Using Chief Delphi as a Networking Tool

[Tom Line]

Coming out of College cold and getting a job with no prior experience can be very very difficult.

That's why I suggest to every one of our team members that they do a co-op, intern, or even simply a summer job with a company. Even if you have to work for peanuts, this is the singularly best way to get your foot in the door with a company. Once they know you are a good worker, it opens opportunities for hiring.

Even if they don't hire you, being able to use them as a reference is key as well. Employers simply do not have the time (or money) to take on college kids and polish them for a year or two before they become truly useful. And it WILL take that long before you integrate into learning the processes of where-ever you go to work to become truly effective.

Of course, getting your name out there on monster, linked, and all the other sites is not a bad thing. Be aware (and I wish more folks WERE aware of this fact) that future employers will probably do an internet search on you, and a background check. That's why it's a very poor idea to have myspace or facebook pages up with your actual name on them. See the current Republican vice-presidential candidate's daughter's boyfriend for the perfect example....

Finally, cold-calling the HR department and dropping off resumes is not a bad idea either. I know Ford keeps those resumes in a file and looks at them when they have a position to fill. It took me over a year to get an interview with them after giving them a resume.

If you can't get a job in the exact company you want, find out who their suppliers are (machine tool and otherwise) and get a job there. Those smaller job-shops are often much easier to get a foot in the door because of higher turn-over and once you know the business it will be much easier to get noticed at the company you really want to work at.

In the end, the best bet is to work out a strategy. Where do I want to work. Failing that, what other places will give me experience so that in 5 years I can go get a job where I want to work. Do not go in expecting to get a job and retire in 30 years either. It's pretty rare that anyone will go 30 years without changing jobs a couple times, and you need to think about what you'll do in that situation.

[SuperBK]

I don't know if I would take a job doing anything, but definately consider widening your scope of what you would like to do. For example, in programing there are positions as testers, which usually fall under quality control, which could lead to a career as a QC manager. There are also manufacturing engineers as well as design engineers. I'd say keep looking in newspapers and magazines as well as online. Craigslist has become popular for finding help. Some students who are unable to locate a job out of college decide to continue in graduate school. I also recommend Randy Pausch's lecture.

[Daniel_LaFleur]

I'm a trained Electronics Engineer with a Computer Science degree working as a Manufacturing Engineer for a Pneumatics company.

Don't let what you think you can do get in the way of what you can do.

Understand what you know, understand what the prospective employer wants, promote your strengths, be honest and expect a lot of rejections along the way. Also remember to send a thank you note for each interview.

Oh, and I second watching Randy Pauch's "Last Lecture".

[Joe Ross]

Every single one of my co-ops (I did them at 3 companies), as well as my job now came as a result of a contact either with one of the mentors of my high school team, or from someone I already knew, who thought that FIRST was a great thing.

Realize that you need to make a good impression in every thing you do. Just being on a FIRST team may not be enough, you should work hard and show initiative. Those are the things that will make someone who knows you want to recommend you for a job. That is true whether you did FIRST or not.

[Madison]

I've just signed up for LinkedIn recently, but for no particular reason.

I did some contract work for a company that found me through discussions here on Chief Delphi. They were searching for information about certain technologies and found some of our discussions.

I've received one other job, completely unrelated to engineering, through networking that started with another FIRST mentor, also.

[Wetzel]

Networking is a thing that creeps slowly as you work well, but falls apart fast when you do poorly. My involvement in FIRST led eventually to me working at a regional level, and getting introductions to people in business from our regional director. Getting in the door is the hardest part of finding a job, at least in my experience, and those introductions created some amazing opportunities. It is great to have some choices.

That said, having moved to London from Virginia, there is a limit to how useful those introductions are. Stick me in the pile of "upcoming college grad who is looking for his first job and hasn't had any luck with the standard job search process"

Wetzel
Still looking.

[RoboMom]

Any news on BeyondFIRST.org which is featured on the FIRST website?
http://www.usfirst.org/who/content.aspx?id=972

[ManicMechanic]

When I was a senior, an offer I had was withdrawn about 2 weeks before graduation. I quickly talked to some of my professors about possible work and got a job as a 1/2 technician, 1/2 time research assistant doing grad student-type work. It paid about 1/2 of what industry paid, but it was a fabulous lower-pressure learning experience; in a tight economy, I was better off than my unemployed classmates.

Being willing to work for less money opens up more options and makes easier to "earn your keep."

In the long run, connections come indirectly from pouring yourself into what you love to do and do well, and they can't be generated overnight when you suddenly need them. While there's nothing wrong with putting the word out when you're looking for a job and hoping that what you have to offer connects to the right need, nobody likes being used by a job seeker who hasn't demonstrated real ability and effort.

[synth3tk]

Originally Posted by RoboMom

Any news on BeyondFIRST.org which is featured on the FIRST website?
http://www.usfirst.org/who/content.aspx?id=972

It could be a part of the DNS issues that recently started popping up, but it appears the site is down, though still partially pingable.
Are there any behind-the-scenes people on that project who can fill us in?