Is there any hope for me?
>ME major
>graduating with BS in 3 weeks
>have had internship since last may outside my field in project management
>searching for jobs like mad
>always fuck up on something in my resume/cover letter
>3.29 GPA, will probably go down after this semester
>GPA is
>thinking project management is out of scope for an engineer of any flavor
...wow, no one prepared you for what you're about to get into, did they?
As for the job thing, just keep looking. It'll happen.
how desperate are you?
This.
Midnight cowboy is a movie about a similarly desperate engineer
>...wow, no one prepared you for what you're about to get into, did they?
i took it since it was all i had and i dont really like it or think im good at it
breddy desperate but the internship will last until august
>breddy desperate
look at Granite Services, San Juan Construction, and the semiconductor manufacturers in the PNW (who aren't Intel). anything with "field" or "maintenance" in the job description.
be prepared to spend 200+ days away from home/living in a hotel and/or working 80+ hours a week. welcome to the suck of not getting something lined up beforehand.
alternatively you could just under sell yourself for 40k$ a year, but if you are going to be a whore i wouldn't be a cheap whore.
Oilfield is also hiring again.
lol.
ugh. i'd rather spend a year living in a box on some pacific atoll.
It can be kinda fun...well, you have to have a certain level of masochism to enjoy it, but yeah, can be fun.
OP, may I ask what subjects and courses you struggled with within your ME coursework? I'm going for an ME or CE BS (my second degree following a BA) because I'm passionate for math and I hate my current job/prospects. Trying to brush up where I can.
For what it's worth, I currently work for a gov't employment development agency and the data for US ME jobs moving forward is pretty good. Nothing matches computer industry growth, but there will be openings if you're fearful of switching fields or unemployment.
upper level classes were the hardest
>heat transfer
>fluid mechanics
>thermodynamics
>feedback
>MEMS
all the courses i took in materials science were pretty cool and interesting.
my main problem was not putting in enough effort for studying the material and preparing for exams
you already have gubmint experience? are you a GS scheduled employee?
if so, getting that engineering degree will lock you into a lifetime of a comfy career at the GS-12 to GS-13 level. if you are really ambitious you can probably make GS-14/15.
being an engineer for uncle sam is dope as fuck if you don't mind slogging through 2-3 years as a GS-7/9. lots of lateral mobility, amazing travel opportunities, and virtually no overtime.
t. vet who is milking that government tit with his 2.6 GPA mech E degree.
Thank you, OP. Are you landing any interviews? If you spend your free time brushing up on those weaknesses, it might be worth a shot during interviews to admit where you erred and then demonstrate in layman's terms how you grasped these concepts. I feel like a lot of interviewees panic and can't defend their weaknesses.
Is GS general schedule? Google tells me this is a military term. I'm a state employee, not sure if that experience is recognized by your current employment, but I would be proud to keep working for Uncle Sam. My priority really is just finding a job that will let me apply math...wish I didn't seek the easy route earlier in life.
And obviously don't bring up your GPA weaknesses if the interviewers don't. Figure out how your internship experience can apply to the job you're applying for. Stretch if you have to.
>this is a military term
its not. its the classification for federal employees. if you are state, thats different. still, experience trumps just about everything in engineering.
>My priority really is just finding a job that will let me apply math
then don't do engineering. you rarely do any kind of complicated math and when you do you do it only once. after you do it, you crank it into an algorithm so you never have to do it by hand again. engineering is mostly feels and intuition, with the math there to keep you from getting sued or to optimize a design you already know works. this is particularly true of mechanical engineering where a fuck ton of the stuff you do is based off empiricism and charts that you just look up.
>Are you landing any interviews?
not yet, i think i should focus on networking since every online app asks for GPA nowadays
>experience trumps just about everything in engineering.
Are you talking work experience in general or engineering experience?
Occasionally creating algorithms is fine by me. I'm analytical by nature so I want to believe this is a good future for me. I have an econ background so I want to stay the hell away from that type of math. I enjoy calculus and physics but I don't have time to go to grad school to pursue a purer degree.
work experience in general. its all how you spin it. most of your day as an engineer is going to be moving money around, responding to emails, talking on the phone, typing up scopes of work/engineering documents, etc.
less than %30 of your job is actual engineering. having that other 70% puts you miles ahead of the autists coming out of engineering school nowadays. i got offered 90k$ to go work at some tech firm doing fuckin' maintenance because i impressed them with my knowledge of safety codes.
tl;dr emphasize management, money handling, and logistical experience on your resume. they already know you know how to do thermo and shit from your degree.
Just get a master in CS and make 150k easy peasy
Interesting...thank you user. Do you think your military experience played a significant role in your employment success? And what kind of jobs actually apply non-fiscal advanced math anyways?
OP definitely needs to spin his internship experience.
How the hell is someone with a ME BS supposed to succeed at earning a CS master?
Anyone could get a masters in CS
>Do you think your military experience played a significant role in your employment success?
"muh veterans preference" really only applies to government jobs. there is a reason vets are protected under affirmative action. we are generally seen as "broken" individuals by many corporations. you know those guys that make welfare queen threads and shit on dudes that served? well a bunch of them are hiring managers. the VA rep at my college specifically told me to make my resume read like i was never in the military at all, which was easy since i was a mechanic.
>And what kind of jobs actually apply non-fiscal advanced math anyways?
R&D. if you want to consistently apply advanced concepts, you got to get into some kind of corporate think tank and do research. this typically requires more than a BS and quite often more than a masters. those positions aren't entry level, at least not for engineers and not from what i've personally seen.
>R&D. if you want to consistently apply advanced concepts, you got to get into some kind of corporate think tank and do research. this typically requires more than a BS and quite often more than a masters. those positions aren't entry level, at least not for engineers and not from what i've personally seen.
Look in the Huntsville, AL area.
>Huntsville, AL
gross
Visit. You'll change your mind...unless you go in August which feels like being in Satan's asshole at the core of a star.
>unless you go in August which feels like being in Satan's asshole at the core of a star.
yeah, thats why i said gross. i can't stand heat like that. i'll take my comfy PNW anyday.
Unfortunately, a giant hunk of defense contractors are based out of the South or near the South.
>the VA rep at my college specifically told me to make my resume read like i was never in the military at all
Sad to hear that. I help various disabled people find jobs, so I deal with a few vets. All mild to moderate traumatic brain injuries, and PTSD as a result of those TBIs. Military experience definitely doesn't help them at all. I'm surprised you were told to hide it despite being healthy I assume.
R&D huh? Well shoot I'd love a job at NASA or DARPA lol. My understanding is that those jobs get slashed in abundance when the economy is in the tubes, and I expect a lot more economic turbulence in this century, so it will be interesting to monitor.
What's there?
>What's there?
NASA, about a dozen aerospace engineering firms, Redstone Arsenal, 8 weapons development companies (that I know of) -- basically a bunch of people who make things go whoosh or boom (or whoosh then boom).