Why will no one hire me?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

I’m about to complete my fourth year in mechanical engineering at an accredited university, and I’m graduating in December. I’ve been unsuccessful getting an internship. I’ve tried every year to get a summer internship. I’m getting interviews, however - 11 interviews over the past year and a half - but not a single job offer! I know I’ve not performed well on some of the interviews, but even the ones I thought I did well on I get rejected. I have a 3.90 GPA. Is this a problem? I’m afraid I’m not going to get a job out of college since I have zero experience, and then I will be stuck going to graduate school which I have no money to pay for. My hope was to work in industry with a company that pays for graduate school. I guess I’ll have to be a TA so the college will pay for it…

I actually had a job at my university doing computer programming, not really related to mechanical engineering, but it taught me some valuable problem solving skills. I understand that you need to have connections to get jobs. My dad is an engineer/manager at Chrysler, but they wouldn’t hire me. Hell, even the engineer interviewing me from Chrysler said he worked with my dad before. My brother in law works at a Tier 1 automotive supplier, and he’s given my resume to HR there the last couple of years, and I haven’t heard a single word from them. My sister gave my resume to someone she used to work with at GM, and he said it looked far better than the “crap” they’ve been getting. I didn’t even get an interview with GM.

I just really don’t understand what’s wrong with these companies. I work my ass off and to see people who party every night get jobs over me makes me feel miserable. I know a girl (the sorority type that parties a lot) who was on academic probation, also studying mechanical engineering, and she’s gotten an internship and co-op. I know another guy also studying mechanical engineering who managed to get an internship last summer and is now working on co-op with a measly 2.8 GPA! Most companies are looking for 3.0 or higher. There was another girl who was studying civil engineering, and she got an internship in that field only to switch her major to pre-med when she got back to school! It seems like every girl I know who’s studying engineering is getting 3 or 4 job offers, and I can’t even get one. I’m seriously considering wearing a wig, makeup, and a dress to the next on site interview I get…

2

You are not the first person to come on here with such problems, and unfortunately these are difficult problems to solve over the internet. Some comments:

You are getting some interviews, so the problem is not predominantly your resume. The fact that you are not then getting offers suggests that you are not doing as well in the interviews as you think, possibly in combination with some small deficiencies in your resume.

No, it’s an asset, unless the reason you have that GPA is because you avoided hard (and desirable) classes or because you are so oriented on grades that you lack needed social skills. But that is why they look at your whole resume and interview you, the GPA itself is not a problem.

Or an RA, but regardless there are worse fates than graduate school.

Connections help, but they are not vital. I got my current job, fresh out of college, knowing absolutely no one in the company.

I interviewed with a company where my father was a manager, where two of my brothers had previously worked, and where I was currently working… and didn’t get a job. They liked me, they liked my family, but they simply were not hiring people with my particular skillset at the time. That’s the way it goes sometimes. Ironically, I know work for their competitor!

I don’t know what is going on, but I am pretty sure the problem is not “these companies”. They are seeing something that they don’t like, or at least don’t like enough to hire, and you really need to use your university’s career center (or other resources) to try and identify why that is.

Don’t be like that. There are few enough women in engineering that even if there was a 100% hiring rate for them you would still be competing against men for most of the jobs. The problem is not your gender.

3

I’m thinking this is not a real thread the one post poster. Sorry to many fake thread lately.

4

What??? Everything I said was the truth lol. I have to have my first post sometime right?

5

Seems like a legitimate thread to me.

chickenLover - getting that first job is usually the hardest one to get. What do you think you’re doing wrong in the interviews? If you’re not seriously and honestly trying to figure that out, you’re in trouble already. Don’t worry about occasionally blowing some interviews - that happens to everybody. And sometimes there’s genuinely not a match between the interviewee and what the job requires.

I’m a CS guy, not a ME guy. I’d guess there would be a lot of similarities in the interviews, though. When we’re looking for programmers out of college, we want people with basic, but not guru-level, skills. We also look for people who are personable, friendly, and can work with others on the team. Any braggarts and know-it-alls won’t get offers. You also need to be able to communicate, so mumblers, bs-ers, or those who can’t give clear answers to questions won’t get offers.

Are you only interested in mechanical engineering jobs, or are you open to programming jobs? Plenty of people with mechanical engineering degrees do the latter.

6

On DS’s college parent FB, we were discussing this week that it is tough to get MechE internships this year. It’s true even for kids with high GPA. If you have some programming skills, consider leveraging that. It was one of the recommendations.

7

There was a fake thread in the parents forum today the poster was discovered. Some how I sense this one is the same. Especially if IIRC that poster that was banned went to university of Michigan.

8

I don’t go to U of M…

9

First of all mentioning that your family works where you want to work doesn’t make you look like a good candidate at all. That would mean they’re going to hire you from being bias not from what you can do for the company. Prior work experience is more important than GPA

10

It boils down to your interview skills.
I am in the process of recruiting for programers with specific skill set. We look through a lot of resumes then come up with candidates we want to have phone interview with. Those candidates on paper appear to be perfect for what we are looking for, but to date we have only found one person we want to bring in for an all day interview. Most of those candidates have poor communication skills. When asked about a project, some would go on forever without taking a breath, and some would just say, “It was a very interesting project, I learned a lot from it.”
If you know anyone whom you interviewed with (the engineer at your father’s company), see if you could ask them how you did at the interview to see how you could do better. I would also ask few adults (someone who is an engineer, manager, or HR) to practice your interview skills with.

My younger daughter was interviewing for her dream internship. She asked us what she should say when asked, “Do you have any question for me?” She said she could never think of anything to say. My older daughter said to ask the interviewer, “In your view, what would make a good intern for this program?” D1 had 20+ interviews to land her finance internship, which ultimately turned into a permanent position. D1 said she could often get the interviewer to talk 10+ minutes about the program and what kind of people they were looking for, which was useful for her to tailor her response for other other interviewers. It also made interviewer happy to share his/her knowledge.

Few tips, 1) Don’t ramble when answering a question, look for the interviewer’s body language, is he agreeing with you. If he look puzzled, ask him if you need to further explain. 2) Do research on the company, people you are meeting with, ask them abut what they do.

Most jobs are not very challenging, you don’t to be a rocket scientist to do the job. More often than not, interviewers just want to know if they would like to have you on the team (someone who is easy to work with, team player, teachable) . I ask my guys to think, “Would I want to have lunch or have a drinking with this applicant?”

Hope this helps.

11

You’re getting the interviews, but not the jobs.

It sounds to me as though the resume is fine, but your interview skills are lacking.

Your college has a career placement center. Ask for them to let you do some mock interviews, and to tape them if possible. I bet that you’re not coming across nearly as well as you think.

But stop blaming everyone else-- the companies, the very few women competing for jobs. This is about YOU, not THEM. They’re giving you the shot at the interview. This is about you.

12

One of the hiring managers who works for me calls this the “45 minute test.” Would I want to spend another 45 minutes in a room with you working on a problem?

My suggestion for the original poster: look for an internship that’s catering to juniors. You should be a competitive candidate as you’ve a stellar GPA as well as an extra year of experience. You’ll probably make 1/3 to 1/2 of what your starting salary will be but it gets you some work experience and we hire about 2/3s of our interns eventually. I don’t know where you go to school but I’ve noticed this route is significantly more important for students from the University of Washington’s “consolation” campuses (Tacoma and Bothell) as the students’ preparedness and talents are far broader and internships are effectively “try before you buy” filters.

FInally, Google yourself.

13

When I was interviewing job applicants I was looking for people who could work well as part of a team; take responsibility for their work and in general have a positive attitude. The college transcript tells me your knowledge of engineering as long as it contains enough classes relative to the job offered.

Nothing turned me off faster than someone with a real big ego (very hard to work with in a team environment) or someone who by what they said was just using the job as a stepping stone to something else (read no business second majors). It takes fair amount of time to train a new engineer (read $$$) as college just gives you the basics. You do learn so much more on the job. I wanted someone who would take the training and then be there for the company to have as an asset to the company.

For many new engineers, it is getting the interview that is the hard part. You seem to be getting the interviews. Think about how you come across to the interviewer; something is amiss there.

14

Ask HR or whoever interviews you, politely, for feedback. Heck, ask your dad, he probably has a pretty good insight into how you come across.

15

I just had to interview a small group of engineers for a position. Our two strongest candidates (based on resume) wound up being two of our worst in interviews - they did not show any real passion or enthusiasm for the job, had done little outside of their classes, and could not really demonstrate that (despite stellar grades) they had learned or retained anything in their classes. The one we wound up hiring had a mediocre resume, but he actually understood the material and had demonstrated that outside of the narrow bounds of his coursework. Just goes to show that a great resume isn’t everything.

16

I might also add that I would expect an applicant these days to have researched the company he/she is interviewing with. You need to come in to the interview with an idea of their products, their customers and a top level understanding of the technology involved. I would assume that if you didn’t know at least that that you really aren’t interested in the company/job.

You should also clean up your facebook page (if you have one) or any other social media. The companies will be looking at all that. Pictures/stories that show you drinking/drunk etc. aren’t going to sit very well with your potential employer.

17

Have you asked for constructive feedback from the interviewers where you thought you did well?

For my own interviews, I have always asked, and always appreciated the candor. It really help me improve my game.

Things to avoid before offer

  • ANYTHING that makes you appear to be concerned with yourself or appear to be high maintenance. I get turned off when summer folks ask me about housing (I don’t know, HR helps, people seem to find it). Flexible working hours (cart before the horse - at least get me to like you first).

Things to emphasize during interview

  • What you can do for employer
  • How the work is so interesting you might forget to go home at night
  • How you can contribute - “Contribute” is a great word. It suggests that you recognize your limitations and view your job as what you can do for your employer. It suggests a good teammate.

Asking whether you will have a mentor is a reasonable question because it shows your interest in learning and contributing. While that can be construed as being for yourself, it’s really a recognition that you need one and it shows modesty.

The other thing that many students don’t recognize, is that we expect you to retain your coursework. I don’t care if you got an A, if you can’t think about my questions out loud so that I can see how you think, so that I can determine if you are teachable.
It’s a good idea to ask during a phone screen what kind of questions to anticipate. It’s good to study a little if you get an answer. Nobody is expected to know everything, but try to engage in any question anyway.

Generally on technical questions, I will lead a student along. Failure to engage is fatal, and giving up is fatal. If you have a question ask it. I can genuinely tell if I’m torturing someone and I stop. Don’t let that be you. Think out loud, if you don’t remember, try to derive. If you are going the wrong way, your interviewer might lead you back by asking questions.

Basically, a good technical discussion will take you a long way.

18

Looking at this from another angle… Some employers see both very low AND very high GPA’s as caution flags. The risks being that low GPA candidates might lack technical knowledge, and high GPA candidates might lack soft skills. Both technical knowledge and soft skills are needed here.

You need to make sure you can prove to these employers that you are well-rounded; you know your stuff, AND can fit into the work culture. Case in point: When an interviewer sidetracks and tells you a story about his recent backpacking trip to the grand canyon, and you sit there with a blank look on your face since you can’t relate to what he’s saying, it makes you appear less well-rounded.

Practice your interview skills. You definitely have the technical knowledge to do well, but you need to make sure you can master the interview. The career center at your school should offer mock interviews… take advantage of these!

19

Ask someone for feedback to see how you are coming across during your interviews.

Remember that if you have been invited on site for an interview, you were hireable until the moment you stepped on their campus, assuming they had a real job opening.

Companies simply do not have the resources to allocate a bunch of people to interview a college student. It costs them a lot of money to set up an interview. So you have been a viable candidate. It is possible they are simply finding someone better or did not find you compelling enough.

3.9 GPA in engineering is an amazing asset. You need to exude positive vibes during the interview, have very accepting attitude - can you do this - no but it shouldn’t take me too long to learn - look at my GPA - I work really hard and I can pull my own weight. I contribute a lot more than my share to my group projects.

Lastly, no one is taking your job. Workplace diversity requirements are quite common in large companies. OTOH, nepotism and contact driven indirect hiring is common across board in every work environment. Be positive and assume that you can get this job when you walk in and someone will like you enough.

20

I disagree. I don’t see any correlation between GPA and soft skills.

High GPA folks might just be very smart! That’s always my first assumption. I can sniff out poor soft skills in a phone screen.