<p>One of my son’s best friends and fraternity brothers graduated in December and is relocating to Kansas City for his new mechanical engineering job. He did an internship or co-op, and that led to his position. As for chemE, my son’s former roommate got his job, which is with the government but has nothing to do with his major, through a scholarship that he received during his junior year.</p>
<p>I’m loving hearing about these December placements. Gives one encouragement that if you don’t get an offer upon May graduation, something may open up in the fall or even by the end of the year. My son has been looking for internships for the summer because he won’t start grad school until the fall. I’m encouraging him because I worry about, number one, burn out and wants to take a gap year, or, worst case scenario, he doesn’t get into grad school.</p>
<p>Definitely, in engineering, being open to relocation is a big plus. Willingness to go overseas is another. Even though many of the LSU grads have engineering jobs, they will be working in Houston, not Louisiana, especially in oil. For civil engineering, they are more likely to be located in Louisiana. I’ve even talked to some girl engineering majors in son’s class who are civil and they said the majority of the civil companies at the career fair asked them if they’d be willing to locate to Louisiana. You’ve got to be willing to go where the jobs are. I’d love to hear from rtr where he will be located for his job.</p>
<p>People absolutely must go where the jobs are. That is one issue that my sister’s son is letting get in the way.</p>
<p>A good friend of ours who graduated mech eng from Auburn two years ago is working in Alaska as an engineer. He had internships right after his freshman year, all over, from Kansas City to overseas. He’s the adventurous type and is having the time of his life. He’s single, a male, and is a minority, attending Auburn on the generous National Hispanic Scholarship, and his mother is an engineer as well. I can tell you from personal experience that not being willing to relocate will definitely hinder your career.</p>