I’m a rising junior and last year during my sophomore year I tried to apply to around 15 companies, I got 3 responses, all of which were no, and no interviews at all.
As an engineer, I would really like to spend some time this summer networking but I’m a lost at how exactly do I do this?
I know almost no engineers inside of my field. I have been to career fairs, which happen about twice a year, but all of the companies that show up do internships around my university, which while I’m perfectly cool with, I prefer to work back around my hometown. I’m from a urban city so I know there are definitely tons of engineers and companies here, but unfortunately I don’t know how to build my network. Should I just randomly show up to an office? Should I make cold phone calls? cold emails? Any advice greatly appreciated!
See if your school has an alumni database or if there’s an alumni association. These would be good places to start. Create a Linkedin account if you don’t already have one and search for alumni from your school working in your field in your hometown.
In my experience alumni are generally pretty willing to help students from their school.
What is your field of engineering?
Assume you are a citizen/permanent resident?
I’m a civil engineer and yeah I’m a U.S. citizen born and raised here.
Are you a student member of the American Society of Civil Engineers? If so, you could find out what activities there are in your home community and try to make contact with local members.
Professors often are tapped as consultants for local companies. Talk to some of your professors, and see if they have colleagues in your hometown to whom they are comfortable making an introduction. Companies that are large enough to hire professors as consultants often will have space for an intern. [start in Jan - March!]. It is a little late, but never say never!!!
Since you are looking for summer work/training at the last minute, try the following:
- Make a list of construction and architectural engineering companies in your city.
- Get your resume & cover letter critiqued by your university's career resource center; update your resume/cover letter. Practice mock interviews.
- Find out if there are alumni employed in the companies located in your home town. If so, send them an e-mail requesting them to take a look at your resume, and their guidance in your efforts to find relevant work in CE this summer. Follow it with a phone call, and see if they have any time to meet with you over a cup of coffee. The outcome would be: (I) likely job titles for which you may be qualified to work, and (ii) Local contacts for you to follow up. If there are no alumni in your home town, contact your university's career resource center for HR or hiring managers who they can recommend. Also get in touch with your friends & families for any contacts at these companies.
- If you still do not have any contacts, look up the web sites of the companies, and seek out the names/phone numbers of HR executives. Read up on the companies' local activities in building construction/design activities.
- Rehearse in advance your phone conversation; it is simply a brief introduction - the elevator pitch that you may have already developed with the help of your university career resource center.
- Call the contacts at the HR department of the companies located in your area and find out who you should get in touch with regarding summer work assignment. If it is the same HR person who coordinates summer assignments, use your marketing pitch and request if you could drop off your resume. If they do not have any paid openings, offer to work for free (as a last resort only) provided you get relevant training. This is assuming that you can afford to work for free. Keep in mind that HR folks may ask you (i) start date, and (ii) hours per week.
Also contact (a) your city & county offices (building & roads/bridges), and (b) private inspectors to see if you can get some summer work experience.
Your state employment offices can also help with job search.
Good luck.
Do you know who would be hiring for your major? I know one and it’s Jacobs Engineering, I exercised with the HR and she told me the schools that they are hiring from, from what I’ve remembered from the conversation, Cal Polies are high thought off. Spend this summer to do some research, have at least an idea who would be hiring, so when the come to your school, you can zero in and impress them.
Try linkedin