Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I applied to the above job ad some days ago, and today at 4 pm the recruiter called me about the entry level Mech Eng job. Grilled my past history and jobs and if I was "mechanically inclined," - like I did woodworking and my own car repairs most of the time... Went through a phone questionnaire, next thing is if they like me enough I will be called in to a mechanical aptitude test, - maybe they'll test my knowledge of physics and some Mech Eng, & etc.
After talking to the recruiter, at about the end of the conversation, I asked how many resume responses he got for the job ad. He said about 2000! A lot came from out of state, too. Now who said there's 2% unemployment among engineers when you get that many resume response to a job ad! Now there were 2 positions in that ad so 1000 resume per job! That's a lot of competition! At least I was among the qualified enough candidates to receive a call!
The engineering job market sucks... Too many unemployed engineers. And frequently I get initially interested recruiters call me then nothing else happens after they find out I've been unemployed 4 years. And they are not willing to help a long term unemployed engineer. They wonder why I've been unemployed so long yet they are so hypocritical for dismissing me for jobs because I've been unemployed. So now sometimes I think I need a good LIE ON MY RESUME to somehow look recently employed.
But life would really suck if I didn't get SSDI. This is what keeps me happy and not in credit card debt.
Well, haven't you been freelance engineering for the past four years, for your own company? I think I've heard of your similar-sounding company name. Are you licensed? You've been keeping busy, haven't you? You're not out of practice in the profession.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,576 posts, read 81,167,557 times
Reputation: 57813
Being entry level, you are having to compete with all of the recent graduates, of which there must be 1,000 every year from the various colleges nationwide. Remember that the unemployment figures are based on UI claims, so new graduates are not included since they didn't work and get laid off.
I can believe it. My dad had a 5 year dry spell until he gave up trying to get back into engineering. 30 years experience, and it ain't comin back. Get into programming though and you would be set.
my dad is also having trouble though truth be told he is sort of "half looking" right now, kinda looking etc... Engineering expereince for about 30 something years and is enjoying retirement some what, only looking for part time or temp work, as I said sort of "half looking".
That being said he has 30 something years of expereince under his belt and can't find work, I cannot imagine what fresh hell it is for the engineering grads just coming out of college. It does reinforce that there are really no "guarnteed Majors", that being said I still believe eng. is a solid degree to graduate with, certainly if I had the aptitude for it I would take Engineering over x,y,z humanites degree
Start your own contracting engineering agency and take some projects. If it's a bigger job that requires 2 or 3 guys, you can get some other unemployed local engineers to work with you. When there is a hiring freeze, companies go to contractors for IT and other things.
Well, haven't you been freelance engineering for the past four years, for your own company? I think I've heard of your similar-sounding company name. Are you licensed? You've been keeping busy, haven't you? You're not out of practice in the profession.
I don't know how to freelance or do a 1099, but I should get into this. I don't have any license or an EIT or PE, just a plain BSME degree from a top 6 school - UIUC.
If you don't know about freelancing, I suggest asking other engineers how they do it. Don't tell us that you don't know anybody else either. If you are one of those guys holed in the house all day, you need to google some meetups or events for engineers to talk shop and network. There has got to be some freelancers out there. You might even google freelancers and start an email conversation on how to get started.
I applied to the above job ad some days ago, and today at 4 pm the recruiter called me about the entry level Mech Eng job. Grilled my past history and jobs and if I was "mechanically inclined," - like I did woodworking and my own car repairs most of the time... Went through a phone questionnaire, next thing is if they like me enough I will be called in to a mechanical aptitude test, - maybe they'll test my knowledge of physics and some Mech Eng, & etc.
After talking to the recruiter, at about the end of the conversation, I asked how many resume responses he got for the job ad. He said about 2000! A lot came from out of state, too. Now who said there's 2% unemployment among engineers when you get that many resume response to a job ad! Now there were 2 positions in that ad so 1000 resume per job! That's a lot of competition! At least I was among the qualified enough candidates to receive a call!
The engineering job market sucks... Too many unemployed engineers. And frequently I get initially interested recruiters call me then nothing else happens after they find out I've been unemployed 4 years. And they are not willing to help a long term unemployed engineer. They wonder why I've been unemployed so long yet they are so hypocritical for dismissing me for jobs because I've been unemployed. So now sometimes I think I need a good LIE ON MY RESUME to somehow look recently employed.
But life would really suck if I didn't get SSDI. This is what keeps me happy and not in credit card debt.
Oh no Jesse, that recruiter lied to you! There couldn't possibly be that many people with the right education applying for those two jobs.
Americans refuse to put in the amount of effort to learn skills in the STEM markets than counterparts do.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If you are one of those guys holed in the house all day, you need to google some meetups or events for engineers to talk shop and network. There has got to be some freelancers out there. You might even google freelancers and start an email conversation on how to get started.
