Job Hunting Help (Austin, Cove: house, employment, school)

[Preston3124]

My son and new bride moved to Austin in September. They moved there because she got a very good job offer from National Instruments and the plan was for him to find something too. He is a new graduate with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. For a new grad he has a pretty good resume. Excellent grades and two summers of work experience. So far he has had absolutely no luck. He has applied for every job he has seen come open and has received no responses what so ever.

I'd appreciate any advice you might have. Should he consider a job placement agency? If so, can anyone recommend a good one?

TIA

[RooCeleste]

Good luck to him. That seems to be the norm around Austin because there are so many highly educated people, yet it's a small enough city that you have to know someone/be connected to have an 'in'.

[centralaustinite]

As a new grad he should work the network of his undergraduate institution, get on LinkedIn, join any alumni group they have, call career services at his old school, see if there are any alumni in his field in Austin, etc.

[Denver303TJC]

Agree with centralaustinite. To state the obvious, there are a lot of new grads and recent grads who move to or stay in Austin just to be here. I was fortunate that I got a job through a staffing agency with a tech company, but the company is way up in North Austin. Also, the management there has been rumored to tell temps during interviews that "What can you do for us? We have a lot of people applying here each day" and yada yada yada. BUT, with that said, I think if your son is looking to work at a job on the outskirts of Austin and use a staffing agency, then not all is impossible. It worked for me! :-)

[Preston3124]

Originally Posted by Denver303TJC

Agree with centralaustinite. To state the obvious, there are a lot of new grads and recent grads who move to or stay in Austin just to be here. I was fortunate that I got a job through a staffing agency with a tech company, but the company is way up in North Austin. Also, the management there has been rumored to tell temps during interviews that "What can you do for us? We have a lot of people applying here each day" and yada yada yada. BUT, with that said, I think if your son is looking to work at a job on the outskirts of Austin and use a staffing agency, then not all is impossible. It worked for me! :-)

Thanks to everyone for the replies. At this point I think he is willing to consider any location in the general Austin area. They live in the Steiner Ranch area if that matters. Do you recommend the staffing agency that you used? If so, which one did you use?

[petro]

He has applied for every job he has seen come open and has received no responses what so ever.

This part concerns me. If he is applying for jobs he is qualified for, he should be getting some level of response, even if it's just screening interviews with the recruiter. So, either he is applying for the wrong jobs (positions that are too senior or outside his educational/experience areas), his resume needs work, or he's not putting in the level of effort that you think he is.

Looking for employment should be treated as a full-time job, putting in a full day's work each day until you receive the offer letter. Networking, professional associations, and industry meetups can help—a personal recommendation can almost always get you an interview. Resumes should be well-written and customized to some degree for the position you are applying for. Cover letters, while optional, should always be included. And lastly, you cannot start out your career in a director-level position right out of college—apply for experience-level appropriate roles.

As someone who has reviewed hundreds of resumes and interviewed countless people, the above issues are all too common. If your son is getting "no responses what so ever," he's likely making one or more of these mistakes.

[ashbeeigh]

FWIW, I just recently landed a new job (in another industry) and sent out perhaps 40ish resumes and applications within a week and a half period. I ended up with 4 interviews within that period. While it's a different industry and a shorter period of time, remember that hiring processes take a long time. Sometimes positions are posted for months before HR gets to even reviewing applications. I second the LinkedIn and maybe even try Twitter to connect to people within the industry. I had some luck with connecting on Twitter with some HR people within the organizations i wanted to be within.

[Denver303TJC]

I can PM you the agency I used, OP. If your son is looking for something to get him out of the house and such, temp agencies can often do temp work (pause for people to say, ...well, duh ;-) ) in which he can work and on his off days, or before or after work, send out resumes. That way, he has income coming in and can gain experiences.
But, FWIW,, there's that old quote "You'll spend most of your life looking for a Jo or working at one...and quite honestly I don't know which one is worse." ��

[Denver303TJC]

Looking for a job**

[testmo]

There are very little mechanical engineer jobs in austin. Ut grads leave to go to houston, LA, the northeast or california