I am a chemical engineering student with a drastically low gpa due to personal issues that plagued me for three years of college. I have had such a hard time getting internships that I decided to take an extra year to boost my grades and do a double major with bioengineering.
What is your advice for someone like me, who has little to no job experience, looking for jobs? People say GPA isn’t that important, but is it? Most companies have a 3.0 cutoff, and I barely am making the 2.5 mark. It is also hard for me to try and get lab experience, as professors often don’t recruit too many students. Any helpful remarks or ideas?
Be proactive. Talk to your career center and academic advisor. Go talk to your professors and drop in during office hours. Whether it’s fair or not, a lot of people get jobs through connections. Do you have any friends or relatives who might be able to get you an internship or at least an interview? Get someone else to review your resume.
@roethlisburger I have actually been to the career center quite a lot. The only advice I have is to try and go to things like AICHE conferences or elsewhere and try and network. That seems to make sense too, but I’m not sure how that will lead to a job, especially if they aren’t hiring.
Don’t pick up,a double major. Instead…concentrate on getting the best possible grades in ONE major…not two.
@thumper1 Actually that’s another problem I have, is my parents want me to finish a bioengineering degree. That’s why I posted in the parents’ forum. They never wanted me to do cheme, and I thought I might as well do it, because I need time to get my grades up, and can finish by spring 2019.
If you cannot find an internship, you may want to try to get some research opportunity. ChemE major had a couple tough years in jobs. Hopefully it will get better next year.