I'll be a senior in ME this year and am not sure when I should start applying for certain positions for after graduation. As of now I was just going to wait until the career fair but I want to start applying as soon as I can so i'll have as many options as possible come next spring.

7/2/2008 12:29:54 PM

i graduated in dec of 04 and accepted my job offer in july 04
my wife graduated in may 07 and accepted her job offer in dec 06

we were on the early side of locking it in i think but it's not rare in the engineering program to know what you'll be doing by the time you are early into your last semester

7/2/2008 12:32:20 PM

should I go ahead and try to take the FE in the fall in case I want to interview with someone looking for an EIT? Or will they just hire you pending you pass the test for the most part?

7/2/2008 12:34:34 PM

The earlier the better. If they are looking for someone immediately that's ok, at least you have gotten yourself on their radar

7/2/2008 12:36:37 PM

taking it in the spring is fine. I graduated in May 2007 and I think I accepted my job the first week in April? and my main interviews were in feb and march. I had been looking since Nov 06 though. Do not forget to use the career center My two best leads came through there.

7/2/2008 12:38:25 PM

i would recommend starting early....perhaps the fall before you graduate if you're graduating in the spring.

i waited until february (engineering career fair) before i really started. i eventually had two offers and accepted a job the weekend before graduating, but i was kind of stressed that i wouldnt be able to find anything....and you dont want that during your last semester.

i had some friends that had accepted before their last semester, and they didnt have a care in the world for the last bit of school. i wish i had started earlier.

7/2/2008 1:41:19 PM

some companies only recruit in the fall, just as some only recruit in the spring. so start early that way you don't miss out on a company that you really want to interview with

7/2/2008 6:59:25 PM

never too early (within reason). i was a dec graduate and started looking in august.

i received the offer for my current job in september (accepted in november), but also had a lot of interviews in late october, november, and even had a couple of companies ask in december. so it wasnt like i couldnt have gotten a job later.

7/2/2008 7:23:56 PM

does anyone on here work for Lockheed? I really want to interview with them. Should I wait until the career fair so they can meet me face to face or should I contact them earlier.

7/3/2008 7:53:38 AM

couldnt hurt to do both if you are really interested imo.

7/3/2008 7:56:01 AM

I was kind of a unique case and got my job offer right after my internship, in the summer of 2006 before I graduated in December 2007. My last semester, I only had 10 hours and then worked part-time at my company so I could go ahead and meet my clients and get a feel for what I was getting into. It was a HUGE relief not to stress out about a job my last semester while my friends were freaking out - I highly recommend it.

7/3/2008 8:18:28 AM

well i'm looking at 2-3 options. It has been implied at both of the internships that I have worked/am working that they would like to have me after I graduate. One is a HVAC consulting firm on the ups with basically 2 PEs and an excellent opportunity to be really important really quickly.

The one i'm working now is with the Facilities engineering team here at NCSU with great state employee benefits and very reasonable PTO besides the fact that it's pretty cool to be that involved with your alma mater's budget decision making.

The third option is exploring the corporate world with a larger company after I graduate which would probably involve higher salary but alot more of the sticky stuff (company politics/possible layoffs).

7/3/2008 8:38:27 AM

Take the exam as soon as possible. I don't really place entry level guys but I think you won't have a problem. If anything, look into HVAC design. I can not find enough engineers that have experience doing it.

7/3/2008 9:00:14 AM

yea, I have been doing HVAC/Utilities design for a little over a year now and I really really enjoy it. As long as you dont get a spot doing nothing but cookie cutter commercial buildings where it is less "design" and more paperwork it is actually very fun. Getting into HVAC where you are working with chemical companies, biotech/pharmaceutical, nuclear, power etc. is very interesting and it involves a very large amount of areas to work in or specialize in within HVAC. IE you dont have to be stuck doing the exact same thing all the time.

7/3/2008 9:27:07 AM

^ well what I like about the firm is that i'm already familiar with the process and know most of our clients by name. Also i'd be on a fast track to a PE and be able to stake a share in the company in 5 years or less.

7/3/2008 9:29:31 AM

yea thats cool man. I was just reinforcing that it is a good career choice based on my limited experience. I enjoy it and I tend to see spots available for people with HVAC backgrounds quite frequently.

and why are you saying you would be on the fast track to a PE? I guess you're saying you could count intern experience (which you can I was just wondering)?

[Edited on July 3, 2008 at 9:37 AM. Reason : ]

7/3/2008 9:37:27 AM

Quote :

"does anyone on here work for Lockheed? I really want to interview with them. Should I wait until the career fair so they can meet me face to face or should I contact them earlier."

Do both. They do have an information/recruiting thing once per semester, usually around the career fairs. If you talk to them at the career fair and go to the info session, they'll usually schedule an on-campus interview with you.

If you are planning on working for a defense contractor or in the aerospace industry, don't even worry about taking the FE. I didn't take it and I'm currently working for NASA... there's maybe one or two people I know here who actually took the FE.

In terms of when you should start looking, I would say as soon as the Autumn 08 semester starts. I filled out my first job application on the first day of class in August 06 (I graduated in aerospace engineering May 07). I continued filling out applications just about every day for the next 4 or 5 months or so. I would just go to different companies websites and any job that was even related to aerospace and that was accepting entry-level, I filled out. It took a few months but I got my first call back in November and an offer for that job later in the month. I declined that offer. In January I got a call back from NASA and had a phone interview with them. I flew in for an on site interview and got an offer (which I obviously accepted) in February. I can't tell you how much of a relief it was to already have something lined up after graduation. I got a whole bunch of call backs from other companies over the next few months from various other companies, and I still get one every now and then.

If you are interested in working at NASA, send me a PM and I'll give you some info. A lot of their older workforce is starting to retire and they are looking for young, fresh out of college engineers to replace them.

7/3/2008 9:46:07 AM

^^ well I thought you had to work directly under another PE for a certain amount of time in order to qualify to take the PE exam. Is it just years of experience? I was also referring to my 1-2 years of intern experience there.

^ also my GPA is only around a 3.0, i'm not sure it's really NASA calibre, even though my exp. may make up for that sort of.

[Edited on July 3, 2008 at 9:48 AM. Reason : too fast]

7/3/2008 9:46:13 AM

yea you do. but most real design firms are going to have PEs, can't sign and submit many real design drawings without PEs.

7/3/2008 9:53:09 AM

^true, I just meant as opposed to working in the corporate world for a production manager or something or working for the university.

7/3/2008 9:56:24 AM

right. then again it depends on what you plan to stay in. the reason people dont have it at certain places is because they dont need it. But at the same time, its great to get it because then you wouldnt be limited if you had to look for another job.

7/3/2008 9:58:53 AM

Dude screw working for NASA. The only benefit of working there is you get a little NASA sticker on the back of your car and you get to tell people at parties you work for NASA, and they roll their eyes and go for another drink.

You would be way better off going down the HVAC road and working towards your PE. Once you were a PE you could find a job ANYWHERE for commercial/industrial biotech or pharma. I actually see a surprising amount of resumes for 5 year experience ME's who worked on aircraft hulls, which there aren't many job openings for.

7/3/2008 10:04:20 AM

Yea I would say no matter what industry you go in, unless you are guaranteed from day 1 that you will never need it there and that you have a set job until you retire, taking the FE is a must. There is no reason not to. At least you are further along if you ever decide you need your PE.

[Edited on July 3, 2008 at 10:12 AM. Reason : ]

7/3/2008 10:11:52 AM

My bosses at the HVAC firm were awesome too. Working as an hourly paid intern they took me to kanki/PF Changs whenever there was a holiday or something big worth celebrating, gave me Christmas bonus check, and good all-around guys that appreciate hard work.

7/3/2008 10:17:16 AM

Quote :

"Dude screw working for NASA. The only benefit of working there is you get a little NASA sticker on the back of your car and you get to tell people at parties you work for NASA, and they roll their eyes and go for another drink."

Have you worked at NASA before? Because it is nothing like that. I can't even begin to tell you how awesome it is to work here.

I was only saying don't worry about the FE if you plan on being in the aerospace industry (as he indicated by saying he wanted to work for Lockheed Martin). In fact, a number of my professors told us not to bother with it too. Now since he is a mechanical engineering major, it might be different for him since ME's have a bigger chance of working on stuff that would require an FE.

[Edited on July 3, 2008 at 10:20 AM. Reason : ]

7/3/2008 10:17:52 AM