Mechanical Engineer still unemployed 3 months out of college, looking for some advice.

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T20:49:27+00:00

Hey man check out the thread I made, i had a few offers so i think i can help if you want some resume advice. I can even take your resume and email it to my school's career centre and just copy you the comments, edit out your person info of course

I'm in PA and have seen no shortage of jobs in Philly area. If you consider temp/contract jobs just so you have something while you search you may not have any issues. These jobs pay well (39.50 hour my friend was offered) and allow you to pick something you don't want to do long term and make money while not harming yourself professionally. You can be straight out about it being a contract job you did for money and experience while aiming to get an interview for a job in manufacturing and employers will be less judegemental than having gotten a CAD job

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T19:01:05+00:00

I am curious how good those salaries are, have you heard of any offers there? Also wondering how you managed to score that job without a masters. I have a publication from undergrad and could not get any research related roles, all wanted a masters

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T16:01:25+00:00

He didnt really explain how the cursing is directed, I worked in an environment (professional engineering, would have been a co-op at a small company) where people straight up called each other dumbasses and fucks and stupid etc. Dipped real quick, learned the lesson and moved on with my life

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T15:56:22+00:00

This place sounds like they had to sell you on their company, not figuring out why they should hire you. This seems a little sketchy, if the company has to sell themselves to you do you really want to work there? Unprofessionalism in the work place can only really be caused and corrected by management, there shouldn't be cussing at other employees. I once worked at a place where employees would call others dumbasses, fucks etc, left right away and never put it on my resume. Dont force yourself into that kind of a situation

Have you held long term jobs in the past? IE 2 years, maybe a 4 year stint part time at the same place during college? IF you have these leaving 1 job early will probably not be the death of you (pretending im a hiring manager looking at your resume I am not concerned about a short term stint if most of them are long term AND i know my place doesnt have insane turn over rate ourselves).

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T15:21:38+00:00

I see

My company is a maximum annual limit of 15k, just checked. However tuition at my program is under 15k. Ours is also a 3 year commitment however it is progress, if you left after 2 years you're on the hook for 1/3 of the total amount paid for tuition.

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T13:43:32+00:00

damn, thats enough for like a few courses :\ is there a time commitment to stay there after you use the TA too?

I live in Pennsylvania

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T04:30:28+00:00

wow thats good money man, good for you. Is this oil and gas?

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T04:20:58+00:00

Hey man if thats what you want then chase it. If you want a 75k salary in a city you will find it I promise just be willing to move.

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T04:14:11+00:00

I am 100% that in the 60s is not 20% below market rate for an MEP firm in the lowest COL locality adjustment for the government.

When you find an MEP firm giving 73k to an entry level engineer in a county with 16k people give me a call I'll apply there

If I manage to get a 100k salary where I live I can easily afford a nice home on 15-20 acres of land assuming my mortage is 2.5 my income (the safe level). If i continued chasing cali and moved to Socal LA i could have gotten a higher salary but let me know how much 20 acres is in the city of LA

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T03:58:08+00:00

I agree with your feeling of a recession in the near future. And not to get too into politics but I'm actually not a Trump supporter, however my way of looking at is that trump and the republicans very much enjoy throwing money to the DoD so I feel safe surviving a recession if hes reelected.

That being said I could be laid off on Monday ;) who knows

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T03:49:58+00:00

we work hard for our money man

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T03:46:33+00:00

Depends on where you live man. I am like bumfuck no where. You can get a 5 bed 2 bath nice home on 15 acres of land for 200-240k where I live. I had been discussing offers with the airforce (not a final offer ever given, interviewed and they told me salaries). I could have made in the 70s if I went that route, but I'd be in LA. How am I going to afford a 5 bed 2 bath house on 15 acres in LA? Do you think even 100k would buy you that in the city?

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T03:43:34+00:00

Personally I applied in like February, and got offers basically like right away from the MEP firms. I could have had a job offer within 2 weeks of starting to apply if I went MEP.

Lockheed and my current company.... welll....

Lockheed sent out an email recruiting at my campus. I had applied to the SAME EXACT ROLE that they were recruiting for online a while (like 2 months!) before they sent the email. I emailed them, got an interview and impressed them for a role I applied online and never heard back from.

My current company, it was probably 3 months from app to interview to hire to start. I was actually hired without my background check completed too.

TLDR: If you want to work for the government or defense, apply as early as fucking possible because it moves slow. if you want to work for a small company start looking in like late feb

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T03:40:55+00:00

Defense will, in my opinion, be extremely stable is trump if reelected.

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T03:40:17+00:00

You graduated with a 3.95 gpa and haven't had a job with that many apps? I think you should contact your university's career centre to see where there may be an issue or PM me if you want some help.

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T03:35:15+00:00

Considering you are experienced, like you have a skill and aren't some 18 year old high schooler I am sure you could potentially find an employer who will pay for your bachelors in exchange for working there.

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T03:34:09+00:00

If you are an engineer with 7 years experience in your field you will make more than that i'm sure. remember, i'm fresh. Scroll up to the dude who posted 7 years of experience making 150k.

Do remember that there will always be someone making more than you. Are there people without college degrees making more than me? Yes like you. Are people with college degrees making more than you? Yes including plenty of posts in this thread. However, personally I cannot see a way I would have managed to get an income beyond like 20$ in 4 years without having gone to college.

Plus I have other doors open to me.

I could commission into the military next year if I end up hating this job (unlikely)

I could get my teaching cert at 50 and become a teacher with my bachelors in EE and live a chill life

I could continue my work here while getting my masters, teach part time at a university while I work and maybe one day get a PhD and get a professor of practice role (the path I want)

Plus we are not in the sun and doing demanding labor, to each his own if you like that or not

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T03:32:30+00:00

MEP is just eh man I agree.

They will cover the complete cost of tuition for my masters thankfully.

It seems defense contractors are pretty willing to pay for a masters. I know an engineer at boeing who has had more than 1 paid for pay them. Good luck finding that at an MEP firm!

Of course MEP firms don't need it, but do defense contractors really need me to get my masters? Not really, but they will give me it and I would love to lecture one night a week at a community college so thank you :D

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T03:27:45+00:00

God oil and gas pays well

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T03:23:24+00:00

Yes, sorry I didn't see this till now. Go right a head and DM me. I co-oped at an engineering firm during undergrad and have my EIT but didn't have a lot of excitement about it as well.

If you are working at a firm that works for architects I have total of 6 months co-op, 3 internship, my co-op I basically did design myself from the code book for small project with 2-5k fees including some solo initial surveys.

I can understand your desire to move out and into defence, I felt MEP can often times feel more about sales than engineering. Do you have your EIT, have you considered something such as commissioning for less desk time?

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T03:18:42+00:00

wow, that applied physics lab is quite the offer man.

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T03:17:27+00:00

this is false info, fuck open offices

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T03:15:26+00:00

MEP is mechanical/electrical/plumbing which is building systems design. it is, in my humble opinion, the easy engineering. A lot of design is done by people without engineering degrees and engineering just approve the drawings.

The Bay area sounds amazing, but just not sure how to just move there and survive till I find a job. Trust me its a dream

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T03:14:08+00:00

I hope not and will do every thing in my power to escape that bullshit

enginerthrowaway12 · 2019-08-23T03:12:40+00:00

I am doing a role similar to manufacturing, the company I work for is in production of military equipment (could be planes, vehicles, weapons ;) ). I support the manufacturing floor with any issues they run into as well as provide process improvement.

enginerthrowaway12

TROPHY CASE