<p>You do realize that there are a lot of engineering jobs that are real engineering but are not R&D, right? I mention this because the things you listed are not generally “fall backs” for R&D - they are different careers altogether, requiring different skills and often different educational paths. </p>
<p>You should also be aware that there is a lot more “R&D” than there are “R&D jobs” out there. Relatively few jobs are full-time dedicated to advancing the state of the art (an “R&D job”), but a great many design engineers are asked to spend at least some of their time doing R&D work. For example, I spent about a year designing RF circulators, of which about 25% was research into new designs that had never been built before - R&D work in a straight engineering job.</p>
<p>In general, true R&D positions generally want a high degree of technical competency, actual research experience, and an advanced degree. Getting into these jobs with just an undergrad is difficult but not impossible. Most of the time they will want to see a high GPA and a solid performance on your technical interview to be sure of your knowledge. Any research experience (like working in your professors’ labs) will help. And getting an MS or PhD will of course make it a lot easier( although getting an advanced degree normally requires a high GPA and some research experience anyway!).</p>