Need help to Land my first entry level Electrical Engineer job

[justgraduated]

Hi Everybody,

I am new to the group and from what I have been reading so far this is an awesome forum. I can only wish I found it sooner.

Now my case:

I am a recent canadian graduate in electrical engineering (BASc) with no practical engineering experience. Graduated in october 2006 moved to toronto, had 3 interviews so far but no job. I believe I'm living proof of catch 22 ....no experience no job.. no job no experience. Daily activity for past three months == resumes and coverletters and some part-time work to pay the bills. I need help, I really love electrical engineering but without experience life's tough. I am very open to relocation if I can get a job quickly.

I have applied for licensing and requested to be registered in the EIT program. I am considering moving to Alberta but I do not know anyone out there. I welcome any help or advice I can get.

 

[IRstuff]

Not knowing your academic performance or the job situation, it's a bit difficult to come up with a meaningful assessment.

October is an odd time to graduate, so is there some problem with your academic history?

Is the job market too tight?

Are you applying for the right jobs?



TTFN

 

[SWComposites]

Have you tried getting help from your university placement office? Many entry level jobs are only filled thru on-campus interviews.

 

[justgraduated]

Thanks for replying everybody.

I believe the market is tight however some of my classmates with coop experience have had jobs.

Before leaving school, I had my resume reviewed by my university placement office and actually I still keep in touch with my university placement office. I check their website for job leads. My school had some job fairs in the last year however I got no calls back from potential employers despite numerous follow ups.

My overall gpa upon graduation was 2.8 and my average on my major courses is a B+ and I personnally blame that low score on my part time job throughout my university career. I must admit I was probably among the poorest students in my class. 98% of my textbooks were photocopies or borrowed from senior students.

One more thing can anyone tell me if I should include my gpa score on my resume or not? So far I have left it out.

Most of the jobs I have been applying for required 1-2 years experience. So far I have only found about 3 jobs requiring no experience and on one of them I got an interview but no positive outcome. I constantly attend engineering career fairs. I got an interview call from one of them but no luck.

Can someone tell me if applying for Jobs on company website's really help. I believe I must have applied to about a hundred jobs on company website's so far and still I can't get any interview calls despite numerous follow up attempts. I am considering, going to visit companies and physically handing a copy of my resume to them.

Should I be a little more patient? I need help to find new job hunting strategies.

 

[atlas06]

Get on the phone, I've heard of a technique called "Call/Write/Call", seems to provide the best results.
1. You first call and speak with the department manager and ask for permission to send a resume.
2. Send the resume, and get someone qualified to go over that cover letter. Follow up with a thank you letter.
3. Call two days later for a status.

Applying through web sites is waste of time in my opinion, and delivering resumes in person as you intend to do is suicide (you're not applying at a burger joint).

Perseverance and a tenacious attitude are key to job hunting, and don't be afraid of rejection.

one more thing: be prepared to move out of state, get the sunday papers from some of the major market areas.

Best

 

[GregLocock]

(1) quit whining

(2) see (1)

(3) re 1 and 2, you are where you are, the reasons are now history.

(4) So, you want a job, in your chosen field. Good.

(5) You can't find a job in your locale. Move. I have had to move house for every single job I have ever taken in my life. Including the first one. Including my current one. That's an average of once every three years, so far, in twenty-odd years.



Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[justgraduated]

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I am continuing the hard work big time.

Sweeeet - Time to pack up and move where the jobs at

Hey Greg locock your story is encouraging

 

[GregLocock]

Dunno about that so much, but, now, there are a thousand jobs around the world for young engineers, in mining. I have heard they dig stuff up in Canadia, otherwise we've got a million square miles of dirt to look at in Oz, and not too many skilled people to do it with. They probably even need smoke doctors.

Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[mechmama]

You might have to consider applying for internships now if you can't get an entry level position. I've heard of people doing it. Or, you could consider getting your master's, and try to come out of that program with a better GPA and an internship or two under your belt. Also, try to network as much as possible. I got my first job after attending a university-sponsored dinner with corporate HR recruiters. Now, I continue to have people that I used to work with who have moved out to other companies call me (and this is true for everyone I work with, too). I'm a very quiet person who can do without people, but I cannot emphasize enough that contacts are your most important tool in a job search. Sending a resume to someone you know usually gets the process started faster than going through the company website.

 

[SylvestreW]

I'm curious, why would you maintain a part-time job during school, which you stated affected your marks, instead of just taking a year off and doing an internship somewhere? The income would have been somewhat equivalent, you would have gotten relevant experience and your marks would have been higher?

Next, sure, you had a job, but after 4(or more?) years of school, you didn't once join a club, have a(nother?) summer job in your field?

May sound harsh but seems you haven't shown any real initiative until now.

 

[Lion06]

Applying on company websites is a good way to go. When I was looking for a job (6 months before graduation), I went on yahoo yellow pages, went to the locale of my choosing and went to every structural engineering firm that had a website listed there. I sent a resume to every one (either via their website or email). I also looked up firms that were members of the local engineering association. I got a ton of interviews and my dream job. While I hate the hours of my job, I am getting such great experience that I feel like I will be able to virtually step into the job of my choosing at any point if I decide to look elsewhere. I only graduated last May, so I know people are hiring. I still get calls for interviews from headhunters with my resume. I did have a somewhat higher GPA, however (3.86 overall, 3.97 technical), and was presented with several awards from my program.
Keep looking and send out as many resumes as possible. Don't be afraid to send them via email or a company's website. If they like your resume, they won't care how it got into their hands.
Good Luck

 

[justgraduated]

SylvestreW nice question.

Maybe I could have been more aggressive while in school, but it's late now. However I believe I did my best to take initiative ... I was enrolled in a coop program (learnt professional development etc), coop was no guarantee you would get a job in my university at least. Too many students too few jobs. Anyways I dont regret it I did learn a lot from the program.

Professional clubs I belong to while at school included - IEEE and Engineer without borders. The first one was really helpful with regards to the final year design project.

Parttime job-why? Well SylvestreW, it was not a matter of choice it was a matter of neccessity. I was a foreign student at the time and I betcha tuition was not cheap for my sponsor. Just taking a year off and looking for an Internship is not as easy when you are a foreign student..u know what I mean --red tape(visa rules).
Well I'm now a permanent resident so I got all the paper work I need to succeed. Yeaaaah

Hope this satisfies your curiosity sylvestreW.

 

[xnuke]

My understanding is that the petrochem industry is booming in Calgary right now and engineering and construction firms are in desperate need for engineers. Perhaps you should look at some of the consulting firms that are doing business there. Many may even consider bringing on new graduates in temporary contract positions, and if they like you, you can be offered a permanent position. I know my company's Calgary office is looking for people, and yes, they often want experienced people, but you can always try.

Best of luck!

xnuke
"Live and act within the limit of your knowledge and keep expanding it to the limit of your life." Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[MadMango]

Have you tried a headhunter or employement agency? Are you willing to be employed in your field at a different level (tech) to gain that coveted "job experience"?

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

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[GrimesFrank]

justgraduated,

Here's your answer as I see it;

1) Do not put your GPA on a resume. People say you just explain it in the interview. Nonsense. If you back peddle in an interview you are dead. Entry Level jobs are gotten on either A) GPA or B) Interview skills. You have killed Option A) so concentrate on Option B). Know the company you are interviewing with, where they've been and where they're going. Be personable. Be attentive. Don't overstate yourself. BS can be sniffed out. Study before hand, expect them to make you do Ohm's Law, it may be insulting, it'll be more to see your response than if you can do it. How you tackle stuff, thought processes, etc.

2) If you haven't got your "ideal" job yet, its time to set your sites a little lower. Work experience is work experience. If you thought you were going to be designing new PC cards, time to start looking at field rep'ing transformer installations. Its easier to get your job if you can show you can work in the business.

3) Don't get discouraged. There is employment in TO if you are willing to work. You don't have to go to Alta. if you don't want to.

Frank "Grimey" Grimes
You can only trust statistics 90% of the time.

 

[prohammy]

justgraduated,

Just a quick note (from the other side of the pond).

Engineering is changing. There are no longer 'jobs for life', 'the ideal job', 'jobs on the front door, two minutes from home'. You can only target a job that you think you will like when you can command that position. Your first job is never easy (to come by or to hold on to). It requires work. Don't be afraid of work, you may have to take a job that you don't like to gain experience (and no matter what anyone says, that is your entry point to 'the good job'). It will take you many years to get to the point where you can be choosy. So as you Americans say, 'Suck it up'. Move state, move country, move out of home.....but what ever you do, do the work it takes to get that first job. From there, you can begin life as an engineer.

Good luck (another ingredient to success).

& remember

DO THE WORK IT TAKES TO GET WORK

Kevin Hammond

Mechanical Design Engineer
Derbyshire, UK

 

[ttuterry]

justgraduated, I was in a similar situation as you. I had really no engineering experience as I never had an engineering job during the summer. My GPA was only 2.7 when i graduated in August 2006. I did not put that on my resume. I had interviews with about 3 different companies and none of them even asked about GPA...they seemed to be more interested in projects that i worked on in school. I didnt get a job until my 4th interview...I would say stay in Toronto if that is really where you want to be. It seems like a large enough town that there are many jobs there. I moved to a city where i knew nobody and I kind of regret it. But i am gaining experience so I can get out of here soon....Just keep sending out resumes and be assertive. Good luck!

 

[David]

justgraduated,

My advice is to:

1. Stop feeling sorry for yourself.
2. Stop posting in these forums and go talk with someone who may employ you.

Good luck.

Dave

 

[HgTX]

Ah, g'wan, Dave, the unemployed have extra time for forum posting.

justgraduated: There have been other "what do I do about my low GPA" and "can't find a job" threads in this forum. Have you read through the archives? There's good advice in this thread and still more in those others.

Have you solicited feedback from the people who interviewed you to find out where you fell short and what you might do to improve?

Hg

Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Why so tough on him Dave? He's just looking for advice.

justgraduated-

HgTX beat me to it, but check out past threads on this subject.

There's no one right way to get a job. Submitting resumes through the website works with some companies, not with others. Calling directly works with some people, others find it pushy. So you've got to try everything. If you aren't getting interviews, your resume is to blame--have plenty of people read it over. If your getting interview but no offers, change your interviewing technique (or even pratice with mock interviews).