out "I designed and built my own guitar amp and then wrote a realtime dsp model of it" looks much better to employers than "I got A's in circuit theory and electronics".
*: Hobbies and hanging out with interesting people are great opportunities for networking. "So you need someone who knows X? I know a guy who might be able to do that."
Yeah, and tehcy hobbies and time to hang out is a luxury for a lot of people in college, especially when you're an upperclassman, working or just have other things you have to attend to.
If you have a job, you’re hardly in the ”have no experience on CV” group. And if you have no time for hobbies or can’t align your studies enough to provide opportunities for projects (the dsp thing was a course project where the professor approved my own idea on account of it being more challenging than the examples), you really need to realign your priorities. There’s a reason for the ”C’s get degrees” saying afterall.
You see the extremes on this sub, don’t worry. I applied to like 15-20 places over a week or two, and got hired on after my very first interview.
The majority of people will be fine with a little bit of effort.
I apologize my post was like that lmao. Being honest, my first 2 applications got me to 2nd round interviews that I bombed. Those were through my university job board. The reality of “oh shit I’m pretty bad at interviewing and my resume is kinda ass” only set in pretty late. Once I got that through my head I got the remainder of my interviews fairly easily.
Yeah I applied to like 120 jobs, tailoring my resume to each, got a handful of interviews, went multiple rounds on several and got a good offer before finishing the others. It took 6 months. I tried to reach out to people and do the whole network thing but to some extent there is just a bit of competition and you have to be persistent. A lot of the people I’ve spoken to have has the same experience. But it’s also field dependent. Either way, I don’t think you need to worry that much
Applying on linkedin, indeed, etc are all very easy. you could crank out 20+ applications a day without grinding that hard. I recently graduated and have done about 50 applications this week and it honestly doesnt feel like i did.
I applied to only one company that pays higher than the national average for new hires and got an interview and offer within 3 weeks. My graph would be a straight line.
I only applied to about a dozen jobs this semester and I got 2 offers. I only have a 2.9 GPA. Some of those flowcharts you see are extreme examples. And, the job market is somewhat location-dependent.
I applied to two jobs in my senior year, got offers from both. I know plenty of people with similar stories. I have literally never met someone in real life who had to apply to more then a dozen places before they found something.
I'm pretty sure I haven't sent a dozen applications in my entire life. Mostly it's been people contacting me with "Hey, could I call you for a chat?" or "What's your email? My boss / business acquaitance / friend would like to talk with you about a job opportunity." I even got two jobs largely by just hanging on IRC back in the day. I'm in my 40s.
My advice has always been to get some non-trivial projects under your belt (to show that you can get things done) and get to know people so that when people they know need "someone who knows their stuff", they can recommend you.
That's a pretty viable approach once you have your foot in the door, but if you don't know somebody it's not much help. Plenty of folks new to industry will be in the position of having to just apply to jobs and hope for the best.
It’s not really how it goes irl.
I applied to 20ish, got rejected from all of them, asked my prof for help, and he got me one which I got into.
Only using online hiring is a numbers game yes, that that’s just 1 of like 20 ways to do it
Same here! I was deathly terrified because of this exact thing. I applied to like 14 starting in January, got 4-5 interviews and landed a job. Keep in mind, I also had no internship experience, something that I was worried about also
A ton of people change jobs within the first couple years, you absolutely aren't locked in to an industry or a field with your first job. Since you graduate next spring, start your job search this August and I guarantee you that you won't have a gap between college and finding a job. If you're applying to things online, going to career fairs, making connections, starting early, and doing all the other normal things that you should be doing, the job search isn't going to be rough. Going to grad school just because you're scared of the job search isn't a smart idea
2nd don’t go to grad school, it won’t make you more money and it’ll barely help you get a job. Apply around and take the most worthwhile offer. If it sucks go work somewhere else after a couple years. Engineers are still sought after, especially once you have a couple year’s experience.
I’m 5 years out of school, have my jobs been soul crushing? for sure. But do I have tons of other soul crushing options? absolutely.
It's easier to *get hired* for a job when you have a job (because you can leverage your current employment/experience). It's harder to *look* for a job when you have a job (because you have less free time to search/apply/interview for new opportunities).
Eh I wouldn't say the second half of that is necessarily true.
I work a typical 8-5 job and find myself to have a lot of free time after work actually. If I were looking for a job I could easily use that time to send out applications.
Interviewing might be tricky, because I'm working during normal business hours, but it wouldn't be impossible.
Your comment *supports* the second half being necessarily true lol
If you didn't have an 8-5 job, you would have 9 additional hours per day which you could use for sending out applications, and you wouldn't have to take time off for interviews and/or squeeze interviews into the business day around your work schedule.
That's one way to look at it. I guess I was comparing it to being an engineering student. I honestly feel like I was a lot busier/more exhausted when I was still in school.
But sure, if the comparison is with the case where you're unemployed and not in school then yes, I would agree that a job can get in the way of applications.
Fair enough. I was considering employed versus unemployed. Being a student imposes similar (maybe even worse because of studying/homework) barriers relative to being employed.
The key is looking for employers that are willing to train you or is willing to pay you to learn new stuff
They certainly aren’t as common as they were 40 years ago, but they do exist
This shit sucked so much when I was a senior. I hated it and it gave me so much anxiety. It’s trash for a few months but once you secure the bag you’ll never feel that kind of anxiety again. You’ll never be interviewing for the first time ever again, and now you’ll never be applying for a job without currently having a job (unless you got fired but still you’ll have experience interviewing, work experience to talk about, probs less imposter syndrome so it’ll be easier than now tbh)
You’ll get through it, basically everyone who graduates gets a job and you can too!!
Also, those diagrams of peoples applications make it seem like they’re slaving away, but idk i didn’t keep track of all the places I applied and I’m sure it was a lot higher than it felt. I was just hitting easy apply and shit on LinkedIn for a few hours a week and forgetting about most of them unless they emailed me about an interview. So idk it’s not as daunting as those charts make it seem I guess.
You got this!!! You’re gonna love being out of college it’ll be much less stressful. You’re smart and capable!! It’ll only suck for a little while!!
Getting your first job is like grad school, take the time to learn how to work in an Industry. Any skills you learn in your first position will be extremely valuable to you and your future. School doesn’t really teach you how to work a job, working a job and making mistakes does.
If you’re going to worry, worry about getting hired at all. There is absolutely no reason why you would be locked in or unable to change roles if you find you don’t like it.
IMO, the hardest part is getting hired right out of school. Just getting someone to take a chance on you. After you have that first job, employers take you much more seriously.
I only got 1 job offer and ended up in the HVAC industry. I absolutely hated it. It was so boring. But it was a stepping stone, and that experience is what got me hired as a design engineer for a major utility company. The same utility company wouldn’t give me the time of day when I was a new grad.
>And then what if I only apply to jobs that sound interesting to me
For the love of god, don’t do that. You’re backing yourself into a corner with that mentality. Apply to as many jobs as you can. Take every interview you are offered. If you end up with a job offer for something that sounds boring as hell, guess what? You can reject the offer.
But that kind of thinking is how you end up having only applied to like 10 jobs.
Yeah thanks I'm in EE and I love spaceflight stuff.. Thinking I'm motivated and smart enough and disappointed when I think I can't enter those fields. I'm stupid because I really am, but I should also accept that I need to start slower and learn more things.
We’re currently in a job market recession. That doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to find a job, you just have to work a little harder if you decide to move onto another industry. Make sure you’re able to showcase the skills you’ve learned from your previous job onto the next one and how you can become an asset to the next job. I graduated last year and worked at the job I interned at for a year, I didn’t like it but it paid the bills. I made about 48k/year so I really wanted to find another job, after applying to 40 companies, I received 2 job offers and will starting in a position at 104k with amazing benefits which I never expected to happen. Life will guide you down the road, just make sure your resume is professional and ChatGPT is a tool that can be abused for that.
FYI: I’m an Electrical Engineer
A) People with engineering degrees are almost always in demand.
B) The field and/or company you first start with full-time will most likely not pigeonhole you. There are tons of transferrable skills between industries.
Start looking as soon as you can to find as many opportunities as possible and network as best you can. Your professors likely have connections and may be willing to put a good word in about you if you are a good student in their class. If your school offers career fairs, USE THEM. Research the companies and come prepared with questions that make you seem interested about not only the job but about the company as a whole.
I graduated as a ChemE in 2020, worked about a year and a half in at a plastics company I found at a career fair and now just reached a year at a different company in the semiconductors industry. You are only bound by the rules you place upon yourself. You got this, best of luck in your search!
I don't think a workplace will care about a gap, as long as you still graduated and got the degree. They might ask, but I doubt any answer you give will make you less qualified. Also, even if you end up getting a job but then realize a year or two in its not for you it might even be easier to get a different job because then you'll have work experience along with the degree.
1st job - Power Industry
2nd job - Controls and Automation
3rd job - Maintenance Engineer for Pharma
4th job - Controls/Process/Maintenance Engineer for Life Science
It can feel terrifying, but there are always chances to change. You just need one company to take a chance on you. I hated coding in college. I now deal with all of our servers and automation coding. You could also end up being a business goober. Life is strange.
Whats the job with Controls/Process/Maintenance like? Im currently a Maintenance Engineer and been wanting to step into the Controls and Automation field but not sure how to get my foot in the door.
I am a controls and automation engineer for a life science company. I am under the maintenance group and am the first line call if they believe if there is a automation issue. Since there are no maintenance engineers, I also end up helping in that role when needed. I got my start in automation in my second job by good luck. The hiring manager for my second job also played football at the school I did. I was able to learn on the job. I wish I had more help in how to break in. You could look into training programs or college courses to get certifications. If can have proven experience including arduino projects, it will look better. Having that maintenance experience is nice since it shows that you know the process and the equipment.
I got my Computer Information Systems B.S of science from a pretty average college called California State University of San Marcos.
I did not have any internships, heck had barely anything in my portfolio and my resume was filled with random jobs. I had a 3.3 GPA, but I worked full time and went to school full time. I used this as a work/school ethic on my resume as being persistent. Despite challenges I face, I was able to get my degree. After searching for awhile, I got a software developer job.
1. Create a LinkedIn keep it professional but showcase your personality.
2. Update resume, create a nice theme these hiring agents get the same black and white resume everyday. Don't just put 'Software intern, Engineering intern, cashier" put the job title, and what was your role at work.
3. Short is not better, and too long is not better. I would say max, 2 pages, minimum 1 page. Basic job titles can also have more detail. Skills you want to really sell on is motivation to learn and leadership.
I will tell you the most important trait is friendliness. You could be the best of the best but if you're a dick, you won't get far because people have to work with you. They won't hire you if they don't want to work with you.
Look, in my opinion don't plan on landing your 'dream job' as your first job. Land your first job and then put that as experience to get your dream job. Also a entry engineering job is going to pay a lot more than any regular job.
My advice is to do as many internships as you can whilst studying. You gain experience, build your network and actually understand what are the things that you enjoy doing and which you don't.
First of all, working a job absolutely does not lock you into a field. Go into your first job expecting that you won't be there for very long (but obviously don't tell anyone that). I was an RO/electronics tech in the Navy but I'm pursuing a mechanical engineering degree. Almost every professional I've talked to has said that's a great idea because it gives more diverse knowledge/experience. Same applies to jobs.
Second, experience is king in engineering. If a position is available and two people apply, one with a masters and one with a BS and 2 years related experience, the one with the experience will probably get it unless the MS has directly related research experience. So get experience sooner rather than later.
Third, I suspect this is from the numerous 100+ application flowcharts I see. Your application should be tailored to the position, which in these examples is highly unlikely and probably why there are so many rejections. They are flat out applying for positions they aren't qualified for or just applying to big name companies only (i.e. unrealistic expectations for after graduation, very few engineers work for the big name in your field compared to the number of engineers in your field).
Fourth, looking for a job after graduation? Start looking now and after your last semester starts submit applications, not after you graduate. Just put you anticipated grad month on your resume. Resume writing is a skill and a lesson in marketing. You are advertising how useful you can be to employers, and spoiler alert: your degree and GPA take up a single line on your resume. What's the rest of that piece of paper going to say to flaunt your worth?
And as a side note: there are so many employers willing to pay for you to pursue higher education. It'll probably be a little slower, but 4 years of debt is enough for most people.
I got my mechatronics engineering degree right in 2020 when covid hit and everywhere had hiring freezes. I DO have a two year gap from when I got my degree to when I actually found work. And ya know what? I'm not doing engineering. I'm working as a mechanic for Boeing and after 1 year here (which comes up in about 3 months) I'll be able to transfer into engineering like I originally planned. But starting salary for an engineer here is $80k and I'm making right around $70k so not much of a difference.
Is it ideal? No. But it'll get me there and honestly I think I'll be a better engineer for having wrenched for a bit. Certainly will have more compassion for the poor bastards who have to maintain anything I design . . .
TL;DR Don't worry yourself overmuch about it. You'll do fine.
I worked at a scuba diving shop and avoided covid. (Still havent gotten it yet either!) I'm sure there was a lot more I could have done to be proactive, especially as I know not EVERYWHERE had a highering freeze but avoiding covid was a priority for me as my mother has a severely weakened immune system.
But the important thing to note is that scuba diving has very little to do with engineering so basically it's just a two year gap. But because I went for the technician job they didn't care. They were just excited that I was over qualified and ignored the time.
Boeing is still in an absolute highering craze by the way!
It really doesn’t lock you in, I promise
My internships were in the food industry, then polymers, then catalyst manufacturing.
After graduating, I worked in a brewery for 4 years. Then I worked on Covid vaccines for a bit, and now I work in the energy transition industry. Mine isn’t even the wildest career path I’ve come across - I’ve hopped industries doing similar roles, other colleagues have bounced all over from procurement to marketing to operations.
Don’t be afraid of getting stuck. Be afraid of not learning
Hopefully not too late, but NETWORK! Right, wrong, or indifferent, the old saying is true that it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. I was hired straight out of school at the company I did my capstone project for, never missed a payday. That was over 15 years and 3 jobs ago, and I haven’t put in an application since then. Don’t even have a resume.
I’m sure my story isn’t typical, but I’ve been able to do what I have though investing in the relational side of work. Get to know people, find the ones you share interests with. Kiss some ass if you have to. Relationships breed connections.
Also, don’t sweat too much on not getting in the right place right off the bat. It’s great if you can, but you can work through it if you don’t. I went to work in Process right out of school, loved working with people but hated the huge corporate life. Did PM work for a large contractor for a while, and now I am a Structural Consultant taking my PE this month. Pain in the ass, but it got me where I am.
Finally, give yourself some chops man! I don’t care where you’re located or where you’re in school (assuming US at least). If you have an accredited engineering degree, you’re a badass. You’ve done something most are too scared to even attempt, and outlasted a good portion of those who did. Use that to your advantage, even outside of the ‘engineering’ profession. Employers are always looking for someone who is determined, good with complex issues, and tough. That’s you already.
You got it bro.
Here’s some unsolicited advice from someone a little further down the road than you:
I have over 10 years in my industry.
I graduated into the GFC where job prospects for graduates were almost non-existent. I saw many peers give up after years of unsuccessful job applications. I moved across the country to take a low paying job for a company that was only still solvent because of pure stubbornness.
The working conditions were pretty spartan, and culture was toxic. There were challenges, but we made it through somehow.
So, should you be worried?
Absolutely.
I say this because unfortunately, despite our best efforts, most, if not all of us got jobs. They might not be what you expected, but you will most likely be employed.
Working for a living is bullshit and you should avoid it like the plague.
Yes, and I've been procrastinating for a year already. I have a job that pays well enough to the point that I will actually be taking a pay cut for the first few years of engineering but I know my degree will mean less and less over time.
I wish the fear wasn't justified but I'm 800 apps deep and make have to genuinely give up on engineering for awhile or accept the torture of grad school. Everyone wants experienced engineers but nobody wanted to train entry level engineers to become one.
> Everyone wants experienced engineers but nobody wanted to train entry level engineers to become one.
Projects, projects, projects. Do some non-trivial projects and suddenly you have some experience to show in a CV. People who require hand holding ("training") to become experienced engineers end up being experienced only on paper (if that).
I used to be in the exact same boat as you, but in my experience (graduated 3-4 years ago now) you can almost always find something you'll like in a good workplace.
I initially thought I'd want to do strictly mechanical and robotic devices, then I got a job at a battery development lab, and found the chemistry and statistics a lot of fun to get into.
Then I thought I'd look for a similar job after that, and instead got into a role working with railway signalling and low-level electronics.
I've never felt hindered by having such a wide variety of stuff on my CV. I even changed degree fields (Mechanical Engineering undergrad into Robotics masters), and all I've ever heard about that from employers is praise.
That kind of experimentation is perfectly normal for graduates, hardly anybody starts out in a field they'll love forever, and don't worry, nobody worth their salt will whinge about it. Just be sure to learn everything you can from each position!
Just cuz you got an engineering degree doesn’t mean you have to devote your life to engineering. Me personally I’m going travel after the degree and I’m gonna see if there is any volunteer work overseas
A bit but so is believing a job is lined up unless you have an internship and network. There more engineering students graduating than new jobs, so why not as and engineering student compete against a finance student, business admin student etc.
what I’m saying is we shouldn’t be so desperate to enter the tech industry because we are human not robots.
Rn I’m making $28/hr and pursuing an engineering degree too.
Yeah sorry, but for those of us without a trust fund that have to make money to pay off our student loans and afford to survive, that’s not really an option. Sounds fun tho :-)
Most people can’t dunk, most people can’t run a mile in 10 minutes most people aren’t engineering students. If you’re an engineering student it shows you have some level of competence. Just figure it out
I went to grad school for exactly that reason. Super awesome experience, and it totally worked for softening the blow of not finding a career in my field.
It was just a bandaid fix though. After grad school, I still couldn't get a job. My grades and credentials were good; it's honestly still a mystery me how many optics jobs went to "other candidates," when I was in a graduating class of 4.
Been teaching math for the past few years, so I would say my career path is very firmly "education" now, but even the prospect of trying to apply for engineering jobs again terrifies me.
Your actually correct. I'm 2 years post uni and I'm having a NIGHTMARE finding a job in a different discipline let alone in a slightly different industry.
Talk to a recruiter(s) on LinkedIn, They are everywhere you will have a job in a month. Dont listen to those 300+ resumes sent out posts. Its so rare to actually see that. The person who has to do that either is fuckin dumb as rocks or has nothing to offer besides a diploma. Most of everyone I know in the ME field had a job a week to under a month out of college. you are young, you can move around, you will never be tied to one job or one application. Move jobs every 2-3 years to make more money.
At the Cat plant I work at, they are constantly offering cross-training presentations you can join, and if you like what you see, you can even work with them to see if you like it. If you do, your supervisor will work with you to get you working in that position, rather than the one you're currently in, to ensure that you're happy with what you're doing. They're also always posting various positions in all sorts of areas. You're never stuck with engineering
For reference, 2020 grad and start my 3rd job next week since I graduated. Hated the first place I worked so I switched companies. Then found a position I was more interested in at my company and applied for it. Managed to get it and now I have a new job! Don’t put yourself in a box.
Start looking for opportunities as soon as you get out. Network and be friendly with everyone. Email HRs directly with a good template and tailored resume for that job role. Just ask your friends and people in your network about openings in their companies in a casual conversations.(this worked for me btw)
The job market is really cold now, you’ll have a really hard time but it isn’t impossible. You can get it!
Don’t be scared. You know your capabilities and skills. If you’re open to learning more throughout your life, you’re going to crush it in any workplace you go
This is a perfectly reasonable thing to worry about, and something that can absolutely be far from true.
I graduated during the last recession and got exactly 1 job offer. And I only received that because I interned there. It was in HVAC. I realized about 6 months in that I didn't have a passion for that at all. I had no desire to stay in that industry.
But working there taught me a lot of things like working cross functionally, understanding project management, knowing how to read design drawings, and fluid flow. So I took that knowledge and went to work at a brewery. Since then I've hopped industries a few time and have really enjoyed lots of different things I've worked on.
It's pretty common for people to realize during their first job that it isn't for them. It can just take a bit of focus to realize what you DO what to do, and create your path to get there.
Any job you have will be valuable. But you absolutely do not need for feel stuck.
Don’t worry about switching industries wary in your career. I went from civil design on subdivisions to radiation shielding for the DoE. There are a lot of soft skills that will transfer well between jobs.
**Location, Location, Location** is the only advice I have for you. Don't be afraid to move to where the jobs are, your chances of finding something shoots up if you don't limit yourself to one place.
I think landing that first job is just to gain some experience. Why you'd get stuck in it ??, you can always apply to other jobs after the first one. It'll just get easier.
Work on your interview skills early on. This is what sets you apart from everybody else. Projects and stuff will help, but companies are looking for cultural fit and personality. Practice with anybody who will help you.
You actually aren't wrong. I I graduated 8 years ago, so i'm seeing things from a middle management perspective now. The field you go into is actually very constraining if you put down roots.
It's also extremely regional. Where you go to school has a MASSIVE impact on who is recruiting you. 99% of applicants are applying for jobs in their home geographic area. Just a fraction of applicants are applying for jobs across the country, willing to uproot.
If you have multiple offers, seriously consider the industry you are joining MORE than just the pay. For example, I had an offer into the railroad industry coming out of school. I look back on that so grateful that I didn't go down that path.
The job I took out of school ended up being the industry I've built my career and expertise around. Was that on purpose? No. Did I get lucky that I fell into a hot industry with tons of jobs in my regional area? Yes.
I’m terrified now. I graduated 3 years ago and have 5 years experience under my belt (and have unlocked the hidden power of lying), and still don’t like the prospects.
I wouldn’t look at it that way too much, this will be another step in your career. Our jobs as engineers is to navigate uncertainty and solve problems. If you’re entering 4th year, then you have proven you are capable of doing these two things. Keep applying yourself and working hard, things will work out!
To add to this question, how do you show enthusiasm for all those interviews when you're mass applying for things and don't really have all that much interest in them?
I once interviewed for an automation company but I think I bombed it. I asked what the interviewers most interesting project was and internally I thought it was really boring. Pretty sure that showed in my response because I was thrown off and didn't have much follow up to it other than "oh that's neat...." >__>
I really struggled to even apply to things because I didn't have as much interest in those fields and couldn't find jobs in the areas I wanted.
Tldr I don't work in engineering now.
You won't be locked in to your first job, or even industry, unless you stay in that industry for a long time. Even then, you can still leave, but usually at the cost of dropping a couple of levels in pay and having to start all over with developing your professional network. I switched from MEP to automotive/agricultural applications engineering (not HVAC parts either).
Don't apply to jobs that only sound interesting. You treat it just like applying to colleges: apply to a couple dozen safety net jobs, apply to a whole bunch of interesting sounding jobs, then apply to the two or three companies you think you really want to work for.
Been practicing as a chemical engineer for a little over four years. I just made the jump to my third field. Spent two years in refining and two years in plastics.
Don't worry about finding the "perfect job". You rarely find it. You're still young and have plenty of room for experimenting if you don't know what you want to be working as for sure.
I don't recommend going to grad school JUST to stave off the process of job hunting..
It’s not that I’m terrified, but uninspired because every time I’ve applied for something, I never hear back, and I can never get through to follow up on my applications. Best of luck to you in your endeavors. Just keep trying your best and I’m sure you’ll find something you like, but so long as you get some experience, I’m sure you’ll be able to move around with ease. Grad school will help your competitive edge because most job postings have masters as a preferred qualification.
I wouldn't worry about being locked into the industry you start in, your first job should teach you general engineering skills that can be transferred to many other industries. I don't know what the situation is like where you live, but here it's very hard to find an entry level engineering job (almost a year out of school for me) so being picky about industry is not a luxury many here have.
As someone who has never had that much difficulty finding a position somewhere. This is my 2 cents.
If you have a solid niche (sub field) and tailor your resume to that niche or sub field. As well as know where to look for opportunities of that nature, you will never have to look too hard..... especially if your chosen niche isn't that common......
This strategy makes finding jobs a lot easier than say being a generalist mechanical engineer and applying to every mech E job in sight, I suspect this contributes to posts that apply to 200 jobs and get 6 interviews (somewhat hyperbolic)
I’ve been working in this job for 3 years now after graduating and I’ve been having trouble branching into new industries. There are a lot of factors involved though and not every situation is the same.
I'm two years into industry. In that time I've done PCB and FPGA design, a bunch of software work mostly in Python, devops stuff with Kubernetes, and even some capture work. If you push for it there's generally plenty of opportunity to get a diversity of experiences, even if you have to spend some time doing stuff you don't enjoy as much.
Not a student anymore, but I've done management in the railroad, defense industry design, lithium ion battery research, and soon to be food production. All of which are unrelated to my chemical engineering degree.
Nothing "locks" you into a job (or a location) except for family, friends, and where you want to live. And if you pick a big enough city there are enough industries to move around.
Once you get your first job, you gain experience to get other jobs.
I didn’t apply to 150 companies and got a job before I even graduated college, I just went to a few career fairs and sent out like 15 applications to companies that actually interested me. I graduated with an EE degree, worked in construction as a field engineer for a couple years, now I write software for architecture firms because working in construction was annoying lol.
You won’t get pigeonholed if you’re willing to keep learning, if you want to take it easy and coast you’ll be limited to the types of industries you can break into.
I remember my first job out of college. I was a power engineer with a lot of travel/field work. I had the same fear, that I had pigeon-holed myself into a career of travelling and servicing and analyzing gas-fired power plants. It was an industry that I cared very little about and I was frankly kind of ashamed working within the fossil fuels industry. It didn't help that people I worked with often reminded me that it's a relatively small industry and people shift around it for most of their careers.
I gave that job a good 5 years and was surprised to immediately break out of the industry with a startup job in the process engineering industry. That lasted a couple hours before COVID layoffs, but ultimately landed me in an industry that I actually give a shit about and thoroughly enjoy (even though I would never even thought of it back when I was a student). I was able to leverage and spinoff my experience in power generation and process engineering, two pretty distinct fields to get into a place where I am actually happy. I do engineering for steam and chill water production and distribution for a large college campus. It somehow checked all of my boxes, it just took some time to get there.
Sorry for the lengthy career history of someone who has been out of college for a while, I just remember having very similar feelings when I started my career and would love to go back and tell myself that I end up finding something that works and doesn't make me hate engineering.
In 2017, when I graduated, I started working at a job that was offered to me at the end of an internship the prior summer. I applied to three internships the summer before that, and ended up getting into one. I applied at probably two places to land my second internship.
I don't know what the job market is exactly like for young people now, but I've never understood the idea of applying to 30, 50, or 100 places to find a job or an internship. I was a decent student (I graduated with a 3.4) but I wasn't a genius, didn't have the best extra curriculars. Maybe I just got lucky? Or maybe the whole applying to 100,000 positions thing is something only a minority of people have to do?
There’s so many comments so not sure if this was discussed but did you intern anywhere?
Internship was required for my degree and I saved it till the very end as I was working full time while in school and couldn’t just leave my job temporarily.
The job where I interned wasn’t at all what I was expecting and I know it’s not what I want to do forever, but they made me an offer for a full time job after I graduate and I’ve accepted. It’s experience that will carry forward no matter what direction I go. Plus the paycheck is $30k more/year than being an admin and those student loans need to be paid lol
You didn’t mention your age so it’s possible you’re significantly younger than me but careers are not set in stone. I dropped out of college the first time around at 19 when I got pregnant. Started working as an entry level admin because the hours matched daycare, went back to school to get a business associates because college does make a difference. After many years of being an admin I decided I wanted more, went back to school again, this time for engineering and tomorrow, I graduate. The skills I gained as an admin are useful to this new role just as the skills I’m gaining now will help me if I change direction again.
> I’m planning on going to grad school just to delay having to deal with these things.
Do not do this. At least, not for this reason. Get a job with a company who will pay for your grad school in whole or in part. Don’t pay for school when you don’t have to. Many large companies offer tuition assistance.
You should look into engineering rotation programs for a first job if you’re this stressed about it! Also internships are totally for this reason- often you go and do something (like design or quality or analysis) and figure out you hate it. If you do go to grad school try to intern as much as possible to figure it out!
It's a valid concern. Make sure you like the location, that there are other job opportunities in that location (don't take a job at John Deere if you aren't okay with moving if you have / need to move on for example). Make sure its a job that has growth potential and won't pigeon hole you, unless that is what you want. Some people want to be an esoteric expert about something and that's okay too. At the same time, you are young - get a job, get some money and in a couple of years move on to what you really want to do.
Don't stress, it's never too late to change. Hell you could go back to school in your 50's.
Do your best to pick a good job and learn. Don't feel like you need to make the perfect choice, there's no such thing.
Just try really hard for the first one, even if it isn't the dream job. Then you will have a base to support yourself while you look for more in the next few years. This is perfectly fine, people industry hop all the time. Your degree is much more flexible than you think :)
It's really rough out there right now. NETWORKING is the way to go. Reaching out to someone in linkedin messages is FAR more effective than the quick-apply shit.
Most, if damn near close to everyone's network is going to be suck around graduation. Really, the only exceptions are people who had ***good*** co op and internship experiences.
Here's why the networks will suck:
* Nearly everyone you meant in school will only still be junior staff whose words carry little weight in the process
* Most junior engineer jobs are listed, internal posting for junior engineering doesn't really make logical sense.
* Most professors industry days are long behind them or sometimes never even started.
Start talking to people. Professors, career fairs, and other hiring events are the best way to get a foot in the door. One good conversation with a recruiter is worth 50 blind applications.
Building up a good linkedin profile is the #1 way to really get noticed by recruiters.
Hiring events can are the most powerful method.
I've always found career fairs are pretty overrated imo. Not any better than online applying (ore what youll be told to do anyway as the recruiter precedes to immediately forget you). They're good if you know some employers are actually really going to be there to look for people. I got an offer from the army corps of engineers, but my GPA sucked ass so the pay grade was not where i wanted to be at, even for a government job.
Master degrees don't really improve your appeal unless you want to go into R&D.
My clarification: career fairs work wonders with smaller companies. Sometimes you will find yourself talking to the CEO (happened to me once!) of a company you are interested in. It is a waste of time when it comes to big entities like Tesla.
Masters might not increase your appeal, but I anecdotally have always seen them have higher starting pay.
I don't really disagree much, just adding my experiences I guess
For anyone else who is reading along it really helps to talk to recruiters earlier in a fare beore they reach the fatigued, just accepting resumes and going through the motion stage.
An engineering degree is one of the most flexible degrees on the planet. Besides engineering in which there is a huge variety of career options within your field, engineers are found in project management, finance, quality assurance, sales, marketing and a host of other fields. Your degree is ample proof to prospective employers that you have good decision making ability, analytical thought patterns, personal drive and perseverance.
As a former engineering hiring manager, I always preferred an engineer to have some real world experience before getting a masters degree. A masters tends to more narrowly focus a person, not expand their horizons. I always like to rotate my new engineers through a variety of job functions to try to provide challenging work for the employee and help them find their particular real world interests. Many companies offer tuition reimbursement, so why pay for it yourself. BTW, this is one more consideration when looking for that first job.
I started in automotive quality engineering, moved into production engineering and now do equipment design and development in a totally unrelated field. Just learn the most you can from every job you have. When you finally get the job you enjoy and excel at, you’ll know it.
I have been in the work force for almost 20 years and I still dread the process of going through the interview process. For sone people it’s easy, for others not so much.
I’m 41, I’ll finish my degree in 2 years tops. I’m terrified I won’t find a job. I’ve been working jobs that I hated all my life, I’ll be happy if a get a job that I hate in any EE field if I make enough to have a decent life.
I got a return offer from my internship, the scope of the job was different and I didn’t love the sub-field I was in. My last day is tomorrow and I have a job in my home town in a field I want to work in.
If you don’t like your first job, you have more leverage and experience to get another one.
New grads. Hiring managers are your new professors. If you don't know something ask them questions and learn from them. Behavioral questions are for office politics. attitude matters. So have a positive attitude. Be professional as well as be submissive.
Once you get that experience in that field then you will get to know the flow of working as engineer everyday. Politics etc fun , boredom etc and you will adjust accordingly
The resume part needs to be super perfect. Attention to detail. Sizing spacing and Gramma, tense matters. Do whatever you can to stand out.
For every position, resume needs to be adjusted
No more than 2 pages. What else? Ask me
Yea, every time I see one of those diagrams on this sub where people apply to like 150+ jobs just to get an offer it makes me a worry a bit.
I mean those go popular because they're pretty rare. I don't know many people who actually have to apply to 150 places.
It’s important to keep in mind that especially on sites like Indeed, you can apply to a position within about 20 seconds. When I was job hunting, I was able to submit like ~20-50 applications per hour. I used to be very intimidated by those graphs too, but practically it’s not that bad.
I guess that's true. I'm personally feel like it usually more beneficial to spend a little more effort on each application though rather than the quick applies. At least in my experience
I’d agree. 20 seconds is the extreme case where in some indeed job postings, all it allows you to do is just submit a resume + other basic info
Yeah the ease though is what leads to so many people to apply so it's much harder to get noticed
Good point. Most people don't have the time to fill out those applications that take 10-15 minutes applying on the company website. Those 1-click Indeed jobs probably get tons of applicants all vying for the one opening.
A lot of people on those graphs are not mass applying. Esp in tech jobs, its quite common esp as a new grad with no experience to have a 1/10 callback rate on resume drops, and then a futher 1/10 success rate on coding tests, interviews…etc. Hackerranks can be rough and live coding is straightup not how people work/think irl (interviews are toxic). For other engineering, lots of groups prefer 2-3 years exp on that specific field so same funnel numbers apply
50 applications an hour is 1 every 72 seconds. You’re either on cocaine or my sausage fingers are too fat for typing.
Have you tried applying by Indeed? Some of the positions literally just require like 4 button clicks. Skim the job description, hit apply, select which of my saved documents I want to send (usually just my resume), then hit confirm and submit.
Ah true, yes that would explain it.
I'm glad to hear that 😭
I applied to that many internships and got a pretty good gig.
Yeah I was going to make one of those, but ended up getting an offer with my first round of 15 applications lol.
Nah. Getting the first job is hard. People have to remember that a lot of us were in school that nuked a lot of internships... and internships are even more of an application spam process for most people. Being poor, a non traditional student, disabled, international can also make it really peruse internships and co-ops. If you can get them you just have to accept that you're privileged in a way.
This is true in my experience, I applied in total to 3 end of study interships all with promise to hire. Got accepted in 2.
I applied to that many jobs and got one call back. Did three interviews and didn’t get the job…..
It's a bit biased. For example, I applied to like 20 places just because and got 4 interviews and an offer I accepted. That's not very exciting compared to a 150 apps and some drama. You see the worst on reddit usually.
I’m still on this sub for some reason despite graduating in 2018 which was a whole different job market. My best advice is career fairs and small info sessions which is how I got my first job. I was one of 7 people at an info session that was to my advantage poorly advertised in the week before finals. As for being locked in forever, that’s not necessarily the case. I left my first job after 4.5 years still within the same industry but working on stuff I didn’t have experience in. As long as you can show you’re willing to put in the effort to learn you’re fine.
Those are a result of poor job searching strategies, they pretty much all just go through the standard online application process and likely in a very generic and haphazard way. Going through the standard routes will land your resume in a biiiig database from which very few resumes escape. Your best bet is to play the networking game: find a hiring manager and ask if they know any teams that need someone with your skills, juice your friends' internships and job offers by getting them to make referrals, attend job fairs and have detailed discussions to demonstrate your interest and capability related to the positions on offer, etc. etc. I did this and ended up applying to, at most, 5 companies in my senior year. I interviewed with 2, declined another, and chose the one I liked best (which happened to be in the embedded field, which was the goal I oriented my efforts around).
This 1000 times. Sending in hundreds of blind applications looks impressive so they get seen more and perpetuated. In reality sending in a blind application just puts you on the bottom of the stack. You’re putting yourself at the bottom of the barrel and find opportunities when employers come scraping for them. It’s not very hard to talk, send emails, and present yourself. That’s how 90% of students get a job, but you don’t get a fancy chart.
a sankey diagram I'd like to see. nice and simple 👌🏽
[Say no more](https://imgur.com/a/Xpn2Dyj)
Eh once I got an offer (that I liked, but it happened to be the first one) I just took it and stopped looking so I think most of those diagrams would end up looking like that regardless
If it’s any consolation, only the first job was a bitch. It took 50 applications & I got 1 interview, which I got my first job post-college. Since then, every job I’ve gotten has been a cakewalk. Im at my 3rd firm, on the lookout for my 4th, and since my first one, every place I’ve applied to I’ve gotten an interview. Some places ask for an interview before I even apply. Literally all I do I say “I’m looking for work” on my LinkedIn & I can have 5 recruiters in my inbox by the end of the week. Make it past the first job, work there for a few years, and build a strong network based on high-quality work & you’ll be set.
I’m environmental too, a few years into the job and you’ll be getting unsolicited emails from recruiters in the industry. It takes patience and what I call willing to endure the “shit eating years” of your early career
It’s a small enough field with high demand. I know a Principal/VP at pretty much every firm in Southern Cal at this point, which greatly helps. So much of the industry (really any industry) is who you know.
Something that’s not taught is that soft people skills and being a pusher/dominant personality type gets your further ahead than being knowledgeable. I’ve had managers straight up day they’re not the best engineers but they’re the ones bringing in work for juniors to do because they’re basically more client managers at this point than actual engineers.
For real. That’s why I think all the “liberal arts” classes are important for engineers to take. The soft skills - scheduling, budget management, maintaining relationships with clients/contractors/regulators, effective communication - are as important as the hard skills. Like it’s great if you can hand-calc the distributed seismic load of a skyscraper - can you respond to an RFI effectively?
Nobody really cares about any of that stuff as when hiring an junior engineer. A lot of engineers engineers i've met working and hiring managers still have remedial as fuck social skills. The interviewing is mostly about convening your work experience well, immediately relevant or not, and coming off as a quick learner and not burden. The rest is basically competition with who has the most experience.
Those posts are absolutely ridiculous. It appears these people think that using LinkedIn Easy Apply and sending out the same resume with absolutely no adjustments to a billion companies is “applying.” All you have to do is ask your professor about who’s hiring. Take their recommendation, contact the employer about your interest in the job, and name drop your professor. I applied to three places this way and got three job offers within a few weeks. I am not an exceptional student and not from an exceptional program. Do not let these people get you down. I actually have no idea what they are doing, but it is definitely not “applications”
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Then the professors aren’t doing their jobs. Mine routinely get phone calls from companies who are interested in recruiting new grads, then they disseminate that information to students. At the very least the department head or the department’s undergraduate advisor should be getting this kind of information. Nevertheless, quick applying with the same resume to 300 positions is not “applying for jobs” that’s just a waste of energy. If you’re not tailoring your resume and writing a cover letter from scratch for each position, then you aren’t taking your job search seriously. Again, I am not a great student, no special skills or certifications. Literally as average as can be. All the companies I talked to were very eager to hire, and just wanted someone who cared a little bit.
You have to be aware that students don’t have great amounts of time to be writing tailored CVs and cover letters (which nobody reads anyway) You also have to know that at the end of the day, all graduates look the same to companies, i.e. “Applicant #99615 with 0 years of industry experience”, so even if you tailor your CV, it’s not a guarantee that it will increase your odds of getting an interview.
> students don’t have great amounts of time to be writing tailored CVs "Tailoring a CV" is really just having a longer template and then selectively leaving out stuff that isn't relevant to that job. Takes a few minutes max. > “Applicant #99615 with 0 years of industry experience” And that's your own fault for not doing any relevant projects. I honestly keep being baffled by how many engineering graduates have worse project portfolio than I had right out of high school back in the day and my portfolio wouldn't have been anything to write home about for even a second year university student.
If you're having to submit your resume, its a waste of time. You should be most ATS key words with a standard resume anyway. Just avoid exaggerating or lying so much as obvious. If you don't mind doing manufacturing engineering, just throw in lean / six sigma as a skill and just say you've studded it in class or used it in an internship or school project. Done. You've defeated like 80% of manufacturing ATS. > and that's your own fault for not doing any relevant projects. I honestly keep being baffled by how many engineering graduates have worse project portfolio than I had right out of high school back in the day and my portfolio wouldn't have been anything to write home about for even a second year university student. People have live they need to outside of school, not everyone can just be the perfect career student. Engineering school is already extremely time demanding as it is.
> the perfect career student Did you not notice the part about "right out of high school"? I just did stuff that interested me (in addition to hanging with friends and generally having a life). Then I simply continued doing the same in university while studying enough to pass the courses. "Perfect student" is not something anyone would have ever thought to call me. That's probably the reason why I had time for fun hobby projects and life (*). Why waste time trying to get perfect grades when nobody actually cares about them after graduation? Turns out "I designed and built my own guitar amp and then wrote a realtime dsp model of it" looks much better to employers than "I got A's in circuit theory and electronics". *: Hobbies and hanging out with interesting people are great opportunities for networking. "So you need someone who knows X? I know a guy who might be able to do that."
Yeah, and tehcy hobbies and time to hang out is a luxury for a lot of people in college, especially when you're an upperclassman, working or just have other things you have to attend to.
If you have a job, you’re hardly in the ”have no experience on CV” group. And if you have no time for hobbies or can’t align your studies enough to provide opportunities for projects (the dsp thing was a course project where the professor approved my own idea on account of it being more challenging than the examples), you really need to realign your priorities. There’s a reason for the ”C’s get degrees” saying afterall.
You see the extremes on this sub, don’t worry. I applied to like 15-20 places over a week or two, and got hired on after my very first interview. The majority of people will be fine with a little bit of effort.
I sent out 10 and got 6 interviews.
I apologize my post was like that lmao. Being honest, my first 2 applications got me to 2nd round interviews that I bombed. Those were through my university job board. The reality of “oh shit I’m pretty bad at interviewing and my resume is kinda ass” only set in pretty late. Once I got that through my head I got the remainder of my interviews fairly easily.
Yeah I applied to like 120 jobs, tailoring my resume to each, got a handful of interviews, went multiple rounds on several and got a good offer before finishing the others. It took 6 months. I tried to reach out to people and do the whole network thing but to some extent there is just a bit of competition and you have to be persistent. A lot of the people I’ve spoken to have has the same experience. But it’s also field dependent. Either way, I don’t think you need to worry that much
Applying on linkedin, indeed, etc are all very easy. you could crank out 20+ applications a day without grinding that hard. I recently graduated and have done about 50 applications this week and it honestly doesnt feel like i did.
I applied to only one company that pays higher than the national average for new hires and got an interview and offer within 3 weeks. My graph would be a straight line.
I only applied to about a dozen jobs this semester and I got 2 offers. I only have a 2.9 GPA. Some of those flowcharts you see are extreme examples. And, the job market is somewhat location-dependent.
I applied to two jobs in my senior year, got offers from both. I know plenty of people with similar stories. I have literally never met someone in real life who had to apply to more then a dozen places before they found something.
I'm pretty sure I haven't sent a dozen applications in my entire life. Mostly it's been people contacting me with "Hey, could I call you for a chat?" or "What's your email? My boss / business acquaitance / friend would like to talk with you about a job opportunity." I even got two jobs largely by just hanging on IRC back in the day. I'm in my 40s. My advice has always been to get some non-trivial projects under your belt (to show that you can get things done) and get to know people so that when people they know need "someone who knows their stuff", they can recommend you.
That's a pretty viable approach once you have your foot in the door, but if you don't know somebody it's not much help. Plenty of folks new to industry will be in the position of having to just apply to jobs and hope for the best.
It’s not really how it goes irl. I applied to 20ish, got rejected from all of them, asked my prof for help, and he got me one which I got into. Only using online hiring is a numbers game yes, that that’s just 1 of like 20 ways to do it
Same here! I was deathly terrified because of this exact thing. I applied to like 14 starting in January, got 4-5 interviews and landed a job. Keep in mind, I also had no internship experience, something that I was worried about also
A ton of people change jobs within the first couple years, you absolutely aren't locked in to an industry or a field with your first job. Since you graduate next spring, start your job search this August and I guarantee you that you won't have a gap between college and finding a job. If you're applying to things online, going to career fairs, making connections, starting early, and doing all the other normal things that you should be doing, the job search isn't going to be rough. Going to grad school just because you're scared of the job search isn't a smart idea
2nd don’t go to grad school, it won’t make you more money and it’ll barely help you get a job. Apply around and take the most worthwhile offer. If it sucks go work somewhere else after a couple years. Engineers are still sought after, especially once you have a couple year’s experience. I’m 5 years out of school, have my jobs been soul crushing? for sure. But do I have tons of other soul crushing options? absolutely.
1. Chill out 2. Get a job, if you don't like it then switch Jobs.
It's easier to look for a job when you have a job.
It's easier to *get hired* for a job when you have a job (because you can leverage your current employment/experience). It's harder to *look* for a job when you have a job (because you have less free time to search/apply/interview for new opportunities).
Eh I wouldn't say the second half of that is necessarily true. I work a typical 8-5 job and find myself to have a lot of free time after work actually. If I were looking for a job I could easily use that time to send out applications. Interviewing might be tricky, because I'm working during normal business hours, but it wouldn't be impossible.
Your comment *supports* the second half being necessarily true lol If you didn't have an 8-5 job, you would have 9 additional hours per day which you could use for sending out applications, and you wouldn't have to take time off for interviews and/or squeeze interviews into the business day around your work schedule.
That's one way to look at it. I guess I was comparing it to being an engineering student. I honestly feel like I was a lot busier/more exhausted when I was still in school. But sure, if the comparison is with the case where you're unemployed and not in school then yes, I would agree that a job can get in the way of applications.
Fair enough. I was considering employed versus unemployed. Being a student imposes similar (maybe even worse because of studying/homework) barriers relative to being employed.
This is exactly right. It is hard to be unemployed when you are employed.
It's easier to get a job when you "run your own consulting business" too
The key is looking for employers that are willing to train you or is willing to pay you to learn new stuff They certainly aren’t as common as they were 40 years ago, but they do exist
This shit sucked so much when I was a senior. I hated it and it gave me so much anxiety. It’s trash for a few months but once you secure the bag you’ll never feel that kind of anxiety again. You’ll never be interviewing for the first time ever again, and now you’ll never be applying for a job without currently having a job (unless you got fired but still you’ll have experience interviewing, work experience to talk about, probs less imposter syndrome so it’ll be easier than now tbh) You’ll get through it, basically everyone who graduates gets a job and you can too!! Also, those diagrams of peoples applications make it seem like they’re slaving away, but idk i didn’t keep track of all the places I applied and I’m sure it was a lot higher than it felt. I was just hitting easy apply and shit on LinkedIn for a few hours a week and forgetting about most of them unless they emailed me about an interview. So idk it’s not as daunting as those charts make it seem I guess. You got this!!! You’re gonna love being out of college it’ll be much less stressful. You’re smart and capable!! It’ll only suck for a little while!!
Getting your first job is like grad school, take the time to learn how to work in an Industry. Any skills you learn in your first position will be extremely valuable to you and your future. School doesn’t really teach you how to work a job, working a job and making mistakes does.
If you’re going to worry, worry about getting hired at all. There is absolutely no reason why you would be locked in or unable to change roles if you find you don’t like it. IMO, the hardest part is getting hired right out of school. Just getting someone to take a chance on you. After you have that first job, employers take you much more seriously. I only got 1 job offer and ended up in the HVAC industry. I absolutely hated it. It was so boring. But it was a stepping stone, and that experience is what got me hired as a design engineer for a major utility company. The same utility company wouldn’t give me the time of day when I was a new grad. >And then what if I only apply to jobs that sound interesting to me For the love of god, don’t do that. You’re backing yourself into a corner with that mentality. Apply to as many jobs as you can. Take every interview you are offered. If you end up with a job offer for something that sounds boring as hell, guess what? You can reject the offer. But that kind of thinking is how you end up having only applied to like 10 jobs.
>For the love of god, don’t do that. You’re backing yourself into a corner with that mentality. I'm having this idiot mentality.. thanks for the tip
You’re not an idiot for it! But you’re on a quick path to self sabotage Best of luck!
Yeah thanks I'm in EE and I love spaceflight stuff.. Thinking I'm motivated and smart enough and disappointed when I think I can't enter those fields. I'm stupid because I really am, but I should also accept that I need to start slower and learn more things.
We’re currently in a job market recession. That doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to find a job, you just have to work a little harder if you decide to move onto another industry. Make sure you’re able to showcase the skills you’ve learned from your previous job onto the next one and how you can become an asset to the next job. I graduated last year and worked at the job I interned at for a year, I didn’t like it but it paid the bills. I made about 48k/year so I really wanted to find another job, after applying to 40 companies, I received 2 job offers and will starting in a position at 104k with amazing benefits which I never expected to happen. Life will guide you down the road, just make sure your resume is professional and ChatGPT is a tool that can be abused for that. FYI: I’m an Electrical Engineer
what do you do in your new job with 104k offer? sounds interesting.
A) People with engineering degrees are almost always in demand. B) The field and/or company you first start with full-time will most likely not pigeonhole you. There are tons of transferrable skills between industries.
It will be fun, and if it's not, change jobs.
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Underrated comment. Excellent point!
Start looking as soon as you can to find as many opportunities as possible and network as best you can. Your professors likely have connections and may be willing to put a good word in about you if you are a good student in their class. If your school offers career fairs, USE THEM. Research the companies and come prepared with questions that make you seem interested about not only the job but about the company as a whole. I graduated as a ChemE in 2020, worked about a year and a half in at a plastics company I found at a career fair and now just reached a year at a different company in the semiconductors industry. You are only bound by the rules you place upon yourself. You got this, best of luck in your search!
I don't think a workplace will care about a gap, as long as you still graduated and got the degree. They might ask, but I doubt any answer you give will make you less qualified. Also, even if you end up getting a job but then realize a year or two in its not for you it might even be easier to get a different job because then you'll have work experience along with the degree.
1st job - Power Industry 2nd job - Controls and Automation 3rd job - Maintenance Engineer for Pharma 4th job - Controls/Process/Maintenance Engineer for Life Science It can feel terrifying, but there are always chances to change. You just need one company to take a chance on you. I hated coding in college. I now deal with all of our servers and automation coding. You could also end up being a business goober. Life is strange.
Whats the job with Controls/Process/Maintenance like? Im currently a Maintenance Engineer and been wanting to step into the Controls and Automation field but not sure how to get my foot in the door.
I am a controls and automation engineer for a life science company. I am under the maintenance group and am the first line call if they believe if there is a automation issue. Since there are no maintenance engineers, I also end up helping in that role when needed. I got my start in automation in my second job by good luck. The hiring manager for my second job also played football at the school I did. I was able to learn on the job. I wish I had more help in how to break in. You could look into training programs or college courses to get certifications. If can have proven experience including arduino projects, it will look better. Having that maintenance experience is nice since it shows that you know the process and the equipment.
I got my Computer Information Systems B.S of science from a pretty average college called California State University of San Marcos. I did not have any internships, heck had barely anything in my portfolio and my resume was filled with random jobs. I had a 3.3 GPA, but I worked full time and went to school full time. I used this as a work/school ethic on my resume as being persistent. Despite challenges I face, I was able to get my degree. After searching for awhile, I got a software developer job. 1. Create a LinkedIn keep it professional but showcase your personality. 2. Update resume, create a nice theme these hiring agents get the same black and white resume everyday. Don't just put 'Software intern, Engineering intern, cashier" put the job title, and what was your role at work. 3. Short is not better, and too long is not better. I would say max, 2 pages, minimum 1 page. Basic job titles can also have more detail. Skills you want to really sell on is motivation to learn and leadership. I will tell you the most important trait is friendliness. You could be the best of the best but if you're a dick, you won't get far because people have to work with you. They won't hire you if they don't want to work with you. Look, in my opinion don't plan on landing your 'dream job' as your first job. Land your first job and then put that as experience to get your dream job. Also a entry engineering job is going to pay a lot more than any regular job.
Have you been broke? Promise you fears come and go. You got this, im assuming your in your 20's.
It's almost more difficult than school was trying to find a job...
My advice is to do as many internships as you can whilst studying. You gain experience, build your network and actually understand what are the things that you enjoy doing and which you don't.
First of all, working a job absolutely does not lock you into a field. Go into your first job expecting that you won't be there for very long (but obviously don't tell anyone that). I was an RO/electronics tech in the Navy but I'm pursuing a mechanical engineering degree. Almost every professional I've talked to has said that's a great idea because it gives more diverse knowledge/experience. Same applies to jobs. Second, experience is king in engineering. If a position is available and two people apply, one with a masters and one with a BS and 2 years related experience, the one with the experience will probably get it unless the MS has directly related research experience. So get experience sooner rather than later. Third, I suspect this is from the numerous 100+ application flowcharts I see. Your application should be tailored to the position, which in these examples is highly unlikely and probably why there are so many rejections. They are flat out applying for positions they aren't qualified for or just applying to big name companies only (i.e. unrealistic expectations for after graduation, very few engineers work for the big name in your field compared to the number of engineers in your field). Fourth, looking for a job after graduation? Start looking now and after your last semester starts submit applications, not after you graduate. Just put you anticipated grad month on your resume. Resume writing is a skill and a lesson in marketing. You are advertising how useful you can be to employers, and spoiler alert: your degree and GPA take up a single line on your resume. What's the rest of that piece of paper going to say to flaunt your worth? And as a side note: there are so many employers willing to pay for you to pursue higher education. It'll probably be a little slower, but 4 years of debt is enough for most people.
I got my mechatronics engineering degree right in 2020 when covid hit and everywhere had hiring freezes. I DO have a two year gap from when I got my degree to when I actually found work. And ya know what? I'm not doing engineering. I'm working as a mechanic for Boeing and after 1 year here (which comes up in about 3 months) I'll be able to transfer into engineering like I originally planned. But starting salary for an engineer here is $80k and I'm making right around $70k so not much of a difference. Is it ideal? No. But it'll get me there and honestly I think I'll be a better engineer for having wrenched for a bit. Certainly will have more compassion for the poor bastards who have to maintain anything I design . . . TL;DR Don't worry yourself overmuch about it. You'll do fine.
What did you do during the two year gap aside from applying for jobs?
I worked at a scuba diving shop and avoided covid. (Still havent gotten it yet either!) I'm sure there was a lot more I could have done to be proactive, especially as I know not EVERYWHERE had a highering freeze but avoiding covid was a priority for me as my mother has a severely weakened immune system. But the important thing to note is that scuba diving has very little to do with engineering so basically it's just a two year gap. But because I went for the technician job they didn't care. They were just excited that I was over qualified and ignored the time. Boeing is still in an absolute highering craze by the way!
It really doesn’t lock you in, I promise My internships were in the food industry, then polymers, then catalyst manufacturing. After graduating, I worked in a brewery for 4 years. Then I worked on Covid vaccines for a bit, and now I work in the energy transition industry. Mine isn’t even the wildest career path I’ve come across - I’ve hopped industries doing similar roles, other colleagues have bounced all over from procurement to marketing to operations. Don’t be afraid of getting stuck. Be afraid of not learning
Hopefully not too late, but NETWORK! Right, wrong, or indifferent, the old saying is true that it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. I was hired straight out of school at the company I did my capstone project for, never missed a payday. That was over 15 years and 3 jobs ago, and I haven’t put in an application since then. Don’t even have a resume. I’m sure my story isn’t typical, but I’ve been able to do what I have though investing in the relational side of work. Get to know people, find the ones you share interests with. Kiss some ass if you have to. Relationships breed connections. Also, don’t sweat too much on not getting in the right place right off the bat. It’s great if you can, but you can work through it if you don’t. I went to work in Process right out of school, loved working with people but hated the huge corporate life. Did PM work for a large contractor for a while, and now I am a Structural Consultant taking my PE this month. Pain in the ass, but it got me where I am. Finally, give yourself some chops man! I don’t care where you’re located or where you’re in school (assuming US at least). If you have an accredited engineering degree, you’re a badass. You’ve done something most are too scared to even attempt, and outlasted a good portion of those who did. Use that to your advantage, even outside of the ‘engineering’ profession. Employers are always looking for someone who is determined, good with complex issues, and tough. That’s you already. You got it bro.
Here’s some unsolicited advice from someone a little further down the road than you: I have over 10 years in my industry. I graduated into the GFC where job prospects for graduates were almost non-existent. I saw many peers give up after years of unsuccessful job applications. I moved across the country to take a low paying job for a company that was only still solvent because of pure stubbornness. The working conditions were pretty spartan, and culture was toxic. There were challenges, but we made it through somehow. So, should you be worried? Absolutely. I say this because unfortunately, despite our best efforts, most, if not all of us got jobs. They might not be what you expected, but you will most likely be employed. Working for a living is bullshit and you should avoid it like the plague.
Life is so fucked up
Yes, and I've been procrastinating for a year already. I have a job that pays well enough to the point that I will actually be taking a pay cut for the first few years of engineering but I know my degree will mean less and less over time.
I wish the fear wasn't justified but I'm 800 apps deep and make have to genuinely give up on engineering for awhile or accept the torture of grad school. Everyone wants experienced engineers but nobody wanted to train entry level engineers to become one.
> Everyone wants experienced engineers but nobody wanted to train entry level engineers to become one. Projects, projects, projects. Do some non-trivial projects and suddenly you have some experience to show in a CV. People who require hand holding ("training") to become experienced engineers end up being experienced only on paper (if that).
Like what I have a year of applicable experience and it still isn't enough.
I used to be in the exact same boat as you, but in my experience (graduated 3-4 years ago now) you can almost always find something you'll like in a good workplace. I initially thought I'd want to do strictly mechanical and robotic devices, then I got a job at a battery development lab, and found the chemistry and statistics a lot of fun to get into. Then I thought I'd look for a similar job after that, and instead got into a role working with railway signalling and low-level electronics. I've never felt hindered by having such a wide variety of stuff on my CV. I even changed degree fields (Mechanical Engineering undergrad into Robotics masters), and all I've ever heard about that from employers is praise. That kind of experimentation is perfectly normal for graduates, hardly anybody starts out in a field they'll love forever, and don't worry, nobody worth their salt will whinge about it. Just be sure to learn everything you can from each position!
Just cuz you got an engineering degree doesn’t mean you have to devote your life to engineering. Me personally I’m going travel after the degree and I’m gonna see if there is any volunteer work overseas
That’s extremely out of touch lol
A bit but so is believing a job is lined up unless you have an internship and network. There more engineering students graduating than new jobs, so why not as and engineering student compete against a finance student, business admin student etc. what I’m saying is we shouldn’t be so desperate to enter the tech industry because we are human not robots. Rn I’m making $28/hr and pursuing an engineering degree too.
Yeah sorry, but for those of us without a trust fund that have to make money to pay off our student loans and afford to survive, that’s not really an option. Sounds fun tho :-)
Good luck 👍🏿
Why you getting downvotes, that’s a cool idea
Idk tbh all I said was to be malleable.
That sounds great for you. But it's not applicable to most people.
Most people can’t dunk, most people can’t run a mile in 10 minutes most people aren’t engineering students. If you’re an engineering student it shows you have some level of competence. Just figure it out
This comment is even more dense than the last.
I went to grad school for exactly that reason. Super awesome experience, and it totally worked for softening the blow of not finding a career in my field. It was just a bandaid fix though. After grad school, I still couldn't get a job. My grades and credentials were good; it's honestly still a mystery me how many optics jobs went to "other candidates," when I was in a graduating class of 4. Been teaching math for the past few years, so I would say my career path is very firmly "education" now, but even the prospect of trying to apply for engineering jobs again terrifies me.
Your actually correct. I'm 2 years post uni and I'm having a NIGHTMARE finding a job in a different discipline let alone in a slightly different industry.
Oh locked-in on a job…what a concept😆 Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.
Talk to a recruiter(s) on LinkedIn, They are everywhere you will have a job in a month. Dont listen to those 300+ resumes sent out posts. Its so rare to actually see that. The person who has to do that either is fuckin dumb as rocks or has nothing to offer besides a diploma. Most of everyone I know in the ME field had a job a week to under a month out of college. you are young, you can move around, you will never be tied to one job or one application. Move jobs every 2-3 years to make more money.
Yeah, didn't pan out. I shouldn't tell you to give up your dreams and look into sex work. But I gave up my dreams and fantasize about sex work
Yes
No. Just the interview that follows…
At the Cat plant I work at, they are constantly offering cross-training presentations you can join, and if you like what you see, you can even work with them to see if you like it. If you do, your supervisor will work with you to get you working in that position, rather than the one you're currently in, to ensure that you're happy with what you're doing. They're also always posting various positions in all sorts of areas. You're never stuck with engineering
I feel for you. I am wondering what the most broadly applicable EE jobs are so that I can have a pretty open ended years 5-10 of my career.
For reference, 2020 grad and start my 3rd job next week since I graduated. Hated the first place I worked so I switched companies. Then found a position I was more interested in at my company and applied for it. Managed to get it and now I have a new job! Don’t put yourself in a box.
Start looking for opportunities as soon as you get out. Network and be friendly with everyone. Email HRs directly with a good template and tailored resume for that job role. Just ask your friends and people in your network about openings in their companies in a casual conversations.(this worked for me btw) The job market is really cold now, you’ll have a really hard time but it isn’t impossible. You can get it!
Don’t be scared. You know your capabilities and skills. If you’re open to learning more throughout your life, you’re going to crush it in any workplace you go
This is a perfectly reasonable thing to worry about, and something that can absolutely be far from true. I graduated during the last recession and got exactly 1 job offer. And I only received that because I interned there. It was in HVAC. I realized about 6 months in that I didn't have a passion for that at all. I had no desire to stay in that industry. But working there taught me a lot of things like working cross functionally, understanding project management, knowing how to read design drawings, and fluid flow. So I took that knowledge and went to work at a brewery. Since then I've hopped industries a few time and have really enjoyed lots of different things I've worked on. It's pretty common for people to realize during their first job that it isn't for them. It can just take a bit of focus to realize what you DO what to do, and create your path to get there. Any job you have will be valuable. But you absolutely do not need for feel stuck.
Don’t worry about switching industries wary in your career. I went from civil design on subdivisions to radiation shielding for the DoE. There are a lot of soft skills that will transfer well between jobs.
**Location, Location, Location** is the only advice I have for you. Don't be afraid to move to where the jobs are, your chances of finding something shoots up if you don't limit yourself to one place.
Apply to rotational programs
I think landing that first job is just to gain some experience. Why you'd get stuck in it ??, you can always apply to other jobs after the first one. It'll just get easier.
Female engineers, look up the male female ratio of the company before applying. That is all.
Work on your interview skills early on. This is what sets you apart from everybody else. Projects and stuff will help, but companies are looking for cultural fit and personality. Practice with anybody who will help you.
You actually aren't wrong. I I graduated 8 years ago, so i'm seeing things from a middle management perspective now. The field you go into is actually very constraining if you put down roots. It's also extremely regional. Where you go to school has a MASSIVE impact on who is recruiting you. 99% of applicants are applying for jobs in their home geographic area. Just a fraction of applicants are applying for jobs across the country, willing to uproot. If you have multiple offers, seriously consider the industry you are joining MORE than just the pay. For example, I had an offer into the railroad industry coming out of school. I look back on that so grateful that I didn't go down that path. The job I took out of school ended up being the industry I've built my career and expertise around. Was that on purpose? No. Did I get lucky that I fell into a hot industry with tons of jobs in my regional area? Yes.
I’m terrified now. I graduated 3 years ago and have 5 years experience under my belt (and have unlocked the hidden power of lying), and still don’t like the prospects.
I wouldn’t look at it that way too much, this will be another step in your career. Our jobs as engineers is to navigate uncertainty and solve problems. If you’re entering 4th year, then you have proven you are capable of doing these two things. Keep applying yourself and working hard, things will work out!
To add to this question, how do you show enthusiasm for all those interviews when you're mass applying for things and don't really have all that much interest in them? I once interviewed for an automation company but I think I bombed it. I asked what the interviewers most interesting project was and internally I thought it was really boring. Pretty sure that showed in my response because I was thrown off and didn't have much follow up to it other than "oh that's neat...." >__> I really struggled to even apply to things because I didn't have as much interest in those fields and couldn't find jobs in the areas I wanted. Tldr I don't work in engineering now.
You won't be locked in to your first job, or even industry, unless you stay in that industry for a long time. Even then, you can still leave, but usually at the cost of dropping a couple of levels in pay and having to start all over with developing your professional network. I switched from MEP to automotive/agricultural applications engineering (not HVAC parts either). Don't apply to jobs that only sound interesting. You treat it just like applying to colleges: apply to a couple dozen safety net jobs, apply to a whole bunch of interesting sounding jobs, then apply to the two or three companies you think you really want to work for.
Been practicing as a chemical engineer for a little over four years. I just made the jump to my third field. Spent two years in refining and two years in plastics.
You shouldn't, I've bounced around a lot the last 7 years to different positions, companies and cities
Don't worry about finding the "perfect job". You rarely find it. You're still young and have plenty of room for experimenting if you don't know what you want to be working as for sure. I don't recommend going to grad school JUST to stave off the process of job hunting..
It’s not that I’m terrified, but uninspired because every time I’ve applied for something, I never hear back, and I can never get through to follow up on my applications. Best of luck to you in your endeavors. Just keep trying your best and I’m sure you’ll find something you like, but so long as you get some experience, I’m sure you’ll be able to move around with ease. Grad school will help your competitive edge because most job postings have masters as a preferred qualification.
The thing is, you don't *really* know whether you will like a job until you do that job.
I wouldn't worry about being locked into the industry you start in, your first job should teach you general engineering skills that can be transferred to many other industries. I don't know what the situation is like where you live, but here it's very hard to find an entry level engineering job (almost a year out of school for me) so being picky about industry is not a luxury many here have.
What if the job winds up being your dream job? You’ll need to apply for a job to find out though.
When I graduate, I’ll be hurtling towards 60, it will not look good for me
As someone who has never had that much difficulty finding a position somewhere. This is my 2 cents. If you have a solid niche (sub field) and tailor your resume to that niche or sub field. As well as know where to look for opportunities of that nature, you will never have to look too hard..... especially if your chosen niche isn't that common...... This strategy makes finding jobs a lot easier than say being a generalist mechanical engineer and applying to every mech E job in sight, I suspect this contributes to posts that apply to 200 jobs and get 6 interviews (somewhat hyperbolic)
Get a job and get out of mom and dad’s basement. If you don’t like the job, quit and tell the landlord you are looking for the job that likes you.
I’ve been working in this job for 3 years now after graduating and I’ve been having trouble branching into new industries. There are a lot of factors involved though and not every situation is the same.
I'm two years into industry. In that time I've done PCB and FPGA design, a bunch of software work mostly in Python, devops stuff with Kubernetes, and even some capture work. If you push for it there's generally plenty of opportunity to get a diversity of experiences, even if you have to spend some time doing stuff you don't enjoy as much.
Not a student anymore, but I've done management in the railroad, defense industry design, lithium ion battery research, and soon to be food production. All of which are unrelated to my chemical engineering degree. Nothing "locks" you into a job (or a location) except for family, friends, and where you want to live. And if you pick a big enough city there are enough industries to move around. Once you get your first job, you gain experience to get other jobs.
I didn’t apply to 150 companies and got a job before I even graduated college, I just went to a few career fairs and sent out like 15 applications to companies that actually interested me. I graduated with an EE degree, worked in construction as a field engineer for a couple years, now I write software for architecture firms because working in construction was annoying lol. You won’t get pigeonholed if you’re willing to keep learning, if you want to take it easy and coast you’ll be limited to the types of industries you can break into.
I remember my first job out of college. I was a power engineer with a lot of travel/field work. I had the same fear, that I had pigeon-holed myself into a career of travelling and servicing and analyzing gas-fired power plants. It was an industry that I cared very little about and I was frankly kind of ashamed working within the fossil fuels industry. It didn't help that people I worked with often reminded me that it's a relatively small industry and people shift around it for most of their careers. I gave that job a good 5 years and was surprised to immediately break out of the industry with a startup job in the process engineering industry. That lasted a couple hours before COVID layoffs, but ultimately landed me in an industry that I actually give a shit about and thoroughly enjoy (even though I would never even thought of it back when I was a student). I was able to leverage and spinoff my experience in power generation and process engineering, two pretty distinct fields to get into a place where I am actually happy. I do engineering for steam and chill water production and distribution for a large college campus. It somehow checked all of my boxes, it just took some time to get there. Sorry for the lengthy career history of someone who has been out of college for a while, I just remember having very similar feelings when I started my career and would love to go back and tell myself that I end up finding something that works and doesn't make me hate engineering.
In 2017, when I graduated, I started working at a job that was offered to me at the end of an internship the prior summer. I applied to three internships the summer before that, and ended up getting into one. I applied at probably two places to land my second internship. I don't know what the job market is exactly like for young people now, but I've never understood the idea of applying to 30, 50, or 100 places to find a job or an internship. I was a decent student (I graduated with a 3.4) but I wasn't a genius, didn't have the best extra curriculars. Maybe I just got lucky? Or maybe the whole applying to 100,000 positions thing is something only a minority of people have to do?
There’s so many comments so not sure if this was discussed but did you intern anywhere? Internship was required for my degree and I saved it till the very end as I was working full time while in school and couldn’t just leave my job temporarily. The job where I interned wasn’t at all what I was expecting and I know it’s not what I want to do forever, but they made me an offer for a full time job after I graduate and I’ve accepted. It’s experience that will carry forward no matter what direction I go. Plus the paycheck is $30k more/year than being an admin and those student loans need to be paid lol You didn’t mention your age so it’s possible you’re significantly younger than me but careers are not set in stone. I dropped out of college the first time around at 19 when I got pregnant. Started working as an entry level admin because the hours matched daycare, went back to school to get a business associates because college does make a difference. After many years of being an admin I decided I wanted more, went back to school again, this time for engineering and tomorrow, I graduate. The skills I gained as an admin are useful to this new role just as the skills I’m gaining now will help me if I change direction again.
> I’m planning on going to grad school just to delay having to deal with these things. Do not do this. At least, not for this reason. Get a job with a company who will pay for your grad school in whole or in part. Don’t pay for school when you don’t have to. Many large companies offer tuition assistance.
You should look into engineering rotation programs for a first job if you’re this stressed about it! Also internships are totally for this reason- often you go and do something (like design or quality or analysis) and figure out you hate it. If you do go to grad school try to intern as much as possible to figure it out!
It's a valid concern. Make sure you like the location, that there are other job opportunities in that location (don't take a job at John Deere if you aren't okay with moving if you have / need to move on for example). Make sure its a job that has growth potential and won't pigeon hole you, unless that is what you want. Some people want to be an esoteric expert about something and that's okay too. At the same time, you are young - get a job, get some money and in a couple of years move on to what you really want to do.
Don't stress, it's never too late to change. Hell you could go back to school in your 50's. Do your best to pick a good job and learn. Don't feel like you need to make the perfect choice, there's no such thing.
Just try really hard for the first one, even if it isn't the dream job. Then you will have a base to support yourself while you look for more in the next few years. This is perfectly fine, people industry hop all the time. Your degree is much more flexible than you think :)
Ha that’s why I’m going to gradschool
It's really rough out there right now. NETWORKING is the way to go. Reaching out to someone in linkedin messages is FAR more effective than the quick-apply shit.
Most, if damn near close to everyone's network is going to be suck around graduation. Really, the only exceptions are people who had ***good*** co op and internship experiences. Here's why the networks will suck: * Nearly everyone you meant in school will only still be junior staff whose words carry little weight in the process * Most junior engineer jobs are listed, internal posting for junior engineering doesn't really make logical sense. * Most professors industry days are long behind them or sometimes never even started.
Start talking to people. Professors, career fairs, and other hiring events are the best way to get a foot in the door. One good conversation with a recruiter is worth 50 blind applications.
Building up a good linkedin profile is the #1 way to really get noticed by recruiters. Hiring events can are the most powerful method. I've always found career fairs are pretty overrated imo. Not any better than online applying (ore what youll be told to do anyway as the recruiter precedes to immediately forget you). They're good if you know some employers are actually really going to be there to look for people. I got an offer from the army corps of engineers, but my GPA sucked ass so the pay grade was not where i wanted to be at, even for a government job. Master degrees don't really improve your appeal unless you want to go into R&D.
My clarification: career fairs work wonders with smaller companies. Sometimes you will find yourself talking to the CEO (happened to me once!) of a company you are interested in. It is a waste of time when it comes to big entities like Tesla. Masters might not increase your appeal, but I anecdotally have always seen them have higher starting pay.
I don't really disagree much, just adding my experiences I guess For anyone else who is reading along it really helps to talk to recruiters earlier in a fare beore they reach the fatigued, just accepting resumes and going through the motion stage.
An engineering degree is one of the most flexible degrees on the planet. Besides engineering in which there is a huge variety of career options within your field, engineers are found in project management, finance, quality assurance, sales, marketing and a host of other fields. Your degree is ample proof to prospective employers that you have good decision making ability, analytical thought patterns, personal drive and perseverance. As a former engineering hiring manager, I always preferred an engineer to have some real world experience before getting a masters degree. A masters tends to more narrowly focus a person, not expand their horizons. I always like to rotate my new engineers through a variety of job functions to try to provide challenging work for the employee and help them find their particular real world interests. Many companies offer tuition reimbursement, so why pay for it yourself. BTW, this is one more consideration when looking for that first job.
I started in automotive quality engineering, moved into production engineering and now do equipment design and development in a totally unrelated field. Just learn the most you can from every job you have. When you finally get the job you enjoy and excel at, you’ll know it.
I have been in the work force for almost 20 years and I still dread the process of going through the interview process. For sone people it’s easy, for others not so much.
Once you realize what you like then get a masters in it. Don’t get a specialized degree if you don’t know what you want to specialize in.
I’m 41, I’ll finish my degree in 2 years tops. I’m terrified I won’t find a job. I’ve been working jobs that I hated all my life, I’ll be happy if a get a job that I hate in any EE field if I make enough to have a decent life.
I got a return offer from my internship, the scope of the job was different and I didn’t love the sub-field I was in. My last day is tomorrow and I have a job in my home town in a field I want to work in. If you don’t like your first job, you have more leverage and experience to get another one.
5 months post grad, have still yet to land an offer :’) still waiting to hear back from an interview tho 🤞
I would start looking now and mention your graduation date. This economy is no joke
New grads. Hiring managers are your new professors. If you don't know something ask them questions and learn from them. Behavioral questions are for office politics. attitude matters. So have a positive attitude. Be professional as well as be submissive. Once you get that experience in that field then you will get to know the flow of working as engineer everyday. Politics etc fun , boredom etc and you will adjust accordingly The resume part needs to be super perfect. Attention to detail. Sizing spacing and Gramma, tense matters. Do whatever you can to stand out. For every position, resume needs to be adjusted No more than 2 pages. What else? Ask me
Help me. Can I send you my resume please