College : Tech school in the South
Major : Mechanical Eng
Job applications : 11 (10 at career fair, 1 external/online) → too many in hindsight
Job offers : 7
Rejections : 2
Pending : 2
Job accepted : Yes (MBB consulting firm as she would like to do an MBA down the road)
Duration from start of process : < 45 days
Internship job offer : Not accepted
Comment: Interviews were mainly behavioral in nature (my D2 is very strong technically, so was a concern for her) and hardly any technical questions were ever asked. Some companies had psychological and aptitude tests for interview qualifying. Most of the final interviews were held at the companies’ HQ.
^^ Yes, she did for the MBB firm but not for most of the Eng firms that she had applied to. She also had a Case study and a 20 min presentation (of a topic provided 48 hrs earlier) for the Final interview.
I think the job market overall is pretty good though it helps to be a strong applicant in a demanding field. My Chem E D had 1 interview in the September before her May graduation with the company she wanted to work for and got the job. She had no reason to seek other interviews. She had a strong GPA and 22 months of work experience at a coop (different company) so her application may have looked different than some others. The interview concentrated more on her work experience than her education. Most of the students my D cooped with got jobs either from their Coop company or others so at least for engineering, for those interested in industry, it helped.
It’s pretty exciting time. We are proud of our kiddo.
College: midwest flagship
major: actuarial science
job offers; 1
job rejections: 1
applied for several through career fair. Lots of requests for on-site interviews, but he chose the first offer. Good starting salary & $3k increase if he passes his next exam. He’s happy! And were are too. He’s taking a golf class and a history class of interest next semester.
My D was offered a position where she interned last summer before her senior year and decided to take it without interviewing elsewhere. She is excited about moving to the West Coast, likes their one year rotation plan to learn other components of the field (Software Engineering), felt the money was in-line for a first year position, and wanted to relax and enjoy her senior year. She can get stressed/overwhelmed with major decisions and knew that a job search would impact her last year of college negatively, although there is a good chance she would have had other very good choices if she followed through with the search and interviewing process. She will commit to this company for a minimum of one year and start a search at that time.
Friend’s kid just got a job. They are over the moon. He’s been looking for a job since graduating from college 2014. liberal arts major, no big name school. I am so happy for young people finally getting jobs and holding their heads high.
My D is a film production graduate and I thought it was going to be a long haul towards self sufficiency. Especially because she insisted she wanted to make independent artsy films with no budget on her own (Mom’s eyes roll).
In August I saw that the Sundance Institute had their annual openings for the film festival. I forced her to apply… Spoon fed her the link and everything. It was perfect for her because she had 2 yrs experience working in her college admin office with their film festival director. She didn’t think she was qualified for the job.
She got a fabulous job and is very happy and making huge networking connections. Who knows what the future will bring because the job is ends in Feb but she is already lining up for one of the few permanent positions
D (STEM major at NE LAC) has a standing offer that would continue work she’s been doing already. Nice to have that offer for sure, but she is actively interviewing for different jobs. All, including the standing offer, relate directly to her major. She’d like to have things settled sooner than later - before graduation for sure - but that standing offer takes a lot of pressure off and allows her to be a bit pickier than she might otherwise be.
She has gotten great insights by contacting alumni in her school’s major and having informational phone interviews. I think a couple of those have turned into job leads too, but that was not the primary purpose.
Last summer she was feeling a little regretful about having written off the consulting/finance track, because her friends in those areas already had offers from summer internships and were starting senior year knowing where they’d be. That phase has passed, though.
I chatted with a young man recently who graduated into the recession (2010) and chose his major for its near-guaranteed employability. He was wistful about what might have been, though he got a great job he was still doing and moving up in, it was not his first choice.
I am getting gazillion emails everyday with all kinds of job openings lately. I must be in in a wrong email list or it’s some kind of scam or employers are getting desperate.
D will be moving to the west coast for a Big 4 accounting position. Going to be a big change from rural midwest and I’m super excited for her!
Super proud too, as she has significant dyslexia and worked very hard with that and also several significant family challenges in the last two years. Last kid off the family payroll
I think it’s always a combination of good luck, hard work, college major, work experience, and regional dynamics. I don’t see majors such as accounting or nursing taking a nose dive in the next 5 years. There is also a large shortage of teachers in my state.
My graduating D had several great offers to choose from. Her friends seem to be on good paths as well, some offered fellowships, some going into careers. I don’t know of any pouring coffee next year (not even the humanities grads, sigh).
folks who do not match the job description 100% should not apply.