Job Prospects for ‘24, ‘25 Grads and beyond?

Parents Forum
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He’s 19 and has work experience. He has time and while I don’t like my 2nd kids major - they should pursue what they’d like.

MechE is extremely versatile. I think recession proof wise maybe only accounting is - and my cousin who runs a firm says for the first time in years CPAs are coming to the front desk and literally handing resumes. My non cpa nephew said his company ( a major retailer) has many accounting openings but few applicants.

Let your son stay the course. No need to panic. If he’s got a dedicated and far reaching plan, a good resume and knows how to talk to people, he’ll be ok in life. Btw up to 75% of engineers don’t work in engineering. There are many adjacent fields.

Good luck.

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The most common employer cutoff or preference GPA is 3.0, so it would seem that any student looking for an internship, co-op, or first post-graduation job with a GPA at least 3.0 should include it.

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Civil engineering is not recession proof, since there can be less construction activity during recessions. Indeed, the 2008 recession in the US hit the construction sector hard, and with it civil engineering (and architecture).

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Most but not all. Some are 3.5 on major. All the on line apps ask and many want a transcript attached.

If the gpa is a 3.5, I’d definitely add. But likely at a 3.0 but there could be a case against.

But in person, it’s likely like TO - if you don’t have, someone may assume the worst.

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Yes, the minimum cut off for my D’s employer is a 3.0.

I can see taking GPA off a resume after the first job or two but for the first one out of college, it would make sense to me to keep it on there.

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Sophomores often face challenges securing internships because they’ve typically only completed a few introductory courses. The more advanced, specialized coursework that forms the core of their major usually comes in junior and senior years. As a result, employers may perceive them as having less practical experience or skills to contribute.

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Yes, I know that. But at the same time, they’re expected to be applying as sophomores, and some even land them (although this has not been the case for anyone he knows in his class so far).

The only feedback that he has received so far is was from one interviewer telling him that he has a great resume but not enough CAD/3D printing experience for their position. Of course not: he hasn’t taken the class yet. But, they knew that (AND had his very scant portfolio with no CAD work) before they invited him to interview!

Oh, well. At least he got some valuable experience with suit-and-tie, panel-of-strangers-asking-hard-questons interviews this fall. Now he’ll just have to start working on Plans B, C, and D. Something will pan out. (Right?..)

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His summer job is a nice fallback.

He needs to apply for appropriate jobs. If it says you need CAD and you don’t have CAD, skip that one.

He might need manufacturing or customer service or supply chain.

The goal is an internship - it doesn’t matter if cars, airplanes, chemicals, machinery, telecom, oil, consumer goods or anything else.

Selectivity - short of clear non fits - needs to go out the window.

My son, both years (job and intern) had opportunities with ABB (the intern wasn’t engineering but wanted an engineer - was customer service). Corning offered him.

Find far out locales, etc - where kids won’t go.

If he does in fact have an assured summer job and it’s his third summer at the place, that’s a plus - more than you think. So that’s plan C, etc.

Tenure is a big plus.

But again, it’s early October - you are panicked literally five months too early.

But he should be applying daily to jobs like these - it works.

PS - I looked at many - if they mention CAD or MATLAB, I wouldn’t apply…these don’t. Like I said you might get 20 a day and some days 1 works, some 8 works. Not all work.

But it’s a great way to expand your chances…I know it works and other CC parents know this too as it’s worked for them - all would be sent to you on a daily indeed feed.

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Applying daily?

Perhaps focusing- daily- on being a student. He can wait to start the “applying daily” regimen for a bit, no?

You seem unwilling to concede that the macro hiring environment (companies in many sectors sitting on their hands right now with reduced hiring targets for both interns and full time entry level) has something to do with what students are seeing.

It is shocking to me to take a look at the analytics (Linkedin, Indeed, Handshake) and see how many times a job description has been viewed, how many applicants are in the queue waiting for their resume to be reviewed, etc. It isn’t double or triple vs. a few years ago- at times it’s 10X what a typical job posting would get.

Those are daunting odds.

Why not at least TRY my suggestion of asking professors, a Dean who knows your work, etc. to help you navigate a challenging hiring environment? Less work/potentially better odds/higher ROI (I know you love ROI).

Agree with you 100% though that sector doesn’t matter, geography doesn’t matter. Good luck to your kids- they sound great and I’m glad they launched appropriately!

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I didn’t say your ideas were wrong and that my way was the only way.

I’ve acknowledged its inefficiencies because yes, at 15 mins an app, I’m saying 30-45 mins a day - but it becomes less when you figure it out or post at the same company you’ve already built a profile. But you are just seeking the one.

Students, especially Seniors, need all irons in the fire…but for the first internships, which is the hardest to get, most especially.

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Sophomore internships are difficult, regardless of stats and school. My oldest Georgia Tech kid kid applied to over 100 internships as a sophomore civil engineering major with a 4.0. Got 3 interviews and one offer for that summer.

I would recommend applying to summer and fall internships if possible. He did that and actually got the fall internship before he got the summer one. He decided to do both and just live on campus since both were in Atlanta. He has now graduated with a great job and had four internships under his belt upon graduation

My current sophomore is an IE major at GT. Similar GPA to your son He has had three or four interviews so far (and one with an immediate rejection :joy:) with another initial interview in the pipeline and a final interview this week. He is casting a very wide net, applying for both internships and co-ops, and just seeing where the chips fall. My advice is to not be selective and broadly apply. Companies will be hiring for at least a couple more months for the summer so there is time. I have also heard it is beneficial to apply within a few days of the job opening being posted.

Final advice would be to be sure he has the right keywords on his résumé. Cannot stress this enough. Many jobs do an initial screening with a bot and if your résumé doesn’t have the right keyword, you won’t ever get looked at by a person. One of the easiest ways to do this is to put a section for relevant coursework. My IE kid has taken classes in statistical analysis, regression and forecasting, data input and manipulation, etc., and all of these are listed. He also put a couple of projects on there from classes listing specific tools used since his only prior work experience is fast food :-).

In my experience, the first internship is the hardest one to get, and if you can get a sophomore one, it puts you in a great position for later on.

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That’s great info: thanks so much.

One question: Lack of CAD/Solidworks experience seems to be the big thing holding him back. He’s taking the class this spring though, so would have the needed experience by this summer. Maybe he should list is as ‘anticipated spring classes’ so that CAD/Solidworks would show up in a the inital ‘keyword’ resume screen?

(He already has a section for his current Fall classes for that same reason, so Spring would be easy to add).

Thanks again, hive. You’ll all be so helpful.

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Or he could just add CAD/solidworks and then Spring 2025 in parentheses. Lack of relevant major related coursework definitely makes getting a sophomore internship harder. A lot of companies don’t even hire sophomores for this reason. My current sophomore is actually halfway through his junior year coursework so he’s got several upper level substantive classes which I think is helping. It’s definitely a numbers game though, so I would tell him not to get discouraged and keep on applying.

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Please see the 3 job postings I listed 4 messages up.

They don’t list a requirement for CAD or MATLAB.

When I said indeed sends you maybe 20 jobs in a day and you might find 3 or 4 good, that’s why - they don’t have that requirement.

Those are the types he should apply to - over and over.

As I said and now @VirginiaBelle has said - it’s a #s game.

He’s a salesman - and the product he is selling is himself.

In sales, you need #s/Activity.

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will do. Thanks!

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If your children are so inclined, law enforcement, though a difficult occupation, has begun to pay better, with excellent benefits.

New hire information for my son’s agency:

  • $6,000 signing bonus
  • $4,000 relocation bonus (50+ miles away)
  • Starting salary: $63,901 (with overtime $111,824) - $113,054 ($197,844 with overtime)
  • Excellent health, dental & vision at very reasonable rates
  • 401(k) with match
  • Pension
  • Paid parental leave
  • Tuition assistance
  • Take home vehicle
  • Retirement eligible at 55
  • Work schedule: 2 days on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off.
    - Three day weekend every other week
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Read through this entire thread and I can sympathize and relate. My son must have sent out 300 or so applications and finally got a spot with a F500 publicly traded company in their financial analyst rotational program. He went through so many ups and downs but finally landed something. Two weeks later he got two additional offers. My only advice is to never give up and stay persistent. Good luck to everyone. This is tough stuff for sure.

Also not sure if it helps but he went to an SEC school that is lower ranked but has a highly regarded business school.

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In sales, volume matters - and persistence matters.

Every no is one step closer to a yes.

Congrats to your student!!

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Yesterday it was revealed that an administrative assistant earned over $400,000 last year as a NYC police dept.administrator or administrative assistant due to overtime. ($204,000 was paid for overtime.)

DUI cops earn substantial amounts of overtime waiting to testify in court.

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Are you saying there are openings ? Teachers in Long Island earn more than $150k. Crazy. Good for them.