Job applications (and a couple related questions farther down)

alcoholic_engineer

After reading through the archives for tips I figured I might as well ask if anyone here has any tips for getting me a job.

I am going to be graduating as an Electrical engineer this spring. Fortunately because I am in alberta there is a huge demand for labor so the issue is less dire then it could be. People are already starting to be hired for after graduation so i want to get this nice and taken care of asap.
There are in fact a few different jobs that I could apply for and almost certainly get a position but they would all send me up to the oil sands (I know some people and have already worked there, not a big fan). I could go up there relatively easily and those options are my backup plan.

However, there are a couple jobs that I have my eye on that dont involve going up north and am wondering if anyone has any tips for how I can make a good impression and improve my chances.

even simple things like if a cover letter is required would be nice: some companies say they dont want them, some say nothing so I am not sure how to interpret that.

tl;dr I need tips for getting my foot in the door and getting a job for after I graduate


thanks for any help you can give me


edit: a couple more questions farther down pertaining to engineering and applying for jobs in general

UkraineTrain

Im not sure how it works in Uof calgary but up north at UofA we just contact our Engineering Employment Center and they usually have contacts at most companys and can even do mock interviews with you and give you tips to improve your resume. Hard to give that kind of advice over the interwebs so I really recommend you look into it.

supabeast

Only write a cover letter if you can justify writing it for a specific position. The point of a cover letter is to explain why you personally want, and are a good fit for, a certain position. You can have a selection of boilerplate that gets edited for every letter, but you have to make cover letters relevant.

Nitsuj82

Get a good resume going and NETWORK. After your first job, it's absolutely WHO you know.

blanknogo

The Engineer career center is definitely your friend. Look to them for job postings and advice on how to do cover letters and resumes. They will provide you will excellent advice on how to tailor your applications for your specific area of expertise.

oberon567

And never mind the Engineer Career Center, most undergraduates have a career center in general that maintain a database of job listings and postings but more importantly offer resume help as well as interviewing skills, which are the two most important things in getting a job.

jotate

Nitsuj82 wrote: »

Get a good resume going and NETWORK. After your first job, it's absolutely WHO you know.

Meet people. People know other people. If you know the person who knows the person who knows the right person, the job is as good as yours.

alcoholic_engineer

first off, thanks for the advice: I am definitely gonna try and make some more connections.

I went to a job fair today and literally half of the companies that were hiring electrical engineers blatantly stated that it was to make me a "field engineer" and have nothing at all to do with electrical. Instead they would try and make me a jack of all trades with more mechanical, reservoir and chemical then electrical.

Does anyone have any experience with programs like that? I am currently kinda cautious of applying for something like that.


Additionally: if by some miracle and I do get offered a job but am hoping for a few better alternatives that will be hiring later on in the year (jan/feb as opposed to 2 weeks from now), what should I do? Should I take the job and say that there is a chance i could bail?

thanks again for all the suggestions

khain

alcoholic_engineer wrote: »

I went to a job fair today and literally half of the companies that were hiring electrical engineers blatantly stated that it was to make me a "field engineer" and have nothing at all to do with electrical. Instead they would try and make me a jack of all trades with more mechanical, reservoir and chemical then electrical.

Does anyone have any experience with programs like that? I am currently kinda cautious of applying for something like that.

I haven't heard of something like this in particular, but not working in your field is relatively common. I have a EE degree and I now work on firmware which is much more of a CS position. I'm not sure this number is correct, but I've heard that 60% of engineers don't actually work in the same field they got their degree in.

As some one said earlier make friends and contact any old friends. Anyone that you know/knew you should attempt to contact and see where they work and if theres a opening as knowing some one basically means you cut by all the bullshit.

Additionally: if by some miracle and I do get offered a job but am hoping for a few better alternatives that will be hiring later on in the year (jan/feb as opposed to 2 weeks from now), what should I do? Should I take the job and say that there is a chance i could bail?

I've never actually heard of anyone bailing on a job they accepted, the way I say it at least was they give you about a week to decide and you either accept or you don't.

jotate

If by "field engineer" they mean "go into the field and repair stuff that's broken", I'd recommend you don't brush that off just yet. I have a friend who applied for his job and they asked him if he was willing to go into the field and travel, he said no. It's 2 years later and he's anxiously waiting for a field position to open up so he can get out of the office.

It helps that his company does work in South America.

Still, something to consider if that's part of what they mean by "field engineer."

DJ-99

alcoholic_engineer wrote: »

Additionally: if by some miracle and I do get offered a job but am hoping for a few better alternatives that will be hiring later on in the year (jan/feb as opposed to 2 weeks from now), what should I do? Should I take the job and say that there is a chance i could bail?

My career services department told me that if you accept a job and then bail, their Human Resources department will get on the phone to every other HR department in the industry and tell them exactly what happened. You will be red-flagged and will find it very difficult to find a new job.

I'm sure I heard an exaggerated version of what really happens, but I think the general point is valid. If you were to strike a deal with them ahead of time saying "I might bail" and they said that was fine, you wouldn't have a problem. The issue is, however, companies don't really do that. They will probably say "no thanks" and go hire whoever was next on their list instead of you.

jotate

Though the only reason you'd be bailing on the job is because you got an offer for a better one. Sooo, at that point, you're pretty much in the clear until you go job hunting again. Hopefully by then, they'll be more interested in your experience then the job you quit 4 months in because you got a better offer.

alcoholic_engineer

Thanks for the advice: I have been thinking about it and it is a dick move to take a job and then bail on it. If i am offered a job I will ask for a few days to decided and then make my decision final.


I think I am going to apply for all the jobs even the ones I dont want, and since those interviews are far before the ones that I want use them for practice. That way I can interview better and with more experience for when I get to the jobs I want. Also it will be a great indicator as to how good my chance is to get a job (gpa not stellar, but i have some electrician experience so that apparently looks rad).
That is unless they somehow offer me a crazy amount of $$ or convince me otherwise.

As for the field engineer thing I have an appointment this weekend to talk with a friend of a friend who does that to see what their impression is on that sort of career choice. Also it should be decent networking in any case. I am still pretty tentative about that option because I spent a huge amount of time and effort learning electrical shit, and kinda enjoy it. It would be a shame to let all my knowledge go to waste.