Using Chief Delphi as a Networking Tool

[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When I was a senior, an offer I had was withdrawn about 2 weeks before graduation.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?