- #1
thepatient
- 164
- 0
Hi, so I recently graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering this past Spring.
Since January I've been looking for employment, but I've had 0 luck. I have a 3.945 GPA and graduated magna cum laude, involvement in honor societies Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Tau Sigma, but I don't think that really helps in employment. I think it is experience and internships, which I didn't get a chance to take a part in during my school years. Mostly because I didn't have a car, wanted to focus mostly on studies, was already working a job that paid the bills, and was unsure of my abilities to perform in an internship.
Out of the 50+ applications I have submitted, I have had two call backs. They happened to be the few that I applied to in person during a career fair at my old university, and were immediately impressed with my resume at the time of meeting them. The first call was for an invitation to apply to a particular position, but I didn't get called for an interview. I think because the position actually required more experience than I had. The second was for a management development program, which I went to the interview for. I wasn't ready for a management position though. I expressed interest in beginning my career in engineering, and working my way up to management, but they didn't want that. I have two agencies helping search for me but no hits yet.
Over all this time I've been applying to more entry level jobs, taking a Solidworks class, and a bit of studying for the EIT (as well as working in my tutoring and sales jobs). But after a lot of introspecting, I don't know if I want to do engineering anymore. I've lost my passion. I don't think I want to draw things on solidworks, calculate minimum hole diameters for shafts, gear ratios, design gear teeth, design PID controllers, calculate minimum sizes for nails or screws, calculate the amount of pipes needed in a heat exchanger, etc etc. I find that too tedious. I think I was more interested in the theory, in the physics and mathematics behind why something occurs. I wasn't very interested in putting servos together, building aerodynamic structures. My reasoning behind staying in my major was that I would probably like it more as I approach my senior classes, and I would like the employment more than I like my current sales job.
So I've been thinking, maybe I should continue my education in a M.S. in Physics. But that will require me to take a year or two of core undergrad physics courses. I will still be jobless for a while. Maybe I should change my direction entirely. From an economic point of view, that would probably be a waste of time and a waste of potential future earnings. Maybe graduate level mechanical engineering courses would be something I'd like more, but I won't have a chance to get into graduate school until 2016, since deadlines have passed and I haven't taken the GRE. Maybe I've just lost passion to do anything.
My options I suppose would be:
-M.S. in Mech Engineering
-Try M.S. in Physics
-Continue searching for employment, but in the meantime try to gain more skills. (This one is hard, because I've become more and more unmotivated to start anything).
-Choose a different direction all together.
My goals:
-To have a decent salary. I'm 26 and still get paid 13.50 an hour. It's embarrassing.
-To do something that I am passionate about. I have always enjoyed mathematics and physics, but there might be something out there I might be more passionate about that I haven't discovered yet.
-If I am working for a company, I'd like to be an indispensable member of that company.
-I like learning, although it is difficult to learn things on my own.
-I want to do new things. Not doing the same thing every day.
I suppose those are probably everyone's goals.
I'm interested in:
-Mathematics
-Physics
-Astronomy (Carl Sagan's Cosmos is my all-time favorite science documentary)
-Cycling, Fitness
-Learning LanguagesSince there are members here much more experienced than I, what do you think I should do? If you have any options not listed above, feel free to mention them.
I apologize if there is a slight, depressing tone to my long post.
Since January I've been looking for employment, but I've had 0 luck. I have a 3.945 GPA and graduated magna cum laude, involvement in honor societies Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Tau Sigma, but I don't think that really helps in employment. I think it is experience and internships, which I didn't get a chance to take a part in during my school years. Mostly because I didn't have a car, wanted to focus mostly on studies, was already working a job that paid the bills, and was unsure of my abilities to perform in an internship.
Out of the 50+ applications I have submitted, I have had two call backs. They happened to be the few that I applied to in person during a career fair at my old university, and were immediately impressed with my resume at the time of meeting them. The first call was for an invitation to apply to a particular position, but I didn't get called for an interview. I think because the position actually required more experience than I had. The second was for a management development program, which I went to the interview for. I wasn't ready for a management position though. I expressed interest in beginning my career in engineering, and working my way up to management, but they didn't want that. I have two agencies helping search for me but no hits yet.
Over all this time I've been applying to more entry level jobs, taking a Solidworks class, and a bit of studying for the EIT (as well as working in my tutoring and sales jobs). But after a lot of introspecting, I don't know if I want to do engineering anymore. I've lost my passion. I don't think I want to draw things on solidworks, calculate minimum hole diameters for shafts, gear ratios, design gear teeth, design PID controllers, calculate minimum sizes for nails or screws, calculate the amount of pipes needed in a heat exchanger, etc etc. I find that too tedious. I think I was more interested in the theory, in the physics and mathematics behind why something occurs. I wasn't very interested in putting servos together, building aerodynamic structures. My reasoning behind staying in my major was that I would probably like it more as I approach my senior classes, and I would like the employment more than I like my current sales job.
So I've been thinking, maybe I should continue my education in a M.S. in Physics. But that will require me to take a year or two of core undergrad physics courses. I will still be jobless for a while. Maybe I should change my direction entirely. From an economic point of view, that would probably be a waste of time and a waste of potential future earnings. Maybe graduate level mechanical engineering courses would be something I'd like more, but I won't have a chance to get into graduate school until 2016, since deadlines have passed and I haven't taken the GRE. Maybe I've just lost passion to do anything.
My options I suppose would be:
-M.S. in Mech Engineering
-Try M.S. in Physics
-Continue searching for employment, but in the meantime try to gain more skills. (This one is hard, because I've become more and more unmotivated to start anything).
-Choose a different direction all together.
My goals:
-To have a decent salary. I'm 26 and still get paid 13.50 an hour. It's embarrassing.
-To do something that I am passionate about. I have always enjoyed mathematics and physics, but there might be something out there I might be more passionate about that I haven't discovered yet.
-If I am working for a company, I'd like to be an indispensable member of that company.
-I like learning, although it is difficult to learn things on my own.
-I want to do new things. Not doing the same thing every day.
I suppose those are probably everyone's goals.
I'm interested in:
-Mathematics
-Physics
-Astronomy (Carl Sagan's Cosmos is my all-time favorite science documentary)
-Cycling, Fitness
-Learning LanguagesSince there are members here much more experienced than I, what do you think I should do? If you have any options not listed above, feel free to mention them.
I apologize if there is a slight, depressing tone to my long post.