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<p>The college’s career center may have its own job board, where companies post openings that may not be listed elsewhere. Not all of these companies visit the campus. Your engineer should be using this resource.</p>
<p>Says she’s looked and nothing Mechanical and nothing in “reasonable locations”. I wake up at 2AM screaming in frustration.</p>
<p>Remarkably similar situation here! You are not alone. I know it seems like everyone else’s graduating senior has an incredible job offer signed, sealed and delivered, but I have to believe that’s not true. Hopefully our soon to be grads will enjoy their last month of college, work hard, complete their intense senior projects and come home and buckle down and really look diligently and successfully. Right now is a very overwhelming time for them. They are wrapping up their projects, papers and getting ready for finals, getting ready to say good-bye to friends, classmates and professors, empty out their dorm rooms, house or apartments and move on to the next stage in life. That’s scary by itself. But not knowing what that next stage will bring at this point has to compound their fear. Putting our fear and pressure on top of that cannot be healthy for them at this emotional time. I only hope if I stay calm, remain supportive the job search will begin in earnest after graduation, from home, and can be more focused without the stress and distraction of the end of school. I am trying to convince myself of that. I wake up at 4 AM screaming - you must go to bed earlier than I do!!!</p>
<p>Reading this thread and thinking it has simply got to be as overwhelming for these KIDS as when they were all heading out to college in the first place. Change is always difficult and scary. And to think of what that must feel like for a 22-24 year old! Then read the newspaper/watch the news about the economy, lack of jobs, etc. and it could be completely overwhelming. WE (as adults) all have been down the block, WE have seen, lived, survived, some better than others. Right? </p>
<p>I’m saying a lot of this for myself really. My very talented (adult) D has just begun a one year leave of absence from school as it was overwhelming (BA/BFA at Parsons majoring in Fashion Design) to the point of making her ill. My immediate statement was ‘better find an internship!’ - by the next day I realized…this amazing kid has been self-supporting for 4 years, living off campus, earning enough to pay rent/utilities/food/Metro card/school expenses. She is well equipped to handle most anything that comes her way. I had to call her, and apologize to my (adult) child, explaining that I trust her, believe in her, and emotionally support her 350% (am coming off a lay-off myself, and can’t financially support her, but I sure can give her my heart, my ears, my shoulders).</p>
<p>Our KIDS will all survive one way or another. Maybe it’s working at Target until something else comes along. </p>
<p>Hug each and every one of them, even if it’s over the phone. </p>
<p>You know what my D said she wanted to hear me say? “I’m proud of you!” So I did, and I do, because I am!</p>
<p>Just- good advise. Hard to follow when we feel angry, disappointed and/or that they haven’t met our expectations. Then it becomes time to shift our expectations, which maybe weren’t realistic, or appropriate in the first place. Trying hard to convince myself that the only thing I am upset at is that my children are not happy, not that they haven’t been doing things the way that I would. Time to find their own paths, not ours. Sigh.</p>
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<p>I’d say that networking is the most effective approach and that she
might want to use the university’s alumni network in addition to the
career center in her search. I think that students need to be
aggressive in looking for work and not just expect something to fall
into their laps. In the BC network, alumni can post where they work and
what they do and graduates (not sure about those that haven’t graduated
yet though I have been contacted by one or two) can send them emails
looking for advice or asking if they have positions open. I would think
that Ivies would have excellent alumni databases available to grads.</p>
<p>Unemployment for new 2011 grads was about 7% for engineeringing majors
(there were statistics posted on this in another thread on the parents
forum).</p>
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<p>We did a round of hiring a bunch of MIT grads (BS) several years ago
and lately we’ve been hiring those with MS from elite schools or Phd
from lesser schools. A lot of those in the working world are going for
advanced degrees and I think that it’s somewhat harder for new grads
competing with those with more education, and, in some cases, more
experience.</p>
<p>BTW, this is the 2011 version of this thread. I think that you can see
that most or all of the graduates mentioned eventually found work
related to their major. It’s a very long thread but you might be able
to find some useful nuggets in it.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1125494-son-about-graduate-no-job-offer-yet.html?highlight=son+about+to+graduate+no+job[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1125494-son-about-graduate-no-job-offer-yet.html?highlight=son+about+to+graduate+no+job</a></p>
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<p>The market has been tough for many years but it did improve in 2011
and it’s relatively better right now. I watch various aspects of the
economy to try to see where it is headed and I was quite familiar with
the jobs picture but reading charts and looking at numbers is
different than one of your kids looking for work. As long as the kids
are trying, be it looking for work, going to grad school, doing any
kind of job, it doesn’t bother me (too much). If they weren’t looking
or weren’t studying or otherwise preparing themselves, then I’d get
upset. I’ve lived through many economic downturns and grew up during
tough economic times so I will give them (and others) a break if they
are having a tough time.</p>
<p>Yea, people to commiserate with lol! I was talking to my BIL and he said, all the talk you hear is that we need more STEM graduates, why aren’t they getting more job offers. He’s right and I don’t blame him but it’s not as easy to find a job as the media would have you believe. </p>
<p>My D will get a job, I followed the “son about to graduate, no job offer yet” closely last year and BCEagle91 is right, most of the graduates did find jobs. I keep telling my D that even if she doesn’t have a job at graduation, that happens and she will not be out of luck.</p>
<p>I also agree BCEagle, my D is working very hard at finding a job. I am not faulting her at all. I don’t think there is more she can do. She has an on site interview with the sales job today. I’m secretly hoping that they see that she is not cut out for this kind of job. She has told me that she really does not want this job but is trying to make the most out of it. A job is a job, something to pay the bills and look for something else later.</p>
<p>Oh UMMom2015, how frustrating. Is your D looking at grad schools at all. My S has a very shy friend and that is what she decided to do. Couldn’t think about looking for a job, so she found a funded graduate program. Oh and the “reasonable location” thing makes me crazy. My S has a great job that he loves but not in a location that is great. Got the job and can look for another after a year if that is what he wants to do. I keep telling my D that, get your foot in the door, a year or two is not forever.</p>
<p>Def not looking to go to Grad school. In my opinion, not looking hard enough for a job either. I am beginnint to think is under the impression one is going to come to my house and knock on the door and find her. I wish I could drag her to her career center, sit her down and force her to talk to someone there, and be more aggressive, but I cannot. Certainly easier for me to deal with from a distance. Not sure how I will cope in the same house!</p>
<p>um - BF was just job hunting… applied to a ton of jobs on craigs list… wound up finding (and getting) a position that he found on craigs list. I never would have thought to look for jobs there. Just a suggestion.</p>
<p>Someone in the office told me about Craigslist jobs - basically companies that don’t want to pay the fees to Monster or Dice. I imagine that they get inundated with resumes.</p>
<p>Deb- mine won’t even look in a “random” location, seems only to be looking within any easy commute from our home. Not exactly a hotbed of technology here unfortunately. I understand not the kind of kid to pick up and move to a remote location all alone, but really limiting options. At some point will have to look outside the box - at least I hope. Now just seems like another excuse to me of why a particular job just isn’t the right one to apply to.</p>
<p>Have you considered that getting a sales job, a field that she might be terrible at…might force her to face some issues that you believe are her short comings, and perhaps she could learn some useful skills there. My husband’s niece is engineering/sales, and is making more money than she was in her engineering job. Of course it may not work out well at all, but it could allow her to pick up some skills that she wouldn’t otherwise. You can do work you would never consider, if you are supporting yourself.</p>
<p>Just trying to think of the positive in this.</p>
<p>I am really thankful for everyone’s input. Had the interview for the sales position yesterday. She thinks it’s really not the job for her. Talked to other people in the position and asked them what they liked about it. Said everything they liked about it she would hate. Mostly I think they said they didn’t really like engineering. She really likes engineering and from her internship knows that she likes the work she did. </p>
<p>She knows now that she can take the summer internship and at least have something for now. It could lead to a permanent position if not in that department, in another.</p>
<p>She also received a call back from another interview earlier in the month. Hopefully that leads to an on site interview.</p>
<p>She was talking to someone and he acknowledged how hard it is to get a job. He only had one offer so far and it was for less than he expected. We have to understand that the job market is flooded not only with recent BS graduates but those who postponed graduation and went to graduate school and now are also looking for jobs.</p>
<p>Also, I forgot. We talked about the job in the remote location. She seems to understand that if she received an offer from them it would be a great opportunity. Seems to be growing up and realizing that you need to look past the location if the offer is good.</p>
<p>As an aside, my older s (a mech E) was back in town to give a presentation to his old company. Ran into the person who intitially interviewed him for the job he had. She is also an engineer, and have been there about a year or so longer than he. She just switched out of the technical side of the house and into sales and marketing. Also, the person at his new company who is doing HR was an engineer. So there are opportunities to transiton out of engineering if she wants to later. Good luck!</p>
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<p>Also, those that lost their jobs in 2008.</p>
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<p>Thing seem to be getting better in her life and yours by extension.</p>
<p>Deb922 - boy, has your D learned a lot recently! About herself, the job market, decision making… I think she’s on her way. Job hunting, I think, is a learning process, and sometimes we tend to forget that recent or soon-to-be grads are still very young, and often new to really thinking for themselves. Sometimes we parents – and kids themselves – think that once a kid graduates from a good school with a good degree it’s a slam dunk to a good job. But I think, in reality, that happens relatively infrequently.</p>
<p>I understand completely about the shy child who doesn’t take advantage of the career center, etc. And of course, she knew more about job searches than I. 
11 months after graduation and 8 months of working at Starbucks later, she landed a great job … and was contacted for 2 interviews within 2 weeks of landing that great job (when it rains it pours - but the job she got was the one she wanted). It takes time. You just have to keep telling them to perservere. The important thing is to keep sending out resumes. The best way to guarantee “no job” is not to send out resumes or job applications.</p>
<p>Sounds like things are moving nicely in the right direction. Glad your D is getting more encouraging news and starting to understand herself better. Neither of my kiddos would like a job that requires sales either. They can be persuasive, but don’t want to have that as their main skill. In 2010, when S graduated, it was a tough job market too, & there were kids who as BC said went back for a grad degree hoping the job market would improve. Fortunately for folks looking for entry level positions, some of those with grad degrees are considered over-qualified and not viewed as favorably as those who just have their BS, I’ve been told.</p>
<p>Sounds like your D has some viable options and will make decisions that will work out for her. In the meantime, hope you get some well-deserved rest! Mistakes can be good, if we learn from them anyway. ;)</p>
<p>Just heard on the radio that hiring managers are planning 10% more hires over last year - some good news at least.</p>