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

Parents Forum
1469

Note that not all companies that work in defense only have defense. My son’s division works on planes (of all sorts) but they also have filtration and their products are used not just for planes but for industrial like energy and HVAC too. These firms will have separate divisions.

So a company with an aviation program doesn’t mean it’s only aviation - some of these are conglomerate-like.

As for the comment about low pay or non-related like customer service jobs, all are entitled to their opinion but of course, I agree it’s wrong. Your son should do something. It doesn’t mean he shouldn’t continue to search - but when you’ve been home six months and you have nothing on your resume, people start to wonder. If you’re out of school more than a few months, it’s always better to have something on your resume, to show initiative, than not - in my opinion. If the student hasn’t yet graduated, then we are not at that point, of course. But bad economy or not, if someone is doing nothing, people begin to wonder.

Good luck.

2 Likes
1470

Agree. (see, I do agree with you sometimes). But the options are not “sit at home and do nothing” vs. working a cash register. Kids can start studying for the CFA (it’s three parts, the second part is VERY difficult) which leads to a valuable certification. Kids can take an online course in something which will enhance their skills. Kids can volunteer– and often the volunteer role can lead to something full time/permanent in an interesting field.

I’ve written before about the kid I know who turned a volunteer gig helping a non-profit with its 990 filing into a well paying job with a Family Office on their investment team. There are other young people who figure out that their volunteer hours with a hospital’s fundraising operation have turned them into “subject matter experts” in Raisers Edge or one of the other software packages used at a wide range of organizations. And the perennial- once you’ve organized the annual marathon for Lung Cancer or the Memory walkathon for Alzheimer’s you’ve actually got something meaningful to talk about when interviewing for a corporate job in event planning.

So sure- part time role doing ANYTHING. Which does not preclude continuing to hone your skillset. And the list of “strategic languages” maintained by the State Department is not going away (no matter how much America First shouting is out there). Taking yourself from “conversant in” to fluency in one of the many strategic languages is a high value use of time. And it’s not just roles in government- global corporations need people fluent in Korean, Russian, Arabic.

7 Likes
1471

Yes, do something. That’s my point. I don’t see an engineer studying for a CFA - but hey. My future SIL is studying for his CFA - but it’s part of his job duties. I’m simply saying - if you get an interview, you will be asked - what have you done since graduation - and you need a good answer. A job, of course, is most verifiable and in my opinion, would be most what an employer wants to see - but I suppose more schooling and certainly volunteering are doing things.

I forget if this student is in Canada or here.

But I will disagree with the comment that OP that MechEs only find jobs in defense.

There’s automotive, household appliances, chemical companies, civil type companies, cities, trains, civilian aircraft, and so so so many more…

Has the student set up some indeed searches - to feed him every day in email: Mechanical Engineering entry level Mechanical engineering Leadership Development Program etc. Mechanical Engineer Rotational College Graduate.

If they are a US student, here’s some that just popped.

Do you think Mineral Technologies in Lovell Wyoming is getting a lot of apps?

Or one of the RV manufacturers - it’s a confidential - but probably Thor or Rev Group in Elkhart Indiana - where so many commercial vehicle upfits are done:

A leading manufacturer of Seating, HVAC Systems, and Window Glass products to the Bus, Van, and RV Industries. Our production facilities are located in Elkhart, Indiana.

We are seeking a motivated Entry-Level Mechanical Engineer to join our engineering team.

How about Arlemax - which sounds like an agency - but is seeking an entry level MechE in Cedar Rapdis…I know my son was offered by ADM, the big food processor - and it was based there - maybe similar?

What about ABB - they offered my son both an internship and job. They are hiring in Florence SC for an entry level - and they have rotationals too.

Or WSP in Charlotte who states - We are one of the world’s leading professional services firms, uniting our engineering, advisory and science-based expertise to shape communities to advance humanity. ​

Well, they want a MechE for MechE - buildings. Wow, your son is a CivE and MechE - I mean, they want a mechE but he knows about buildings.

North American Lighting in Flora Illinois seeks an entry level person -they are automotive lighting. They are part of the Koito Group.

Applied Materials, the largest chip manufacturing equipment provider I think, has a rotational in Field Service Engineering available in Austin and Hillsboro Oregon (I think Intel is there).

The point is - there’s a ton out there - but what’s real, what’s not - I don’t know. Set up various searches. I like indeed. Others like linkedin. Get handshake from the school.

3 apps a day. You gotta pound and pound and pound.

Yes, talk to alums. Yes talk to profs. All that - but there is stuff out there and there’s more non defense than defense.

This is how I’d advise my student, anyway.

1 Like
1472

Engineering plus a CFA usually means no MBA required to get a job in PE or VC. Of course there are many engineers without a CFA working in these places- but intense study of valuation as a discipline is very, very useful.

5 Likes
1473

Have met plenty of equity analysts with engineering degrees and CFAs.

4 Likes
1474

Or jobs as equity analysts on either sellside or buy side.

1 Like
1475

Absolutely! Thanks for the correction.

1476

At this point, it seems OP wants a job using the Mechanical Engineering skills per OP so I’m assuming will not have interest in a CFA.

I will note to OP that 75% of STEM grads don’t work in engineering.

My son had this experience in his second internship at the same company - his second summer was about process and I asked - why they put him in that. He said, they wanted someone who thinks like an engineer. The job was more supply chain based - but that’s another field that some MechEs will enter (supply chain, logisitics).

Not sure if OP had an internship or not - but Manufacturing Engineer might be another “search” in indeed. My son started in a Manufacutring Engineering Leadership Program.

Put in Manufacturing Engineer Entry Level, New Hudson Facades is looking for an entry level Robotics Engineer in Upper Chichester PA

MSI Viking doesn’t appear aero related - they’d like an entry MechE for an Applications Engineer in Charleston with lots of travel involved.

Western Digital wants an entry Quality Assurance Engineer - they used to make detachable disk drives - what they do now I don’t know - in Fremont CA

Programs like Nabors - a rotational…these are awesome - not easy to get in - but that’s all my kid applied for. Different time I know. But this isn’t the only…it’s oil and gas.

Which jobs are real vs. resume collecting - can’t say - but I’d imagine the big companies would be the collectors and the smaller having real needs.
Mechanical Engineer - Early Career Development Program - Nabors Career Site Careers

1 Like
1477

If you’re referring to me and my student - I never said that MechE jobs are only in defense, I said he doesn’t want those defense jobs. And yes, he’s been applying - he’s sent out over 80 applications. He’s not being some kind of super particular cherry picker. He wants an industry that he’s unlikely to get, but he gave up focusing on that in early October. Instead, he’s applied to positions in almost any other industry as long as it seems remotely relevant to him learning and growing as a MechE. He didn’t accept the offer to return to last summers intern location because they wanted him in a non-engineering job. He’s too good at working with others, apparently, and they wanted him in their supply chain and management team. Maybe that was a mistake, it would’ve been a job. But he spoke with them at length about the position and they made it clear that there would be no engineering involved, and, therefore, no ability for him to grow his skill set to enable him to apply to those other jobs that require a few years of real engineering experience. That’s the same problem with taking a CivE job - yes, he’s getting the dual degree, but through the school process and one summer internship he learned that he doesn’t really LIKE being a CivE.

And, unlike the assumption it feels like you are making re: locations, he’s applied all over the country - yes, the biggies like the New England states, New York and California, but he’s also hit rural IL, Idaho, Arkansas, Michigan, TN, NC, SC, TX, MS, AL, OH, CO, WA, OR, and NM (plus our general area of DC, VA, MD, PA). He’s gone to all the career fairs at school, he’s contacted people that have presented and done informational interviews with them, he’s talked with his professors and his alumni network and anyone we know tangentially related. He’s on handshake and linkedin and indeed. He’s a strong candidate - his GPA is 3.96, he’s got three summers of solid internship experience and three really notable major projects - one which won an award - to talk about. He’s collaborated on projects with colleagues in foreign countries and has worked with a broad array of teams; he has a security clearance from last summer’s internship. He’s a multi-year D3 athlete and an Eagle Scout. He’s a strong candidate.

I get that you are trying to offer helpful alternatives and point out that people should be trying to do something, rather than nothing and that who knows what might happen and just be open to alternatives. But it feels like you are discounting the very real efforts that kids are making - my son included - by saying essentially that they aren’t trying hard enough. My kid is trying hard, he’s doing everything right and it’s causing a lot of stress. He’s not sitting around in some basement playing video games and bemoaning his fate and waiting for a career to be handed to him. Right now he needs to pause for a couple weeks to get the next phase of his research project done and to get through finals, but I expect him to be hitting the applications again once he’s home for winter break.

He had a second round interview last week that seemed to go well (the after action report I got was “well, it went 20 minutes over our allotted time because we were having such a good discussion, that seems good, right?”). So fingers crossed that could be it. Who knows. He’ll keep trying and putting himself out there, but it’s definitely putting a pall on his senior year.

26 Likes
1478

Just as an fyi I think just about all the ones I met had practical experience before pivoting into finance. It can be very lucrative. And yes it’s not something on the radar for most new grads but definitely something to think about.

1 Like
1479

This, exactly. Some of the comments in this thread I feel discount how hard some of these kids are trying. No, they are not sending out cookie cutter applications willy-nilly and are still finding it extremely hard to even land interviews much less offers. D19 went through this too. The market is just really hard at the moment, and that seems to be regardless of degree.

17 Likes
1480

Water under the bridge now, but most engineering grads don’t work in engineering and he can get to a company and the same can happen, even after an engineering gig.

My son was describing part of his duties to his new cousin in law - and she’s in IT - and they share some of the same duties - transferring stuff from one database to another…or some sort of data through APIs. He’s in the repair team now (aero) but while he does that too, there’s cataloguing stuff that takes up a bulk of his time.

But in his auto job, as I defined above, his second job was about process.

I’m sure if he could again, he’d have taken that job and one can be picky of course, but ultimately, there’s going to be a part of any job that he doesn’t like.

And yes, experience begets experience, so if he has a hole from this summer, it does make it harder. But you say he’s had 3 internships - so that’s good. Has he reached out to the other companies he interned at?

My assumption was based on your comment you made - The defense industry, however, is where a lot of the jobs are. So in one regard, I want him to just apply to raytheon and be done with it.

I was simply noting there are a lot of jobs not in defense - your comment made it seem (to me) otherwise - as I interpreted it.

Sorry - just trying to be helpful.

btw - I never said your kid isn’t trying hard enough. I don’t know your son - I’m offering up other ideas - and naming some companies that I believe hire.

I just read that your son is still in school - so my goodness, he has a lot of time. A lot of job offers will come late.

Development programs by Xmas. Regular jobs late - like March / April - especially in an uncertain economy where companies will want to ensure ample funding for staffing.

And I personally don’t think 80 apps is enough - I just don’t - the more, the better chance you have of getting a call later. 2-3 a day if you can. You want to be 150-200.

And you just added he had a second round interview last week - so maybe it will come through.

Sorry if I offended you. But just trying to help - sometimes you might find nuggets in what others say. If not, then you can ignore.

Best of luck to him.

1 Like
1481

One doesn’t know what kids are doing or not doing - just that they are struggling.

If someone decides to take a nugget from someone, then great - and if they don’t, they can ignore.

I know, I for one and I assume all others, are simply trying to help.

No one has to listen.

1482

I know exactly what my kid was doing. @OctoberKate knows what her kid is doing. Etc. I also know that a friend at a large well-known consulting company tells me that whereas before almost all interns got offered full time positions (she implied I think around 50 a year), last year they offered only one or two. I get the impression that some of the sweeping statements here are coming from people whose kids have not actually been involved in job searching the last couple of years.

9 Likes
1483

I’ve been involved in one 2 years ago and one this past year.

The one 2 years ago was more similar today (engineering, lots of apps) but I’ll assume my son had the success he did in part to it was 2023 and not 2025. He had 19 interviews and 5 offers by xmas with his intern job later. He stopped at that point, turning down others who called him for interviews in the spring. You’d be amazed at how many October postings want December grads…so they call you thinking you are December even though your resume says May and they’re like - oh May, we’ll get you next semester. Many jobs fill late.

I also helped a CS student who is graduating this year and is headed to Seattle on a 6 figure deal. He stayed for a 5th year Masters. didn’t help with that but getting his first two internships in Nashville and then KC. This was his 3rd internship that invited him full time.

And I’ve helped a few folks on here who have obtained jobs. Like my methods or not, they have worked. Will they still or for each kid - who knows? Of course, some kids can get jobs but don’t interview well - that’s another issue, etc.

If someone isn’t interested in my thoughts or really anyone’s…they can simply ignore of course.

Thanks

PS - My daughter graduated this year and found employment…but it was early, it was really one app, and so that doesn’t count as a formal, rough and tumble job search…and I’m very thankful for that.

1484

Indeed. But it is a bit tiresome to have every point one writes argued, so that works both ways. The fact remains that doing a CFA is a decent option for an engineering grad to think about, possibly way better than car sales, even if you don’t think so.

6 Likes
1485

I didn’t recommend this student sell cars. I didn’t recommend anyone sell cars. I stated for people that can’t find jobs, there are jobs available today and there are booming industries like luxury gas stations and others. Car sales was simply a potentially well paid job one can do today - one of many things listed. And by the way, if someone fell into it, like my professionals do, some might end up making far more money in life than they will in the corporate world.

That was not this student and clearly this student wants to do MechE things per his parent, so while a CFA is great, it’s likely not in this student’s short term plan.

But we can forgo the personal attacks - if you think it’s foolish, then ignore it.

It’s tiresome to be attacked - and different threads have different people so you might read the same thing in different places - but every poster is individual and it is for them, not for you or other posters.

Thanks

1486

Can we move on please? And to quote Skimom, “I’m not asking.”

8 Likes
1487

Tell your kid (and all the other kids) to hang in there.

If it’s at all helpful- the pre-post Covid hiring sprees are particularly a-typical if you look out over the last 45 years or so. So kids in college now and new grads look at a narrow 8 year (or so, depends on the industry and the geography) window and think “what am I doing wrong?”

The current hiring market is much closer to a “typical” market- although the speed with which companies shed employees is new, and the ability of online job boards to give the impression that hiring is more robust than it actually is– also new.

Keep doing what you’re doing; keep a running list of “If I were going to pivot, this is what pivoting would look like” and know that it will get better at some point. And pivoting could be an engineer applying for a job teaching chem and physics at a private school, an English major applying to teach overseas; the “I’m going to Wall Street” finance person applying for state level roles in the treasury/budget analysis groups at their own state capital.

These pivots are not life sentences at a penitentiary. They are creative ways to respond to a weak hiring environment. I graduated into a recession in the 1970’s and I don’t recall any of my friends getting anything close to their “dream job”. That’s the way it was. And we all got back on track once the economy got better!

5 Likes
1488

Thanks. I mentioned some months back that she did eventually get a “real” (as in requiring a degree) job (having still been financially independent working a customer service job), but what really stuck was that she ended up getting it through a friend (friend had been working that job but was leaving to grad school). She had sent well over 100 individually tailored applications until then, only 2 or 3 of which had even resulted in interviews.

4 Likes