<p>So i'm a senior chemical engineering student at a pretty good engineering school (private university, which I was barley accepted into from highschool, but I made it). I'm getting a concentration in biomolecular engineering as well but my gpa is horrific (2.2, the minimum to even remain in the program is a 2.0). I'm in my last semester and am still struggling as I have my entire time in college, so I don't really see any possibility for much improvement at this point in regards to my gpa regardless of my grades this final semester. I've always been focused on getting the degree thinking that, as many people hear, engineers are highly desirable and in short supply comparatively to other fields. I've had one unpaid internship in the past (last summer) at a local engineering firm and other than school projects and school work I don't have very much to sell myself on. The career fair is coming up and I was wondering how bad my outlook is from anyone who knows or may have been in a similar situation...I'm pretty sure it's very very bad and that i've wasted 120k that I won't be able to pay back, getting stuck at some crap job working half my life to pay off the debt. I don't want to be some big shot engineer at a huge company I just want something related to my field, but do small companies even hire people with my gpa and lack of experience? What are my options besides applying to everything I can possibly find? Please only leave constructive feed back, saying I should be smarter and have worked harder in the past doesn't help...
Thank you for your time.</p>
<p>I am not an expert at any type of engineering, but I hear panic and frustration in your words. If I can give you any advice, it would be to keep an open mind and focus on your goal of finding an entry level job in your field. Instead of focusing on your low GPA, focus on how far you’ve come and the perseverence and determination it took on your part to stay in college and earn the degree. The loans are incurred and were necessary to get you where you are now. Stay the course, remain positive, focus on your talents and aspirations for a career. Make a giant picture in your mind of everything you are capable of. (everything) Do not let your mind wander into what ifs, catastrophic thinking and doubts. It’s almost time to launch yourself and you want to keep the wind in your sails. Make it so! Godspeed.</p>
<p>PS If you have an advisor or engineering mentor who can help you remain focused on your talents and goals, make sure you reach out to them. They can help you stay anchored until you set sail. Only share your vision with people who can support you and keep you on course.</p>
<p>PPS You are too young to have ruined your life… (just noticed your title)</p>
<p>I work as a recruiter for a technical staffing company and we have clients that hire engineers all the time. </p>
<p>I’ve seen resumes from here to Russia for different jobs, and you know what? A lot of them DON’T put their GPA on it.</p>
<p>The simple fact that you will be graduating from a top private engineering school should be enough to land you a job…somewhere. Like MaryBee said, focus, get that degree and find yourself a nice entry level job. </p>
<p>You’ve been smart enough to get yourself through to your last semester, you’ll be smart enough to get a job. 
Good luck.</p>
<p>you won’t get the best jobs, but you will do fine. And remember, after you’ve been working, no one cares about your GPA</p>
<p>Agree with above post. If you kick A-- at your job, you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>Learn to sell yourself. Be confident, not apologetic. The bad news-Having a low GPA will hurt. The good news-five years from now, no one will care. Get your foot in the door and kick it wide open. (Sell, sell, sell). Polish your intervieing skills. Get a nice suit. Don’t be shy about telling the interviewer that you’ll start at the bottom as long as it leads to the top. GL</p>
<p>Thanks for the input! I’m really just worried about getting an entry level job, but if I apply to enough places and apply myself I should be able to land a job somewhere according to your input. I hope this is the case since the job market is still hurting and it seems like most everyone has a better gpa or better experience from internships ect…so any competition will likely weed me out of the running. Does anyone have any input on how I should go about getting a job? With a low gpa what is the best method? (going to local engineering firms and local places in person, going through a recuriter/staffing company, or using job boards such as monster and indeed? What type of jobs should I target to be more likely to land one? Even if I don’t love the job if I can get enough experience then I should be able to move elsewhere or advance to jobs that suit me better).</p>
<p>Target all jobs that would potentially hire you and/or interest you. There’s only so much time that it takes to apply to any one job. </p>
<p>Here would be my strategy:
- Send emails / resumes to all local firms that might possibly interview you. Perhaps follow-up with calls (a low-success strategy, but worth a try, and something that would only take a day or two to complete)</p>
<p>2) Every morning, go to indeed.com, and see what new job postings have come up. Once you get good at using indeed, this shouldn’t take more than an hour a day.</p>
<p>3) Spend the rest of every job-search day “connecting” with people. Connect with hundreds of recruiters at staffing agencies. Connect with hundreds of recruiters that work at companies. Connect with people that are currently working at places that you want to work. Spend 5+ hours a day on LinkedIn, primarily connecting with recruiters (when LinkedIn says ‘how do you know this person’, you MUST click ‘friend’). Call recruiters at the staffing agencies, email them your resume, meet with them in person. Recruiters get paid to find you a job, so if you connect with enough of them, and they’re all looking for a job for you, eventually one of them will find a job for you.</p>
<p>The majority of job openings never get posted online, so you must be connected with hundreds of people on the inside of the job-search game. </p>
<p>It’s really just a numbers game. But more than anything, if you’re unemployed and job-searching, you absolutely must be in touch with hundreds of recruiters. I moved to a new state last summer, didn’t know anyone, and spent a few weeks connecting with hundreds of recruiters in my state. Before I knew it, one of them got me my current job, a rather good job with good pay. And even better, I still get multiple calls a week asking me to interview for other jobs. </p>
<p>If you have any other Qs, let me know. But the focus of your job-search should be finding valuable people on LinkedIn.</p>
<p>Focus on what you like/your strengths-if you find these aren’t really matches for engineering, then stop being an engineer.
It sounds like you worked pretty hard yet only got such a bad gpa-maybe your talents lay elsewhere.
Look into small-scale finance, consulting, or teaching high school?</p>