I lost my first! Is this the end of the world? 21

[Cutiee]

This is my first job, my first redundancy; I have never imagined I’d leave the company of being made redundant. We’re not picking up any work, over 1/3rd of people have to go, and more than ten people have already gone. In my department they only want to keep the manager, and everyone else has to go, fair enough, all clear and straight forward, but somehow I just can’t accept it. It happened all too quickly.

I have been looking for jobs (again) since I heard the news, I know it’s a good chance for me to finally move on, but so far I have got rejected by two companies and am still waiting for response from many others.

How should I look at myself now? A loser? Although In the past years I have got very good feedbacks from both my colleagues and clients regarding my work, my confidence is slowly ebbing away… I start to doubt my ability... After getting a good class MEng degree I thought I was worth something; now at age of 25 I’m unemployed!

Is there something wrong with my CV? Or my limited experience is holding me back? Or perhaps, I should change directions…?

Help me through the misery please…

x

P.S if a similar post already exist, please let me know and I shall close this one

Thanks


Cutie

 

[Cutiee]

You are right controlsdude, I have spoken to my vendors, and surprisingly they are all very helpful! They forwarded my CV to people they know who might have a job for me, also got me contacts for companies I might like to work for, a couple of them said would like to hire, but unfortunately, due to the recession, they haven’t got enough work to recruit…

Corus, I was told similar, now I had my first redundancy, at least I’m prepared for next time…

Mgtrp, I don’t get redundancy pay at all, because worked less than 2 years, I will be all right for a year or so without a job, but I really would like to have a job to prove myself worthwhile :s

lol, KirbyWan, I have never heard ‘keep your pecker up’, maybe they don’t say that to ladies… ‘keep your chin up’ is the saying, I have been told by many



Cutie

 

[swivel63]

first time, i was laid off.....it was a numbers thing. 20% let go, and everyone got a pay cut. it stung, it sucked, and no one was hiring. i liked the position. so i just prayed, and about a month later a "job" came by. note that i didn't say career.

2nd time, i was "fired." boss's sons didn't like me. apparently, i didn't work well with them. i was elated, happy, and content that i was leaving a company chock full of imbeciles. i learned alot of about myself, too. maybe that was a lesson the good Lord was trying to teach me.

don't worry about it. you'll be fine. you're not the first, you won't be the last, and you're not part of a few. it is what it is. the only way to not get fired is to work for yourself. just keep looking and stay positive.

 

[Cutiee]

this is already the fourth week since I was made redundant, and still no sign of jobs =/, not even a phone call... don't know what I am doing wrong here

Cutie

 

[Rich2001]

Yes being laid-off is a hit on the ego... don't let it bother you. Finding a job is much harder that actually doing the job.
[ol]
[li] Get uo in the morning with a sense of purpose. [/li]
[li] Check you emails, follow-up on any lead ASAP [/li]
[li] Send email and CV out to recruiters and companies. [/li]
[li] Research companies that you mihjt be interested in. [/li]
[li] Plan on spending 12 to 18 hours per day searching for a job. [/li]
[li] Join some professional online networks, such as [li] Linkedin.com. [/li]
[li] Post your CV to online databases. [/li]
[li] Are you a member of a technical society IET, IEEE etc.? if so, network with other members. [/li]
[/ol]
Plan ahead- even after you obtain a job, keep your CV updated and handy... you never know.


What do you like to do, your hobbies, etc.? Can you make some moolah doing this.

Writing an article for a trade journal get you a lot of exposure.

Think positive, keep smiling.



Vita sine litteris mors est.

 

[KENAT]

Cutiee, it took me 4 months to find my first job out of uni (well probably more as I'd applied a few places while still at uni) so 4 weeks really isn't that much.

Just keep plugging away.

KENAT,

Have you reminded yourself of faq731-376 recently, or taken a look at posting policies:

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484

 

[FreddyNurk]

Cutiee, don't wait for the phone calls. If you're applying direct to the company for an advertised position, find out who its going to, and at least call them to confirm.

You don't need to discuss the state of the world and all of the small talk that goes with it, but just a follow up, such as 'Have you received the application? Is there any more information that you'd require for the applicaton?' and so on can help. If you don't do this, and they don't call back, you have no idea on why you may not have been successful, and even if they say no when you talk to them, at least you have some feedback on what else to work on.

If you're mainly dealing with a HR department, see if you can get to talk to someone actually doing the job, or at least related to the position advertised. This way you can at least ensure that you may have more of a chance than HR incorrectly binning your application. HR generally knows nothing about what engineering does, so at least discussing the position with them, or a more relevant person, can always help.

Finally, one of the best books on the subject is Richard Bolles' "What Color Is Your Parachute". It has a lot of info on how to use contacts and head in the right direction.

 

[Cutiee]

Thanks guys. I’m doing all that’s been suggested

One thing I can’t quite figure out is:

Lots of the recruitment agencies I have registered with were recommended by my managers/colleagues and ex-colleagues, they were saying all those agencies tried to get them jobs, and they were actually annoyed by them, but somehow when I got in touch with those agencies, they just didn’t seem to have anything for me, or never get back to me.

Well, the reasons I can think of are:

I ask for too little money. And I don’t have the required experience and skills. =[

right?


Cutie

 

[KENAT]

While some recruitment agengies will pester fairly inexperienced engineers, for the most part they are after more experienced folks. Partly because they can be more productive quicker (so it's what the clients want) and partly because commisions on them are larger.

From what I recall you only have maybe a couple of years experience. This means that your ability to be put in a job and be highly productive straight away is limited and your rate wont be that high, as you guessed.

This is all too disouraging though, have a cup of tea, keep your upper lip stiff and stick to it.

KENAT,

Have you reminded yourself of faq731-376 recently, or taken a look at posting policies:

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484

 

[Cutiee]

*Cry on shoulder*, 18 months experience, hopeless =[





Cutie

 

[IRstuff]

Obviously, no consolation that you're not alone.

However, given that, you need to look at how to make yourself stand out, overall attitude, confidence, etc.

Jobs don't always go to the most deserving; they go to the ones that did the best job marketing. People tend to read between the lines, so everything you write or say needs to be carefully evaluated for any negative subtext.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[rowingengineer]

Cutie,
If this helps you feel like that boat of your isn’t all that lonely. Two guys got laid off from my company a while back (6 months). These two guys are still looking for work, not from lack of trying mind you. These two fellows’ would have the complete opposite problem to you. These guys have both been in the game of engineering for 15+ yrs. The reason I believe they are struggling to get work is that they are people you would refer to as Jack of all trades, master of none. They are finding it very hard to get an interview as a lot of employers are looking to the future, looking for people whom standout. I believe the new word is hype dynamic. To give you an assessment of the capabilities in my humble opinion, i would hire/recommend these guys at the drop of a hat, but alas it is not my decision.

So keep you chin up and be dynamic.


When in doubt, just take the next small step.

 

[IRstuff]

Hmm, seems weird. Usually, in down times, you tend to dump the junior specialists in favor a senior generalists, those JOATMONs, since it's usually easier to keep them busy with varied tasks.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[KENAT]

Cutiee,

Maybe this will help cheer you up, or at least feel less lonely.

I work out of town, because the only significant industry where I live (Ridgecrest) is defence related and until recently I couldn't work in defence due to nationality issues.

Since I got my citizenship I've applied to a bunch of places, and went to a job fair on the local base where all the jobs are centered.

I haven't had a single response yet.

Just to rub it in there was an article in the LA times about how Ridgecrest is a boom town in these troubled times and they can't find anyone to employ etc.

Made me feel really great;-).

So, it's not just you.

KENAT,

Have you reminded yourself of faq731-376 recently, or taken a look at posting policies:

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484

 

[rowingengineer]

IRstuff,
The day i understand management is the day I can truly call myself crazy.
However, I think it had something to do with pay levels (these guys were paid a bit more than me, with less seniority) and poor project selection for the capabilities of the office.
The sad thing is that now we have too much work, and I cannot get them to re-employee the redundant works because of ego's of the management.

When in doubt, just take the next small step.

 

[IRstuff]

Sure, but it takes all kinds. Most of the time, trying to rehire doesn't work, because they decide that they don't want to take the risk of getting bumped later on. But, then again, we had one guy who got rehired three times, and he had no problems with getting bumped, over and over.

As for management, it's often simply that what we, as engineers, perceive to be priorities often aren't.

Case in point, at a former IC company called F***, we had some serious downsizings, and a new GM, the 8th in 4 yrs, decided to cut all IR&D spending, and force last-time buys on our only cash cows. Clearly psychotic to kill all potential future business and the lifeblood of the division, no?

However, from his perspective, it was perfectly sane. He deduced that he had less than 4 months to show a profit, or he would be fired. And he recognized that if he showed a profit, he would be promoted. In either scenario, the fate of the division was irrelevant to him after 5 months. Therefore, the lack of future products was not his problem. The killing of the cash cows wouldn't affect him in the short run, but he would get a 5x bump in the bottomline for each product killed. He turned a profit on the 4th and 5th months, and he was indeed promoted on the 6th month.

So, what we saw as the killing of the division in the long run was correct, but irrelevant to his time horizon. It makes him extremely shrewd, but an a**hole nonetheless.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[ScottyUK]

Yeah, industry needs more people like him...


----------------------------------

If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!

 

[rowingengineer]

Here i was thinking that my GM was a A**hole, this guy takes the cake.

You are right however there is definitely a different mind set. Instead of following my advice and getting an engineer on board that can help out, they have hired a newly Graduated student, because they are “cheap”. Not to say a grad can't help out, It just seems to be the wrong thought process to me.


When in doubt, just take the next small step.

 

[Ron]

Hey Kenat...I figured out what's wrong with your resume! On this side of the pond it's "defense" instead of "defence". All those potential employers probably thought you were a fence installer.

Ron

 

[KENAT]

Thanks Ron, I'll fix that typo!

KENAT,

Have you reminded yourself of faq731-376 recently, or taken a look at posting policies:

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484

 

[Cutiee]

‘I’m not alone’ only means I face more competition… I was confident, but I heard too many ‘no’s to believe in myself anymore. I just got turned down by a company I thought I had a good chance with. I’m feeling pretty @#&% at the moment.

During the redundancy process, company had to do a skills matrix; roughly every skill had maximum 5 points, some even less, so I guess the JOATMONs would score obviously more... (Person with lowest score had to go, but such a matrix wasn’t done for me, because everyone in my department apart from the manager was made redundant.)

Hey, KENAT, how long have you been looking? I doubt you’d be out of work too long, with your experience, your (attractive) English accent… Americans would love to hire you.

rowingengineer just reminded me why I got employed… I was a ‘cheap’ graduate. My company tends to pay managers a lot, but very little to the rest, one manager (who’s now got laid off) used to get paid 4 times more than the people who actually did some work in his department… So they could never keep skilled people in the company…

The job advertised was ‘graduate electrical engineer’, once I started, my title became ‘electrical engineer’, it wasn’t junior or graduate, and that was once the reason why I couldn’t get a pay raise (said my manager)…

Oh btw, why do I have a star next to my name? It says ‘helpful member’… But all I have done was asking questions…

Thanks again all

X


Cutie