Even though my son has a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering, he was never able to get an engineering internship during his undergrad years. He has a lot of research experience, as part of an undergrad honors program, and as part of his master’s degree. Still, son is having difficulty finding a job in engineering. There are many advertisements for engineering technicians, that require only an associates degree and experience, and I’m wondering if he should apply for those jobs, as well as entry level engineering jobs, to increase his chances on finding a job. He will graduate with his master’s in January, and his loans for grad school will come due in six months. He’s applied for many entry level jobs, even jobs in places where he’s volunteered, and gets passed over by others coming in with internship experience/on the job experience. Would welcome any advice on how he should proceed at this point. He’s a white male, no military experience, and graduated magna cum laude with a mechanical engineering degree from an ABET accredited school, and is getting his master’s in engineering at another ABET accredited school, so he’s better educated than an engineering technician, but wondering if he should try for and start with a job like that, to replace his lack of internship experience. Thanks for any advice.
Odds are he wouldn’t even be considered for a technician job. He is overqualified and they know he likely won’t be there long.
He should seek job hunting advise from professors and career center on campus. They are likely to know which industries / employers most value his research specialty.
Couldn’t he make Summa? (That was a Miles line from Frazier. 
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Is he being restrictive on geographic location? Not everyone gets an internship. It seems like he’s got the appropriate paper. I second @colorado_mom’s advice. Go to the career center.
Hi Montegut. He should search for “entry level ME jobs” and he should also look “ME internships” . There are many intern jobs that want both BS and MS experience in an internship. I second career services but they provide generic experience, not engineering experience when it comes to job search. They will however help him get connected to Alumni who may be able to help/offer him an opportunity.
Personally, I suggest looking at the craigslist as smaller companies will advertise there and the jobs will not be as competitive.
The military can use engineers. Talk to officer recruiters from the Air Force or Navy as they will have the greatest need for engineers. With his MS and military experience (try to get a engineering job) he will be a sought after commodity after he leaves the service.
Oh, NoVADad99, I would love for him to do that, but he would not be fit for service. Very bad eyes and overweight. He works at the VA now, and he would love to remain there. Thankyou, Lakemom, for the craigslist suggestion. Didn’t even think of that. Y’all are awesome!
My husband and I sent out 270 letters when we were looking for work as engineers in 1986. We both had excellent resumes. We ended up having to move from Texas to Maine for work. Sometimes you have to cast a very wide net!
The early to mid 80s was a terrible time for engineers. I graduated in 83 with my BS and went to the military instead of sitting around at home chasing dead ends.
Good for you, NoVADad, and thank you for your service! My H and I are your contemporaries. We live in South Louisiana, and have been through a couple of oil busts. Yes, Maine, the willingness to relocate has been drummed into son for a long time. Dad and I learned that lesson the hard way. That Southern boy went all the way to school in the bitter North in hopes of finding employment. He’s getting on a plane tomorrow to a strange city for an onsite interview. Very proud of him for his willingness to do that.
That sounds like good progress. I hope the interview goes well. Even if it does not result in a job, each interview is helpful experience.
Note that the military does have some civilian employees, so there may be jobs for those who are ineligible for or do not want to be military service members.
^^ Landing a civilian job in the government and military is a crap shoot. Everything goes through www.usajobs.gov, and the process is confusing for those not used to government bureaucratese. The process can take months or even years to complete, and it is entirely opaque, akin to throwing your resume into a black hole. If you don’t know somebody on the inside who is looking to hire, the odds of getting in, or even an interview, are not good.
^^^Ain’t that the truth. Son’s been applying through not only USAJOBs, but big company websites, which also seems like the Black Hole theory. Longing for the days when I was in college, when you walked into a company’s office with your resume in hand, asking for a job. Thanks to security measures in place at most businesses, you can’t even find the actual address where you’re applying to, much less the name of a real live person you can contact by phone or even email.
Yea, for better or for worse things are different these days. There are lots of jobs online, but there are also lots of applicants. So many in fact that companies don’t actually reply to each one. (My daughter received a rejection from one company and commented that it was the exception … but nice to have some closure and move on).
I was a technician before I was an engineer, and as has already been noted they are completely different jobs with completely different requirements - not only is he overqualified in terms of academics, he is almost certainly grossly underqualified in many practical skills. I am EE, not ME, but I tell new electrical engineers that they are expected to be able to solder, but that the technicians will handle anything tricky because soldering is a core skill for a technician and not for an engineer. Your son would experience similar issues in ME.