Got your BS in May and STILL job searching? Try these 3 tips

I’m guessing the frustration is building.

If you graduated in May with your engineering degree and still haven’t received and accepted an offer, then you’ve likely been looking for at least 5 months with no luck.

Without knowing all the ins & outs of your exact situation, I can’t tell you what is wrong or where you are coming up short. But I can tell you that something in your approach or who you are approaching is not working or is not making enough of an impact.

With that in mind, here are three tips to keep in mind and hopefully push you towards that full time job:

1. Get MORE specific about what you’re looking to land

Your inclination may be to go broader and just tell people that you are willing to take ANY engineering job. However, the problem with this is that you tell someone you’ll take anything and then you’re putting the work on THEIR shoulders to figure out if they have a job that suits your background and interests.

Instead, when you get more specific about the area of the field you want to enter or the type of role you are looking to land, they will know right away if they have something that fits. This will also show them that you have a real passion of interest for that specific area of the field/role. When you have a vague interest, what they see is someone that is looking for a short term role and may not stay long term.

Being more specific will allow someone to much more easily pass your name along to a friend who works in that specific role/field. If you have a vague ask, then they are less likely to help you out.

Practically, what does this mean?

Instead of “Looking for an engineering role to put my mechanical engineering degree into action” which doesn’t define the role or your background at all start saying something like “Looking for an engineering role in the building environment or MEP that combines onsite and in-office duties that will allow me to build on the skills I gained in my internships with Trane and Turner Construction”.

Also, let’s be honest, are you really willing to take ANY job? Trust me, there are plenty of jobs out there where you will be miserable for one reason or another, so let’s not pretend that your are open to them all.

2. Do some research and frame your experience accordingly

Aside from your core engineering courses, you likely took a handful of elective courses bases on your interests. Could something from one of those classes be applicable to your desired field/role?

Similarly, over the summer you likely had an engineering internship or a summer job. Could any of the specific experiences or skills you learned be applicable in your desired field/role?

The degree itself is likely a pre-requisite for your role, but it is the way you frame all of these other skills and experiences that will let them recognize you as the best possible candidate. In order to highlight some of the items that are most important and stop promoting ones that you think are important, but aren’t, reach out to some people currently in the roles you are trying to land.

Ask them about the specifics of the role, their daily routine, and the specific areas of knowledge that have helped them move ahead in the field.

Once you know these items, then you will want to place them front and center during all of your outreach.

3. Does your LinkedIn profile give off the right vibes?

When it comes to editing a written report, we often have a blind spot for our own mistakes. Instead of seeing them, we read right through them since we know what we meant to write.

Similarly, I’ve seen many folks with LinkedIn profiles that they think would attract their target audience, but are completely missing the mark.

Using some of the info you learned in step 2 as well as having some other people give you some objective feedback, go through your LinkedIn profile and make sure that it is really giving off the message that you want it to give.

When you engage on someone’s posts (you do that, right?) or reach out to connect with someone new, that will often lead them to your profile page to check out your background a bit further.

Once they’re on your page, you want to make sure that they are getting the right message so that they can potentially help you along in your engineering journey.

Four more quick tips . . .

Think of the job search as your current job and make sure you are spending adequate time on it EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
Get to know people on a non-engineering level. For example, if you see someone has an interested in soccer and that is an interest you share as well, then make a deeper connection through that shared interest.
Whenever you see a friend mention that they landed a job, use that as an opportunity to reach out and see if there was a specific recruiter that helped in their search and whom they can connect you to.
Finally, don’t be embarrassed. Sometimes, the job search simply takes longer for some than others. Your best bet is to be open about your search with anyone that you come across. You really never know where an opportunity may arise.