Question to Mechanical Engineers

[dbot]

Ok, I'll be graduating in December with my BS in Mechanical Engineering and had a coupel job questions.

I haven't been able to get an internship so far but just had an interview last week. The position I interviewed for last week was an all around design position. Doing stuff with HVAC and stuff.

I went to a job fair at my University and there were the usual big companies like northrop grumman and lockheed. It's hard to get an interview with them let alone a position with so many people applying.

There is one company that I setup up an interview with next week, and that was the United States Patent Office. I was just wondering if anyone's had any experience with Patent work in Engineering and any tips for the interview?

I'm pretty detail oriented and have studied a lot of different areas, but wanted to hear first hand from someone.

Also, any tips on how I could get in with the big companies like Lockheed and Northrop?

 

[sandmanwake]

I was going to write a couple things, but you might get more out of reading this thread for now:
http://www.intelproplaw.com/Forum/Forum...t_agents;action=display;num=1107208950

Edit:
Oh, don't sweat the interview at the job fair too much. I'm horrible at interviews and couldn't think too clearly due to a long drive to the interview site and I did fine. If they're interested in you, you'll most likely have a second interview with whoever your main supervisor will be after the fair.

 

[chusteczka]

Working at the USPTO is a great opportunity to learn more about the current state of the art of your profession. While it is heavily administrative, it can provide you with excellent incentive to go to law school and give you first hand insight into the minds of those in the forefront of your profession.

Not sure about Lockheed but Northrop often hires in spurts with some times hiring only one or two and other times needing to hire many all at once. Keep your resume current with them in preparation for one of the mass hirings.

 

[Sukhoi]

I would have to expect a job for the patent office to either be obscenely boring, or involve a whole lot of travel (if you go to see items being patented).

 

[sandmanwake]

Originally posted by: Sukhoi
I would have to expect a job for the patent office to either be obscenely boring, or involve a whole lot of travel (if you go to see items being patented).

Depends on your personality whether you find it obscenely boring or not. You'll do a lot of reading into technical, legal, and scientific matters--if that sort of stuff is not your cup of tea or you don't learn how to handle it, you'll be bored out of your mind. The burn out rate of examiners is high. Something like 50% of those hired quit the first year and 50% of those who remain after their first year won't make it past their fifth year. It's not like your sterotypical government job where you can slack off. You also have to deal with people to a certain extent--interviews with attorneys and sometimes inventors. Not much traveling as an examiner though.

 

[flyboy84]

I just graduated in June with a BS in EE. I have been working for Lockheed Martin for almost 3 months now. If you have a decent GPA (>3.0), you should look into them. They really need young blood. Think about this statistic: LM employs approx. 135k people. 100k of them are going to retire in the next 10 years. If you can get a security clearance (US Citizen, no background problems) you are very desirable to them. There is supposedly a hiring goal of 90% college hires for next year (i.e. only 10% experienced professionals). I know the site I work for (Systems Integration in Owego, NY) is hiring like crazy. There are a few MEs here, but not alot. We work on all sorts of things here, from postal sorting machines to the presidential helicopter. I work on avionics for a the next generation Navy anti-submarine helicopter. Just keep looking, you will find something.

Another site I know of in NY that might need MEs is Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in Niskayuna, NY. They design the reactors and associated systems for US Navy submarines. It's actually a DOE facility, but LM is the contractor that runs it. I did an internship there, and there were plenty of MEs for the steam systems, etc. Hope that helps!