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My experience through a top 10 engineering college, and resume/job search help

You can usually retake courses and get grade forgivenance for the first attempt. If you do indeed have connections in the industry then all this is moot anyway...leverage them.
 
alkemyst said:
You can usually retake courses and get grade forgivenance for the first attempt. If you do indeed have connections in the industry then all this is moot anyway...leverage them.
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I did retake courses but our school is so hard that even retaking a course doesn't guarantee a good grade. The distinction in work required to get an A instead of a B is huge where I go.

I'm not sure how much connections really matter though. If a good family friend gets me an interview but they find that my GPA isn't adequate, what reason would they have to pick me over another candidate, regardless of interview skills?

Internship opportunities at electrical / utility companies?
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Yea.
 
What is your cumulative GPA? In engineering a sub 3.0 GPA isn't the killer that it is in other areas but it can still hurt you.
 
2.5 is rough. I have a 2.8 and just landed a very good job as a mechanical engineer right out of school from Cal Poly which is also rated as a top 10 public engineering school.

Leave your GPA off your resume. See if you can get an interview, and if you can interview well then that is all you need. Apply everywhere. I put in about 10 different applications and got two interviews and landed the second one. Look at internships in the summer, as it may be easier to intern with a company and then look into full time.

Unfortunately in your case there's not much you can do. This is why balancing school work is extremely important. I didn't balance my courseload throughout college and that's why my GPA is so low, but I also worked pretty much 30-40 hrs a week throughout my school career.
 
deadlyapp said:
2.5 is rough. I have a 2.8 and just landed a very good job as a mechanical engineer right out of school from Cal Poly which is also rated as a top 10 public engineering school.

Leave your GPA off your resume. See if you can get an interview, and if you can interview well then that is all you need. Apply everywhere. I put in about 10 different applications and got two interviews and landed the second one. Look at internships in the summer, as it may be easier to intern with a company and then look into full time.

Unfortunately in your case there's not much you can do. This is why balancing school work is extremely important. I didn't balance my courseload throughout college and that's why my GPA is so low, but I also worked pretty much 30-40 hrs a week throughout my school career.
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I just took too many courses because I wanted a challenge.. took too many apparently.

Did you have experience when you got your full time offer? I have no problem doing internships, paid or unpaid.. just need to get my foot in the door with any position.
 
2.51 wow that is unfortunate. Since your a fresh college grad with no experience that GPA pretty much shuts you out of the workforce.

The days of just having a college degree is enough is over. Due to the glut of college graduates flooding the market HR needs to add an additional layer of filtering.

You need to retake those courses with an F and fix your gpa.
 
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anything under a 2.8 tell people that you did not try. Also, in engineering, unless you are from MIT, you are really not much different than any other grad from a recruiter's eye.

Also, as an EE, if I saw that you got an F in power electronics, that would be a HUGE red flag.

The good news? The field you want to go in does not really look at GPA because no one wants to go into that field....Th ebad news...the field has a lot of growth potential, but the economy will not let it grow.

My advice is to call attention to what you know and do not even touch your academic failures unless they ask about it. Do NOT put your GPA on your resume.
 
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crazypraveen said:
I just took too many courses because I wanted a challenge.. took too many apparently.

Did you have experience when you got your full time offer? I have no problem doing internships, paid or unpaid.. just need to get my foot in the door with any position.
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I had one six month co-op that wasn't very hands on engineering, but as long as you can talk that is all that matters. I also had numerous school projects that I was very involved with and could talk about them and the engineering behind them.

Edit: Just read gibson's post. The thing about MIT isn't very true. Many recruiters actually prefer to avoid highly institutionalized schools like MIT, because they are so theory based and their grads cannot respond well in a real engineering setting unless they are merely crunching numbers. Lots of companies are also very involved with specific schools and have had some grads tailored basically for them. I know Cal Poly SLO is heavily involved with solar turbines, siemens, trane, and many other large companies that prefer to hire directly from us.
 
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I'm going to get flamed for this but I would consider lying about your GPA if asked. Most small firms aren't going to check with the school. It's a calculated risk. It might get you an interview or job offer than your wouldn't have gotten otherwise, but it might cost you one that you would have gotten anyway.
 
the DRIZZLE said:
I'm going to get flamed for this but I would consider lying about your GPA if asked. Most small firms aren't going to check with the school. It's a calculated risk. It might get you an interview or job offer than your wouldn't have gotten otherwise, but it might cost you one that you would have gotten anyway.
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I thought first employers would generally ask for your final transcripts. It looks like you are in a tough spot, most companies I interviewed at had a 3.0 gpa cutoff. If I was you, I would try to fix that gpa by retaking classes when they are offered.
 
deadlyapp said:
I had one six month co-op that wasn't very hands on engineering, but as long as you can talk that is all that matters. I also had numerous school projects that I was very involved with and could talk about them and the engineering behind them.

Edit: Just read gibson's post. The thing about MIT isn't very true. Many recruiters actually prefer to avoid highly institutionalized schools like MIT, because they are so theory based and their grads cannot respond well in a real engineering setting unless they are merely crunching numbers. Lots of companies are also very involved with specific schools and have had some grads tailored basically for them. I know Cal Poly SLO is heavily involved with solar turbines, siemens, trane, and many other large companies that prefer to hire directly from us.
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I can't say that I agree that they avoid schools like that. I recruited from universities and that is what phone screens are for. Sometimes a position requires someone very familiar with number crunching. Sometimes it requires a person who intuitively knows the material. I require both. 🙂
 
Purdue is going to charge you 20K just to take 2-3 course.

Website indicates $318 per credit hour (in state)

Your previous statement indicated 11 credit hours that you had serious issues with (3 classes and a lab).
That is one semester worth for a total of under $4K.

even if you come in as out of state, that still is less than 12K.

Decide if that is worth it.

In the meantime; do not put your GPA on the resume and DO NOT lie about it.
If the GPA comes up; mentioned that in your major, you have 2.8 since coming back to school.

If you do not qualify as instate and want to pay instate tuition; then find a good engineering school and take those courses there.

They may not cause an adjustment to the GPA but will show that you are serious about straightening up your act.
 
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Gibson486 said:
anything under a 2.8 tell people that you did not try. Also, in engineering, unless you are from MIT, you are really not much different than any other grad from a recruiter's eye.

Also, as an EE, if I saw that you got an F in power electronics, that would be a HUGE red flag.

The good news? The field you want to go in does not really look at GPA because no one wants to go into that field....Th ebad news...the field has a lot of growth potential, but the economy will not let it grow.
My advice is to call attention to what you know and do not even touch your academic failures unless they ask about it. Do NOT put your GPA on your resume.
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As a former power distribution engineer (I used to work at Siemens designing switchboard/gears attached to Unit Sub-Stations), this man speaks the truth.

OP, you might want to look into Siemens. They are dying for people at my old job because they landed a huge contract and kind find enough people to fill the positions. You will want to fix that GPA though.

EagleKeeper said:
In the meantime; do not put your GPA on the resume and DO NOT lie about it.
If the GPA comes up; mentioned that in your major, you have 2.8 since coming back to school.
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And this too...
 
crazypraveen said:
You're advising me to go back to college after I've graduated, pay 20 grand, and retake organic chemistry and chemical engineering calculations? No. As for shutting me out of the workforce.. way to be pessimistic. Hardly the truth.
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You don't have a job, it seems you are shut out of the workforce. So it is not "Hardly the truth."

The truth is you fucked up majorly and blew tens of thousands doing who knows what with your time and its gonna cost you 20 Grand more to fix it.
 
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can you think of getting a masters degree and enter the Job market with a MS in whatever? think about this only if you can put your mind and effort to get good grades in MS.
 
Hugo Drax said:
You don't have a job, it seems you are shut out of the workforce. So it is not "Hardly the truth."

The truth is you fucked up majorly and blew tens of thousands doing who knows what with your time and its gonna cost you 20 Grand more to fix it.
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Not everyone has a job immediately post graduation.. even engineers with good GPA's.

And FYI I'm currently an independent contractor for google making $17/hr working my own hours.. so I'm not entirely jobless.

I have connections that still hold possibilities and if those don't work out I have a ridiculous amount of connections in the IT industry so I'm essentially guaranteed a job there. This isn't an ungrateful optimist speaking either, my dad's a senior worker for a large IT company, he said he'd train me to get a job if my engineering stuff didn't work out.

I'm holding out and am willing to wait for a job in the field that I want even if it means I will be underpaid.. is it wrong to follow my dream? I hate negative assholes like yourself. Everyone has their own problems, I was forced into engineering against my own will but I fortunately made it out alive and it was unfortunate that I discovered what I wanted to do my junior year. Just looking for advice, not needless pessimistic negativity. You act like GPA is the end all to a job search, while it may be true for bigger companies, I'm not trying to get into a tier 1 or tier 2 company, I just want to enter the workforce doing something I enjoy even if the first job isn't what I envision it to be. I enjoy the stuff I'm learning about and as long as I'm working with that stuff I know money will come, so quit posting if you've got nothing constructive.

I know I'll end up somewhere, just a matter of time. I'm trying to minimize that time and increase my chances.
 
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crazypraveen said:
Not everyone has a job immediately post graduation.. even engineers with good GPA's.

And FYI I'm currently an independent contractor for google making $17/hr working my own hours.. so I'm not entirely jobless.

I have connections that still hold possibilities and if those don't work out I have a ridiculous amount of connections in the IT industry so I'm essentially guaranteed a job there. This isn't an ungrateful optimist speaking either, my dad's a senior worker for a large IT company, he said he'd train me to get a job if my engineering stuff didn't work out.

I'm holding out and am willing to wait for a job in the field that I want even if it means I will be underpaid.. is it wrong to follow my dream? I hate negative assholes like yourself. Everyone has their own problems, I was forced into engineering against my own will but I fortunately made it out alive and it was unfortunate that I discovered what I wanted to do my junior year. Just looking for advice, not needless pessimistic negativity. You act like GPA is the end all to a job search, while it may be true for bigger companies, I'm not trying to get into a tier 1 or tier 2 company, I just want to enter the workforce doing something I enjoy even if the first job isn't what I envision it to be. I enjoy the stuff I'm learning about and as long as I'm working with that stuff I know money will come, so quit posting if you've got nothing constructive.

I know I'll end up somewhere, just a matter of time. I'm trying to minimize that time and increase my chances.
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If you are an independent contractor for Google, why is it not on your resume? Why don't you just do the IT stuff for now and continue looking? If anything, the IT stuff would translate well because the communications and controls part of substation design is a huge part.
 
Move into Indiana for a year and qualify for instate afterwards.
you do not have to up your GPA to a certain level.
Just take those 4 course that you blew off.
That will increase the GPA (assuming that you will pass those with at least a C or even a B)
It is you demonstrating accountability and showing that you desire the knowledge by retaking those courses regardless of the cost.
One can also get a job and/or live off campus. Even spreading the cost over two semesters; you can work enough to cover your expenses and/or continue the method that you used to pay the first years of the flub up.

================================
Not to toot my horn, but I will.
I was kicked out of college my first year. Did not fail any course, but my GPA was low (< 2.0).

Eventually went back to school while married.
Graduated after 4 more years of school, working fulltime nights and ended up with three kids when completed school. In process, retook 3 courses from year #1 and one course from year #2. Left school with a 3+ in EE, 2.6 overall.


It takes dedication and determination to recover from being an idiot and is expensive. But it can be done and is worth it in the end.
================================

You have to man up and fix the issues - otherwise your degree will be wasted until you get 4-5 years of decent experience under your belt. To get that type of work; you better be a good salesman of yourself and convince them that you have potential for whatever is thrown your way.

To get a job with the current resume; you need to send the resume to the HR department of every company that is involved with power generation/distribution/design with a cover letter that states what you are looking for. In the cover letter, highlight the positives of your experience. Also research the company and tailor your approach toward what they are doing. Look at their websites to see what type of people they are looking for. Again tailor the cover letter.

One advantage you have is that the powergrid in the US/Canada is needing upgrades; handling of DC power; handling the loss of power during transmission. A second is that you presently are in midyear; less competition.
 
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