May have missed this but have you gone back to the companies you interned with to see if they are interested in hiring you FT after graduation? Even if it’s an entry level job, if the company has the type positions you are ultimately interested in it might be worth it to get your foot in the door.
Are any profs you’ve worked with especially connected to the business world and able to give you advice or networking contacts? If the recruiting presence at your U is limited in engineering, find out where recent outstanding engineering graduates have gone to work and contact them directly to see if they can give you networking connections at their companies. Your background sounds solid enough that an alum or prof might be willing to extend their contacts for you. Alums who feel like they got a good education from their alma mater typically like to help students from that school succeed. Networking such as this is HUGE at my son’s engineering school.
You also should go to your university’s career fair every term. This will give you an idea of the kinds of companies which recruit at your school and practice at the 5 minute interview. You have a year and a half left so there is plenty of time. It is likely that a number of the big consulting companies come to your school to recruit.
@sevmom , @JustGraduate , @xraymancs
would getting a Bloomberg certification assist is helping me move into the consulting industry?
I have the opportunity to obtain one, and I might do it. Would that assist in helping me move into the business aspect of the industry?
haha, this is very nerve racking for me. I may be overthinking; but, I am actually terrified.
It would be useful for you to learn how to write and speak better, perhaps using a tutor and/or taking courses. Consulting requires excellent communications skills and the ability to write clear reports, conveying information accurately.
" I want to go into the investment, financial, negotiation sides of engineering." - I’m still trying to understand that. I guess I’m too much of a techie geek engineer to appreciate the appeal of that. But you listed some cool internships. See if you can seek some advise from those contact. Not just for job leads… but for insights on how your skills and talents can best be applied.
Any certifications should probably wait until you know if it will really be useful in your career. After working for a while, it will become clearer. In the meantime, keep applying…
@colorado_mom I want to go into consulting, and PWC has captured my attention. However, being an engineering graduate, with foreign language and business management educational and professional experiences, I really believe I can do well within the firm. I am young, energetic, ambitious and eager to learn how I can progress within the professional industries.
The obstacles I face are quite large. There is no PWC office near me, closest is SF and the branch there is deeply entrenched with Stanford and normally will only hire from there.
I have dont have the ability to network with professionals from other states either. Why would a office in Chicago want a new grad from California? They have University of Chicago, UIC, etc to pipeline into.
I understand that that consulting is very demanding mentally, physically, and emotionally.
I don’t have a special someone. I have been single for a long time trying to focus on improving my chances of landing a career.
my family doesn’t care where I go, I have no mortgage, and nothing holding me down.
-I am willing to move to where I have to, and relocate as much as I have to, in order to progress in my career.
I just don’t know anyone who has “ins” into the industry and that is where I deeply fear that my career died before it started.
I am not giving up, and I refuse to give up; but, I really need to figure out what I am doing wrong in order to make serious progress.
@xraymancs Ok, I will take time to do some more research into what I can do to progress. I will ask some professors what I can do to improve.