By Anne Raymond (my mom), former career coach/consultant

Feedback

7 Steps to Landing that 1st REAL Job and Kickstarting your Engineering Career

Getting Started

Getting a job, any job, but especially your first REAL job takes ALOT of time and effort. No one is going to serve up that first job on a platter. YOU need to dig in, put in the effort, and figure out how to make it happen. And everything that you learn on this journey, will be valuable for your whole life! Good luck.

Step 1 - Mindset

Positive attitude

• It all starts with a positive, take charge, "Just do it" attitude
• Create time in your schedule to focus on your job search (it will not find you)
• It's the equivalent of a "job" (or a course) finding a job!

Stop making EXCUSES!

• I don't have enough time
• I don't know what I want to do
• I don't have the right skills
• I don't have any experience (or the right experience)
• I don't have any contacts
• I've already sent out 100 resumes and had no response

Change your excuses into a "Can do" moment… Yes, I can make it happen!

Don't wait until you feel like it

Because you never will. Just keep taking small steps every day!

Feel the fear and do it anyways!

This process is not easy for most people but especially when you are first starting out. It can be scary to reach out to people, to ask for help, to get rejected. Feel the fear, and just take action anyways. Every time you try something, it'll be a little bit easier the next time.

Just keep learning and moving forward

You'll make mistakes. You'll fail, you'll get rejected, you'll get no response, you'll be ignored…..yep, just part of the process. You'll learn with everything you do…so keep moving forward and learn, learn, learn.

Be kind when things don't work out, you drop the ball, don't do what you wanted to do. Be compassionate with yourself, dust yourself off, and keep going.

Step 2 - Know Yourself

Self Assessment and Inventory

• What are your interests? What are you good at doing?
• Can you identify 3 top soft skills? 3 top technical skills?
• List your 3-5 top jobs/experience/school projects/club projects that are of the most interest or you got the most out of - what did you do, how did you do it, what was the result/outcome, what did you learn?
• Resources - example assessment- Strength Finder - CliftonStrengths Top 5 for $20USD - CliftonStrengths Top 5 or get the StrengthsFinder Book from the library

Research

• Research some industries or technologies that you're interested in…find 3 different examples
• Research specific companies and roles - Identify 3 different examples
• Research people at these companies and people in these types of roles - identify 3 people

Review and Identify Alignment/Gaps - Your Starting Point

Compare your self assessment and research. Where do your interests and experience align with the research and roles? Where are the gaps? Take note of both.

Identify 3 Target Areas - this could be specific technologies, roles, types of companies that you're interested in… This is a great starting point…. You will evolve, zig-zag, and learn as you go. A more targeted approach is easier to focus your resources, build skillsets, and differentiate yourself than trying to look at every job and industry.

Step 3 - Set Your Goals

What are your 1 -3 short term goals?

Where am I today? Where do I want to end up? *** not sure what you wanted for the section *** What are your graduation goals? *** not sure what you wanted for the section *** What are your learning goals? Identify any learning gaps and start building your own portfolio of experience. Join a club. Take a mini course like Coursera. Do your own project or app. Complete a certification. Read a book/blog/article about your topic. This shows initiative, tackling a new topic, experience to add to your resume.

Step 4 – Building Your General Toolkit

The Resume (and Cover Letter)

Keep it simple and easy to read (tip: recruiters only spend 15 to 20 seconds glancing at your resume) Make it action and results oriented Include both hard (technical) and leadership/soft skills Include the most relevant jobs/experience/projects/club work -> what did you do, what tools/technical skills did you use, what was the result/outcome Linked In Profile Complete your LinkedIn profile which should be based on your resume, including as-good-as-you-can get profile photo Follow 10 companies of interest and 10 people that have roles that you are interested in Invite 20 people to be connections Interview Skills Learn how to connect with the interviewer like asking some questions like " How did you get started" or find something in common Practice how to answer general questions like " tell me about yourself" (hint: make it relevant to the job) Learn about behavioral interview questions and review possible answers from your experience (example: how did you handle a difficult person; use the SAR method - Situation, Action, Resume) Find out about technical interviews and determine how to prepare for them

Resume Sample - COMING SOON

Find a nice template online or use overleaf for simple LaTeX formatting that still looks great

Step 5 – Building Connections

Start the Conversation - talk to people, get to know them, what do you have in common, do you have any shared interests, start creating a friendly network of your peers - this is the start of an incredible diverse group of people you could know for a very long time Talk to your family (parents, uncles, aunts, cousins), your friends (university housemates, classmates, clubs, profs, advisers, TAs), your friends friends…learn about their jobs/careers….how did they start out, what did they learn, do they know anyone in your Target Jobs Attend career fairs, networking events, hack-a-thons, social events, networking events, information nights, recruiting events Coffee Chats - reach out to people in-person or on-line and ask for a "coffee chat"; practice connecting and finding something in common, prepare general and specific questions, ask them if there is anyone else that they would recommend that you speak to, ask if you can follow up with them at a later time, thank them and follow up with an email thanking them Bonus: sell yourself… Be friendly, be enthusiastic, be authentic, show your willingness to learn, do a good job, work hard, and provide value!

Step 6 – Target and Apply

Good approach

Find job openings on job boards, career sites, LinkedIn, or other online options. Set up alerts and be the first to apply. Align and tailor your resume to the role and send in the application, try to differentiate yourself from the crowd The job is not done once you hit the "submit" button… Follow up and Connect and find people that work in the company, connect with the recruiter, connect with the hiring manager, connect with people in the company. Learn what you can about the company, the group, the role

Better approach

Attend job fairs, career fairs, company information events. Align and tailor your resume. Apply to jobs that are available through people that you meet. Follow up and Connect!

Best approach

Find a job not on the market (or not yet). The best way to find a job is through somebody that you know or have met. Connect with people (alumni, linked in, friends or friends of friends), have a coffee chat or informal discussion and find other people to talk to, keep connecting….if someone has a role that they have now or in the future, they may invite you to provide your resume or keep connected in the future. Track the people contacted, close the loop, and follow up with them again.

Step 7 – The Interview

Prepare, prepare, prepare!

Ask what you can expect for the recruiting process for this position, how many and what type of interviews, who you'll meet with. Are they one-on-one, or group interviews? In person or virtual? Research the general industry, the company, products, and projects. Research the groups, or potential people that you'll meet. Practice how to answer behavioural interview questions (prefer the simpler SAR method of Situation, Action, Result) Understand what the technical interview might be like for this job. And do some some practice sessions. Do some mock interviews in front of the mirror, with a friend, with a colleague, with an older student, with a new grad…find other resources Expect that you'll be a little nervous…this means your body is subconsciously preparing you and that you care. It's completely normal. Learn the 4-4-4 breathing technique. Follow up and Close the Loop - Always, always, always close the loop and follow up with those people that have helped you along the way….recruiters, managers, advisors, friends and family, mentors.

Bonus - Pay it forward

Offer a Coffee Chat

• invite others (especially younger students) to connect with you if they would like support or advice with resume review, interviewing practice (especially technical interviews), or career advice

Be the connector

• recommend friends to talk to others that you know who can provide support or advice, connect with a previous manager or mentor and recommend someone for the next job, offer to help others with a company you have worked with

Teach a workshop

• learned a new technical or leadership skill that is a high demand. Do, learn, teach… You will learn more as well and help others at the same time. You will expand your network and get known for your expertise among your peers.