Thank you everyone for your helpful replies. I am taking this all to heart and hoping that I can enact a change in this department!
That's crazy... It might be the area you're living in? Some places desire a certain employee more so than others.
Maybe, right now I'm looking for jobs anywhere in CA. That's actually one of the problems I thought of... maybe the companies on the west coast give preference to west-coast-educated applicants? That's actually why I had a hard time making use of my school's career resources... so many of them were focused on east coast companies, and I really wanted to be back on the west coast.
I am really surprised it's that hard to find a biomedical engineering job. Have you considered moving to a city where most of the biomedical engineering work is (not sure where that is, Boston?) Or have you considered just searching for other types of engineering fields, if biomedical has very few job openings.
Yes, I've considered that, but I'm unsure of how important that is for hiring. If it's important for companies to hire locally, then maybe I should relocate and THEN look for a nearby job. Biomedical Engineering in general has plenty of job openings, but also plenty of applicants. I guess I wasn't the only one who saw that Biomedical Engineering jobs were projected to rise when I was a freshman in college deciding my major. One of the problems with BME is that it's not specific enough. Many of the jobs I apply for are looking for mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, or biology "or equivalent". I learned about all of those subjects during my college years, but none of them in a lot of depth.
Did you get offered those Bachelor's positions? Or did the employers turn you down without giving you the option to be bored? How about the Master's with experience positions, are there available options there? I think if you think you can enjoy a position, and there is room to grow over time, there is no wrong choices at this moment. Just give it a try for a year or two. I personally have never been given any tasks that I actually know how to do at the start; I have always had to work my butt off on every single new assignment because I always have to learn new things. So I guess I am saying don't pay too much attention to all the warnings and stuff. Only you know what you can handle, and you won't know until you try. Also, once you have a job, it will be easier to find the next one.
I wasn't offered the Bachelor's positions. I tried to persuade them that I would be open to the job without sounding desperate, but he had none of it. I have only been half-offered one job, but it was probably with a law firm collecting information to sue medical device companies. I say probably because the recruiter wouldn't give me much information about it. Needless to say, I think that kind of job would be a hindrance on my career development with medical devices.
There are a few jobs with Masters and some experience, but not many. There are very few jobs that ask for a Master's in general. The large majority of them seem to be Bachelor's or Ph.D..
Right, I'm definitely open to learning new things. I know I will have to work my butt off, as you say. I just want to be given a chance.
I'm kind of at a loss... and I'm so sorry you're struggling with finding work. I've been out of work a few times, and job-hunting for me is a tedious business, and kind of scary if one is unemployed at the time. I also empathize with the futility one can feel sometimes of just never being "quite right" for the position they're hiring for, and there is no good way to tailor yourself.
Right. I think I just keep getting beat out by that slightly more perfect candidate, but I'm unsure of how to ensure that I AM that candidate.
My only two suggestions right this moment is (1) make a list of other cities you are willing to consider and then search there as well. Right now, you don't have contacts or job experience. you might have to postpone getting a job in your #1 spot and just try a number of locations, then maybe transferring back to the location you really would like to be in.
The other of course is (2) continued networking. It honestly is about who you know, many positions are internal ones or filled by networking. You do have a decent number of networked partners right now, but you just might as well keep making connections and building the list of people you know. There's no real way around it, unfortunately.
True, maybe I should expand my search and try to find jobs more suited to the little experience I do have. I was hoping to break into the pharmaceutical or medical device industries, but maybe now isn't the time.
Maybe I should do what they say to do with LinkedIn, like looking for people in your desired field from your college and asking to just speak with them for 5 minutes, and then building a better network. Right now the people I've spoken with are mostly people in my general field who have offered to help by random chance. Having something in common, like alumni, could possibly help more.
I'm sorry, MBTI Enthusiast...
Don't know - maybe like, if you tried somewhere else, like some of the posters in here have mentioned? Like, maybe in somewhere obscure (the places you wouldn't think to look at, for example, Barrow, AK) there may be a job? If you could get something there maybe you could make things work out?
This is true. I heard North Dakota is really hurting for most types of employees. :tongue:
Other than that do you have any communities you're a part of? Like an alumni association, a yoga class, a pottery making class, or anything? Maybe having to know people from different walks of life (ie not necessarily within the field) would help you to come up with places you could work in by way of tips / referrals?
I don't. Only PerC. :laughing: Maybe I should see if there is an alumni association around here or a women engineer group or something. Again, it's not like there is a shortage of places to work/job postings. It's just the apparent inability for me to actually get a job. :tongue:
What other similar things can you do with that degree? Like, maybe there's work in the government sector for Biomedical Engineering and you could try that way?
Yes, there is work in the gov't sector, but my family strongly warns me against that.
Either way I hope you manage to find something soon...
Thanks for your kind thoughts. :happy:
so, ENTP who did a stint as an outplacement consultant once upon a time........
Number one. Network.
You have only talked to 7 people in the field? Not many.
Have you talked to your fellow students? Stated you are looking for the right position? Ask students you went to school wtih.
7 interviews, no job means you are saying something in the interview throwing them off.
the "easy" way to find jobs is network. You will have a friend or acquaintenace who will hear of a job before it is posted. They will ask you for a resume.
Before you send them a resume, dig out of them what the job is about. Ask them as much specifics as you can.
HR people are generally not real good at technical, so in your cover letter (email) to your friend, with your resume attached, say something like this:
Make it so the friend can forward the email along with no personal comments in it, so it is EASY for your friend to forward.
Hey Jenn,
Thanks for the information about the possible job opening. I know you can't talk about it, but you did mention the company name. I did some research on the company, and I think my skills in the following areas might be applicable.
(short bullet items to catch the HR person's eye so they forward it on)
Thank you for forwarding this on - I really appreciate it.
-Name
Resumes are to get phone interviews.
Phone interviews are to get personal interviews.
Personal interviews are to get job offers.
job offers are to get jobs.
Sell yourself!
Thank you for this advice. I should say that I've only gotten one in-person interview, the rest were phone interviews. I thought it was mostly because companies don't want to fly you anywhere these days, but you're right. I could be doing something wrong in my phone interviews.
I've written e-mails like that, but I might want to include the bullets of skills in the e-mail as you mentioned, instead of just my passion for the field/company/job.
And thanks for reminding me about my peers who graduated with me - I have an unhelpful habit of wanting to stay in the shadows of my peer social network until I can say I have a job in my field, but they very well might be able to help. I just have to suck up my shame and ask for it.
The best thing I can suggest is that you forget about the city you wanted. Look everywhere you would consider living. More places, more opportunities. Also, being unemployed looks bad. This may make no sense, but employers want to hire people who already have jobs, not people who have been unemployed for more then a few weeks.
Get a job. Any job, but always keep searching. Not only will working keep your depression from getting any worse, but it will also help with searching. They will see you are employed, that you actually work. It's tough, I know, but nothing is impossible. I know you will get the job you desire.
Yeah, I know it looks bad. That's worrying me, too. I've actually applied to a few jobs with a resume listing my moderator position here on personalitycafe just to counteract that suspicion. But honestly, is it going to look better with a job in food service, retail, or filing papers? I feel like putting that on all of my applications will look bad, too... But I see what you are saying, it shows that I am somehow "employable". And it might help counteract the depression. I just feel like the day I take a minimum wage job is the day I will actually feel like a failure. (Makes little sense, I know.)
