Career Counselor for Recent Mech Engineering Grad
My son is a recent Mechanical Engineering graduate and is struggling to find a MechE position in or near the Bay Area. He went to college in St Louis but is not interested in going back to the midwest, so his college career counseling service is not much help as most of their posted jobs are in the midwest. He keeps his LinkedIn profile updated but so far he's only gotten a few interviews and no offers. In the meantime he's done a few MechE gigs, tutored physics and calculus and he's got a job at a climbing gym, so he's keeping busy. He's been searching for over a year and is interested in working with a career counselor who specializes in MechE. Any recommendations? Thanks
Jul 29, 2018
Parent Replies
If your son went to Washington University in St. Louis, there is a fairly big San Francisco alumnae association for Wash U. He could contact the alumnae association for some contacts or ways to network with area alumnae.
The market’s quite hot these days so your son ought to be able to find work, although I can’t say for entry level work. If he’s a recent grad he might be eligible for any number of internships or entry level rotational programs (tho I’m not sure how one finds out about them).
First, his school should have a career center that can help him. They usually can help map out a strategy and get him linked to various resources. Secondly his school may have alumni assn meet ups in the area. He should try to connect there and attend them. Better yet, volunteer for them. Great way to network. Another strategy: I think what I would do if I were he is identify a number of potential employers and using LinkedIn, look for people who seem to occupy positions that look interesting (and perhaps went to his alma mater) and cold call them for an informational interview. (Lots of guides online on what an info interview is if he needs it). Suppose he sets a goal of cold calling 5 people every day, and getting say 5 info interviews in a month... if he’s goal oriented like that. Each info interview can lead to others to call, and among them may be an opening, some of which haven’t been posted.
This might feel daunting, but most people like to give info interviews: you’re being asked to talk about yourself. If you run into someone who doesn’t want to take 20 min to chat with a young person about their business you might not want to join their org anyhow.
Also remember that applying for a job is a way of solving the hiring org’s problem. Don’t think they’re doing you a favor to consider you for an opening; if it goes well, your hiring will have solved a big big problem for them.
There’s a lot of need for quant types who have analytical problem solving skills. I think it’s as decent a time as any to be looking.
DM me w/ any questions.
Cal mech eng grad.
In the bay area, there are a lot more jobs for software engineers than mechanical engineers. I suggest he attend a programing bootcamp for a few months. Then a good job is almost a guarantee.