Job hunting is very frustrating, anyone in the same situation?

[sdaccord01]

Hey, I've been extremely frustrated lately in applying for jobs and not getting any responses from the companies that I have applied for. I majored in Electrical Engineering @ UC San Diego and graduated after the first summer session in August. I moved back home to the Bay Area and I have been trying to find an engineering job ever since. One big problem that I am facing is that I have absolutely no interviews and I have applied to probably 100 jobs by now that fit me. Entry level engineering jobs are very hard to come by, and I keep looking at sites that focus more on entry level jobs like collegegrad.com, which is the best source in my opinion to find entry level jobs. Going to monster.com is a lot harder because once you type in engineer, there are so many positions that require 5-6 years of experience and more and the amount of entry level jobs is very miniscule. I worked with Northrop Grumman unpaid for a senior project in San Diego, and tried to find a job with them here but to no avail. Lockheed Martin, another great company for new grads, is very hard to find a job as well. In the meantime, I have been trying to get a real estate license to try to give me more options, but in the end, I want a stable engineering job, which is why I don't want to do something like going back into the retail business (Circuit City & Sears) like before. I'm wondering for those who are successful in finding jobs, what are your techniques? What's the best way to follow up? I had a contact at Lockheed Martin who I met at a Career Fair and I lost touch with him as he hasn't been responding to my e-mails as of late. It's just been so frustrating for me because not only am I frustrated at myself for not finding a job, but I have nagging parents and a nagging girlfriend to keep on nagging me on finding a job when I'm trying the best that I can.

 

[HAgEEmAH]

same boat here. keep rowing. don't stop. i know it sucks.

 

[Crusty]

paragraphs?

 

[nageov3t]

networking.

every job interview I've gotten, I've gotten because I know someone in the company or because I know someone who knows someone in the company.

 

[OS]

If you mean you graduated August of this year, it hasn't been that long really. Most of those applications take a couple months to turn around at big companies. Each position has hundreds of applicants. Keep trying is all I can say, it took me much, much longer to land an EE position after I graduated.

 

[Ameesh]

I am an alumni of UC San Diego too.

I do a lot of hiring for my company, PM me your resume and i can take a look at it, if it sucks, it could be the reason why you are not getting any interviews.

 

[The Stigenator]

welcome to life as being a newly graduated engineer.

i know the market sucks, thats why im in something else even though its taking ages.

 

[Babbles]

I've been laid of since October 9th and haven't found anything. I figured I am screwed until after the begining of the new year; nobody wants to hire professional jobs during the holiday season.

It was fun the first couple of weeks but it is begining to stress me out and think I have some acute depression thing going on.

 

[nageov3t]

if you graduated in August, you're not doing that bad... I graduated in May (last year) and I didn't get my first real job until late November of that year (Monday was my one-year aniversary, actually )

 

[cchen]

you shouldn't have waited until you graduated to look for a job. i know a ton of people who haven't even graduated yet and got offers after their junior year (summer) internship....

 

[eno818]

you may have to move out of Ca.

georgia, MD, FL, Texas, defense industry seem to hire alot of new grads.

 

[sciencewhiz]

What's your GPA? What are the areas you are searching in? Do you have any friends at engineering firms (IE have you done networking). Besides Northrup and Lockheed, have you tried Raytheon and Boeing? Does UCSD have a career database that you can search?

Edit: What's your specialty?

 

[woowoo]

Consider television stations, they are all converting to digital.
And it can be "Fun"

 

[AmigaMan]

Have you tried looking eastward? Like NYC or DC or Chicago?

 

[bigrash]

You practically have no experience. how do you expect to get a job?

You're making the same mistake most of the other college students/grads make.

 

[TheAudit]

Good luck with the job search.

 

[welst10]

The US is at war now and probably will be in more wars in the near future. You'd think companies like Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin are profitting big time and should be hiring.

 

[TheShiz]

conenctions are everything it seems now unfortunately. i've been temping for a year and finally got an entry level IT job. It was just luck though because someone my brother worked with in the past was looking for people. I'm pretty lucky in that my work is about 3 miles from my apartment, pretty much ideal since i'm not big on commuting. applying for jobs online did nothing for me, the newspaper is a much better place to look.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: welst10
The US is at war now and probably will be in more wars in the near future. You'd think companies like Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin are profitting big time and should be hiring.

Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon.....They are still doing pretty bad, even with the war. That said, Raytheon wants to hire lots ( i mean lots) of engineers b/c they are starting to lay off their older workers....

 

[iamwiz82]

I got pretty lucky and accepted an offer 2 months ago with graduation in a few weeks.

 

[frankie38]

I was in a similar situation when I graduated. I started working with a Temporary agency. That lead to a company creating a job to hire me.

My advice to start working, do anything, start temping, make your own luck.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Go work for Uncle for a few years. Then everyone will be beating down your door.

 

[Passions]

August? Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa......that's no big deal yet. I grad EE from UCLA and took me 8 months.

Keep looking and applying.

Send me your resume. I might be able to find you something at my work. :light:

 

[axelfox]

Networking. Networking. Networking.

Not computer networking, but going out and meeting people. Have you joined any professional organizations? Show up to their meetings.

 

[sdaccord01]

Yeah, I know networking is important as my friend got his job that way. Thing was that I had a gf that took up the remaining time out of school that I really had, and I also worked part time at Sears just to help pay for food and activities with my gf. I tried to get an intern while I was @ UCSD, but it was hard for me as I only had 3 years there since I came from a community college.

Sorry about not putting everything into paragraphs, I was just ranting a lot of my frustration. For those of you who would like to view my resume, I'll send one to you guys and see what goes from there. I'm going to the City of Oakland right now to personally give them my job application. I'm applying to be a Microcomputer Systems Specialist, so wish me luck!

Yeah, I know, some people get a job out of college off the bat, some don't and take several months. I have actually applied to Boeing recently and applied for Raytheon as well but nothing so far. I understand that some companies take a long time to hire as well, so all I can really do is keep on applying. Thanks for the advice of everyone.