Interview Series - A Recent Graduate's Job Searching Experience

A new addition to RedSprouts this week is an interview with a recent graduate who is hoping to start a new career. RedSprouts will be posting interviews on other topics in the coming future.

Max is a recent graduate with a dual degree in chemical engineering and material sciences. He recently shared his job searching experiences with RedSprouts.

Red Sprouts (RS): Did you start job searching before graduating ?

Max: Yes i did. In fact, I started pretty much at the start of senior year because all of the [chemical engineering] companies were recruiting then. I used school resources for my job search and landed some on-campus interviews and even a couple of second on-site interviews. But I ended up either not having much luck on them or I messed up during my interviews.

RS: Did you adjust your job searching strategy once you graduated?

Max: As the school year wore on, one of my coworkers mentioned another site I should also look at in addition to [school resources], and that was for government jobs. It was usajobs.com and they have a lot of listings, even more so than [the school resources]. I probably should have realized it before, but I should not have been very dependent on [school resources] and instead add my search on other job sites like Craigslist, Monster, and CareerBuilder.

RS: Did you find the job listings on these sites to be genuine?

Max: Most of them, yes, even though over half of the positions listed required 5+ years of experience.

RS: Were there any entry level job postings?

Max: A few. You have to search for it in the search criteria, or else they won't show up and all you get is "process engineer, needs 15+ years experience, [Professional Engineers License] preferred" or other things like that.

RS: Out of the job positions you applied for how many did you get responses for?

Max: Not very many. Probably around 1%. I think I actually did apply to at least 100 jobs and I got maybe 2 responses for further action, like an interview.

RS: What have you found to the be the most frustrating process of job searching?

Max: I think the number one thing is my lack of training. For example, I've seen so many companies ask for [chemical engineers] that know autoCAD and even computer programming but that's in rare cases.

RS: What have you done differently as part of your job search?

Max: I've expanded my horizons a little and looking into possible backup plans.

RS: Please elaborate.

Max: I'm pretty much looking for almost anything. A couple weeks ago, I applied to [the San Francisco Municipal Railway] and the [San Francisco] unified school district. One of my backup plans was to be a teacher, so I was looking into that and the programs available in my area for a credential. I also wanted to end my lack of employment, so one of my friends suggested working at a part-time job. Since my job search has slowed down, I might as well keep myself sharp by working.

RS: Where are you currently employed?

Max: I actually start next Tuesday at Starbucks!

RS: What advice would you give to any potential new job seekers?

Max: Make sure you know what you want to do, and go do it. Say you want to work in a particular field; look up all the companies that have to do with that field and apply to all the positions you think you would like to do. All companies have a lot of opportunities available, but it's also important to show them why you are the best candidate, and that's where career counselors and career literature come in.

RS: Who have you used as a career counselor?

Max: That's a tough one, because I didn't actually use one, but I did go to an interview workshop and that helped tremendously. Just working on body language, appearance, enthusiasm, and all the other important things in an interview helped a lot. Bookstores like Borders or Barnes & Noble usually sell books on career and interview improvement.

RedSprouts would like to thank Max for his time and wishes him good luck in his job search.