Engineer Looking for Help
 

I know there are a lot of engineers on here and plenty who work with them, so I came here to ask for help. I have been trying to find work as an entry level engineer for almost two years to no avail. I have a master's in mechanical engineering and 15+ years experience wrenching on cars, motorcycles, etc. My specialty is fluid dynamics/heat transfer, but I'm open to other areas. If anyone out there would pass my resume along I would greatly appreciate it. I'd even consider a pretty decent finder's fee if I got a position out of it. My resume is below:


https://drive.google.com/open?id=1f01tpxIHqmJrkE1G8a2bUVxiMKkfBmGw

I've heard Raytheon Missile Systems is hiring a lot of engineers of all experiences.

They're in Tucson.

A friend of mine just got a job with NASA in Huntsville. He grew up in the Los Angeles area, worked for 20 years at a small rocket company and decided he had enough.

you may want to trim your resume a line so its all on one sheet. When I opened it, its 2 sheets.

Did you download it first? Those google previews always screw up documents.

nope,

If it opens as a PDF and Office with one sheet, then I wouldn't worry about it.

Managers can get really picky about things so something tiny like that can make them move to the next resume.

Many times they don't even bother reading the resume thoroughly; just skim and toss.

I'm in between jobs myself. I'm at the point where work is optional for me.

I am looking to hire design engineers right now.

The positions are in Canada.

Nothing about your resume jumps out and screams "hire me".

You need to say what type of engineering you want to do and a cover letter that tells prospective employers how your skills ans experience are a fit for their posting and organization.

Advice? Hire a career coach. Best thing I ever did. Really.

Do you have LinkedIn? My advice is to connect to as many headhunters as possible. Send them your resume. They will help find you a job, critique your resume, and their fees are paid by the company who hires you.

Good Luck!

Aerospace engineer here, most of it in management so I’ve reviewed a lot of resumes. Yours is ok but pretty average, I would fix the formatting to make it one page, move your education to the bottom, highlight not only your jobs/tasks but also specific personal achievements within those jobs, and open with a one to two line intro at the top. Think of it as a mission statement for who you are and what you want in a job, something to grab a recruiter’s attention. Alternately you can hire a pro to create one for you. LinkedIn is a powerful tool make sure your profile is top notch.

Where do you want to live? Lots of places are hiring engineers right now, post your preferred locations and I’m sure you can get some solid suggestions here.

I work for a small Oil and Gas operator here in Houston and we are looking for a Mechanical engineer right now although and admittingly one with O&G midstream or upstream experience is preferred. I am going to print your resume and discuss further with our other VP of Engineering and we will give you a call if interested. For us we are looking for someone with the right level of enthusiasm, aptitude and attitude, if you bring all that we can teach you the job at the job. We just recently hired another ME with no relevant O&G experience and he has worked out great. It also depends on your salary expectations.

In the interim, if you scour LinkedIn there are lots of Oil and Gas jobs and professional recruiters that can help get your name and resume out there....if that industry interests you.

Regards - Yasin

Check with MotoSook.

https://forums.pelicanparts.com/members/7002.html

I read many resume's for technology folks yearly. A few tips:

- Your resume renders one line on the second page. Details are important.
- Switch to an easier to read font.
- Provide a summary of what you are looking for and what you excel at right up front.
- You've provided both a job description and results. Thats very good.

When I read a resume I want to know a) what a person is good at, b) what they accomplished for their employer, and c) what they learned while there.

I wouldn’t post my resume on a car enthusiast forum for some total stranger to hand out.

I think the better strategy is to ask for someone (total stranger) here to point you in the right direction and you do whatever to get the resume to them.

The main issue here is that after school you have only had one job which lasted for 6 months and this is 2 years ago. Any hiring manager will wonder a) what happened, why did you not last more than 6 months? and b) What have you been doing for the last 2 years?

You need to fill the last two years. Hopefully you have been gainfully employed for a longer stretch and even if it is outside of your education, put it down. Even if it is short order cook at the local burger joint. If you haven't worked, then hopefully you have volunteered somewhere or been on a mission with your church? Or you can put down that you were independently restoring classic cars?

Instead of waiting for someone to hire you as an engineer, you may want to bite the bullet and get a job as a technician / entry level job at a company that is hiring in your field. (Oil industry, aerospace etc.) Then work your way up. Many in my industry struggled out of school in the 2012 time frame and took operator / technician jobs to get started. Then worked their way into engineering roles at the company. It was a bit tough on them for a couple years, i.e. taking a night shift job, but nobody asks 5 years later.

You also need to absolutely be mobile, not look just in your location, be open to temp agencies as well.

The resume could be a bit better, you have some advice there, but the resume really isn't the issue here.

Good Luck!

G

Trent,

Just keep hammering at it. Tweak your resume and get it looking good. Go hit all the job fairs you can and bring copies of your resume with you. Get used to rejection and don't take it personally. You have to be willing to relocate. You are going to make a lot of mistakes in interviews so do as many as you can. Don't let opportunities slip thru your fingers.

and network network network

Look at USA JOBS or INDEED
https://www.usajobs.gov/
https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=thermodynamics&l=Houston%2C+TX

I looked up some engineer specific career coaches and found one in Houston, so I’ll be making a call to them on Monday.

I’d say aigel is 100% right. How do you explain that the person responsible for training and evaluating you absolutely HATED the person who got you hired (distant relative) and then took it out on you? I wasn’t allowed to change groups, so I left.

I’ve done everything from (self employed) auto/motorcycle repair to music gigs just to stay afloat. I definitely have no qualms about leaving the Houston area, I would welcome the change. I’d give anything to go back to Pensacola area, but there are not really any jobs there.

MSME w/ specialty in fluid dynamics/heat transfer, based in Houston?
I'd think the oil/gas industry would be squarely in your lane.

(kudos to Yasin above, BTW!)

Good luck out there...

don't talk to a potential future boss about people problems you had in past jobs

that's a black hole you want to avoid

I don't think it is mcinturff's intention to tell this story to a hiring manager. He is just telling us what happened. That said, you will want to have a good explanation why you only stayed that briefly!

So, back to my suggestion, I would put down something for the last two years, if it is not a total stretch: "Automotive restoration and repair - self employed, July 2017-present".

And once you land a job, you will need to put your head down and stay there for 3+ years if at all possible.

Good Luck!

G

With just this these two sentence and you are struggling to find employment in Houston, you are doing it all wrong or your expectations are too high for an entry level job.

Last I looked there were almost 40 engineering positions open with my employer, and I am certain other companies like mine are struggling to fill engineering positions in Houston. Houston is about to realize a major vacuum in technical talent in the oil and gas industry. We have been struggling to fill technical positions with good candidates, someone with the right education, some practical (farm or hobby counts) experience and the aptitude and attitude to learn.

Companies like mine are always looking for engineers like described in those sentences. The Master Degree is sometimes a turn off. We will not pay more than entry level pay just because you have a master degree. If you have been expecting more pay with a master you won't get in. You have to be willing to put in some time and gain experience. Then the master degree will allow you to spring into higher positions within that company. Good mechanical engineers can start out at 75-85K per year with nice benefits. If you're willing to relocate to more remote places to put in your time there are jobs out there! Midland, TX is booming. The Dakotas. Permian Basin. Marcellus Shale. All still looking for good people.

If you've interviewed and you're still not getting offers, then your presentation is off. If you're presentation is on point, but you're still not getting in, then there are other issues.

There is only so much coaching one can provide. If the candidate is not learning and improving there is little a career coach can do. Hell I didn't have anyone to coach or mentor me. My parents were about as blue color as can be (janitor and factory worker). I had no circle of family friends who were professionals to bounce ideas off of. I had no siblings who had gone before me....

....but I was eager and willing. I observed and adjusted and soaked up everything so I could move to the next step.... pedigree doesn't mean jack if you don't have desire and aptitude.

I guess I’ll delete the master’s degree and try that for a while. My expectation was 60-65k, I don’t know anyone starting at 75k. I can’t even get companies to call for a phone screen so I guess they see the master’s degree and think I’ll want 90k.

I'm trying to get approval to hire another engineer now but it's a slow process.

Someone with experience as a mechanic is almost a must for me since too many engineers these days have no practical experience.

Would you be interested in some temp work?

I wouldn’t delete the master’s degree. Just don’t expect to make extra for it. Be willing to start entry level and work your way up. ANYTHING is better than nothing, even if you are just building experience for your next job.

I most certainly would. Let me know what you have!

My entry level techs (2 year junior college electronics degree) makes about 68K (in 3-4 yrs they will earn over 100K/yr with overtime and bonuses). The last engineer I hired was a C-student, but had a BS EE ...more education than the techs. So we paid him a little more than the techs. If he had lasted more than 1 yr, he would have gotten a bonus and a merit increase which would have gotten him over the 75K/yr mark. That's on top of 3 wks PTO, 401K matching and a cash account.

Pipelines have engineers. There are all kinds of jobs for engineers on the pipeline and in their corporate office. If you can't find a pipeline company in Houston you don't deserve a job. There are suppliers to those pipelines (material and service providers). They all need people.

Someone like you could potentially work in the Compression Group of a pipeline company where they work with large engines and compressors. There are field compression engineers and those that work at the corp office. Turbine engines, old reciprocating engines, compressors and all the ancillary equipment related to them need technical people to troubleshoot, size, spec, solve running and reliability problems.

You don't have to hide your masters degree. We usually uncover stuff anyhow. Just be honest about what you are looking for. (DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO DO?) One of the reasons we don't spend much time looking at resumes with a Master is the fear that you won't commit to a job that isn't quite fit for someone with a Master. We don't want to waste time and money on someone who will leave after a couple years. To be honest, if you don't have the smarts to find these jobs I mention, you will likely take any job and then find you don't like it or a better one comes open, then you're gone and I just wasted a lot of resource.

Do some research. No, posting on the Pelican OT is not research. Determine what it is you want to do. What jobs can you apply your practical experience? Are those jobs something you want to do for 35 yrs?

I had dreams of working in Detroit with my BSME degree since I loved cars and motorcycles. I wanted to be the next big deal in Detroit. Nope...didn't happen. I now have a good job that pays well, and I can afford to build and create anything I want in my own shop. In Detroit I likely would have been working on a small piece of a large puzzle and making less money.

That business about doing what you love for work? Forget about that. Find a good job that pays well and do what you love on your own time.

Update: Thanks to the advice I got on here I just had interviews at Peterbilt and Haliburton this week. Both went pretty well. Even if I don't get either I feel so much more prepared than I was. I would like to thank all of you that took the time to give me words of encouragement and advice. This truly is a great forum.

Awesome!

Great!

Good luck! Ya just gots to pay yer dues for a few years....like most of us did ;)....whatever it takes. You're on your way...best of luck!

Best response to the OP. Your resume sucks. I look at this and my first question is:
What have you been doing since 2017?
Don't care about you GPA - everyone has a good GPA,
Don't care about you car hobby-

focus on your skills: what can you do? ACAD, design, problem solve, lean??? you list nothing.
what you have done - rework your experience -
What do you want to do?


BSMEs coming out of school in Chicago start in the upper 60s low 70s
Masters degrees start about 10K more and most have some experience my question to you, why are you worth the 10K extra - your resume doesn't show it.

Sorry to be harsh - I would pass on you, even w/o the masters degree

You need to rewrite your resume.


I wish you the best.

Engineering job.........
 

Send a resume to Gulfstream in Savannah, GA. My son works in the engineering dept. there and says they fill positions from time to time. He has been there since 2008 and seems to like it pretty well.

Considered the automotive industry? My former employer often looks for folks who are gear heads!

I assume you've checked HP in Houston. They have ME groups working on electronic cooling/etc.

Another short-term option is to look at technical contract agencies like Volt. Pay and benefits are not as good as hiring direct usually, but it's work and you have an inside line on internal postings at the company that you are contacted to. We've hired a lot of people full time who started out as contractors. Often times the budgets for contractors are different than the labor budgets, so even if there aren't open external posting you can get your foot in the door. Good luck!

Keep it up. Lots of good advice above.

You have to get out there and keep making contacts.

I have walked into in your shoes.

When I was laid off (3 times over my career), I had to put my head down and get out there.

What did I learn? (In in no particular order).

You need to contact something like 5-10 new people every week.

You need to follow up with your previous contacts at least once every 2-3 weeks.

Most often you will discuss not being hired by them but what they think you should focus on or how to use you existing skills and abilities. If they have or know of an opening, they will tell you.

Ask each contact who else you might contact.

Every verbal meeting is followed up within 24 hours by an e-mail (I’m old, it used to be a snail mail letter) thanking them for the help offered, summarizing the conversation and your plan forward.

You always establish when you would like to contact them again.

Your resume/cover letters need to be customized to the opening you are applying for. You need to clearly state each of their stated qualifications and how you meet it. I put a table in my cover letter to make it easy to find.

Do not ask or allow others to issue your resume. You want to do it personally. See above for the why.

Do you have a concise 30 second speech about your qualifications and abilities? Practice it so you can rattle it off when they say “tell me about yourself”.

Remember that the folks looking at the responses to a posted opening is looking for a way to remove you from consideration. Make sure you do your best to be sure all their questions are answered.

The hiring manager has a million other things to do and he wants to get someone hired now. He does not want to waste a ton of time interviewing.

Automated systems use keyword searches to screen you out. Read the qualifications carefully and be sure you use their words in your response.

100 new job related contacts=1 interview

5 different company interviews=1 job.

Do not worry what every one says you should make. How much do you need? When I asked myself this question a 20% cut in starting pay was doable and helped me get where I needed to be.

When I was laid off in Houston in 1982, one source of contacts was my alumni office. Ultimately I got my next job via an alumnus who’s department happened to have an opening when I called him.

In 2003, by willing to take a pay cut, I got the job I currently have, was the most satisfying and will be retiring from soon.

BTW. I have a BS ChE and MS in Environmental Management degrees. A significant part of my career was doing things i did not directly learn unless to consider the problem analysis and solving with the tools at hand part of the curriculum (which is not overtly taught).

Went past tlant I retired from in May 2018 a week or two ago andit had engineer on the help wanted sign. it is Ascend Performance Materials in Greenwood, SC. Its product is Nylon 66, flake (used for injection molding) and yarn (staple used for stuff like tennis ball fuzz, carpet yarn, tire, and airbag yarn). When I left, the transition to increasing capacity for flake was beginning. There is a lot of heat transfer going on in the process of making nylon, using heat transfer fluids and steam, plus the actual chemical reactions, and moving of the product, pumps and valves, though the process.

The company HQ is in Houston and used to have jobs for various locations on its website. Now they have none, so I do not know of what kind of engineer. It is a privately held company that bought the nylon business from Solutia, which had been spun off from Monsanto.

If interested PM and I will get ahold of some old buddies and find out what kind of engineer. "Reliability" is a good word to put on your resume as much of the production is continuous process and a loss for 30 to 45 minutes could cause an overhaul taking a week to go though pumps, piping, and valves.

Sorry for the lack of response, yahoo has been filtering out my pelican emails for some reason. I have received two AWESOME job offers because of the automotive related stuff. I submitted my resume to a bunch of jobs after my friend, whom with the exact same credentials including the automotive experience, received offers from Boeing, Global Dynamics, and Blue Origin.

If this search has taught me anything it's that people will tell you that you suck and to give up, that you are not worth the effort required to read your resume (thanks for the PM *anonymous user*), and that HR is the most fickle thing you will ever encounter in your job hunt. You can be rejected for a job because someone didn't like how you italicized a heading, didn't like your name, the font of your resume, jealousy, etc...

Well done!!!

Networking at it's finest. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Congrats.

Simply awesome...that is all :)

Congrats and happy labors.