How did you GET your job(s)?

[JVN]

We've had threads about where people work, now I'm interested in HOW they got their jobs.

How did you get your major (career type) jobs?
(I'm not particularly interested how you got "in" at McDonalds, unless you really feel like sharing, in which case I'm sure someone cares.)

• Were you recruited?
• Did you apply to that specific company?
• Did they pull your resume offline?
• Did a friend recommend you?

What matters most?

• Who you know.
• What you know.
• Who knows what you know.
• What they THINK you know (How your interview/resume looks.)

Let's hear it.

[Don Wright]

I got a job at AVL as an Intern in 1994. A guy who used to work with my dad at Ford now worked at AVL and turned in my resume and recommended me.

I graduated and went to another company where some people I had worked with at AVL had gone to. They turned in my resume and recommended me.

In 2000, I was approached by people that were still here at AVL about coming back. They turned in my resume and recommended me.

I'm still here.

Honestly, who you know gets you in the door.

What you know keeps you there.

What you learn, who you meet, and what you do moves you up.

FIRST is an incredible way to network. Even better than Greek organizations, IMHO. It's amazing how many people I can meet in meetings or otherwise who have some FIRST experience and we can immediately relate and connect on a personal/professional level.

[Jack Jones]

I never applied nor even created a resume. My SYS 501 professor at Oakland University recommended me for a research position at TACOM's Applied Research Branch. I interviewed the next day, got the job, and have been there ever since – 20 years.

So, in my case, it was all three that mattered.

[sanddrag]

Well, toward the end of my senior year in high school, the principle pulled me out of class one day. He said he had [name] here from the Educational Technology and Information Services (department of the school district) and that they'd like me to work for them and asked me if I was interested. I said yes. They had me make a resume which I did, and then off to work I went! I guess the ETIS had been looking for people at my school and asked the principal, and then the pricipal recommended me.

Too bad I don't think I'll be getting too many other jobs that way.

[KenWittlief]

For my 8 jobs as an engineer over the last 20 years:

Resume => college placement listings
Headhunter
Headhunter
Resume => newspaper ad
Resume => newspaper ad
Headhunter
Headhunter
Resume => newspaper ad

For the record: headhunters are only interested in you while you are presently employed. If you are unemployed you are pretty much on your own.

[MikeDubreuil]

Believe it or not Ms. Erin Rapacki plays a role in getting me a job.

In high school Erin and I were on the same team, #175 Buzz Robotics. After graduating from high school I went to Wentworth in Boston. A year later Erin went to Northeastern University. She invited me to a team meeting for FIRST team #125. Team #125 is made up of Northeastern, local high schools and Textron Systems.

I had been on the team for two years when one of the engineers from Textron, George Perna, was impressed with what I was doing there and recommended me for a co-op at Textron Systems. I got the job and I have never left. After graduating from college I was hired on full time as a software engineer.

[Erin Rapacki]

Originally Posted by MikeDubreuil

Believe it or not Ms. Erin Rapacki plays a role in getting me a job.

Awww, thanks for giving me some credit Dubes! I'm happy to hear that I had a little positive impact on somebody's life.

I haven't obtained a full-time position yet, but next year I'll be working as a manufacturing engineer at Gillette (no, I cannot get you a free razor). Co-op has allowed me to pad my resume with four 6-month experiences in:

- Project Engineering (Military Engines/NASA)
- Test Technician (DEKA iBot)
- Supply Chain & Supplier Capacity (Pratt & Whitney)
- Manufacturing (Gillette)

Therefore, I'd highly recommend any school that offers an internship/co-op program. However, the project engineering jobs were obtained through my FIRST network.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Erin Rapacki

I haven't obtained a full-time position yet, but next year I'll be working as a manufacturing engineer at Gillette (no, I cannot get you a free razor).

Gee, I thought the idea was to give away the razors and make money on the blades.

My most recent employer was Bethel Camp for the Arts, which is a bit of a misnomer, as it's got a pretty wide spread of programs (everything from culinary arts to golf to tennis to robotics). I found out about the camp (which is in the tiny little ski town of Bethel, Maine) here on ChiefDelphi, actually.

Much of my remaining job experience has paid little or nothing, actually. I spent all four years of high school working with AFJROTC, where I progressed up to deputy group commander (#2 in the corps). Every position I gained in the corps was pretty much a direct result of experience and working with the instructors.

It really does come down to who knows what you know.

[Erin Rapacki]

Originally Posted by Billfred

I found out about the camp (which is in the tiny little ski town of Bethel, Maine) here on ChiefDelphi, actually.

Funny, I drive up to Bethel Maine almost every other weekend (NU has a cabin on the Rt. 2 Maine/NH state line, and I go often). Small World!

[Not2B]

Sea World of Ohio - Filled out Application

Geauga Lake Park - Filled out Application

CNC Programmer for PCC Airfoils - Father knew a guy and got my name in the door. Learned alot, great job.

Contact Unigraphics Designer, at GM - in 97 I graduated undergrad at UofM, and used the on campus interviews. I had 3 offers, and selected the lowest paying offer. I thought it would be the most fun. Money isn't everything.

Direct hire at GM, doing the same - They just asked so I said yes.

Got bored, when back to school for my masters at U of Mich (in mechanical engineering.)

Odd jobs on campus for the collage. Helped out with CNC and CAD classes, giving campus tours.

Wanted a summer job away from campus, interviewed on campus with many, Ford/Visteon asked me to join. Worked in Climate.

Graduated. Visteon asked me to come back, so I did. Put me in a rotation program allowing me to rotate. Been rotating around Visteon for 6 years.

Worked in Climate Controls making pretty plastics.
Worked in Advance Engineering having alot of fun, working on crazy / cool projects.
Worked as a process engineer for injection molding
Working in Climate Controls making pretty plastics, again (but with more skills.)

Get in early, do a good job... they might ask you back. PCC Airfoils asked for me to come back, as did Visteon.

[JVN]

Someone pointed out I haven't bothered to reply to my own thread yet.

I got my current job because a buddy of mine helped me out.
Basically, IFI was recruiting a good friend of mine to move to Texas and take a full-time job. He was unable to accept the job, but told them: "If you're willing to try out a young guy, I've got someone perfect for you."

From there, they began asking people in the FIRST community about me. Enough people told them: "He's not a complete idiot" that they recruited me for a summer-coop (IFI uses this as a gruelling 3-month interview).

At the end of that coop, they made me a full-time offer, and I accepted (it was a good fit). Been here 7 months, and still having fun.

A combination of who I knew, what I knew, who knew what I knew, and dumb luck. I happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right skills, and knew the right people. Woo.

So yeah, a little luck helps sometimes too.
-JV

I definitely owe that good friend.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

When I was nearing graduation from Bradley University, I was sending out large numbers of resumes and cover letters. I had mailed about 80 and had received only 3 or 4 "no"s and nothing else. I interviewed on campus whenever a rep from a company came around. (TI, GE, etc.) Still no offers or interviews. Finally I signed up for an interview on campus with a multi rep who was looking for a variety of jobs for several companies. When I sat down, he looked at me and said "I don't want to waste your time, I have nothing to offer." By this time I was pretty frustrated and I asked how he could not have anything for me. I had good grades, was willing to relocate, and had extensive work experience including factory production and TV on campus. He said he couldn't touch the starting wages in TV, had I ever tried a TV station. Well I had never thought of it and as I was making minimum wage at the current job I didn't think TV paid that well. I went back to my apartment with a list of station addresses and mailed out 7 resumes. That was Thursday afternoon, and by Monday I receiving calls to come in for interviews. By the following Thursday I had heard from every one of the stations and had many interviews set up for spring break. I went into one and the Chief engineer was so impressed that he told me the next job opening was mine and to keep him informed of my whereabouts. Three days later I received a call from that man and was told that another engineer had given his notice the previous day and the job was mine. I went back to school with a job and I have been there ever since, 33 years next May. I often think of that interviewer and how he helped me so much. I never knew his name or for whom he worked, I hope he has had a great life, I have.

[Alexander McGee]

I got my first "real" job working for Stryker Instruments. Recently, I requested to be transfered to our sister division, Stryker Medical. Most notably, the company is committed to 20% growth each year, and we have for over 20 years. Add that up for a minute...

My University helps students find jobs quite a bit, but regards Stryker as one of their "top 5" hardest employers to get into. They have a series of 5 steps to the application process, including a Gallup interview, 20 staff interviews, as well as beating down the HR Recruiter's defenses by impressing them.

My dad has always said that "It doesn't mater what you know, it's about who you know" and this is certainly true for a lot of people, and a lot of employers. I read somewhere that a good 60% of the jobs out there are taken by people who "know someone" in the company, and that makes sense.

However, when you get right down to it, you can't fake a Gallup interview, and you either know how to do your job well, or you don't. I think a great resume has a lot to do with it, and a lot of people can't seem to get this right at my school. I have had over 30 job offers at various employers, but I have, and continue to turn them down because I want to work for Stryker.

My school is an exception form the norm though, because everyone has a job somewhere (co-op school, visit http://www.kettering.edu), but I made my resume a long time ago and the school didn't help me much, though they offered to a lot. The problem people have is that they don't update their resume a lot, and you have a list of things that you did over a span of 10 years or so. I like to keep the most recent information on there, at the top.

More to the point, I pursued the job I have now because I love the company and their products. I have posted online at monster.com and all of those, and the school sends me jobs that I might like occasionally, and a lot more when i was a freshman. Again, unique situation, but still.

When you come down to it, a healthy balance of what you know, and how you present yourself is most important. However, who you know never hurts either.

[Lee]

Campus interview with Duke Power (Duke Energy) recruiter at Southern Technical Institute (now Southern Polytech) in Marietta, GA. Recruiter was looking for mechanical engineers but I scheduled an interview anyway (electrical). He took my resume and another recruiter called a week later. I was offered a job the next month and have been at Duke Energy for 25 years. Most important thing is good resume and how you interviewed, not what or who you know.

[KathieK]

I went through a directory of libraries in Connecticut and sent my resume to each one. After several months I was interviewed and offered a position in the library system at United Technologies where I stayed for 25 years. I found my most recent position online. As a side note, I had posted my resume online and a headhunter actually called me and offered some suggestions for improving it. I thought that was great!

And my current employer googled me before my interview. Be careful what you post online in blogs, etc. It could haunt you in a job interview.