Engineering Jobs
From Unofficial Guide to Engineering
Upon graduation, many engineers look to enter the real world, perhaps before hitting graduate school. There are many job opportunities within the corporate or company world. Engineering jobs are also available with governmental agencies or research groups. With almost any engineering job that is not a research job, you are likely to do a lot of bookkeeping tasks.
Private Sector
Working in the private sector varies depending on the company, its size, and its corporate culture. Where you end up working is strongly influenced on what type of work environment you are looking for and what your interests are.
In general, a job with a small company entails a diverse experience, often requiring tasks outside of the original job description. As an engineer for a small company, you will probably be involved with all aspects of the product’s development or production. Such a company, however, may not have the financial or technical resources to provide your career with much flexibility and may prove to be very demanding.
On the other hand, within a larger corporation, many different job opportunities exist. Product development is often divided into different departments. There may be engineers who are only involved with the design of the product or who are only concerned with the electronics aspect. Every company has a different structure. Usually, there are subsystem engineers who deal with the product’s individual components and system engineers who are concerned about integrating the different units into a working product. Most large companies also have the resources to provide you with flexibility for horizontal and vertical movement. Simultaneously, it is often easy to become pigeonholed into the same job.
Non-profit/Government Sector
Non-profit and government jobs, on a day-to-day basis, are a little slower-paced than private sector jobs.
Research
Not all research jobs fall under non-profit or government jobs. In fact, many private companies conduct research. Many engineers enjoy the more laidback environment and the innovation required of research jobs.
Applying
Applying for a full-time job can be very nerve-racking. Before your senior year, you should already have certain considerations in mind. For instance, a strong and well-written resume is always important. Although a high GPA is not absolutely crucial to landing a job, anything above a 3.6 may catch a company’s attention. Perhaps even more significant is past experience, either previous internships/co-ops or engineering projects. Affiliations with national engineering societies or groups are often favorable as well. Please refer to the Career Center for further advice on career paths. Career Center: http://career.berkeley.edu/
