<p>Hello all, I'm in a bit of a dilemma and would appreciate any thoughts and advice.</p>
<p>Basically, I'm a graduating senior at a top 10 engineering school. I have a good GPA (3.7) and two previous summer internships at a fortune 20 company in operations management/manufacturing. </p>
<p>I was set to begin working at the company I interned with this summer. But after some hard thinking this past semester, I decided that I would like to work somewhere closer to home and spend more time with the family. Problem is, it's so late in the year that there are no more career fairs (and I didn't attend any this year since I though I was set). I figure most companies have filled their entry-level spots for 2011 already.
It seems like the jobs listed on CareerBuilder, Monster, GlassDoor, etc. are all geared towards experienced hires. I've sent out some resumes but I have the feeling that I'm not qualified for most of them.</p>
<p>What should I do? Get a temp job this summer and wait for fall recruiting? Grad school? Travel? Am I dumb for thinking about giving up my job?</p>
<p>At this point in the year most companies have filled their quotas for new hires. They may still have a couple of spots, but it is not likely. I would start by identifying companies of interest and looking at their websites - they often have easily accessible “new grad” hiring info. Resumes sent to openings requiring experience will generally be ignored. It is unlikely at this point that you will find a different position before next year.</p>
<p>My advice - stick with the job you have, at least for now!! Giving it up means that you will likely have to settle for some non-professional position for a year, sacrificing salary, gaining no useful experience, and positioning yourself poorly for next year. Remember that next year you would be a year out of practice (so behind the new grads) but without any experience to help you get an experienced job. Making this kind of blind jump could do serious harm to your career, especially in this economy. Stick with it for a year or two, and if you still feel the need you can look for something closer then.</p>
<p>Every University should have a career center. Tons of job opportunities in that. Mine still has new jobs appearing and I go to a small university. Use that and it is not to late but you probably wont get a higher paying job.</p>
<p>Agree with cosmicfish that if you do not find an equal or better job closer to family soon, take the existing job to avoid being set back in your career. After a year or few, you will be in a much better position to apply for jobs closer to family than if you were unemployed or employed out of your field. And if the big employer has a site closer to your family where you can do work in your field, you may be able to do an internal transfer to there.</p>
<p>Grad school could make sense, but it has to be something you want to do, not something you have to do. </p>
<p>I agree with many of the others, though. Take the current offer, but keep in touch with your school’s career center in case something else comes along. Most career service departments will give young alumni (2 or so years out) access to their job database.</p>