Mechanical Engineer looking for work

[j3tang]

I'm having some trouble finding work in my field of mechanical engineering. I've got work experience through co-op, good grades, good co-op references, I have my masters in the field of material characterization (which crosses over partly into chemical).

My past work experience encompasses design/drafting, manufacturing and project engineer, facilities engineer, research lab. This work coming in automotive as well as pharmaceutical industries.

I've been searching in the GTA/London/Waterloo/Guelph through workopolis/monster/job fairs. I've tried quite a lot of options really ...

Are people turned off because of my masters? because they don't want to pay the higher salary?

I've asked a lot of people around me and nobody has really given me a "deal breaker" reason from my resume. For instance, I've asked other young engineers for their opinion, I've asked my girlfriend's dad who is an engineering manager, on top of some of the comments received here in this thread.

I've gotten comments about where certain sections should go, and all vary. I really don't believe that where I place the sections is such a big deal that employers will not interview because of it. I've made a lot of changes to the resume, trying to rephrase things into layman's terms and have gotten positive feedback about it (other than a few members that feel that "i'm not using descriptive words" and "i stand around and do what I'm told"), which i don't feel is the case. Mind you, the resume has also been through the hands of a career counsellor from school.

I think at this point, I shouldn't be trying to market myself as an experienced engineer even with all the co-op experience. I think people will tend to believe that co-op students really don't do much, but in the terms that I've been through, where the engineer I was supposed to work under was not around, and I've had to take on his position, there has been loads of learning, and you'd be surprised. Nevertheless, I think I should try to market myself as a young unexperienced engineer that's eager to learn .. is there any problems with that?

Due to the above point, I've placed a section for "strengths & qualifications" and listed a bunch of stuff in there. This was suggested to me by my gf's dad. I'm not entirely sold on the idea that saying "i'm highly organized, critical thinker, etc etc" is very convincing since anyone can say such things. Am I incorrect in thinking that?

Another question is, for instance, if a job description asks for "MS Office" is this something I should put in my resume, or is it something that should show up in the cover letter? or both? Nobody has been able to give me a straight answer as to whether listing "AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Unigraphics, Inventor, etc...." is necessary in a resume or a cover letter. I've gotten advice from people saying the "key words" in the job description posted by HR people are the words they look for in your cover letter, and they say, in a crude translation, "make sure your cover letter looks like the job description". I've been doing this all along, and I'm no idiot, so I'm not the type to cop/paste the job description into my cover letter. My letter is usually 3 paragraphs with a 4th paragraph saying "thanks for your time..etc"

And yes, I try to tailor my resume and cover letter to EACH AND EVERY SINGLE ONE job application. Anyways, the updated resume has been made available.

If someone could answer some/any/all of those questions above, and maybe point out 1 point .. 1 deal breaker that's the cause of no interviews, please let me know.

Things are starting to get desperate here :s

[blainehamilton]

Go west man. You'll make a bundle in Alberta or Saskatchewan...

[BadDrafter]

Go west man. You'll make a bundle in Alberta or Saskatchewan...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39KZ2afBtLU

[ji2o0k]

curious when did you start looking?

Sept-Oct and late Jan-Feb are good times to start looking as companies make big pushes to recruit (esp. recent grads).

If you were looking leading up to the holidays, it would have been slow as people gear down for the holidays (and go away for vacation).

I would suggest you have your resume primed (if you don't already) as you should see more postings soon.

If you were an electrical or Systems Engineer, then I would have some potential opportunities for you.

G'luck!

[mork]

I was going to make the same comment. If you came to Saskatoon you'd be in an entirely other pickle - you'd be trying to figure out which job to take.

[faken]

I was going to make the same comment. If you came to Saskatoon you'd be in an entirely other pickle - you'd be trying to figure out which job to take.

I read somewhere that Saskatchewan is booming like crazy now. Supposively a lot of jobs are out there. You should look into this.

[GateGuardian]

Wow, please don't scare me. with your experience, it should be very easy for you to find a job. I'm graduating in April and I hope I don't have the same situation as you. Good luck

[Bazooka Joe]

Either you're terrible at interviewing or you're too picky about where you work. How far along the hiring process did you get with the consulting companies? Interview, job offer, call back, etc?

Are you only applying to one particular office/city/street?

[j3tang]

curious when did you start looking?

Sept-Oct and late Jan-Feb are good times to start looking as companies make big pushes to recruit (esp. recent grads).

If you were looking leading up to the holidays, it would have been slow as people gear down for the holidays (and go away for vacation).

I would suggest you have your resume primed (if you don't already) as you should see more postings soon.

If you were an electrical or Systems Engineer, then I would have some potential opportunities for you.

G'luck!

I graduated from my masters last april, worked at the university till July, went to Paris for a week, came back and started looking for jobs early August and haven't stopped since. I admit I was picky with stuff at the beginning, but I've started to apply to a lot of stuff since september .. not just in the field of my masters degree, but any sort of mechanical engineering type work.

Either you're terrible at interviewing or you're too picky about where you work. How far along the hiring process did you get with the consulting companies? Interview, job offer, call back, etc?

Are you only applying to one particular office/city/street?

I had 1 interview with RIM, that was it. Didn't even get a second interview with RIM. So i can't say that I'm terrible at interviews, especially since I come from a co-op background, finding jobs every 4 months, and i never had any problems with that. This leads me to believe it might be something in my resume?
I've not been narrowing my search, so no, it's not just limiting myself to the little town of Markham. However, I have been mainly looking in the GTA (which is fairly large) including Mississauga, which should have tonnes of stuff! And the odd bit in London, ON.


and the comments about going west ... i have looked into that just very very recently and have applied to a company in Edmonton couple days ago. Will wait on that ..

I'm not familiar with things in the west, but are things generally more expensive out there compared to here in Toronto? That's also something i need to look out for if I do get a chance to work out there .. you know .. just looking out for myself

[manho]

Did you try calling those supervisors you've worked for when you were in co-op?

[LazyBoi]

You mentioned you did coop, you try getting a job back at your coop places? did you keep in touch with your contacts? or did you burn your bridges?

Other than that, did you apply to positions through company websites? Also try cold calling or emailing some HR departments with no job postings in particular, that might work too, as long as you are polite about it.

[j3tang]

Did you try calling those supervisors you've worked for when you were in co-op?

You mentioned you did coop, you try getting a job back at your coop places? did you keep in touch with your contacts? or did you burn your bridges?

Other than that, did you apply to positions through company websites? Also try cold calling or emailing some HR departments with no job postings in particular, that might work too, as long as you are polite about it.

Yup, one of the managers was a real good guy, we keep in touch, but he says they're not hiring .. but he'll keep an eye out at other companies (at other Magna divisions).

I also sent an email to the very first co-op job i worked at to see if they were hiring, but no reply. I've tried sneaking in a resume at Apotex which don't have any mech eng jobs currently, but I've worked for previously. Admittedly, these 2 were the only emails i've sent out to that have had no job postings.

What's driving me insane is that I've always been under the impression I have been doing well in all aspects: honours with distinction academically in school, excellent co-op reviews for my work placements, and even having a masters degree partly funded by an industrial partner with constant complements from my supervisor about my work.

Yet, the more jobs I see out there, the less experienced I feel I am.

[nwwong]

There's got to be something wrong here. You seem to have good qualifications. You have some work experience. Either your applying to the wrong type of job, your resume is not impressive or your interview skills need improvement.

I had the impression that mechanical engineers are pretty employable. You from waterloo?

[Engi-Nir]

i graduated in uoft mech eng 03..been working ever since..mm....maybe there is something wrong with your resume, i need to look at it to know.

u from waterloo mech eng?

[Bazooka Joe]

With 10 minutes of searching the three companies' websites you posted earlier, I found a total of 9 jobs (a tenth is possible if you speak German or Japanese) that you qualify for. Have you applied to all 9 of those jobs without a single interview? If so, your resume must be in rough shape. I highly suggest you get it looked at by a professional.

I am unfamiliar with Magna's current strategy, but I can guarantee that both Hatch and SNC Lavelin are hiring very heavily right now.