<p>I've recently graduated with a Civil Engineering degree and a 2.5 gpa. Yes, I know it's bad. I also wasn't able to get an internship while I was in school. I did pass the FE, though, so that's a plus.</p>
<p>I'm not sure what I should do now, other than apply to every entry level job I see. I've been trying to find a part time job so I could work a few days a week and try to work at an engineering firm for a day or two a week for free which hasn't been going to well. I did find a job, but I can't work there after December.</p>
<p>I've redone my resume a few times, and the current one I'm using seems to be a little better. I've had two interviews with it, but nothing came of those.</p>
<p>I’ve done all that, in fact, projects relating to the student chapter of ASCE, including the steel bridge (and I did help construct the concrete canoe). I even edit my resume a cover letter for each job, which is getting me noticed, but not much more.</p>
<p>I do have two professors as my references who would probably write a good recommendation letter for me. I guess all I can do now is just wait and see.</p>
<p>Look into programs such as Engineers without Borders. You might be able to gain work experience on one of their projects, and network with other engineers who can help you get a job.</p>
<p>You may also want to compute your upper division GPA in your major. Some engineering students struggle early and improve as they move up in their classes. I have found this type of applicant to generally become a good engineer as long as their upper division GPA is good.</p>
<p>“I’ve recently graduated with a Civil Engineering degree and a 2.5 gpa. Yes, I know it’s bad. I also wasn’t able to get an internship while I was in school. I did pass the FE, though, so that’s a plus.”</p>
<p>In this particular job market, that’s probably career suicide. I know a few Civils from top schools with 3.2s and up that can’t get jobs. The harsh reality is that if you’re Civil and sub 3.0 w/o internship, you’re gonna be at the very bottom of the labor market food chain. </p>
<p>To be honest, you only have three options: start your own business, sell insurance or go back to school. I just don’t see you being competitive in Civil with a 2.5 and no internships dude. </p>
<p>I know that I’m bottom of the barrel, which is why I’m trying to get some experience with an engineering firm, even if it’s free labor. I was actually a founding member of Engineer without Borders at my University, though I wasn’t able to participate very much since I was busy with my senior design project and the steel bridge project. I will look more into it if it’s something of use to me.</p>
<p>Why do you have such a low GPA? Were you a partyer throughout college, just found civil engineering too difficult, did not find the material interesting, having health/family problems that impacted your grades,etc? If it is something legitimate perhaps you can add a little tidbit on your cover letter so employers know why you have a low GPA. </p>
<p>And are you truly interested in civil engineering? I know you have done projects with ASCE, but someone with a 2.5 GPA with no internship experience comes off as someone not invested in their major. Employers don’t like that.</p>
<p>And where do you live? If you live in California, Nevada, or some state with lots of foreclosures then you won’t find anything anytime soon. If you live in Washington DC, Texas, etc. you’ll have better odds. You should consider relocating.</p>
<p>And what work experience do you have? What did you do during your summers home from school? Highlight anything meaningful and show how you have important skills that you can bring to an engineering firm. </p>
<p>Keep looking for anything that can help you get any engineering experience, but remember the longer you are unemployed the less desirable you are to employers.</p>
<p>I don’t put my GPA on resumes. I do really enjoy civil engineering. I understood the material and studied hard, but I’d always find a way to mess up on the tests. I’m dyslexic, but I don’t know how much that played into it (not sure if that’s a good idea to mention being in engineering). I work as a page at the state house, which is mentioned, but I don’t know it’s worth.</p>
<p>I’d honestly be willing to do a free internship as long as I can get another part time job just so I can get some sort of income.</p>
<p>I live in South Carolina and am more than willing to relocate.</p>
<p>I would go back to school and take another bachelors in engineering either in (a) mining engineering (b) engineering geology (c) or geological engineering. With the price of metals right now mining and resource companies will hire any qualified candidate with a pulse and likely offer a nice signing bonus too. Senior mining engineers in Australia are being recruited for $250K + bonus for a $400K to $500K package - this beats selling insurance I think.</p>
<p>That’s sounds pretty good, actually. I would prefer to do structures or geotech, and I would think a bachelors in one of those would look very nice. I’ve seen a few mining jobs for structural and geotechnical engineers. I probably would have thought about that had my university offered those engineering classes, which is much better than selling insurance.</p>
<p>What is this Toronto person talking about? Get another costly bachelors’ degree in the hopes of landing a job on the side of the world? Just get out.</p>
<p>i’m assuming that you’d have a tough time getting into grad school with your grades.</p>
<p>how about volunteering for a prof? Work REALLY REALLY hard and you might be let into the research group as a full time grad student…i think its worth a try.</p>
<p>You might do some post bac coursework in areas of interest but it sounds crazy to do a 2nd BS.</p>
<p>Keep sending resumes, Send them farther away. Keep up with contacts, ask people you know if they know of openings, classmates, profs, network, network. Tell everyone you know that you are looking for work and are enthused by the possibilities</p>
<p>Have someone in the field or a hiring manager look over and comment on your resume.</p>
<p>If you need to get another BS or BA, go for it. If the current one isn’t working out, what else are you going to do? Sitting around and praying all day isn’t very [insert word here] if you want to get good results.</p>
<p>There are a couple of options: 1. if the low GPA is from a really good college, you can usually find a lower tier engineering school willing to let you in with a good GRE (even if it has to be a conditional admission). Graduate from there with a near 4.0 GPA and put that GPA on your resume. You’ll get the prestige from the undergraduate school and the GPA from the graduate school.</p>
<ol>
<li> If you can’t find a school that will let you in for a master’s degree, try going the backdoor route: apply as a non-degree seeking student, take a few graduate classes, earn A’s in those classes, then apply for graduate standing. The fact that you already have A’s in their graduate program gives you more support in your application.</li>
</ol>
<p>Though you have to be very careful with #2 and research it well. At some schools they actively try to prevent this backdoor route by automatically disqualifying any non-degree students for future degree work (you have to sign a letter that you will not seek a degree later). So what you want to do is find someone else who has successfully pulled it off at that school before you and talk to him or her about it.</p>