How did you GET your job(s)?

[Jay TenBrink]

While at Michigan State University I was in SAE. During my senior year in 1982-83 I was the student chapter president. Chrysler held a recruiting dinner for all of the officers of the engineering organizations on campus. I interviewed on campus and also at Chrysler Engineering in Highland Park, MI. No job offers followed.

For the next 6 months I sent out over 60 resume’s and had many interviews on campus with no offers. On a whim, I contacted the Chrysler recruiter I had dealt with 6 months earlier. From that follow-up contact came 3 interviews and 3 job offers. I have been with Chrysler/DaimlerChrysler ever since. Over the past 22 years I have held a number of different positions in design, development, manufacturing, operations, and engineering management. It’s been pretty good.

What does this mean?
1) My MSU experience in SAE was very similar to FIRST: organize, raise funds, design, build, test, compete, promote, network, and manage our time. I would not have gotten my job without it.
2) Don’t give up. Hard work and persistence goes a long way, even if you do have good contacts.

Jay