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6/15/2008 11:53:43 AM

Second interview with a company on Wednesday. Maybe this one will pan out.

6/16/2008 1:24:33 PM

just dont talk about anything to do with shit and you should be ok

6/16/2008 3:09:33 PM

I have in interview with Cisco coming up. I have been after this job for about 8 months now. I have already had my phone interview with the HR lady (that lasted no longer than 15 mins) and I have a 4-5 hour interview coming up. I will let you guys know how it goes.

6/17/2008 9:47:56 AM

Hey guys, just want to throw it out there...I'm a recruiter for a company here in Raleigh. I mostly work on senior engineering jobs, but sometimes we get EIT reqs. I've been headhunting for 6 months now, and it pays the bills...

Anyways, if you want to send me a resume please contact me by PM. I mostly work in NC but have placed people as far North as Mass and south in FL and Lousiana. Also a couple engineers in California.

For what it's worth, and its a crappy system, I can probably give you a few pointers on your resume...like avoiding words like "hard worker" and keeping things brief. Most resumes have to filter through self inflated HR departments (not engineers...) at big firms and those people look at 200 resumes a day...

6/17/2008 12:38:07 PM

Also, does anyone on here have any hydraulic experience...storm drainage systems, bridge and water surface profile modeling, BMP designs, stream assessment and restoration designs and erosion control designs.

Looking for Geopak and software such as HY-22, HDS-5, HY-8, HEC-2 and HEC-RAS. If you've worked for the DOT, would also be good.

6/17/2008 4:16:55 PM

HEC-RAS, as are a lot of the others, is available free from the US Army Corps of Engineers. I have it installed on my computer, but haven't had the time or the energy as of late to screw around with it yet.

I think I need about 6 months off so I can learn some more valuable shit. I need it. I would love to take some hydraulic and groundwater hydrology classes...if I only had two things: time and money.

6/17/2008 6:08:50 PM

[quote]Also, does anyone on here have any hydraulic experience...storm drainage systems, bridge and water surface profile modeling, BMP designs, stream assessment and restoration designs and erosion control designs. [quote]

PM wdprice3

I just started with a small geotechnical engineering firm a couple days ago(6/12/08). I've already be assigned as project manager for a couple jobs.

If you want to gain a lot of responsibilty quickly, apply to smaller places rather than larger places.

6/18/2008 12:49:33 PM

^^^I have a job already, but yeah...I've got fairly extensive stormwater and hydraulic design experience. What kind of job is it?

6/18/2008 2:17:23 PM

The job is a direct hire with a LARGE engineering firm...

I definitely agree about developing more responsibility quicker at smaller firms, but you sort of plateau a little quicker. Also, they don't the big jobs that the big firms get. It's a direct hire, at least 5 years experience.

6/18/2008 4:25:32 PM

So do any of you have any Greensboro contacts/suggestions?

Pretty much same situation, EIT, 2 years of experience (1 year in manufacturing environment, 1 year in consulting)

6/18/2008 11:20:25 PM

I've got mostly Charlotte and Raleigh stuff right now, also need a jr. EIT ME in Huntersville. We had one in Burlington but I've got a couple guys interviewing right now so I'm holding off on sending more candidates. Get me your resumes guys and I'll let you know if I have something.

Hey Zxappeal, no feedback yet from you know who.

6/19/2008 9:52:33 AM

Quote :

"I definitely agree about developing more responsibility quicker at smaller firms, but you sort of plateau a little quicker. Also, they don't the big jobs that the big firms get."

I fully agree. Conversely, big companies can't always do small projects because they won't be able to turn a profit. It also helps when your company is minority owned. ;D

Starting tomorrow, I'll be the full-time inspector for the foundation installation of the new parking deck at WakeMed in Raleigh.

6/23/2008 8:24:06 PM

so which pays more

manufacturing or consulting?

Mechanical Engineering btw

6/23/2008 9:25:49 PM

probably depends on the industry, but in general I would think consulting has the potential to pay more. But it may come with lesser benefits since a lot of consulting firms are small compared to a large manufacturing place that gets a better group rate.

6/24/2008 6:53:53 AM

Right now it seems extremely hard to find entry level into a consulting firm in Greensboro

actually, just finding a consulting firm in general seems pretty difficult

6/24/2008 8:09:22 AM

^eh, we've got a couple open.

[Edited on June 24, 2008 at 2:39 PM. Reason : .]

6/24/2008 2:39:10 PM

^Pay range for entry level?

6/24/2008 6:14:13 PM

Rejection yet again. I've received a lot of 'em lately, it seems.

Guess I should be glad to have a job no matter how bad it sucks.

6/25/2008 5:50:33 PM

No, you didnt stay in school just to end up with a job that blows. If you have to do something else than what you want, make sure you are doing it somewhere that makes you happy.

6/25/2008 7:06:04 PM

True, true. The job blows, and quite frankly, the town blows. It wouldn't be so bad if GF was here, but: a. She's in Durham. b. Most of my friends are in the Triangle. c. a LOT of my family is in the area. d. There are a lot more good opportunities up there.

'nuff said. I'm putting the screws to this, and getting a few more interviews, but very few callbacks, and NO offers.

I dunno if it appears that I have a checkererd past or what...it ain't THAT checkered. I guess that jobs in my experience range are a hot commodity, and what with the economy the way it is, many companies can afford to be pretty damn picky and shoot for higher experience levels.

And I'm just stagnating right now where I'm at. Nothing much new to learn...and our processes are a mess, and 20 years out of date. Most of us project engineers are still using 2D CAD (although we did just get a lot of Inventor licenses, I only got '08 Lite because my computer just can't take the heat. Got a fella in IT working on that one for me. Fucking Dell piece of shit).

Lean? Six Sigma? Shiiiit. Nothing of the such. Management? We have maybe ONE good upper level manager on the metal fab side; everybody else is small-town USA and has had no formal training in either discipline.

The manufacturing plants are a complete mess, and the processes (if you could even call them that) are anything but streamlined. Better than they used to be but by no means even close to good.

Warehousing and inventory is a disaster. Nobody takes the initiative to issue out add-on parts and components when the shipments come in. Nobody in production wants to go get anything. It's sort of a good thing that they won't let us "up-front" people in the warehouse to pull our own components anymore because that's less work that I end up having to do. But, on the other hand, it takes FOREVER to get anybody to pull the shit, and I can't count how many times shit's been lost. I'm missing one very expensive sanitary piping adapter ($1700 for a chunk of machined 316L stainless)...and i have no idea what the hell anybody is going to do about it. Of course, that's kind of chump change for a 1.6 million dollar job, but all these pieces of chump change are adding up at a frightening rate. Hasn't anybody down here heard of barcoding and chain of custody?

PLEASE GOD GET ME OUTTA HERE.

6/25/2008 10:31:13 PM

so you interviewed with the place...maybe you don't have good interviewing skills?

6/25/2008 11:01:50 PM

Working on that...I don't think they're bad, but I talk too damn much.

6/26/2008 7:07:40 AM

^ dude it's definitely the economy is fucking you over. I was unemployed for a couple months, couldn't find a decent financial job despite my experience. So many people are applying for jobs right now that it's hard to compete as you said. They always find someone who looks better on paper. Personally I ended up going back to NCSU. I just transferred into EE yesterday actually, so I guess after a short hiatus I'll be in undergrad again until I'm 26...

Hang in there man. Like you said, at least you have some kind of paycheck.

6/26/2008 8:50:42 AM

^ I reaaaally wish I would have gone into EE

although, I probably would have ended up at RF Micro in Gboro, and I don't know how many of you know what's going on there, but it wouldn't have been good

6/26/2008 8:51:58 AM

the firm i work for is looking to fill an entry-level structural engineering position by the end of this year... master's degree required, so ideally, we're looking for someone who is either graduating (M.S. or M.C.E.) at the end of the summer or in december... pm me if interested

6/27/2008 10:18:48 AM

A few of the PE's I know that do hiring say they don't like hiring master's grads b/c they just seem to never quite fit in. If there was a field I would recommend getting into, is HVAC design. Man I can not find enough decent guys to do it, and the ones that are out there are crap. Almost every single firm I do business with needs somebody. It's not glorious but you guys that are still in school should pursue it.

Hey Zx, no updates yet.

Anyway, I thought I'd go through my list. If you guys are interested please send me a pm.

EIT HVAC Engineer - Raleigh, Charlotte, New Orleans, LA, San Franciso
EE - Raleigh
Turbine Engineer - Raleigh (nuclear)
Geotechnical Engineer - Raleigh and New Orleans
Fire Protection Engineer - Raleigh
Civil/Transportation Engineer - Raleigh
Civil/Wastewater - Orlando

Well crap we've got more and I don't want to go through all this mess.

6/27/2008 4:26:01 PM

i'd like to find some robotics-related ee/cpe job in the raleigh area

[Edited on June 27, 2008 at 4:34 PM. Reason : not that i've been looking]

6/27/2008 4:33:50 PM

any of y'all have advice for job hunting through senior year? I'll gradute w/ a mechanical bachelor's in May 2009.... and I have to stay in raleigh.

[Edited on June 27, 2008 at 4:55 PM. Reason : ..]

6/27/2008 4:55:01 PM

^^^what company is this exactly?

6/27/2008 4:55:53 PM

I've been getting calls from recruiters for jobs not even in my geographical area of preference, and for which I'm not even remotely qualified. WTF?

BTW, for a lot of you entry-level engineer folks looking, I've had several calls from Aerotek for jerbs around New Bern and Greenville, but I'm not staying down here.

Not knocking Synerfac, by the way. One of the most helpful and easy-to-work-with recruiters there. you know who you are, lol.

6/30/2008 11:36:45 PM

I'm having some issues too, but I'm a ChemE. I'm cranking out resumes and a few people have gotten back to me, but it seems like most of these places have plants out in bumfuck nowhere instead of near/in RTP. Not to mention that I keep running into Civil stuff instead.

I'll just keep at it.

6/30/2008 11:49:27 PM

I feel like a bedsheet, I been turned down so many times.

7/1/2008 2:22:20 PM

Welcome to mechanical engineering in the real world

7/1/2008 2:22:45 PM

The company I work for has an availability for an entry level construction project manager. It has not been advertised yet. The work is heavy utility (civil, structural, mechanical piping, soils) on a project in Chapel Hill. PM me if anyone is interested. Experience is not required in the field.

[Edited on July 1, 2008 at 2:24 PM. Reason : clarity]

7/1/2008 2:24:34 PM

Zx, don't get down. It's a holiday week and a lot of places slow down or even freeze hiring decisions. Don't sell yourself short. I still haven't heard back from the two places we've had you running at.

7/1/2008 2:27:22 PM

Not down yet! Thanx, Matt.

7/1/2008 7:01:30 PM

^PM sent.

7/1/2008 9:21:47 PM

Yeah I wouldn't feel too bad about the job thing.

I'm looking right now for a Civil Engineering internship (preferably Structural but I'm open to anything that'll teach me something about some aspect of Civil Engineering during the semester) and the pickings are fairly slim. I did land an interview with RMF Engineering next thursday, though, and I hope that turns into a job. The other positions I've applied to haven't even responded to my emails (with the exception of one place).

There's not that many jobs popping up right now for intern jobs in the fall, or maybe I'm just looking in completely the wrong places. If this RMF interview doesn't lead to a job I'm going to have to look into picking up a crappy job just to pay the bills.

[Edited on July 1, 2008 at 10:10 PM. Reason : Should mention I have my BS in CE and am going to grad school this fall, so I wanted a CE job.]

7/1/2008 10:10:00 PM

I think that for a good lot of you (including myself), you're going to have to be open to the fact that you may have to live in a place thats not Raleigh to get the job. If you have absolutely no experience, you definitely shouldn't be picky. If you have it, then you'll have to be patient with it, especially if you're limiting your options based on demographics and whatnot.

I know that when I finally graduate, I don't care where the hell I end up. I'll take any type of experience that I can get and use it to prepare for the second job, which will allow me to be a little more choosy, since I have the security of the first job to keep me afloat until then.

7/1/2008 11:34:57 PM

While that's great for you, it's very important to me that I stay where I am right now. I'm not just going to get a job 2000 miles away when my Dad's recovering from cancer and my mom's still sick.

So kudos on you for pointing out the obvious, but some of us have bigger things than just "getting any job" in mind.

[Edited on July 1, 2008 at 11:41 PM. Reason : I'm fine with waiting to see what pans out: I'd still rather be here than elsewhere.]

7/1/2008 11:39:26 PM

If I didn't have any serious ties to the area, I'd consider going elsewhere. But I do, so that's that.

Maybe I should have moved to Peoria or St. Paul or Fort Wayne or some place out in the middle of God's country way back when.

7/2/2008 10:11:20 AM

^^ You said you were ChemE right? I have a friend who works with cargill, and he really likes his job. They seem to treat him really well and are helping him with his master's degree at the moment. The benefits/perks are really good there from what i hear as well. I know they have a couple of places around here if you haven't already looked into them.

7/2/2008 10:25:18 AM

We have a huge need for engineers in our power group at the moment in Charlotte, Greenville(SC), and Califnornia. Im pretty sure salaries would be extremely competitive based on our need and I really enjoy working here (Fluor).

We have a lot of other openings right now too for all different experience levels. (too many to list especially if youre willing to move).

http://fluor.com/careers/jobframeset/index_prof.asp

If anyone finds one they are interested in let me know. I wouldn't mind helping someone get a job and we do get incentives to hire people that current employees already know to some extent

7/3/2008 2:35:34 PM

Wasn't sure if anybody was still looking for jobs, but on here:

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/egr/

There are some interesting things posted sometimes.

I've got an interview tomorrow for an internship job (that I could do during the semester, no less ) that I found through my professional organization as well, so if yours has a career/job listing section I'd check it out.

^ Funny that you mention that, fluor came to NCSU to do a presentation in the CE department a little while back and I was ridiculously impressed with what they had to offer. Your company has something like a 7 billion dollar construction backlog. Real impressive, I'd consider working there after graduation if I couldn't find anything in Raleigh.

7/9/2008 6:01:56 PM

Quote :

"^ Funny that you mention that, fluor came to NCSU to do a presentation in the CE department a little while back and I was ridiculously impressed with what they had to offer. Your company has something like a 7 billion dollar construction backlog. Real impressive, I'd consider working there after graduation if I couldn't find anything in Raleigh."

Yea at our greenville office I think I know like 2 MEs and 2 or 3 CEs who are from State who graduated within the past 2-3 years. Its pretty dominated by Clemson grads by we're slowly infiltrating .

I would definitely recommend working here though. I have really enjoyed it, and the pay was the highest offer I had and the benefits were as good or better than pretty much every other company I talked to as well. As far as the work side goes we are involved in just about every major construction type of project you can think of from mining sites, to chemical plants, biotech/pharma plants, nuclear power plants, nuclear enrichment sites, bridges, highways, large scale office buildings, solar and wind power...I've been pretty overwhelmed by the different types of projects I have the potential to work on here over the long haul.

Let me know if you have any questions.

7/9/2008 6:13:00 PM

^ Yeah, I might go with them if I decide I want to move out of Raleigh. I still kind of like it here though because ALL of my immediate family lives within 15 miles or so of where I live right now. Still, lotsa money can make me do a lot of things, haha.

I ended up scoring that job from that interview I had, too. Now I've got an internship at RMF engineering that'll probably involve designing steam tunnels and utility hookups to buildings on university campuses, hospitals, and military bases. It was hilarious too, they were like "yeah we'll contact you in two weeks" when I left the interview, then the next day I got an email where they said "we're so excited by the prospect of hiring you that we're not looking any further for other candidates". I feel really sorry for all the people who had their interviews canceled, but holy crap this is good fortune. I've been unemployed since last december and needed a during-the-semester job that didn't suck. This was a godsend in a job market like this, lol.

Seriously though, is anybody out there still having trouble finding an engineering job? We could make this like an official references & job assistance thread for TWW enginerds.

7/12/2008 10:05:18 PM

^ I'm still looking. I just keep cranking out the resumes and cover letters.

7/12/2008 10:31:51 PM

heres how to get an engineering job....

go into the interview, BS the whole thing....all you have to do is talk more than they talk and keep them interested. You will get the job.

The resume gets you in the door, the BSing gets you the job!

7/13/2008 2:43:22 AM

:/

I'm guessing you've tried mixing it up. Reformatting your resume or sending shit out on nice paper or something. Is your field just dried up right now? I had the hardest time finding the job I ended up getting and it sounds like (based on the emails and the fact that people were lining up to interview with this company after i showed up) a lot of people wanted that one too.

7/13/2008 2:44:18 AM