If he has no objections to working for the defense industry, they are hiring like crazy, both major corps and contractors. Great pay/benefits as well but good chance you will need to relocate.
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Many of the kids I know in engineering are in automotive. It seems the OEMs are hiring now for 2027. But my husband works at a Tier 1 supplier and they won’t hire until they know what is needed. Most likely on spring and summer. They don’t have a cohort like the big OEMs do.
We were surprised at the offer this early. But his masters is pretty specific and a good match for the job.
Ford recently hired 300. Auto is like many industries - hit a certain age and here comes a package. Youth and less expense are in.
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Good to know; thanks. He’d much rather do something else, but will look at defense jobs if nothing else has panned out closer to graduation. And he’ll go anywhere for the right job!
Also, no one is panicking, least of all him. He knows that there will be plenty of jobs posted in the winter and spring, but his understanding is that the most sought-after, innovative ‘cool’ R&D jobs that he’s the most interested in are often posted earlier in the academic year.
I’M definitely the one who’s the most worried, but it’s about everything: the economy in general, the future of our democracy, the decimation of scientific and medical research in the US, etc, etc. I’m finding it hard to be optimistic about my young adult kids launching into such a messed-up world.
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I know General Dynamics is gearing up to hire - the pay is solid but the location (Pittsfield MA) is not ideal. You have to be OK with the defense industry, obviously.
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IBM is tripling entry level hiring…this was announced last spring. Not sure where they are at on that, or whether it will take multiple years. I don’t have a non-paywalled link.
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Same for my son, initially. He did not want to work in defense. His first job out of college was with a research university org, but his program was sponsored by the military and his grad research asst position in college was sponsored by a defense contractor, so in the end, when his 1st job ended the research program due to current DC administrative decisions, he opened up his job search. Although, he did get another great offer for a research position in Boston he ultimately could not turn down the large corp offer in California, just too big a jump in engineering level and salary, even in California money and over 2k miles away.
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This goes beyond any political leanings about the industry. Being able to get a security clearance is a more practical issue. Business uncertainty also differs from other industries, based on the number of customers in the industry.
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They have other locations - they offered my son a job in 23 outside of Providence in Southern Mass - was 85K and whatever the profit bonus was.
He had one interview (phone) and next day go the offer.. He was “worried” about their process not being in depth. They seem to hire a lot from RPI when we were looking up people in the program he would have been in. If I recall, it was a rotational - 3 years, 3 jobs.
So they likely have many locations - they were in San Diego when I was growing up too.
CompE Grad just graduated, now in 1st semester of Masters in B10 school(will be finished next semester). He describes himself as a “try hard” - gets good marks, but not due to brilliance. He has been employed every summer, the last three out of state; at a vg smaller company in TX, and with Tesla for two summers. He has just signed for full time position at a Bay area startup with deep pockets, for vg money, and turned down other nice offers. ENG friends of his from this good, but not elite school, have done well - Space X, Rivian, Tesla, interesting startups- one of the brightest stayed in the midwest at a local company because he likes to hunt and fish. S2 might not be typical, however. He worked his ass off at school, in Formula, and applying for jobs. The other successful kids are either like him, or just really, really bright …almost all devoted a lot of time to engineering clubs at school. Employers notice. S2 does say that there are a lot of kids who just get by in class, don’t take part in clubs, and don’t try very hard applying for jobs - they are less successful in landing jobs, but can usually get something in our local market(Twin cities). Son has a social life, but it takes a distant 4th place to Formula (endless nights spent trying to make the damn thing work!), school(nights trying to figure out WTH is going on!), and preparing for job interviews, (which are far more involved than they used to be, even for an internship). GF next(engineer, luckily, so she gets it), then social life/ workouts.
So, the most successful kids are a mix of the brilliant, or the really smart AND have the aptitude(usually parent ENG in family, and had an early start tinkering). Ones like my guy are a bit more rare - not brilliant, not an early start, just hard workers. The more average students will still get offers from local companies, unless they aren’t trying very hard.
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I think you can apply that to most schools - those who hustle, win - at least in aggregate - not in all cases.
When I was in grad school, you had some not even interviewing til graduation. Or they were picky until they realized, you can’t just snap your fingers and get a job.
It’s a great description you provided of your son and others - and it shows, the kids brought their own success.
Cograts to him.
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I graduated undergrad from a Big State School™ with a humanities degree in 1994, and such expectations (job or grad school placement) were in place by then.
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Engineering senior grateful for offer in a very rural location and outside of preferred engineering area. Great starter money and solid company but sounds like would be stuck in that location/eng area for at least 2 years.Far along in interviews w a few other companies that fit the bill for city/eng interest area. Is it bad protocol/karma to accept an offer and then if get a better one step out of the first? I don’t feel comfortable with this approach but I also see how companies have themselves backed out on kids before. Apologies if someone’s previously addressed this but would be interested in others thoughts/experiences.
Yes - but does it happen? Yes. It’s not good form but it happens and if it does, they’ll forget about you and call the next person in line.
It also happens the other way - companies make offers and back out.
Everyone will see this differently. Often times, the companies are thankful that if you had a change of heart, you let them know.
The alternative is to say no now but then you worry about - what if he doesn’t get another offer? Or one not as good.
Many times kids get to a new area - and love it. So that can happen too. And depending on the area of engineering, many jobs are in rural locations, etc. It’s where plants are.
I agree with you - it’s not the right thing to do, but if your son did have a change of heart (even if he knew it up front), I wouldn’t hold it against him too long - in the grand scheme of life, it’s a nothing burger, including with the company he rejected. They’ll have moved on mentally faster than you have.
Another thought - dependent upon when you expect other offers - if it’s within a week or so, he can ask for more time as it’s early. But that usually only gets you a week or so because the other company wants you, but more importantly, they want to stay on their timeline.
Congrats to your son and good luck.
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I would do the reneging with less guilt than tsbna44 :-). Make sure you don’t renege on places that you may want to revisit later in your career. And renege gently.
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Congrats to your son on the offer!
To answer your question, yes, it is bad protocol to back out of an accepted offer.
If he’s far along in the process with other companies, I’d advise asking the rural location company for more time to consider their offer. IME companies usually are open to giving students extra time.
In addition, did your child get his offer through his university’s career services or an on campus career fair? If yes, make sure they check to see their school’s policy on reneging on a signed offer.
This is the policy at my daughter’s alma mater:
STUDENT ACCOUNTABILITY
"Purdue students are subject to guidelines for ethical conduct in their job search activities. Each time they sign into their myCCO@Purdue account, students are required to confirm that they agree to abide by the CCO Participation Agreement.
Within the agreement, students are instructed to accept an employment offer in good faith by immediately notifying other employers of their decision. Students are told to withdraw from the interviewing process and no longer pursue positions with other employers. Your support of this policy by respecting a student’s decision when accepting another offer is requested and will be appreciated.
If a student accepts a written offer of employment and later reneges on the acceptance, please notify the CCO Senior Director, Mary Andrade – mlandrad@purdue.edu. We recognize the importance of integrity in accepting an offer and want to follow up with the candidates. Students who violate these terms face serious consequences for non-compliance."
Students can face disciplinary action for violations of the policy and get shut out of all future recruiting tools, including as alumni.
Similarly, companies who engage in unethical practices lose their ability to recruit on campus. Purdue specifically says that companies need to give students a few weeks to consider their offers.
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Don’t even feel a tiny bit guilty. Companies deserve people who want to be there and candidates should pick what’s most important to them. Both parties benefit when candidates renege - yes individual egos can get hurt but welcome to the real world.
I’ve reneged offers in my professional career and I advised S22 to have no compunction when he had to renege a couple of intern offers.
Just make sure you evaluate honestly and make the right decision for yourself.
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Thank you for these responses! He has a few weeks to decide on the offer he has now so will see what happens in the meantime. So hard for kids right out of the gate to know what they really want or where. With this seemingly tight job market for new graduates also don’t want to pass up an opportunity- any opportunity. A bit at odds in our house on this one so good to hear others’ perspectives!
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Many schools have this. My son’s did. It might be driven by NACE - not sure.
But think this is commonplace - kids that get early offers, even in a bad economy, what if something better comes along later. I’ve seen it with experienced people too no showing their first day etc.
I think like many regulations, they are nice to share but likely not routinely utilized as punishment. Of course, a company experiencing this happening multiple times might reject the school in the future, or like ADM after my son rejected them, call a few days later increasing the base $10k and doubling the sign on bonus. Clearly they weren’t getting bites and knew they needed to be more competitive.
If you have several weeks to decide, they might not offer more. But might. The companies know these kids need to make difficult decisions. Yours likely wouldn’t be the first to renege them.
It’s not right but I think it happens everywhere. And no one loses sleep over it.
All could go well, they work a month and quit too. Recruiting, like life, is not predictable.
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First, congrats to your Engineering senior! I wish mine had your problem 
How far along is he in the interview process with his preferred companies? If it’s reasonably far, he should tell all of them that he has another offer but would pass on it (or at least hold them off for as long as possible) in favor of their company.
S21 did that last year for his internship: he was offered a spot at Company B but really wanted Company A, with whom he was about mid-way through the interview process. He told Company A that he had another offer and they got back to him with his final interview date within 24 hrs and then offered him the internship almost immediately after the interview.
There really isn’t any downside to this strategy as far as I can tell. Can’t hurt, might help!
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