Recent college grads looking for tips

[turkeyboy85]

Just graduated from UW-Stout in mechanical engineering, and having a hard time finding some jobs, anyone care to give some advice on stuff i should do?

I have built an online portfolio, www.kevinthurk.webs.com
I search job postings daily

any other suggestions or comments on my portfolio are welcome

 

[mkman]

did you research your major? Is it a field were jobs are easy to find? Medical field has slowed slightly but jobs in general are easy to find, maybe you should have went into that?

Goodluck and keep searching! Ask your professors, most likely they can tell you were to try and apply, etc.

 

[jcardona1]

my only advice in times like this is to be mobile, flexible, and willing to relocate. the jobs are out there, you just gotta be willing to move. i had to relocate a few months back at the drop of a dime due to my bank going under. gotta follow the $$$$

 

[Gr8KarmaSF]

Does your college have a job placement service? No internships?

 

[turkeyboy85]

Thanks for the comments guys

Does your college have a job placement service? No internships?

it does but everything they have (believe it or not) are looking for masters degrees, i check that every day as well. I had an internship last year so that helps, my online porfolio has all that in it, along with my resume and some pictures of projects that I worked on while on my internship. As well as my senior project (redesigning of a Bi-Ski)

 

[zerojquan85]

I just graduated last summer.. and it took awhile for me to find a job related to my major... Criminology.... I now work in a law firm as a legal assistant.....

try going to your college's career center.. and they should point you to the right direction..... but ya.. engineering jobs are hard.. I recall someone here on MFK found a job with the NAVY as a engineer in missile defense systems...

 

[arkmann]

These are hard times and unfortunately jobs in general nowadays are hard to find. I agree with jcardona, follow where the dollah... If you don't want to do that, I suggest looking for a job that utilizes your training even if it doesn't pay that much. At least you will have positive cash flow. When you get tired of it or if the job market picks up, you go job hunting again.

I went to UCLA and one time I talked to this Asian lady wearing a "UCLA MOM" shirt. We had a chat about her daughter going to UCLA. At the end of the talk, one thought she said stuck to my mind. She said "You guys are lucky. When you graduated, people told you "Welcome to the work force. Nowadays, they tell you "Welcome to unemployment..."

 

[MadRussian79]

I'd add which CAD package(s) and 3-d printers you worked on. You have the fully rendered images maybe add some wire-frame models for the renderings. If you have access to the cad software try to do one or two motion animations of the models. Shrink the resume down to one page as you have a bit to much wasted area. Unfortunately you have to sneak past HR before any of the engineers can see you info.

As far as the medical field jobs are there but not as BME they are mostly Software with a few EE and Mech. The BME jobs are very very limited so getting a classical engineering degree for undergrad is better.

Look on dice.com and post your full skill set with monster.com. Oddly enough my current employer found me through monster.

 

[MadRussian79]

it does but everything they have (believe it or not) are looking for masters degrees

Yup especially in medical. I worked as a chemist tech for one years then went to grad school as the pay was horrid. The main source for Mech E. in medical is prosthetics and surgical devices. If you can travel and your not tied down look into engineers without boarders which could be fun (depending on your definition) and will let you avoid the crap job market. Also I think they can help defer your loans.

 

[Gr8KarmaSF]

Have you thought about continuing your education towards a Masters given the current economy?

Its VERY hard to go back to school once you leave....