8 months since graduation and still looking for a job

[changbroot]

Hi,
Sorry if I'm in the wrong section, but I need some advice/suggestions as to my problem.

It's been 8 months now that I've graduated with a Nuclear Engineering degree and still no luck finding a job (in Canada or elsewhere). I also have a 3-year diploma in Electronics Communications Technology and even I've been applying to Technologist (which I'm) and Technician jobs related to nuclear industry. I even paid the so called pros to rewrite my resume to make sure I'm not missing anything and still can't get a lousy phone call despite applying to tons of jobs. LinkedIn and all connections didn't help either. My patience is running thin and I'm really frustrated.

Any help is greatly appreciated.


PS: In the mean time, I'm "Ubering" and keeping busy with building a quadcopter, radiation detector, trying to get a Java SE 8 Associate Certification and learning AutoCAD.

[tolstoy]

Have you looked at laborer or facilities positions? Not nearly as exciting but some utilities used to use these positions for first hires and for training. I know of one utility where all management hires go through the facilities supervisor position. It's a great place to learn to herd cats.

Where is your nuclear engineering degree from? Unless it's from a recognized and bigger school it might not be helping. Look at it from a hiring manager's view - if I have two folks with engineering degrees and one went to MIT and the other has a certificate from somewhere I've never heard of then it's an easy pick. It in know way means anyone is smarter than anyone else but one person has a proven record. On that note I'm a huge fan of certification. Get any that you can. It's the same scenario. Two people apply. One is certified and one is not. Everything else being equal I choose the certification knowing that the cert holder had to prove they could do the work or perform the calcs somewhere along the line.

I would also advise that you spread your net wide. You can chase down all the controversy you want to on this site but nuclear has been waning for a couple of decades with no evidence of resurgence. Every plant that closes pushes a couple hundred very qualified people into a very limited workspace. Many of these folks will take any job for any pay in any location.

As you're already learning - getting your foot in the door is the hardest step. 

[SloGlo]

yeah, watt tolstoy said. maybe tri an udder engineering discipline for entry work.... like a civil engineering oar construction. yew could apply to the nuclear industry vendor companies, they use lots of engineers (two many imho) and have grate gateways to utility positions. then there are the job shops witch will place engineers on any site that pays for them.

[changbroot]

Where is your nuclear engineering degree from?

Thanks tolstoy. I have graduated from an accredited and recognized university in Ontario, Canada. University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) is one of the favorite universities for most employers out here in Ontario. Also, I haven't applied to those kinds of positions and sometimes I reluctantly do apply to Mechanical, Process, Systems and other kind of engineering. I don't know if it's just me or are there other engineers in a same situation. I'm beginning to regret my degree and should have gone for CISCO, Microsoft, Java and Citrix certification. They are cheaper and there are tons of jobs.

[Frank Cable]

EXACTLY what is your degree?  In the United States many Universities offer actual Mechanical Engineering degrees and a "easier" Mechanical Engineering Technology degree. Do you have an actual engineering degree or a engineering technology degree?  Obviously substitute mechanical for any other discipline.

[Atomic Samson]

I'm afraid that it just may take awhile.  I graduated in May 2014 with a BSME (nuclear option) and it took a year and a half before I was hired. 

Now as a Mechanical Engineer I could cast a pretty wide net in terms of jobs, compared to a Nuclear Engineer(I assume anyway).  I also applied to jobs at power plants (nuclear and coal) and utilities that I was overqualified for in terms of education just to get my foot in the door.  I think your biggest obstacle right now is likely your lack of experience.  I know that isn't very useful, but I was also in the same boat.  The job market right now, especially in the nuclear industry, isn't favorable to those of us just starting out. 

I applied for a number of jobs with NPPD and was told via a friend who works there that if I just had a year or two of work experience they would have hired me.  And these were 'entry-level' engineering positions. 

I wish I could offer some better advice other than to just hang in there and keep sending out applications. 

[SloGlo]

I need a job.. 

wit this post two start a discussion, yew wood probly dew bettor on a free weigh ramp waving a sine.

[Mounder]

Canada's just having a tough go right now with commodities so cheap and their economy so dependent on them..  Blame Obama for being the fracking oil czar of the world and the world's top oil producer...    Things will pick back up for Canada. 

[rlbinc]

Oh heck. Visit your Navy Recruiter today.
Lets get you some experience at test depth.

[S T I G]

Bro, I was right where you're at a year ago. It took me many late nights and many pots of coffee to find a job after school. With you're duel degree, I honestly don't think you should have a horrible time finding a job. Nukeworker is a great resource, but this is what I did:

COMMIT TIME!

DO NOT PAY OTHER PEOPLE TO WRITE YOUR RESUME!

1) Make an excel spread sheet of job applications which entail about 5-6 categories of info (i.e. date applied, company, postion #, location, sign-in info, and website link.

2) establish a well defined group of search parameters when looking for a job online (one word could possibly keep one position from popping up where as others may not) this should be kept to 4-5 search scenarios at the most)

3) DRINK COFFEE AND DO RESEARCH!

4) Be active every day! Job's quite literally pop up every day on many different websites. You must get in a rhythm of applying for positions daily. I cannot stress this enough. But, in addition to this, you need to have about 2-3 variations of your resume depending which specific position you are applying for within Engineering (Nuke/IT, etc). There are many "KEY WORD" search programs out there that HR reps utilize to weed out submitted resumes. There is nothing wrong with making MINOR adjustments to your resume to suit the job description (do not falsify your information!). Updating your resume and writing your resume to suit the job description makes a noticeable difference.

5) apply to companies directly through their websites and do not soley rely upon mass job search websites alone.

6) follow up on your submitted resumes. Make cordial inquires as toward the status of your submitted resume or position every so often (i.e. NO MORE THAN 2)

7) Network!, get involved in local groups or associations, talk to people on related forums like your doing now. Get to know people. This is important for people starting out in any field.

DON'T GET DOWN ON YOURSELF AND KEEP APPLYING EVERYDAY!



I don't know, thats all i got

[GLW]

Bro, I was right where you're at a year ago. It took me many late nights and many pots of coffee to find a job after school., With you're duel degree I honestly don't think you should have a horrible time finding a job. Nukeworker is a great resource..............

your school owes you a refund,...

[S T I G]

I already asked them for one but they said no

[GLW]

I already asked them for one but they said no

good one!!,...

[SloGlo]

good one!!,...

n after awl this, eye am the won waring the bulls aye... gist saying.