Based on my undergraduate career, what are some possible career options?

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

Hello,

Currently I am a mechanical Engineering undergrad with minors in Finance and Japanese.
Academically, I am an honors student who has been awarded accolades in:
-University honors
-Major honors/dean list
-national honors (Tau Beta Pi)
-etc
(I know that awards often dont mean anything; but, I hope it gets me noticed for my first job or serious connections)

I have had 4 internships
—Biomedical where I had to design, test, manufacture, present, budget, etc for a research lab project.
—Private contract/consulting: for an engineering firm I communicated with clients as I also helped with device research and analysis. Experience in both business and engineering.
—Federal research: I was a student researcher for a project funded by the fed. gov.
—Corporate executive assistant: has to reach out and collaborate with clients from across various engineering projects. Some were international clients.

I have studied abroad once in China, and I hope to study abroad one more time in Japan.
If everything goes well. I will have studied in the top 3 economies in the world and 3 major regions: Toyko, Guangdong/Hong-Kong, and California.

I hope to pursue a career in the international arena where I can assist companies break into East Asian markets and/or help East Asian companies break into the western economies. From my time in China, I was taught be the leaders from universities such as Fudan, Peking and Hong Kong. We learned about the complexities between the western and Chinese companies. In Tokyo, if I am able to go, I will learn about the role of Tokyo in asia as well the growing trend, laws, etc within the Asian economies.

I do hope to get an MBA from in Japan, Singapore, England, or (and I really hope) Booth Business School.

My university advisers and career office does not know where to send me and it is kind of frustrating that I graduate in a year and half; yet, I don’t have any career connections toward the career I want.

(I apologize for the grammar mistakes, it was raining and I typed this while waiting for assistance with my car)

Thank you.

Y.H.

2

Not really sure what your question is? But honestly, you seem like you want to go to grad school afterwards. I would work on taking the relevant grad school entrance exams.

3

@doctorgirl I am just trying to figure out how I can approach the industry in a manner that can allow me to pursue the career I want. Looking into the MBA programs, I need to have some experience to get into the top schools.

I am trying to figure out how to approach the industry, where to look to for serious connections, etc.

anything helps.

Thank you.

4

For MBA, working in finance/consulting helps a lot, I’ve heard. Since you have experience with econ, I’d look into that.

5

@doctorgirl Is there any way for me to network with individuals within the industry in major cities?
Any recommendation on how I can start to do that? I have about 1 year to seriously pursue connection, even with 4 internships, I dont feel as if it is enough.

6

Linkedin. Also seek out alums from your college in those fields. Go to recruiting events held at your college. Go to/apply for recruiting events held at various companies. Mass apply to full time positions at numerous companies. Contact HR from your previous internships about coming back full time.

7

@doctorgirl I will have to utilize Linkedin some how. They area in which I love does not have a strong presence of global companies.
It seems as if I am fighting an uphill battle.

8

Try to identify at least 10 companies you’d like to work for. Then see if any of them have summer internship programs. Whether or not they do, go through the list of top employees and see whether you have anything in common with them. Commonality could be they went to the same college, are from the same hometown, speak Japanese…If you can id some who do, then write directly to them, pointing out the commonality, and enclosing a copy of your resume.

Aim for getting a good job the summer between junior and senior year. Many such jobs lead to post-grad employment.

9

@jonri I have been trying Linkedin but the site is not what it used to be me. It went from networking, to a social media platform. People will add and then never talk to you.

Is there a certain way I can try to talk to someone on Linkedin, I am not getting it.

10

I am not the person who recommended Linked In, and I don’t use it so…can’t help.

11

@jonri is there any advice you might have for students who are looking for work out of state? I live in California and the market is very saturated, most of the time I am unable to talk to recruiters or professionals simply because of the shear magnitude of people looking get in at the closest way in.

12

That’s because the talking is not supposed to be done on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the platform that you use to connect with people; you then contact those folks and ask them to chat with you off LinkedIn - either in person or via a voice chat mechanism like Skype. Once you have connected with someone via LinkedIn, try sending them a direct message through LinkedIn’s system asking them for a coffee date (if they live local) or a Skype meeting (if they live far) to ask them a couple questions about their career trajectory.

It’s still a networking platform - social media and networking are not mutually exclusive.

I think one of the mistakes that undergrads and others new to the workforce make is that they regard networking as a way to immediately rustle up a job or internship. It’s not entirely their fault, as career centers and even professional speakers often pitch networking to them in the wrong way. No, networking is playing the long game. You meet contacts that give you information and may connect you to an opportunity down the line. Really, think of it as making professional “friends” (acquaintances) who will think of you when something comes up.

As a recent example, I’m part of a networking group for people of color in the technology industry in Seattle. Someone also in the group sent me a message on our private group to ask if we could have coffee and talk about my specific part of the industry, UX. I said yes, and we chatted for an hour or so about how he could break into UX. I gave him some advice and listened to what he was looking for. A few weeks later, my team had an opening for someone with his level of experience and education, and I immediately thought of him because we’d chatted - so I had someone to refer to the position. Referrals are taken really seriously at my workplace, and people with a referral typically get an interview - so he got an interview.

Sometimes the referral happens a few years later (as I recently had the opportunity to refer a friend of mine from graduate school to a job that was a good fit for her - she graduated in 2013!). But you have to play the long game. An undergrad or young professional coming to chat with me because they think I can get them a job or internship is an immediate turn-off. A young professional who wants to talk to me because they genuinely want to know more about my industry is usually met with a warm welcome.

You also just have to keep at it. Eventually, you will wend your way in. But it takes time and persistence.

13

@juillet I understand where you are coming from, thank you for you insight.

I understand how Linkedin in works; however, what am I suppose to do when random professionals are willing to add but not talk to you? Many have over 500+ connection, some advertise thousands, and it limits an undergrads chances to even be taken seriously. The few who I have contacted, they were impressed with my knowledge; but, I was too young to be taken seriously at the time.

When I stated California, I meant the entire western part of the US. I am also avoiding the East coast as well. To be honest, my goal is to eventually leave the country and pursue a career in East-Asia/Australia. I really do feel that my talent and mentality will simply lead to tensions. I have a passion for what I want to do; however, it is not what the American market now tends to look for. When I studied in asia, I was amazed with how little they cared about certain things; but, how aggressive they were. I loved the seeing so many young professionals were able to move up so fast. I really hope to enter that kind of atmosphere soon, its my dream to. But, Americans are not taken to so kindly, so professional experience is needed. I have a diverse skill set, know multiple languages, have a broad set of experiences; however, I am not considered to be a strong candidate in the US.

When someone says “we didn’t know you as well”, it is kind of disheartening because unlike many of my peers, I have spent the past few years doing everything I can to become a diverse and strong candidate. I talked to my accounting professor, who has an educational background at a Quasi-Ivy institution, and the advice given to me was kind of grim; but, honest. He stated that there is a complete bottleneck taking place in the professional industries across the board.
Baby boomer: can’t retire because many of them can’t affords to retire
Gen-X: cant move up in the work force because of the boomers still in the industry
Millennial: many of the older are still in entry level positions and the younger are still either looking for work, can’t find work, or have a job in fast food or military
The generation after millennials is getting older and will enter the work force soon. Meaning, younger millennials will have to compete with older generations and the younger generations.

I can approach professionals looking for information; but, a lot more is taken into consideration.
-Gender
-Race
-School
-etc

I am still trying my best to reach out to professionals and learn about what I must do to become and exceptional candidate. I do not want to settle for a job because my heart will not be 100% behind it. I respect professionals and what they do, I know if I can sit down with them to talk, I can impress.

14

You have to try until you find someone who is willing to take you seriously - but I would also examine your communication with these professionals, and maybe ask a trusted advisor or professor to help you. Are they not taking you seriously because of the way you’re communicating, like your style of mail or whatnot? Is there something in the presentation?

For example, if a junior in college, let’s say, mailed me on LinkedIn and said something like “I hope to pursue a career in technology where I can assist companies in breaking into the youth games market,” on a charitable day I might redirect him to be more specific and define his career goals some more, and on a busy day I may simply not respond. That’s far too vague. Number one, I don’t know how to help that student - does he want to be a dev? a designer? an audio technician? Number two, a student who emails me something that vague is likely to be vague and undefined when he comes into the informational, which is not a good use of either of our time.

But if a student says something like “Hello, I found your profile on LinkedIn and I’m really intrigued by your career trajectory from public health into technology! I’m interested in being a UX researcher, and I’d love to chat with you for 30 minutes about your career and your job” - that one I’m more likely to answer and set up a meeting with. It’s clear, it’s specific, and I know how I can help this student.

So perhaps you need to sharpen your message a little - do some investigatory work on what you want to do (or at least pick a range of careers, and contact people in those).

Passion and talent? The American market absolutely looks for passion and talent. What kinds of things do you think they look for?

I’m sure it’s true that you have - and it sounds like you had great internships and study abroad experiences. But there are lots of college students across the country that all did a lot of things to become strong candidates. You’re competing with all of them, too.

15

@julliet I will go back and look at how I can re-approach individuals and professionals on linkedin. It is difficult to connect with professionals who only add to build up their stats w/o having any intention to help an individual, especially the younger professionals. However, I am sure there are a select few who will be willing to help.

In regards to the American market, I feel that they they look for “worker bees” instead of young energetic individuals who want to move up (which is the end goal of individual entering the workforce). From my experience abroad, I have the big shift between American and Asian business mentalities. It used to be that in Asia, older = better qualified and overall more talented and in the US it used to be passion and heart = opportunity.

When I was in Asia, I saw younger individuals being given responsibilities that, in America, now take almost 10+ years to get to. Having an opportunity to move up at 25 vs 35 is a big difference. That is why I feel I would do better there, or within a heavily younger Asian influenced atmosphere. I have the aggressive passion to contribute and progress in my career, which I feel isn’t necessarily sought after in young professionals or young professionals with that mentality are not taken seriously unless they come from a certain institutions.

I really felt as if I could be myself within the metropolitan settings in Asia. Visiting and interacting with individuals in places like Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Singapore was much more pleasant and comfortable compared to what I experienced in NYC, Chicago and LA.(Not that those cities are not great, diverse, or powerful…they just didn’t take as kindly to me at all. I felt out of place and not necessarily wanted)

I am quite nervous for my career, I am doing my best to ensure I can contribute everything I have to an organization while being accepted within the work place community. That is why I am looking East, with so many talented individuals from the East looking to come to the US and so many Americans looking to develop their career here, I am trying to be different and look to the rival markets for opportunities. Or, develop a skillset that is highly sought after here, in order catch someones attention so they think “wow, we can use this kid and help him develop as well”.
(I also messaged you)