Anyone looking to hire a junior-intermediate Mechanical Engineer?

[Xyphota]

My company had to lay off 1/3 of its staff a few weeks ago, and my whole department got axed, so I took some R&R to travel Europe for a few weeks. I've returned now and am starting my Job search! I figured I'd reach out to you guys. If anyone has anything, perhaps you can private message me and we can connect on LinkedIn, and I can send you a copy of my resume and portfolio if appropriate.

High level summary about me:
- I have 3.5 years of formal work experience as a Mechanical Engineer-in-Training, split between running a test lab and doing R&D work.
- I volunteered on a technical design team at the University during my degree for 5 years designing, fabricating, and racing an off-road dune buggy through the Baja SAE sanctioned events.
- I spent 10 summers as a bicycle technician, so paired with the last 2 years of hobby metal working, I'm comfortable saying I am very proficient with hand's on work, and really enjoy it.

If anyone has any recommendation's I'd appreciate it! I'd prefer to stay in Calgary, but I am flexible.

 

[Hruul]

Sorry to hear that Xyphota. I do not work for a mechanical engineer but I do work in electrical consulting, so if I hear of something I can send along. I am in Regina however.

 

[Tecnico]

Sent you a PM. Sorry to hear the news but hopefully it turns into an opportunity!

D

 

[Former Member]

My company had to lay off 1/3 of its staff a few weeks ago, and my whole department got axed, so I took some R&R to travel Europe for a few weeks. I've returned now and am starting my Job search! I figured I'd reach out to you guys. If anyone has anything, perhaps you can private message me and we can connect on LinkedIn, and I can send you a copy of my resume and portfolio if appropriate.

High level summary about me:
- I have 3.5 years of formal work experience as a Mechanical Engineer-in-Training, split between running a test lab and doing R&D work.
- I volunteered on a technical design team at the University during my degree for 5 years designing, fabricating, and racing an off-road dune buggy through the Baja SAE sanctioned events.
- I spent 10 summers as a bicycle technician, so paired with the last 2 years of hobby metal working, I'm comfortable saying I am very proficient with hand's on work, and really enjoy it.

If anyone has any recommendation's I'd appreciate it! I'd prefer to stay in Calgary, but I am flexible.

There are lots of very good jobs out there as companies are looking for good qualified personel. Limiting yourself to one location this early limits your options.

Brush up your resume to read job specific even with limited experience. Bike tech 10yrs shows dedication but not much else, hobby machinist does not show much more.

 

[Susquatch]

I prolly hired thousands of engineers in my time.

When I looked at a resume, I only skimmed the education part because that's as simple as relevant degrees or not. I didn't look at grades.

I focussed on 4 things.

1. Experience - you don't have a lot. But play up what you do have and especially your ability to contribute, to learn, to be a team player, and to do more than your share.

2. Practical - Hobbies tell me a lot about an individual and their real world knowledge and experience outside their profession. By all means, play up your bike and machining interests. Nothing worse than a book smart engineer who can't even use common sense.

3. Group activities - tell me a lot about how well you work with others.

4. References - I want to talk to a few people you worked with and who know you well enough to vouch for your ability to contribute to my firms success. I need to know that you are a team player who won't create havoc with others that you work with, that you have a high work ethic, good communication skills, and a willingness to learn new things.

Resume Quality - Your resume should cover all the bases and should have no mistakes in it. If you can't spell and use good grammar on something as important as your resume, you won't likely produce good technical reports either.

At interviews, be prompt, professional, friendly, and memorable. Study the company in advance and then ask genuine questions about it and your potential job. You don't need to pretend you know more than you do, but you do need to show interest, confidence, and a willingness to learn. You also need to be clean and presentable.

 

[Xyphota]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm pretty comfortable with the hiring process, I was more so pitching the question about hiring situations where the position might not be posted in the usual LinkedIn, Indeed, Job Bank etc., for one reason or another.

 

[Susquatch]

Trouble is I've been retired for almost 20 years. So I can't really help with that and provided what help I can.

Another tip - make a list of where you would like to work and then go see them. Even if they are not hiring there is something magic about hiring people who want to work with you. Sometimes it's enough to make an opening suddenly become available.