I’m 29 years old, I have a master’s degree in engineering. If I could take back the degree I would. I incurred quite a bit of debt in getting this degree and would have been better off just learning to code after my bachelor’s degree in physics. I have friends with no college experience making 6 figures from learning to do web development. Yes I bought into the college degree = job propaganda but I definitely tried to hedge my bets by going into an in demand field.
I spent the last 3 years networking, developing a skill set, beefing up my resume with research projects and working on getting relevant job experience. Throughout the journey, I managed to snag a contract position (for terrible pay) in my last semester at a well known company. I was scratching my head a bit as a lot of my peers got decent paying jobs right away, with having both lesser GPAs, experience and only a bachelor’s degree. Paradoxically, I have heard I’m both under-qualified and overqualified.
I swallowed my pride and asked quite a few of them what they did in order to land x or y position and a majority of the time it was no different to what I did or it was practically thrown in their lap. A family friend works in a separate engineering industry but told me that companies and governmental agencies are forcing diversity hires, which I am obviously not part of that narrative. But I don’t want to chalk it up to that.
So here I am about 7 months out from graduating without a job. I’m always told my resume is impressive and that I should have no problem getting hired but it just seems like either companies are low balling the crap out of me or I don’t get the positions. I’m not exceptional, I didn’t attend MIT or have a stellar GPA I know which is my fault but at the same time it seems quite odd I don’t have something yet. I thought to myself “is this what the current market is valuing me at?”
I’ve gone door to door on occasion and called up companies and done walk ins. Told to apply online. I’ve gone to career fairs in state and across country. I’ve always been confident in my interviews but am not ashamed to admit if I don’t know something. I don’t know the exact number of applications I’ve filled out but I know it’s easily in the hundreds, ranging from internships to level 2/3 positions. A friend has given me referral access to internal company postings that I can apply to. I have even had past women I’ve dated hook me up with their fathers/grandfathers as an “in” to larger engineering firms. Am I missing an angle here? I’ve been “hustling” for quite some time now and I’m exhausted.
Now I’m sitting here – I have quite a bit of debt from my schooling. I’m slowly atrophying from not using my technical skills and growing generally depressed. I want to be able to at least start making capital and a return on investment before I start a side business of my own. I also am slowly becoming more apathetic toward engineering in general. I’m pretty much in an existential crisis and feel this massive debt crushing my soul.
My course of action I want to take is as follows:
-Secure a position that pays within an average realm of what someone with my schooling/experience should have.
-Pay down my debts as soon as possible.
-Work on becoming a bit more independent of a salary lifestyle.
-Prepare for my parent’s retirement and assist them if I am able.
Outside of that – I don’t know what I really want to do. I can’t even seem to get the first step completed.
Is there more I could be doing? I do admit that my positivity over the last few months has definitely waned.
I spent the last 3 years networking, developing a skill set, beefing up my resume with research projects and working on getting relevant job experience. Throughout the journey, I managed to snag a contract position (for terrible pay) in my last semester at a well known company. I was scratching my head a bit as a lot of my peers got decent paying jobs right away, with having both lesser GPAs, experience and only a bachelor’s degree. Paradoxically, I have heard I’m both under-qualified and overqualified.
I swallowed my pride and asked quite a few of them what they did in order to land x or y position and a majority of the time it was no different to what I did or it was practically thrown in their lap. A family friend works in a separate engineering industry but told me that companies and governmental agencies are forcing diversity hires, which I am obviously not part of that narrative. But I don’t want to chalk it up to that.
So here I am about 7 months out from graduating without a job. I’m always told my resume is impressive and that I should have no problem getting hired but it just seems like either companies are low balling the crap out of me or I don’t get the positions. I’m not exceptional, I didn’t attend MIT or have a stellar GPA I know which is my fault but at the same time it seems quite odd I don’t have something yet. I thought to myself “is this what the current market is valuing me at?”
I’ve gone door to door on occasion and called up companies and done walk ins. Told to apply online. I’ve gone to career fairs in state and across country. I’ve always been confident in my interviews but am not ashamed to admit if I don’t know something. I don’t know the exact number of applications I’ve filled out but I know it’s easily in the hundreds, ranging from internships to level 2/3 positions. A friend has given me referral access to internal company postings that I can apply to. I have even had past women I’ve dated hook me up with their fathers/grandfathers as an “in” to larger engineering firms. Am I missing an angle here? I’ve been “hustling” for quite some time now and I’m exhausted.
Now I’m sitting here – I have quite a bit of debt from my schooling. I’m slowly atrophying from not using my technical skills and growing generally depressed. I want to be able to at least start making capital and a return on investment before I start a side business of my own. I also am slowly becoming more apathetic toward engineering in general. I’m pretty much in an existential crisis and feel this massive debt crushing my soul.
My course of action I want to take is as follows:
-Secure a position that pays within an average realm of what someone with my schooling/experience should have.
-Pay down my debts as soon as possible.
-Work on becoming a bit more independent of a salary lifestyle.
-Prepare for my parent’s retirement and assist them if I am able.
Outside of that – I don’t know what I really want to do. I can’t even seem to get the first step completed.
Is there more I could be doing? I do admit that my positivity over the last few months has definitely waned.