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Hey guys, I'm a student in college working on my Industrial Engineering degree in my sophomore year and I feel like this is an issue that I need to worry about as I'm going to be out of college soon. And I know I need to be looking into internships and stuff during my summer.
However I have some problems. I've never had a job before so I have like no work experience let alone any references. This poses a serious problem when trying to construct a resume because I have no references,no work experience. And don't you need these to be considered for intern and stuff?
I did volunteer at a local hospital and chamber of commerce but this was during like my sophomore and junior year of high school summer break and I'm currently a junior in college so it's been about 3-4 years and I doubt the people remember me lol.
I've spoke to this issue with a friend of mine and I told him how lucky he is having worked at officemax for a year and now working at officedepot since that's retail experience and he's got references. But he told me it wasn't as good as getting a college degree which I had and it made sense. But still.. like my frickin resume..it's so blank with no refernces..and this worries me. And i'm not friends with any of my professors so i cant use any for references either.
And almost every summer I been taking summer courses to get caught up. This summer I'm going to korea and then gonna go straight into taking summer courses again. I don't have time for internship. I hate the thought of having a job AND going to school but i been thinking about doing the workstudy my financial aid offered me and try to get references that way. It's just so hard for me because my engineering classes take enough of my time already and I'm mostly studying anyway.
I guess I kinda went off on a tangent there but my question was
Do I really need a good resume with many references,volunteer hours,extracurriculers,job experience when I honestly been investing all of my time into studying and taking courses during the summer? I mean everyone learns at a different pace..not everyone can work multiple jobs and hold a 3.0 GPA in engineering.
Edit: is there anyone else out there that's never had a job before and just focusing on school only or ami the only one? And if there is how are u planning on filling your resume?
Edit2:After re-reading this thread several times, I decided to take the intern route this summer. However, a problem arose as I looked into it more. I heard someone mention that I needed a 3.0 GPA and I'm nowhere near that >_> I been struggling so is it still possible to find interns with a low GPA? Also, I made a mistake while I wrote this..I'm acutally not a junior yet, I'm still a sophmore.
 
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Industrial Engineering. There's your problem tbh
To give general advice though, things didn't heat up for me until after I dropped out :S On the flip side my friend who stayed at Rose JUST got his first offer for a job in his senior year and it's looking like he'll land a job with either Caterpillar or Cummins
Edit: It's kind of off-putting how demeaning you are when you talk about minimum wage jobs. Noone likes an elitist. I used to be like you but then I dropped out, worked at a lighting company, and now I work in lighting design for another company.
When I dropped out it was because I was too cocky and felt things like going to class, doing homework, etc etc were beneath me. Left and it turns out people want to see you do those menial things just to see that you can be committed to something and put effort into it.
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On November 14 2010 08:01 Risen wrote:
Industrial Engineering. There's your problem tbh
Can you explain a little more why this is a problem? Thanks.
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IE isn't even real engineering to begin with... and people consider IEs as those who didn't want to try and complete a math degree
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wow what the hell are you doing at college
i'm an engineer too but i have a part time job and do research and still find time to do homework and study
you haven't even joined any clubs?
and i agree with risen, you're demeaning minimum wage jobs when most college students have decent on campus jobs
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I don't understand something: why can't you have summer internships? Why must you take summer classes?
Summer internships are the best way to gain working experience, assuming your school does not offer co-op. Otherwise, read up professors' webpages, and find some fields that interest you and ask them if they have small projects that you could work on (most will even offer to pay you a minimal amount of money).
And yes, working experience is much more important in landing you a job than grades, assuming your grades are not abysmal.
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Why are you going to Korea this summer? If it's for SC, then I'm not sure what you want us to tell you. Taking summers off for videogames leaves you worse off than using those summers for career-related things. If not, carry on.
You can land an internship without any work experience. I'm a computer engineer and I landed a very good internship at a well-known company with no work experience or references. But no internships and no work experience getting out of college? That's going to look pretty bad. Not insurmountable, but bad.
You need to prioritize a summer internship over summer classes if you want the best chance of getting a job out of college. Getting a good internship is basically future-proofing you. I'm not an industrial engineer (nor do I even know what you do), but as a CE locking down this internship is going to basically ensure I get a job right out of college. I'm sure yours would be the same, as companies typically re-hire interns at a very high rate.
Most companies have online applications now, hop on their websites and apply for all the internship positions you can. Look for job fairs sponsored by your school.
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I was in the exact same spot as you my Junior year of college in Engineering. I had no relevant work experience at that point either.
The things I'm saying are going to be from personal experience and what I felt was important.
This is the best time for you to find a summer internship or a co-op. Start applying to everything possible that is somewhat related to your major. I'm sure you have some courses that have other engineering principles related (ie: maybe mechanical engineering and civil engineering jobs?), so apply to those jobs too. I don't know what your curriculum is like, but all engineers at my school took a Matlab course and a mechanics course.
For your resume, list the courses that you feel are relevant. Start asking professors that taught a course relevant to your major (if they don't know your name, don't ask them) if you could list them as a reference while applying to jobs (internships I had interviews for all called my references, but this may not always be the case). Preferably in classes you got A's in. I pretty much got my internship because my manager saw the relevant courses I took and felt that I would have a good basic understanding of the concepts behind my job because of those classes.
I'm going to say again to apply to as many places as possible. I'm sure you'll find an internship that you feel is a perfect fit for you, but chances are low that you'll get the exact one you want. When I was applying to internships I probably got rejected from 100+ and got interviews for 3 and got offers from 2. First worry about getting the interview, and the only way to do that is to applying to as many places as possible.
Anyways, to give a more clear answer for your question. It really varies what the hiring manager looks for when looking at resumes. Some won't care at all if you have volunteer hours or extracurriculars in something that is irrelevant to the job. Some will care. Hopefully your GPA is good enough as some companies may not even look at your resume if your GPA isn't above a certain threshold.
In terms of hobbies, I always left those off my resume, and if it comes up during the interview I'll mention it.
good luck.
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kitaman27
United States9244 Posts
I'm also a junior and was in a similar situation having little to no work experience, but luckily I had decent enough grades that hopefully it made up for that. I took the "apply everywhere" approach and was shocked to find that out of like 25 places, only one required a letter of recommendation (which I didn't have either). Basically everywhere was online where you just submit your resume/cover letter, check off a few boxes saying that you aren't an illegal citizen and answer a few questions about your race and sex -_-
Surprisingly I already got a few offers, so you might night be out of luck. If you do plan to apply, I would do it as soon as possible, since many companies are already selecting candidates at this point. Good luck!
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Your problems have already been mentioned by some ppl here.
You shouldn't be using your summer time to "catch up" on your studies. You should be using them to find internships. More and more college degrees are not good enough (unless you really are at the top in terms of grades). You need real world experience and companies are expecting students with some internships under their belt. I dunno your entire situation but it might be implied that you are not working hard enough during the regular school year and that's why you need to take classes during the summer to make up for it.
You also need to be more pro-active. Again, a decade ago it was alright if you were simply in the top 20% of your college major without any other things or extracurriculars. But nowadays you need to actually be active and get the stuff that are out there. If you think research is needed or better yet, are interested in research, YOU need to go out and find the resources and use these resources. You also need to be talking to your profs. They should know you by name at least. Please, please ask them questions. Even if they are dumb questions, at least they know you care about their classes. If there are contests or scholarships out there, pursue them. Also look into finding a mentor ... maybe a prof that you like and that you can ask career questions about. Don't rely on generic academic counselors ... but find someone who does something you want to do (or is related).
Don't be passive!
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Well, an internship is very desirable to most employers because it provides you with real-world experience that you can't really learn in school. Also, I wouldn't think of an internship as a "job" but more as a learning opportunity. Because you don't do an internship for money, you do it to learn and get experience.
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The reason folks want to see job history is to prove that you can work. Minimum wage jobs are minimum wage because anyone can do them, but due to that very fact many people suck at them. Both the bright eyed undergrad the 28 year old life drop out will work the same position -- one is more likely than the other to stick around and do a great job. Some of the hardest jobs are poorly paying -- but they teach you (or prove that you already have it) work ethic. When you want a "real job" with your degree you'll be able to backtrack and show them that you're able to work hard with references to prove it.
I'm an engineering student so I know exactly how hard it can be. Think of it from the perspective of a potential employer -- Would you rather hire someone fresh out of college with no work history or myself who has worked a few different jobs since early high school and excelled fantastically at all of them, including part time management?
Jobs can be fun anyways, you get what you put into it. Also -- how do you go about life with no income by your junior year? Even if your parents feed you, house you, and send you to school don't you need fun stuff like money for the occasional beer, video game, fast food run, or gas tank? I currently live with my parents and pay no room/board/health insurance. My personal costs are School, car(+upkeep/insurance), and any sort of personal items such as clothes/toiletries/computers.
Just find a job you think you might enjoy and put effort into the application process. The difference may seem minor to you but there really is a world of difference. If you're doing well in school I'm sure most low income jobs would love to have a smart engineering student. I'm currently working as a host for my favorite hang out spot. I love working there and look forward to most shifts -- it's a college student's dream job pre-internship. Other benefits of working as a host include tips and a clean cut environment -- working at mcdonalds does painful as hell and I would not suggest it. Think of a company you would be proud to work for-- sure you have a lowly position but guess what... thats the roll of a college student starting out at his first job.
I'm hoping to pick up an internship as well in the next year or two as from what I understand those are the best stepping stones to getting a "real job." Good luck man, just keep the eye on the prize. If it was easy everyone would be an engineer cracking home six figures.
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Go do extracurriculars, on-campus jobs, whatever you can find. I know a lot of people with engineering degrees that did research for professors, stuff like that. To answer your original question, no, it's not enough just to have a college degree. To be completely honest, I work in finance and have a BA in econ and a BS in math and I probably could have done without 99% of the actual knowledge component of undergrad coursework. I didn't learn anything particularly useful, but you need to go to school to show that you have the capacity to learn; obviously that's not enough when we're talking about competitive positions at prestigious firms.
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So basically you fucked yourself for your entire life because you put off important things because you had better things to do then make minimum wage and am paying for it now.
And you want to know what can possibly be done. There is no magic easy button in life. We all have to work our way up, we all have to work for what we get. Its just like starcraft, you don't magically get to be idra or foxer (scuse me OP) or FD by slacking off.
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So is it even possible to get a summer internship without any work experience?
I'm in high school btw.
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You mention also having multiple jobs -- that is over the top. You don't need to be working 50 hours a week, you just need to be working. Even if you only work one shift a week it is unlikely that your potential employer will know the difference. Part time is part time. 15-20 hours a week is probably ideal for the income to work involved ratio. Three to four nights a week for four hours a pop is not bad at all, especially if you can find a way to enjoy it. For me it's pretty hard to handle much more than 25 hours a week -- I had to quit my part time management job because it was 27.5 hours a week and between work and school I was driving for about 2 hours a day.
16 credits of calculus based physics, circuits, and linear algebra and two labs a week is not something you can keep up with reasonably when you minimum "work day" is 7.5 hours + class/lab hours (so 10.5 hours or 13.5 hours on lab days) before homework kicks in. Some people can keep up with that, but I wasn't strong enough so I cut back on my load. I learned some fantastic stuff at work during that time, but my school work suffered.
Honestly it sounds like you don't know what it is like to work -- which means you aren't familiar with the benefits! I'm not sure what your financial situation is, but unless mommy and daddy are paying everything for your schooling, shipping you on Korean vacations, and sending you a few hundred bucks a month for food and spending money you'll absolutely love the extra few hundred bucks a month. If you parents really do pay that much for you they're pampering you quite a bit so be very grateful, but keep in mind working hard might do you some good to avoid becoming "spoiled."
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On November 14 2010 09:19 4iner wrote:
So is it even possible to get a summer internship without any work experience?
Yes, I did it, as did a lot of people I know.
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I just want to thank everyone for putting things into perspective for me and I really appreciate it all the advice. But I do want to answer Cambium's post so that people will know why I was planning on taking summer class.
On November 14 2010 08:16 Cambium wrote:
I don't understand something: why can't you have summer internships? Why must you take summer classes?
Summer internships are the best way to gain working experience, assuming your school does not offer co-op. Otherwise, read up professors' webpages, and find some fields that interest you and ask them if they have small projects that you could work on (most will even offer to pay you a minimal amount of money).
And yes, working experience is much more important in landing you a job than grades, assuming your grades are not abysmal.
Basically financial aid requires me to take at least 6 credit hours in order for me to receive financial aid during the summer. If I don't then I have to pay 3 months of my apartment's rent which is 320 per month so $960 which i would have to pay myself if i choose to do summer intern.Not to mention the electric bill too.
But I do see the importance of internship and it's definietely something I will not ignore. And I'm gonna start now and I know you get paid during intern but I'm not sure if I have to move and pay rent for my current place AND the place i moved to. I don't really know anything about this.
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On November 14 2010 09:19 iEchoic wrote:Show nested quote +On November 14 2010 09:19 4iner wrote:
So is it even possible to get a summer internship without any work experience? Yes, I did it, as did a lot of people I know.
K, what if you're majoring in engineering and have only completed one year of college (so all of the necessary math, physics, and chemistry would be done, but only 1 or 2 engineering classes)? Also, how common is it for you to get paid for a summer internship?
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On November 14 2010 09:25 4iner wrote:Show nested quote +On November 14 2010 09:19 iEchoic wrote:On November 14 2010 09:19 4iner wrote:
So is it even possible to get a summer internship without any work experience? Yes, I did it, as did a lot of people I know. K, what if you're majoring in engineering and have only completed one year of college (so all of the necessary math, physics, and chemistry would be done, but only 1 or 2 engineering classes)? Also, how common is it for you to get paid for a summer internship?
Generally you won't get hired for internships until your Junior year. I've never heard of anyone getting an internship after their freshman year of college.
In engineering, generally all the internships are paid, and surprisingly paid pretty well. I've seen people get paid anywhere from $15-35 an hour in my field (computer engineering) for internships. They will often pay for relocation (moving fees and some of your rent) as well up-front if you have to travel.
On November 14 2010 09:24 MaRiNe23 wrote:
Basically financial aid requires me to take at least 6 credit hours in order for me to receive financial aid during the summer. If I don't then I have to pay 3 months of my apartment's rent which is 320 per month so $960 which i would have to pay myself if i choose to do summer intern.Not to mention the electric bill too.
Keep in mind that you'd most likely be paid for an internship. I would guess more than you'd get from financial aid.
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On November 14 2010 09:28 iEchoic wrote:
Generally you won't get hired for internships until your Junior year.
After your Junior year or before your Junior year?
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On November 14 2010 09:34 4iner wrote:Show nested quote +On November 14 2010 09:28 iEchoic wrote:
Generally you won't get hired for internships until your Junior year. After your Junior year or before your Junior year?
Usually after, but sometimes before. There are some cases where people get internships before their Junior year but from my experience, companies really want to get you before you go into your senior year as you'll be more knowledgeable and if they like you they can pick you up for a permanent position a year later if they like you.
I'd say you'd want to look into internships after your sophomore year (summer before Junior year). You might get a hit. If not, you'll have a better chance next year.
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The American economy is so bad you can't even get a job delivering pizzas?
Wow....
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You should really try to do more. Try to find an internship, go to job fairs whenever your school have them even if you aren't looking for a job/internship. It's great to get a feel on interviews and learn how to talk people and make a good first impression so they'll remember you. You should really start doing this NOW because you're a junior. Once you're a senior a lot of companies will refuse to give you a chance at a internship opportunity.
If you can't get internships, try to get part time jobs, volunteer a little or heck join a club and run for a position in the club. Most clubs don't do shit anyhow and tons of people join clubs just to put something on their resume. Try to get a position though, I don't think attending clubs actually mean anything on your resume, while something like "Event coordinator for <insert club here>" sounds a lot better.
I was in the same boat when I was in college. I was never active enough to join clubs and didn't have to find a job since parents/loans covered the majority of my college cost. My resume was literally blank (I had one job in construction when I was a junior in HS, and my major is computer science) and I literally had nothing on there. When I started looking at job postings after I graduated, every company basically wanted at least 3-4+ years of experience and a slew of other requirements. it also didn't help that I have 0 interview experience and basically had to mass interviews just to learn how to get better.
When I graduated I was so desperate to put something on my shitty resume, that I was working for free for an "internship" (big quotes) in a computer repair store. The asshole jewish boss (I'm not being racist... he was Jewish and I swear he turned me into a racist from working under him  ) was literally working me 10 hours a day, 6 days a week for FREE and he had the audacity to complain when he asked if I was going to show up for Thanksgiving and I said no. oh and it took me an hour and a half to get to the shop one way because I had to take public transportation. 10 hours a day + 3 hours transportation + 8 hours of sleep = 21 hours taken already and I always spent a good hour and a half applying to at least 5 jobs a day and continue reading my certification books because I hated the fact that I was working there so much...
I'm not sure how much the "internship" (aka slave labor) helped but I felt like I got a lot more interviews after I put the experience on my resume (I was getting a lot more phone interviews and was getting 1-2 interviews a week as opposed to 1-2 every few weeks). The experience wasn't really important but it did help me fill out my resume a lot. I quit the shitty store after a month but in interviews I always exaggerate a little and say that I did it for at least a couple of months and made up some BS reason on why I left. A few weeks after I quit, I got hired as at a IT gig at some financial firm so I guess it was worth it. I ended up only working at the firm for a few months (got laid off) but at least I don't have to use big ass fonts on my resume to fill up space anymore.
Not saying this shittiness will happen to you but you should take advantage of internships when you can... esp if you want to find work in your field. Honestly I doubt I'll ever find anything in programming nowadays just because every programming job description has ridiculous programming experience requirements.
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On November 14 2010 09:37 iEchoic wrote:Show nested quote +On November 14 2010 09:34 4iner wrote:On November 14 2010 09:28 iEchoic wrote:
Generally you won't get hired for internships until your Junior year. After your Junior year or before your Junior year? Usually after, but sometimes before. There are some cases where people get internships before their Junior year but from my experience, companies really want to get you before you go into your senior year as you'll be more knowledgeable and if they like you they can pick you up for a permanent position a year later if they like you. I'd say you'd want to look into internships after your sophomore year (summer before Junior year). You might get a hit. If not, you'll have a better chance next year.
Well damn, that kinda sucks since I'm planning on graduating from college in three years (still with a max of 17 hours of classes per semester). Maybe I'll have to extend it to 3.5 years.
How does the naming/labeling (freshman, sophomore, etc.) work if you're graduating in three years?
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Dude, I'm in the same position as you. Have had minimum paying jobs, but really not the work experience related to my major. I'm a junior and majoring in statistics/math and yeah...I'm fucked.
Idk what I am gonna do. Probably apply to some internships and hope for the best lol
>_<;;;;
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Why are you taking so many summer courses? Internship>college courses, and you really don't need to be taking three summers. If you look around you can get internships pretty easily, especially unpaid ones. My first one was during sophmore fall semester (unpaid) which lead to a paid corporate gig during my sophomore summer.
Bottom line is don't take a 3rd summer school semester and get an internship instead.
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On November 14 2010 09:57 Amnesia wrote:
Dude, I'm in the same position as you. Have had minimum paying jobs, but really not the work experience related to my major. I'm a junior and majoring in statistics/math and yeah...I'm fucked.
Idk what I am gonna do. Probably apply to some internships and hope for the best lol
>_<;;;;
Get a research job this summer. They sucks the big one, but they're soooooo worth having on your resume so you can sit there shooting the shit with the person giving you an interview (if they're someone in your field of work and have gone through a research program. They all suck, there are no exceptions)
Edit: I really hope I'm not thinking too far out of bounds here but try looking for a roomate on TL or someone who will let you stay at their place cheap. I know I'd be willing to help out someone from this community.
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On November 14 2010 10:22 Risen wrote:Show nested quote +On November 14 2010 09:57 Amnesia wrote:
Dude, I'm in the same position as you. Have had minimum paying jobs, but really not the work experience related to my major. I'm a junior and majoring in statistics/math and yeah...I'm fucked.
Idk what I am gonna do. Probably apply to some internships and hope for the best lol
>_<;;;; Get a research job this summer. They sucks the big one, but they're soooooo worth having on your resume so you can sit there shooting the shit with the person giving you an interview (if they're someone in your field of work and have gone through a research program. They all suck, there are no exceptions)
Any tips about getting one?
I mean, I was in Engineering a few years ago, did horrible. Now I switched majors and my GPA is looking A LOT better because I've been getting good grades consistently ever since. Only hoping for it to get better. So imo grades are not the issue, but getting the work experience necssary is needed.
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Why thank you good sir.  <3
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On November 14 2010 10:28 Amnesia wrote:Why thank you good sir. <3
Seriously if you can get funded take that route, you get to be your own boss and that's what I did (just find a professor to go along with it)
But I have a lot of friends who went the already established program route. (If you wind up needing help with Thermoacoustics hit me up haha)
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Ok so I made another edit after re-reading the thread several times and making my decision. I'm gonna try to find an intern but I just have two more questions.
1) I heard someone mention that you need a 3.0 GPA? What if my GPA is like low..is it still possible for me?
2) I'm not a Junior yet, But I'll be a Junior after this semester is over(going by credit hours)so since I'm currently a 2nd semester sophmore, will I be okay since I'll be a Junior next semester?
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On November 14 2010 11:33 MaRiNe23 wrote:
Ok so I made another edit after re-reading the thread several times and making my decision. I'm gonna try to find an intern but I just have two more questions.
1) I heard someone mention that you need a 3.0 GPA? What if my GPA is like low..is it still possible for me?
2) I'm not a Junior yet, But I'll be a Junior after this semester is over(going by credit hours)so since I'm currently a 2nd semester sophmore, will I be okay since I'll be a Junior next semester?
Go to your school guidance counselor. With a GPA<3.0 and 2 years w/ summers but still a sophmore by credit means there's something wrong (w/ regard to scheduling, courses, etc...). I'm sure they can help you much more than we can. Unless you want to post your transcript or something...but I'm doubtful you want to do so.
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frankly speaking, you're in a very shitty position: no work experience and terrible gpa. you should apply to internships and programs but seriously you have very slim chances (unless it's at a random university desperate for manpower). you're best chance is to start picking up the slack in grades and get your ass out there into the real world and try to get some volunteer positions. Ask labs and companies if they need an extra hand to help out and don't expect to get paid. Think about it, why would they paid you?
tl;dr: get better grades and volunteer
P.S. do you have any cool or noteworthy personal projects? Like some useful website you made for fun or some car you built (you get the point). Those things are pretty good for resumes. There's also a section of the resume for "skills" like Java programming, Photoshop, etc. Try to make that look impressive.
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He might be in a shitty position but he still has (at least) 2 whole years of school left which is probably enough time to get his act together.
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On November 14 2010 11:59 caelym wrote:
frankly speaking, you're in a very shitty position: no work experience and terrible gpa. you should apply to internships and programs but seriously you have very slim chances (unless it's at a random university desperate for manpower). you're best chance is to start picking up the slack in grades and get your ass out there into the real world and try to get some volunteer positions. Ask labs and companies if they need an extra hand to help out and don't expect to get paid. Think about it, why would they paid you?
tl;dr: get better grades and volunteer
P.S. do you have any cool or noteworthy personal projects? Like some useful website you made for fun or some car you built (you get the point). Those things are pretty good for resumes. There's also a section of the resume for "skills" like Java programming, Photoshop, etc. Try to make that look impressive.
I'm currently in a Beginner's C Programming class and I kept all the programs that I made so far. They all compile and run just fine. Lol does that count?
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no, programming exercises for classes don't count. I'm talking about things like iphone apps, web apps, beautifully designed websites, etc.
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Naw man..I have nothing like that. Sigh..it looks like the only thing I can do for myself is to raise my GPA. Is 3.0 really required for engineering majors to get interns? Cuz like at my school, to transfer into Industrial Engineering you only need a 2.5 GPA. For ME, you need 2.8 and Civil u need 2.7 etc. And I ask engineers around me all the time what their GPA's are and very rarely do I get anyone that's above a 3.0.
Like I'm going through my options and I really wanna intern but i have to first raise my GPA so like the only other options are to volunteer like u said or like do my workstudy or try to find a job at walmart or something part time.
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On November 14 2010 13:12 caelym wrote:
no, programming exercises for classes don't count. I'm talking about things like iphone apps, web apps, beautifully designed websites, etc.
I don't think he's going into any of that ... it doesn't help him with his Industrial Engineering stuff. It's always nice to have side projects to diversify yourself but I think it's more urgent to get him focused on his actual major and what he'll be doing out of college (or try to be doing).
Asking profs about IE research usually doesn't involve them looking at your GPA unless it's ultracompetitive. I think that's an easier way to go than the internship route which basically requires you to have a resume that will show your GPA is below 3.0. Find an Ind Engineering mentor to actually guide you ... you'll probably get better answers and more specific answers in regards to your actual final profession.
Edit: You really need to get your GPA up ... if you actually wanna get a good Ind Engineering job. Just set some goals for yourself. Even a 3.2 vs a 3.0 makes a big different imo. Grades are really an "easy" way for companies to pass you over when you start looking for jobs out of college.
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On November 14 2010 09:52 4iner wrote:Show nested quote +On November 14 2010 09:37 iEchoic wrote:On November 14 2010 09:34 4iner wrote:On November 14 2010 09:28 iEchoic wrote:
Generally you won't get hired for internships until your Junior year. After your Junior year or before your Junior year? Usually after, but sometimes before. There are some cases where people get internships before their Junior year but from my experience, companies really want to get you before you go into your senior year as you'll be more knowledgeable and if they like you they can pick you up for a permanent position a year later if they like you. I'd say you'd want to look into internships after your sophomore year (summer before Junior year). You might get a hit. If not, you'll have a better chance next year. Well damn, that kinda sucks since I'm planning on graduating from college in three years (still with a max of 17 hours of classes per semester). Maybe I'll have to extend it to 3.5 years. How does the naming/labeling (freshman, sophomore, etc.) work if you're graduating in three years?
Are you going to grad school? If so, research experience is generally the primary determining aspect of your admission chances.
If its a major where you can get a job out of undergrad then ... I'm not very qualified to give you advice.
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I was only giving examples of side projects to beef up his resume. In the end, it's about grades and initiative.
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I'm in the same situation, except I'm in a Senior in Mechanical Engineering.
I haven't been able to work a minimum wage-type job because I am physically unable to stand for long periods of time or do any type of heavy lifting, knocking out 99% of minimum wage jobs.
And it's not like I don't have any free time. I have ALL the free time in the world, I can easily work a 40 hour a week job with my class schedule and still do fine (got a 3.95 GPA).
I can't get crap, I've gotten into every honor society, have fantastic references, done well in all my classes, gotten recommendations, know people in the work force, had them put in good words for me. and STILL can't get an internship, no matter what I do. On top of that NOBODY is hiring anymore.
Ok sorry for that little rant, I just had to get it out haha.
I'm starting to lose hope...
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I am a 4th year biomedical engineering student at Georgia Institute of Technology
There are a few things to consider based on my experiences and experiences of close friends:
1. Unfortunately... the prestige of your school does matter when finding jobs. When people look to hire, they generally like to hire people from "better" schools. For example, an engineer from Georgia Tech or MIT will turn heads when employers see that on the resume, but an engineer from a school like Kenesaw State.... not so much... Also lots of companies go to the "better" schools for hiring fairs and stuff because they know they can find quality people there without much effort.
2. GPA matters heavily.... I have asked employers before and they have visited us. I asked them what really goes on when they look to hire. They say that the first thing they do is sort you by GPA and literally cut off 90% of the applications straight off... The second thing they do is look at the bottom 5% (of the top 10%) and what schools they are from. If you are not from a "good" school then they just throw you away. The remaining 5% they actually sit down and read. You must realize they get THOUSANDS of application for ONE position and there's really no shortage of applicants. Then they usually interview a few and pick one. Jobs are super super hard to find now...
3. Connections matter as well... If you know a professor who is well connected or have had some sort of little internship or some sort of exposure, it helps TREMENDOUSLY. I know friends from lower GPA ranges who have gotten nice jobs because the professor they did research for knew a lot of big names in the industry and sorta helped them get in.
4. Lots of people have higher degrees. A Bachelors now is becoming weaker and weaker in the competitive market because so many people now are going to graduate school for Masters or Ph.D. and you really cannot compete with that. Higher degrees are pretty much a necessity if you want to hit those high end jobs.
5. Major Matters. Engineering right now has some of the most opportunities because engineers actually make and design product and have high practical skills. Computer science is also very powerful. Basically majors always with opportunity are related to computers or some sort of chemical or medical applications. Those jobs are always abundant because well.. people always need computing and well the other two are explanatory.
My advice to you OP is to go ahead and try to get into a good graduate school and get a Masters. Then when you put your GPA down you can put your graduate school GPA which if you work your ass off you can get a great GPA. A masters also puts you ahead of those with Bachelors as well.
To increase your chances of getting into a good gradschool:
1. Work harder... buff up your grades as much as you can.
2. Get Internships for experience or research in a lab. You need something else other than just classes. You gotta have some sort of work or lab experience. It also helps you know professors or employers better so they can write stronger recommendations.
3. Don't give up!
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The military paid off all my college debt and is basically going to put my wife and daughter through college for free. Being in the military, no matter what branch, is going to look like a huge blinking neon sign that says hire me to any company. Note that having a degree can let you go through officer canidate school, but I wouldn't reccomend it. You can get experience in pretty much any field of work you do in the real world, in the military.
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not to be harsh, but if you haven't joined any clubs or internships these past 2 years and have been focusing solely on your academics, why is your gpa sub 3.0? i think that a certain lack of experience/jobs/extracurriculars may be overlooked if your workload and grades are very impressive, but not so much otherwise. but maybe your major is really competitive and has a lot of grade deflation, in which case hopefully it wont count against you as much..
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16953 Posts
On November 14 2010 15:49 phant wrote:
I'm in the same situation, except I'm in a Senior in Mechanical Engineering.
I haven't been able to work a minimum wage-type job because I am physically unable to stand for long periods of time or do any type of heavy lifting, knocking out 99% of minimum wage jobs.
And it's not like I don't have any free time. I have ALL the free time in the world, I can easily work a 40 hour a week job with my class schedule and still do fine (got a 3.95 GPA).
I can't get crap, I've gotten into every honor society, have fantastic references, done well in all my classes, gotten recommendations, know people in the work force, had them put in good words for me. and STILL can't get an internship, no matter what I do. On top of that NOBODY is hiring anymore.
Ok sorry for that little rant, I just had to get it out haha.
I'm starting to lose hope...
I find this incredibly difficult to believe.
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OP:
Do I really need a good resume with many references,volunteer hours,extracurriculers,job experience when I honestly been investing all of my time into studying and taking courses during the summer? I mean everyone learns at a different pace..not everyone can work multiple jobs and hold a 3.0 GPA in engineering.
A couple.. er trio of things:
1. You are right, not everyone can do all of that, but SOME people can and guess what, they are the ones who get the few jobs available because they are just more competitive...
2. If you are investing all your time studying and your GPA is still bad... then there really isn't much to say
3. Some people are slower at learning (different pace) so why should employers purposefully look at slow learners when hiring? If you suck at school you better be damn good at something else.
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On November 14 2010 18:50 Empyrean wrote:Show nested quote +On November 14 2010 15:49 phant wrote:
I'm in the same situation, except I'm in a Senior in Mechanical Engineering.
I haven't been able to work a minimum wage-type job because I am physically unable to stand for long periods of time or do any type of heavy lifting, knocking out 99% of minimum wage jobs.
And it's not like I don't have any free time. I have ALL the free time in the world, I can easily work a 40 hour a week job with my class schedule and still do fine (got a 3.95 GPA).
I can't get crap, I've gotten into every honor society, have fantastic references, done well in all my classes, gotten recommendations, know people in the work force, had them put in good words for me. and STILL can't get an internship, no matter what I do. On top of that NOBODY is hiring anymore.
Ok sorry for that little rant, I just had to get it out haha.
I'm starting to lose hope... I find this incredibly difficult to believe.
What do you think I'm saying to myself?
I put in applications to a few more today that were just put up. Hopefully something happens.
We shall see.
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I graduated in Aerospace Engineering from UCSD with a 2.6 GPA, no experience.
It was difficult finding a job. I would get instantly excluded after they asked me what my GPA is. After a year I gave up and needed money so I took a job as a game tester.
Once I did that, I actually got interview requests for the engineering jobs and I actually landed one... so work experience is important. Even if it's not relevant.
Going back in time, I would...
1: Get a better GPA. If I'm not doing anything I should've at least done this.
2: Picked up some sort of work. If not an internship, just something to make money. Making money is important, it's what life is all about, everything revolves around it. It actually doesn't matter how much you make as long as you can get by and save a good portion and manage your money properly.
3: Went to office hours for classes with cool professors. Ask questions, make sure they know who you are, then later on you can approach them for recommendations or they can help you find internships/jobs/research etc. This can soften the blow of a low GPA, if your professor likes you and sees that you're putting in a lot of effort. Almost everyone I've talked to who graduated, this is their #1 regret.
4: Talked to career counselors. I don't know how it is in your school but I had both a career center and a counselor in the engineering department and I regretted not seeing them because they could've helped out immensely.
You're only a 2nd year so you have plenty of time. Just don't waste it.
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It's hard to get internships after your first year, so if you want to get relevant experience you should look for an undergraduate research position
After your second year it's possible but still not easy, so doing another undergrad research position is not a bad idea
After your third year once you've built up some credentials and have a good recommendation from one (hopefully two) PI's (or one super good one if u stay in the same lab) it's much easier to get an internship
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I had a similar issue with getting chemical engineering work experience.
What you're describing is a huge circle. To get a job you need work experience. To get work experience you need an internship or co-op. The best way to get an internship or co-op is with work experience.
Breaking into this circle is tough. I interviewed over 10 times over two years before getting an internship. You just have to keep with it.
Some employers care about GPA, but that's more of a concern if you want to go to grad school. Sure, the top students in your class will probably get internships themselves, but don't worry about it. Keep applying. Employers understand your classes are hard - they've been there and they probably struggled too! They're not interested so much in what you've done but what you can do for them.
Go to all available career fairs and utilize a university career services center or job posting site if available (most universities have one of the two). These will get you the interviews.
Don't go into the interview with a chip on your shoulder thinking you won't get the job. Employers go in to find a good fit for their company and yes, I have lost out to many students with a lower GPA (mine was 3.15). You also want a company that would be a good fit for you, but when trying to break into the experience circle take whatever you can get!
A good resume also speaks very well of you. Edit the crap out of it. Show it to professors for their input and then edit again. Print the final version on resume paper.
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On November 15 2010 02:38 kainzero wrote:
I graduated in Aerospace Engineering from UCSD with a 2.6 GPA, no experience.
Yea, i mentioned this earlier but this is more of the standard GPA I hear from aerospace and industrial and other engineers at my school all the time.
Also in regards to the rest of your post, which do you think has more weight?: having a job or volunteering? or do they both have the same weight?
ok so after re-re-evaluating my options once again i was thinking about going back to the hospital and volunteering there again this summer and possibly use the ppl i know there for some references maybe? while working on my grades to get a 3.0 i dont know if volunteer looks better or work experience looks better and i def know from this thread alrdy that interns look really good but like i said i need to pull my grades up so ill have to wait on that.
also I made a mistake im still a sophmore. I thought 50 hrs was a junior but its acutrally 60 so sorry for the confusion
Also to Appletart, I go to Texas A&M University but I'm not too sure of its prestige level.
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It depends on what industry you plan on going into but in a lot of cases a college degree means little. Think about it. Everyone applying for the job you want will have your degree or better. In many cases, having a lower degree but more years of experience is better than your degree + no experience.
The degree is like a ticket to the dance. Whether the girl (company) wants to take you will depend on other things, like social skills (you make a favorable impression with the interviewer), reliability (you held a job for a while, did your work and didn't screw up and get fired), and other stuff.
My advice for college students is to stop thinking about your career in terms of degrees/majors. Go to craigslist, or your state department of labor, or the US department of labor and research the various jobs and careers that are out there. Look up the statistics, the salaries, job openings now, future job outlook, etc. Then plan your education towards that job.
Look for a job now. See what knowledge/experience is required (like working with various machines, scientific methods, or specific software), and get those things fulfilled before you graduate. Volunteer if you have to.
The other big thing is social networking. The best way to get a job is to have a friend who is a hiring manager, or your uncle owns the company, or something like that. Knowing people and having connections gives you opportunities. Success = opportunity + preparation. Regardless of how prepared or awesome you are, w/o the opportunity your chance of success will be very low (unless you're brilliant and start your own business and be your own boss, but most ppl aren't that).
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On November 15 2010 03:42 MaRiNe23 wrote:Show nested quote +On November 15 2010 02:38 kainzero wrote:
I graduated in Aerospace Engineering from UCSD with a 2.6 GPA, no experience.
Yea, i mentioned this earlier but this is more of the standard GPA I hear from aerospace and industrial and other engineers at my school all the time. Also in regards to the rest of your post, which do you think has more weight?: having a job or volunteering? or do they both have the same weight? ok so after re-re-evaluating my options once again i was thinking about going back to the hospital and volunteering there again this summer and possibly use the ppl i know there for some references maybe? while working on my grades to get a 3.0 i dont know if volunteer looks better or work experience looks better and i def know from this thread alrdy that interns look really good but like i said i need to pull my grades up so ill have to wait on that. also I made a mistake im still a sophmore. I thought 50 hrs was a junior but its acutrally 60 so sorry for the confusion Also to Appletart, I go to Texas A&M University but I'm not too sure of its prestige level.
Volunteering is great, but I would still try to get a job, it still has more weight UNLESS I would say it was some pretty involved volunteering ie. Engineers without Boundries etc.
Top Engineering Undergraduate Programs:
1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2 Stanford University
3 University of California--Berkeley
4 California Institute of Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology
6 University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign
7 University of Michigan--Ann Arbor
8 Carnegie Mellon University
Cornell University
Purdue University--West Lafayette
Top Industrial Engineering Programs:
1 Georgia Institute of Technology
2 University of Michigan--Ann Arbor
3 University of California--Berkeley
4 Northwestern University (McCormick)
Pennsylvania State University--University Park
Stanford University
Virginia Tech
8 Cornell University
Texas A&M University--College Station (Look)
10 Purdue University--West Lafayette
University of Wisconsin--Madison
Texas A&M is a tier 1 industrial engineering school (pretty sweet) and a tier 1.5 overall school (sweet as well)
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The biggest thing is that you need to be PROACTIVE. The real world is pretty harsh on passive people. If you really want to get a good, well-paying Industrial Engineering job out of college you need to grab every opportunity you have while you're in undergrad right now.
So go do stuff. Talk to profs, talk to classmates, talk to upperclassmen who are doing IE, talk to professionals in the IE right now, ask for advice from everyone, schedule meetings with them, call them, look on your school website for research opportunities, volunteer, be friendly and hard-working with everyone you meet, make sure they know who you are, and keep them in the loop after you're done working with them (update ppl on what you're up to even if you haven't seen them in awhile), keep up with your contacts, etc!
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On November 15 2010 04:15 AppleTart wrote:Show nested quote +On November 15 2010 03:42 MaRiNe23 wrote:On November 15 2010 02:38 kainzero wrote:
I graduated in Aerospace Engineering from UCSD with a 2.6 GPA, no experience.
Yea, i mentioned this earlier but this is more of the standard GPA I hear from aerospace and industrial and other engineers at my school all the time. Also in regards to the rest of your post, which do you think has more weight?: having a job or volunteering? or do they both have the same weight? ok so after re-re-evaluating my options once again i was thinking about going back to the hospital and volunteering there again this summer and possibly use the ppl i know there for some references maybe? while working on my grades to get a 3.0 i dont know if volunteer looks better or work experience looks better and i def know from this thread alrdy that interns look really good but like i said i need to pull my grades up so ill have to wait on that. also I made a mistake im still a sophmore. I thought 50 hrs was a junior but its acutrally 60 so sorry for the confusion Also to Appletart, I go to Texas A&M University but I'm not too sure of its prestige level. Volunteering is great, but I would still try to get a job, it still has more weight UNLESS I would say it was some pretty involved volunteering ie. Engineers without Boundries etc. Top Engineering Undergraduate Programs: 1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2 Stanford University 3 University of California--Berkeley 4 California Institute of Technology Georgia Institute of Technology 6 University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign 7 University of Michigan--Ann Arbor 8 Carnegie Mellon University Cornell University Purdue University--West Lafayette Top Industrial Engineering Programs: 1 Georgia Institute of Technology 2 University of Michigan--Ann Arbor 3 University of California--Berkeley 4 Northwestern University (McCormick) Pennsylvania State University--University Park Stanford University Virginia Tech 8 Cornell University Texas A&M University--College Station (Look) 10 Purdue University--West Lafayette University of Wisconsin--Madison Texas A&M is a tier 1 industrial engineering school (pretty sweet) and a tier 1.5 overall school (sweet as well)
Ok I'll def try for a part time job then. At this point I'm trying to do whatever I can do make my resume look better and if a job is gonna look better then ill have to just do that.
And what do you mean by "sweet" lol. I still have a blank resume. Even if i go to A&M it wont help me if i dont have a good gpa or a blank resume right?
And like i just wanna thank everyrone again. This has been very helpful.
Two big things i learned is to get a job asap for work experience and raise my grades for intern.
i think ima go study for my exam next week tho. reading this thread several times and thinking up a thoughtful response took up like a ton of my weekend alrdy but nonetheless i dont consider it a waste cuz i learned some thigns that i really need to be doing right now.
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On November 15 2010 04:43 MaRiNe23 wrote:Show nested quote +On November 15 2010 04:15 AppleTart wrote:On November 15 2010 03:42 MaRiNe23 wrote:On November 15 2010 02:38 kainzero wrote:
I graduated in Aerospace Engineering from UCSD with a 2.6 GPA, no experience.
Yea, i mentioned this earlier but this is more of the standard GPA I hear from aerospace and industrial and other engineers at my school all the time. Also in regards to the rest of your post, which do you think has more weight?: having a job or volunteering? or do they both have the same weight? ok so after re-re-evaluating my options once again i was thinking about going back to the hospital and volunteering there again this summer and possibly use the ppl i know there for some references maybe? while working on my grades to get a 3.0 i dont know if volunteer looks better or work experience looks better and i def know from this thread alrdy that interns look really good but like i said i need to pull my grades up so ill have to wait on that. also I made a mistake im still a sophmore. I thought 50 hrs was a junior but its acutrally 60 so sorry for the confusion Also to Appletart, I go to Texas A&M University but I'm not too sure of its prestige level. Volunteering is great, but I would still try to get a job, it still has more weight UNLESS I would say it was some pretty involved volunteering ie. Engineers without Boundries etc. Top Engineering Undergraduate Programs: 1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2 Stanford University 3 University of California--Berkeley 4 California Institute of Technology Georgia Institute of Technology 6 University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign 7 University of Michigan--Ann Arbor 8 Carnegie Mellon University Cornell University Purdue University--West Lafayette Top Industrial Engineering Programs: 1 Georgia Institute of Technology 2 University of Michigan--Ann Arbor 3 University of California--Berkeley 4 Northwestern University (McCormick) Pennsylvania State University--University Park Stanford University Virginia Tech 8 Cornell University Texas A&M University--College Station (Look) 10 Purdue University--West Lafayette University of Wisconsin--Madison Texas A&M is a tier 1 industrial engineering school (pretty sweet) and a tier 1.5 overall school (sweet as well) Ok I'll def try for a part time job then. At this point I'm trying to do whatever I can do make my resume look better and if a job is gonna look better then ill have to just do that. And what do you mean by "sweet" lol. I still have a blank resume. Even if i go to A&M it wont help me if i dont have a good gpa or a blank resume right?
It means you are at least lucky to be in a good school... the rest is up to you, your GPA and your other experiences. You just have to look. I don't think you realize how intense things really are...
Another thing, you seem to be so focused on just filling up space or whatever. Honestly just do what you like and your resume will fill up. If you don't even know what you want to do or even like you have bigger problems.
I am going to grad school next year and before I was just motivated because I was like oh I want to get a Ph.D. and be all badass and stuff. The truth is, after speaking with my professors I realized you really have to be passionate about it. I explored deeper and when I found what I really loved I simply worked my ass off and didn't even realize it. I just really wanted it that badly. My GPA isn't that high either (Ph.D. programs want 3.7s), but the professors I spoke to at Tech and other schools said: "Appletart (well they said my real name), I can hear the excitement in your voice and you seem really passionate about cancer research!" They offered me a spot in their Ph.D. program.
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On November 15 2010 04:46 AppleTart wrote:Show nested quote +On November 15 2010 04:43 MaRiNe23 wrote:On November 15 2010 04:15 AppleTart wrote:On November 15 2010 03:42 MaRiNe23 wrote:On November 15 2010 02:38 kainzero wrote:
I graduated in Aerospace Engineering from UCSD with a 2.6 GPA, no experience.
Yea, i mentioned this earlier but this is more of the standard GPA I hear from aerospace and industrial and other engineers at my school all the time. Also in regards to the rest of your post, which do you think has more weight?: having a job or volunteering? or do they both have the same weight? ok so after re-re-evaluating my options once again i was thinking about going back to the hospital and volunteering there again this summer and possibly use the ppl i know there for some references maybe? while working on my grades to get a 3.0 i dont know if volunteer looks better or work experience looks better and i def know from this thread alrdy that interns look really good but like i said i need to pull my grades up so ill have to wait on that. also I made a mistake im still a sophmore. I thought 50 hrs was a junior but its acutrally 60 so sorry for the confusion Also to Appletart, I go to Texas A&M University but I'm not too sure of its prestige level. Volunteering is great, but I would still try to get a job, it still has more weight UNLESS I would say it was some pretty involved volunteering ie. Engineers without Boundries etc. Top Engineering Undergraduate Programs: 1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2 Stanford University 3 University of California--Berkeley 4 California Institute of Technology Georgia Institute of Technology 6 University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign 7 University of Michigan--Ann Arbor 8 Carnegie Mellon University Cornell University Purdue University--West Lafayette Top Industrial Engineering Programs: 1 Georgia Institute of Technology 2 University of Michigan--Ann Arbor 3 University of California--Berkeley 4 Northwestern University (McCormick) Pennsylvania State University--University Park Stanford University Virginia Tech 8 Cornell University Texas A&M University--College Station (Look) 10 Purdue University--West Lafayette University of Wisconsin--Madison Texas A&M is a tier 1 industrial engineering school (pretty sweet) and a tier 1.5 overall school (sweet as well) Ok I'll def try for a part time job then. At this point I'm trying to do whatever I can do make my resume look better and if a job is gonna look better then ill have to just do that. And what do you mean by "sweet" lol. I still have a blank resume. Even if i go to A&M it wont help me if i dont have a good gpa or a blank resume right? it means you are at least lucky to be in a good school... the rest is up to you, your GPA and your other experiences. You just have to look. I don't think you realize how intense things really are... Another thing, you seem to be so focused on just filling up space or whatever. Honestly just do what you like and your resume will fill up. If you don't even know what you want to do or even like you have bigger problems.
Stuff that i like doing, i cant put on the resume though. I mean I like playing video games and playing the guitar and singing and watching movies. <---i cant put that on a resume
I'm pretty sure you're talking about clubs or organizations that i like? Then yea there are none that i genuinly like. So i think for me a job part-time is the best bet.
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On November 15 2010 04:53 MaRiNe23 wrote:Show nested quote +On November 15 2010 04:46 AppleTart wrote:On November 15 2010 04:43 MaRiNe23 wrote:On November 15 2010 04:15 AppleTart wrote:On November 15 2010 03:42 MaRiNe23 wrote:On November 15 2010 02:38 kainzero wrote:
I graduated in Aerospace Engineering from UCSD with a 2.6 GPA, no experience.
Yea, i mentioned this earlier but this is more of the standard GPA I hear from aerospace and industrial and other engineers at my school all the time. Also in regards to the rest of your post, which do you think has more weight?: having a job or volunteering? or do they both have the same weight? ok so after re-re-evaluating my options once again i was thinking about going back to the hospital and volunteering there again this summer and possibly use the ppl i know there for some references maybe? while working on my grades to get a 3.0 i dont know if volunteer looks better or work experience looks better and i def know from this thread alrdy that interns look really good but like i said i need to pull my grades up so ill have to wait on that. also I made a mistake im still a sophmore. I thought 50 hrs was a junior but its acutrally 60 so sorry for the confusion Also to Appletart, I go to Texas A&M University but I'm not too sure of its prestige level. Volunteering is great, but I would still try to get a job, it still has more weight UNLESS I would say it was some pretty involved volunteering ie. Engineers without Boundries etc. Top Engineering Undergraduate Programs: 1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2 Stanford University 3 University of California--Berkeley 4 California Institute of Technology Georgia Institute of Technology 6 University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign 7 University of Michigan--Ann Arbor 8 Carnegie Mellon University Cornell University Purdue University--West Lafayette Top Industrial Engineering Programs: 1 Georgia Institute of Technology 2 University of Michigan--Ann Arbor 3 University of California--Berkeley 4 Northwestern University (McCormick) Pennsylvania State University--University Park Stanford University Virginia Tech 8 Cornell University Texas A&M University--College Station (Look) 10 Purdue University--West Lafayette University of Wisconsin--Madison Texas A&M is a tier 1 industrial engineering school (pretty sweet) and a tier 1.5 overall school (sweet as well) Ok I'll def try for a part time job then. At this point I'm trying to do whatever I can do make my resume look better and if a job is gonna look better then ill have to just do that. And what do you mean by "sweet" lol. I still have a blank resume. Even if i go to A&M it wont help me if i dont have a good gpa or a blank resume right? it means you are at least lucky to be in a good school... the rest is up to you, your GPA and your other experiences. You just have to look. I don't think you realize how intense things really are... Another thing, you seem to be so focused on just filling up space or whatever. Honestly just do what you like and your resume will fill up. If you don't even know what you want to do or even like you have bigger problems. Stuff that i like doing, i cant put on the resume though. I mean I like playing video games and playing the guitar and singing and watching movies. <---i cant put that on a resume I'm pretty sure you're talking about clubs or organizations that i like? Then yea there are none that i genuinly like. So i think for me a job part-time is the best bet.
You haven't experienced enough if those are the only things you like. Also there's no reason to write how good your school is on your resume, the school name speaks for itself.
Oh and I also added some more to my last post.
Why do you think your grades are low? Are you overloading yourself? Are you really putting in 100% or are you slacking? If you aren't giving it your all and taking initiative then you need to start working harder. It bothers me sometime that people are like talking about how low their GPA is and saying what are my other outs. Simply put, bring that GPA up. If you study for only an hour a day, man up study four times as much. If you finish your homework, man up and do an extra 10 problems. Instead of playing sc for 3 hours a day, man up and play for 1.5 hours.
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I find the chances of any company giving 2 craps about you joining (for example) the asian student association at your uni, or an acapella group at your univeristy, or whatever, to be pretty low. They don't want a diverse group of people, they want people who are proven to be hard working, qualified, knowledgeable, and the way you show that is by doing work and doing research in your field or interning in your field, not by doing these fun activities unfortunately.
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I find the chances of any company giving 2 craps about you joining (for example) the asianstudent association at your uni, or an acapella group at your univeristy, or whatever, to be pretty low. They don't want a diverse group of people, they want people who are proven to be hard working, qualified, knowledgeable, and the way you show that is by doing work and doing research in your field or interning in your field, not by doing these fun activities unfortunately.
This is probably true but when you come out of college with nothing on your resume, it's better than nothing. "President of <asian club>" sounds decent even though the club probably doesn't do shit. I'd take any working experience/internships over this though.
Also weirdly enough, I once had a interview where the interviewer went to the same school I did and was involved with the same asian club. we ended up talking a little about the club's yearly event to break the ice. That was probably a one in a million chance though 
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On November 15 2010 13:54 crazeman wrote:Show nested quote +I find the chances of any company giving 2 craps about you joining (for example) the asianstudent association at your uni, or an acapella group at your univeristy, or whatever, to be pretty low. They don't want a diverse group of people, they want people who are proven to be hard working, qualified, knowledgeable, and the way you show that is by doing work and doing research in your field or interning in your field, not by doing these fun activities unfortunately. This is probably true but when you come out of college with nothing on your resume, it's better than nothing. "President of <asian club>" sounds decent even though the club probably doesn't do shit. I'd take any working experience/internships over this though. Also weirdly enough, I once had a interview where the interviewer went to the same school I did and was involved with the same asian club. we ended up talking a little about the club's yearly event to break the ice. That was probably a one in a million chance though
Although it is a one in a million chance, getting involved still increased your chances!
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On November 15 2010 03:42 MaRiNe23 wrote:
Yea, i mentioned this earlier but this is more of the standard GPA I hear from aerospace and industrial and other engineers at my school all the time.
Yeah, but those are other engineering students, not professional engineers. Why would you compare yourself to those guys?
All the high GPA people I knew were set after graduation. All the low GPA people I knew struggled to find a job if they didn't have an internship beforehand.
Seriously, most people in college are absolutely clueless in how to use it to their advantage. Don't be one of them. I was. High GPA matters, and people who don't have it are scrubs. Do you want to be a scrub too?
Also in regards to the rest of your post, which do you think has more weight?: having a job or volunteering? or do they both have the same weight?
Obviously you want to do something that challenges you and you can't make that kind of assumption based on whether it's paid or not. Do you want someone who makes $8/hr sweeping the floors at McDonald's, or do you want a volunteer who helps organize a sci-fi convention serving 20000 people with a budget of $20 million? Do you want someone who does paid research for the university, or the Asian Club President whose tasks consist purely of organizing parties?
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Thanks guys, I'm not the OP but I learned a lot from this thread.
I think I'll start preparing for a summer internship soon. Hopefully being an electrical engineer in a big city make up for my low gpa for finding work.
I have very little work experience, but I think my reference will speak well of me.
I'm also doing robotics this year, it's a small time commitment but it will give me something to talk about when I'm looking for a job, and will show how well rounded I am.
I have to try harder in school, but I already know this.
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On November 16 2010 02:38 kainzero wrote:Show nested quote +On November 15 2010 03:42 MaRiNe23 wrote:
Yea, i mentioned this earlier but this is more of the standard GPA I hear from aerospace and industrial and other engineers at my school all the time. Yeah, but those are other engineering students, not professional engineers. Why would you compare yourself to those guys? All the high GPA people I knew were set after graduation. All the low GPA people I knew struggled to find a job if they didn't have an internship beforehand. Seriously, most people in college are absolutely clueless in how to use it to their advantage. Don't be one of them. I was. High GPA matters, and people who don't have it are scrubs. Do you want to be a scrub too? Show nested quote +Also in regards to the rest of your post, which do you think has more weight?: having a job or volunteering? or do they both have the same weight? Obviously you want to do something that challenges you and you can't make that kind of assumption based on whether it's paid or not. Do you want someone who makes $8/hr sweeping the floors at McDonald's, or do you want a volunteer who helps organize a sci-fi convention serving 20000 people with a budget of $20 million? Do you want someone who does paid research for the university, or the Asian Club President whose tasks consist purely of organizing parties?
This guy is completely right. Top companies screen by marks. They have easily 20-30k applicants a year. you really think they are going to read everyone? That's why if you are top of the classes, chances are, you get more interviews and more offers. You might be smarter, but on paper you aren't. And unless you have something else like work experience or volunteer experience that is RELEVANT to show you are more capable for the job, probably won't get the chance to even prove yourself.
Don't be a fool. Marks do matter. From highest to least importance. Marks > Work Experience >>>> Volunteer/EC. If you have more work experience, you can have less marks.
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EPT
