Advice for entry level engineer looking for a start (Portland: job market, school)

[haberlae]

I am a soon to graduate B.S Mechanical Engineering student from Lafayette College in Easton, PA. Looking for a change of scenery, don't really like the suburbs in the PA/NJ area. I don't know if grad school is an option, so I'm looking for someplace that has more of my interests where I could find an entry level job. I have some experience from internships. I really enjoy either being near a city with some decent nightlife or with outdoor activities (hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, etc).

Does anyone have any suggestions about where to live or companies to check out in this poor job market?

I've done some quick research (and I'm not too picky) but here are some of the initial places I had thought of:
-Austin
-San Antonio
-Houston
-Portland
-Seattle
-Denver
-Boulder
-Boston

Any opinions?

[Silverfall]

Portland is great. You'll have a hard time finding a job here. Oregon is at 11% unemployment and I think Portland is around 9%. Engineers have been laid off at Intel and most people will hire experience over none.

Not that it can't be done, but it will be tough here.

[PNW-type-gal]

Decide what kind of work you want to do first (the mechanical engineering field is rather broad), what size company you want to work for and then look for companies doing interesting things in those fields.

Engineer-to-engineer, I'll warn you that companies will want you to specialize in narrow disciplines - this is not always in your best interests, career-wise. You can make a lot of money being a specialist, but you can be specialized right out of a job and then have a hard time finding another job.

[Steve Pickering]

You better look at Texas for entry level. The PNW and Colorado are flush with experienced looking for any work.

[davefr]

Your best shot is to work closely with your universities placement office and accept whatever you can with little regard to location. You can't be picky in this terrible job market.

Companies around here are not hiring engineers with only a BS degree unless it's part of their formal recruiting programs through specific universities. (and thus the reason to work closely with your placement office). Large corporations tend to have close relationships with certain universities and formal campus recruiting programs are far more effective then cold calling with your diploma.

What happened to your internship assignments? That path should have led you to a possible job after graduation. That's what they're for!!

[Smiled]

Chennai. It will be good experience. If you go there first, you can then get an H1B visa and have your pick of US tech companies to work for.

[Fiddlehead]

Pittsburgh. Nothing out here even remotely compares in terms of affordability or job availability. Get a job in Da Burgh, sock away some dough and plan your next move when the western economy improves. Not a good time to move without an offer in hand.

Pittsburgh reminds me of Portland in many ways, but is much easier for a working stiff starting out.

[Nell Plotts]

I agree with the poster who said to work with your school placement office and find a position you can build on where-ever. Pittsburgh is the headquarters of a great company, Aloca. They don't have much to offer in Oregon but they do have facilities in nice comunities world wide.

A good, experianced, mechanical engineer will find a job in Oregon but not right now.

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by Fiddlehead

... ...
Pittsburgh reminds me of Portland in many ways, but is much easier for a working stiff starting out.

Very True. If you don't like Pittsburgh, you won't like Portland.

[Oildog]

I would never have guess there are similarities between the Burgh and PDX.

Get job FIRST then worry where to live.