Career Advice

Well I graduated in December with a BS in mechanical engineering but have been having a tough time finding jobs I am interested in, so I haven't applied to that many places, but have been rejected by most. I recently had an interview for a dream job and was supposed to hear back from them late this week with their decision, but never heard anything, so I am going to assume the worst, guessing they offered the position to another candidate and are waiting for their response. I have another offer from a company I handed my resume to at the schools job fair just for kicks, they are offering me position but I don't feel it will give me relevant experience for my career goals (design or test engineer) it is more of a project management type role. The pay is lower than my min value and the commute isn't great. I have to give them a decision by Monday so if I call the dream employer Monday morning and they tell me I didn't get the job, what should I do? I am not hurting for money and I can easily go work for my dad again, I am just afraid if my unemployment gap gets bigger it will hurt my chances of getting any job.

Stats:
distinction: cum laude
Major GPA: 3.5
Overall GPA: 3.1X

Engineer in training licence (Basically just brownie points unless you go into consulting)

1 fortune 500 internship
many years of hands on experience working for my dad's electrical company

plus turtle pace cobra build experience
 
How many firms have you applied to? If its under 100 you aren't trying hard enough. You're young, and Im guessing you have no real obligations in NE Illinois, the country is wide open.

Definitely haven't applied to that many, writing one off cover letters takes time and writing isn't my strong suit.
Country is wide open but small school names doesn't travel very far.




What school? EIT isn't too important for an ME

NIU, so I am not a UofI genius or anything, although I feel I am just as smart. I worked with some engineers from top 5 schools and they didn't seem like boy wonder or anything. I know eit doesn't do much for me unless you go into HVAC, I would like to get PE down the line though. I think it could help my credentials considering I went to a small school but had to compete with kids from big schools to pass.
 

Intel

TCG Elite Member
Oct 28, 2009
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Not to be a jerk but the big companies might see that overall gpa from a shitty school ( I went there too, just how others see it) and look over you. At least call and ask.

I will say most of my engineering friends went into PM consultant roles and haven't done a bit of engineering in their lives. Not for me if I was doing it but the money is there. I did csci but we are just lucky to have a couple of companies that recruit heavily out of NIU.
 

1quick

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Jan 29, 2008
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How well do you interview, when my wife was interviewing for her first "real" job last fall I wrote down every question I could think of that I had ever been asked and she practiced answering them every day for a month or so before the interview, when I was trying to get started I would interview everywhere that offered just for the practice
 
Call the place you like and see what they say. A job getting experience is better than no job at all. You can always keep looking.

I will call them on Monday, maybe labeling the other position project management isn't correct. I would be dealing with customers complaining about parts not fitting and stopping production, sourcing components from china, matching part numbers to see if part already exists. Pretty much nothing that would benefit in trying to get a design or testing role down the line.

Not to be a jerk but the big companies might see that overall gpa from a shitty school ( I went there too, just how others see it) and look over you. At least call and ask.

I will say most of my engineering friends went into PM consultant roles and haven't done a bit of engineering in their lives. Not for me if I was doing it but the money is there. I did csci but we are just lucky to have a couple of companies that recruit heavily out of NIU.

I definitely understand NIU is small fish in a big pond of heavy hitter engineering schools. Like I said above, maybe labeling job offer as project management is incorrect. I already feel like I would hate it, which will not allow me to do my best work. I am not sure if this is the proper term "head hunted" but i was head hunted by an hr recruiter on linkedin from a fortune 500 medical company in the area, had a phone interview with hiring manager but it never went anywhere after that. As for the dream job company, it is Siemens and from the sound of it, I beat out a lot of applicants just to make it to the interview. I have definitely started looking into smaller company's to gain experience, but I have to figure out what will happen with Siemens and if I should take the other job that I don't think is right. The reason decided to become an engineer is because I love building things, so if I am not doing that, then whats the point.

You put your GPA on your resume????? Why?

Because with entry level engineering the cutoff is pretty much 2.8-3.0 and if you don't put it on your resume then they may assume its lower than that.

Are you making it to interviews or just not hearing back? If you're not totally confident in your writing definitely have someone look it over before firing it off.

I have had 6 interviews since I graduated, 2 company's I turned out not to be interested in as it wouldn't help my career go where I want it to, 1 company i made it to the final round but got beat out by another candidate, I have 2 interviews that have not made offers/or rejections yet, and the the one offer that I don't really like or think will give me experience that will advance my career. I write my cover letters and then have a friend that is really good at that type of writing help me spruce them up.

Less is more on a resume. If it's full of crap then it's going to get passed over.

I would actually say my resume is pretty clean and simple. education, certifications, school projects that relate to the type of work I want to do, work experience, professional organizations.
 
How well do you interview, when my wife was interviewing for her first "real" job last fall I wrote down every question I could think of that I had ever been asked and she practiced answering them every day for a month or so before the interview, when I was trying to get started I would interview everywhere that offered just for the practice

I wouldn't say I am amazing but I can defiantly handle the heat. I pretty much did the same thing, write down all standard questions and come up with pre determined answers. I have dealt with good and bad cop interviewers. Had the book of hr questions thrown at me, had technical questions asked. I feel like I hold my own fairly well.

Do you want to sit in front of a CAD system all your life or what is it you really want to do? Have you considered grad school?

Not saying I want to do it my whole life but I do enjoy seeing my ideas come to life, I am also really hands on so that's why I like testing as well as design. I believe to be a good manager someday you gotta know what its like in the roles below you. I have considered grad school, but I am not 100% sure I know what topic i would want to study.
 

Gone_2022

TCG Elite Member
Sep 4, 2013
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No one gives a shit. Leave off the GPA, leave on Cum Laude. It lets them know you weren't an idiot, avoids letting employers play the numbers game, and more importantly it makes you look like an adult... not some high schooler applying to university.


I had my gpa on my resume. When the major manufactures came to our college for interviews it was required that you have it on them. General Motors corporate which is who I work for would not interview you unless you had a 3.5 gpa and above. The market is tough and companies want the best


Now granted it was for a job out of school. If I applied to somewhere else now I would take it off and just leave my degrees
 

FrenchLicker

Enginerd
Jan 10, 2013
3,126
97
Naperthrill
Defiantly haven't applied to that many, writing one off cover letters takes time and writing isn't my strong suit.
Country is wide open but small school names doesn't travel very far.






NIU, so I am not a UofI genius or anything, although I feel I am just as smart. I worked with some engineers from top 5 schools and they didn't seem like boy wonder or anything. I know eit doesn't do much for me unless you go into HVAC, I would like to get PE down the line though. I think it could help my credentials considering I went to a small school but had to compete with kids from big schools to pass.

Do they have a decent career center?

Bradley isn't a huge school but the career center set up a lot of my interviews and kept me in touch with some great companies. I am a CE and went to grad school right after undergrad, it definitely shows commitment. If that turns out to be your option, keep looking the entire time in grad school, I know a couple of people that went to grad school for less than a year and had opportunities too good to pass up.

Thoughts on CAT? They hire MEs like crazy.

I know salary talks killed a lot of deals with some friends, couple shot too high and were shown the door.
 
I had my gpa on my resume. When the major manufactures came to our college for interviews it was required that you have it on them. General Motors corporate which is who I work for would not interview you unless you had a 3.5 gpa and above. The market is tough and companies want the best


Now granted it was for a job out of school. If I applied to somewhere else now I would take it off and just leave my degrees

That's the plan, after a couple years take it of and leave cum laude.

Do they have a decent career center?

Bradley isn't a huge school but the career center set up a lot of my interviews and kept me in touch with some great companies. I am a CE and went to grad school right after undergrad, it definitely shows commitment. If that turns out to be your option, keep looking the entire time in grad school, I know a couple of people that went to grad school for less than a year and had opportunities too good to pass up.

Thoughts on CAT? They hire MEs like crazy.

I know salary talks killed a lot of deals with some friends, couple shot too high and were shown the door.

NIU used to have a lot of big companies come to the job fairs/career center like John Deere, CAT, Navistar (where I was an intern). CAT and John Deere didn't come to NIU the past 2 job fairs and neither did Navistar due to their economic issues. All they have now is UTC aerospace, Woodward,and Exelon. Bradley and UIC would be my top reasonable choices for grad school, I know some departments dont require GRE, dos bradley. I know i can get get into NIU guaranteed but i think it would be beneficial to raise the bar.
 

FrenchLicker

Enginerd
Jan 10, 2013
3,126
97
Naperthrill
That's the plan, after a couple years take it of and leave cum laude.



NIU used to have a lot of big companies come to the job fairs/career center like John Deere, CAT, Navistar (where I was an intern). CAT and John Deere didn't come to NIU the past 2 job fairs and neither did Navistar due to their economic issues. All they have now is UTC aerospace, Woodward,and Exelon. Bradley and UIC would be my top reasonable choices for grad school, I know some departments dont require GRE, dos bradley. I know i can get get into NIU guaranteed but i think it would be beneficial to raise the bar.

I think Bradley requires the GRE if you did not do undergrad there....

But is there a point of contact at the career center that lists jobs and internships as they become available? I would reach out and have them read your resume and cover letters and see what they say.
 
I think Bradley requires the GRE if you did not do undergrad there....

But is there a point of contact at the career center that lists jobs and internships as they become available? I would reach out and have them read your resume and cover letters and see what they say.

I've had them look at my resume before and they say its good. We have an online thing where company's can post jobs at but there isnt much on there for me.
 
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