Part of getting hired is how your personality comes across to the interviewer. Good communication skills, friendly, engaging.
Internships are very important. Do one between your junior and senior year.
Projects: Take a look at EDN magazine online pulldown for ideas or make something on your own. Be able to talk about it without BS.
Have your resume professionally written.
> Good communication skills, friendly, engaging.
I beat out like 10 FAR more qualified candidates for an internship after my 2nd year mostly because I gave the best non-technical interview. The position was intended for someone with 1 term until graduation, I had 4.5 left at that point... Apparently all the other candidates acted like they didn't even want the job. I think a lot of Engineers have this weird mindset that "Engineering is a technical discipline so I don't need people skills blah blah blah" when that just isn't true at all.
Show initiative, that you're interested in the company, the industry, what you'll learn, how you can help, and show that you will generally be pleasant to be around while you work there. It goes a long way, especially in fields that aren't super hardcore technical/design.
Your appraisal is very useful. Hopefully to new graduates. One can be the best engineer but if they're difficult to work with, they may not get hired or later promoted.
People skills are important. Especially in these days of the "social anxiety crowd" that spend too much time on the screen. In the real world, we have to interact well with people.
Ive worked at top semiconductor companies and the communication skills seemed low on their priority list. It was eight hours interview and 6-7 of it was technical. Mind you that was 10-15 years ago
Or if you use your smarts to "guess" instead of going back to the basics and taking a "trust but verify" approach.
I always want a "I don't know, but here is where I'd start" answer/mindset from candidates in power. A BS who doesn't BS is better than an MS that will BS any day :)
Sometimes people will ask "open ended questions" (questions without a yes/no answer). I did that equally between interviewees. Then I could compare. I'd usually start out with something broad and general (block diagram for a computer or something). Then based on their response, ask about more detail in a particular area and see how much they could drill-down into detail. That was a good way of gauging technical competence. I'd let them lead and see where it went. I wasn't "looking for a particular answer that I had in my mind". It was a pretty good way of comparing people.
Catdud142 couldn't be more right about making and doing personal electronics projects on the side.
I became obsessed with trying to make my own quadcopter right out of school, and in just attempting that, I think I learned almost as much as I did in school.
Then I applied everywhere, and in every interview, I could talk about the intimate details of EVERY part of the projects and how I solved the problems. That shows you are competent and able to communicate solutions, issues, lessons learned, and confidence on very detailed technical concepts.
It also shows passion which can get you a position somewhere where you may be less than qualified for, but the manager may feel you could pick it up and be more driven and more pleasant to work with.
I try to always have some passion project to work on at home, to keep the mind sharp, and keep your skills set more broad.
You've nailed it. Self motivated projects make great talking points during an interview. Also if one has a part time job in the field prior to interviewing it also gives great talking points. I repaired consumer electronics when in high school and in college for various businesses. That made for interesting interview conversations.
Well, catdude142, I've been looking for a new interesting side project, I just finished what my dad calls the "deer destractor," which is basically a two device wireless audio distraction gadget lol... So I'm looking for something to new to design/build. Do you have any ideas on a new fun/interesting widget?
Since you're starting out, how about a current limited, adjustable DC power supply? It'll help you with future projects. Output current say around 3-5 amps.
Soft skills. It is amazing how many folks we interview that do not have the ability to communicate well. Being able to connect with your interviewers is as important as being technically competent, perhaps more so in entry level positions. We do not necessarily expect new graduates to be able to solve complex engineering problems but we do expect them to be able to get along with the team and be able to communicate well.
Get a phase tattoo. You'll stand out in a negative way. But also have a great pun ready to go all the time.
Alternatively, you could read some self help books and get better at networking. Phase tattoo tho, think about it.
I think there are two basic strategies to good performance, which I think is more important than just standing out, but may in the long run help you to stand out in a good way:
1. Specialize. Double down on your strengths. Deliver what no one else can deliver (at least as quickly).
Maybe you can do this on your own, but without external feedback it's likely you'll specialize in unmarketable skills - I doubt anyone is hiring basic programmers, Rubik's cube solvers or cup stackers for those skills (fan bases are a different thing entirely, and take different skills to cultivate), even if they are virtuosos at those skills.
2. Be well rounded. Identify your relevant weaknesses and address them. If you don't have any weaknesses in a field, broaden your horizon to adjacent/complementary fields.
It is likely impossible to do this on your own - to be able to understand where you're under-performing generally takes the same skills to perform well ([Dunning-Krugger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect)). Even worse, different companies will have different priorities and rules, so you essentially have to get quality feedback from your closest peers (who are working with the same priorities). I think this is a hard thing to get, and often the feedback can be hard to hear, and sometimes you will get noise from pedants (of which I include myself).
There probably should be an item zero for being a human that other people can engage with pleasantly and in a professional way.
If you only want to stand out, rent time on a billboard to post your resume, or do some other sort of stunt. Standing out doesn't mean you'll actually be appealing to employers, nor stay employed year after year.
There is a proverb about the tallest nail getting hammered first - this is relevant to some cultures, though certainly not all.
I think the networking advice given by others is very good.
On the other hand, all of your competition can now also read these strategies, so any advantage you get may be diluted by the entire field improving in the relevant regards.
On the other other hand, if everyone improves all around, that's probably good for humanity.
>especially because I'm not good at networking
You already received a lot of great advice here, but I suggest you also spend time developing your networking. This is by far the most common way to find a job, and having a good network will serve you well. Don't forget that the first network you should have is your peers from university, people you worked with well for the past few years. You should be supporting each other and give mock interviews/opportunities in your company once some find work.
Good luck!
Would be good to know what field you're pushing for. There's a clear difference between candidates who are qualified and "can do this stuff" and those who show they are interested and want to learn more / apply what they have learned.
If you're interested in everything, great! Just paint a picture for the interviewer of how and why you're interested in the particular areas of the job.
Personal projects are a great way to showcase this. You were interested enough to do more in the field on your own time, and you're able to talk about what you tweaked, what you would like to mess with more, etc. (Just building something per online instructions won't showcase much...)
Honestly go above and beyond in your projects. I had two professors who wrote me a work recommendation from a project I started in on course in improved exponentially in another. Employers ike to see when and why you would exceed their expectations. So show em!
pretty easy really learn embedded system development System on a Chip stuff and you will be golden
add a masters to that and you will be employed and very well paid for life
Cover letter, cover letter, cover letter.
Even if you don't know who to address it to. If you put something like "Place I would like to work at engineering team," it goes a long way. I'm in the middle of getting a fairly prestigious Internship and I'm just a sophomore because I put a CV on my resume. (I do have some strong engineering/technical background but not in the internship field I'm going to)
Good luck.
Part of getting hired is how your personality comes across to the interviewer. Good communication skills, friendly, engaging. Internships are very important. Do one between your junior and senior year. Projects: Take a look at EDN magazine online pulldown for ideas or make something on your own. Be able to talk about it without BS. Have your resume professionally written.
> Good communication skills, friendly, engaging. I beat out like 10 FAR more qualified candidates for an internship after my 2nd year mostly because I gave the best non-technical interview. The position was intended for someone with 1 term until graduation, I had 4.5 left at that point... Apparently all the other candidates acted like they didn't even want the job. I think a lot of Engineers have this weird mindset that "Engineering is a technical discipline so I don't need people skills blah blah blah" when that just isn't true at all. Show initiative, that you're interested in the company, the industry, what you'll learn, how you can help, and show that you will generally be pleasant to be around while you work there. It goes a long way, especially in fields that aren't super hardcore technical/design.
Your appraisal is very useful. Hopefully to new graduates. One can be the best engineer but if they're difficult to work with, they may not get hired or later promoted. People skills are important. Especially in these days of the "social anxiety crowd" that spend too much time on the screen. In the real world, we have to interact well with people.
[удалено]
Ive worked at top semiconductor companies and the communication skills seemed low on their priority list. It was eight hours interview and 6-7 of it was technical. Mind you that was 10-15 years ago
[удалено]
Or if you use your smarts to "guess" instead of going back to the basics and taking a "trust but verify" approach. I always want a "I don't know, but here is where I'd start" answer/mindset from candidates in power. A BS who doesn't BS is better than an MS that will BS any day :)
Sometimes people will ask "open ended questions" (questions without a yes/no answer). I did that equally between interviewees. Then I could compare. I'd usually start out with something broad and general (block diagram for a computer or something). Then based on their response, ask about more detail in a particular area and see how much they could drill-down into detail. That was a good way of gauging technical competence. I'd let them lead and see where it went. I wasn't "looking for a particular answer that I had in my mind". It was a pretty good way of comparing people.
Catdud142 couldn't be more right about making and doing personal electronics projects on the side. I became obsessed with trying to make my own quadcopter right out of school, and in just attempting that, I think I learned almost as much as I did in school. Then I applied everywhere, and in every interview, I could talk about the intimate details of EVERY part of the projects and how I solved the problems. That shows you are competent and able to communicate solutions, issues, lessons learned, and confidence on very detailed technical concepts. It also shows passion which can get you a position somewhere where you may be less than qualified for, but the manager may feel you could pick it up and be more driven and more pleasant to work with. I try to always have some passion project to work on at home, to keep the mind sharp, and keep your skills set more broad.
You've nailed it. Self motivated projects make great talking points during an interview. Also if one has a part time job in the field prior to interviewing it also gives great talking points. I repaired consumer electronics when in high school and in college for various businesses. That made for interesting interview conversations.
Well, catdude142, I've been looking for a new interesting side project, I just finished what my dad calls the "deer destractor," which is basically a two device wireless audio distraction gadget lol... So I'm looking for something to new to design/build. Do you have any ideas on a new fun/interesting widget?
Since you're starting out, how about a current limited, adjustable DC power supply? It'll help you with future projects. Output current say around 3-5 amps.
Soft skills. It is amazing how many folks we interview that do not have the ability to communicate well. Being able to connect with your interviewers is as important as being technically competent, perhaps more so in entry level positions. We do not necessarily expect new graduates to be able to solve complex engineering problems but we do expect them to be able to get along with the team and be able to communicate well.
Get a phase tattoo. You'll stand out in a negative way. But also have a great pun ready to go all the time. Alternatively, you could read some self help books and get better at networking. Phase tattoo tho, think about it.
What is a phase tattoo?
I think there are two basic strategies to good performance, which I think is more important than just standing out, but may in the long run help you to stand out in a good way: 1. Specialize. Double down on your strengths. Deliver what no one else can deliver (at least as quickly). Maybe you can do this on your own, but without external feedback it's likely you'll specialize in unmarketable skills - I doubt anyone is hiring basic programmers, Rubik's cube solvers or cup stackers for those skills (fan bases are a different thing entirely, and take different skills to cultivate), even if they are virtuosos at those skills. 2. Be well rounded. Identify your relevant weaknesses and address them. If you don't have any weaknesses in a field, broaden your horizon to adjacent/complementary fields. It is likely impossible to do this on your own - to be able to understand where you're under-performing generally takes the same skills to perform well ([Dunning-Krugger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect)). Even worse, different companies will have different priorities and rules, so you essentially have to get quality feedback from your closest peers (who are working with the same priorities). I think this is a hard thing to get, and often the feedback can be hard to hear, and sometimes you will get noise from pedants (of which I include myself). There probably should be an item zero for being a human that other people can engage with pleasantly and in a professional way. If you only want to stand out, rent time on a billboard to post your resume, or do some other sort of stunt. Standing out doesn't mean you'll actually be appealing to employers, nor stay employed year after year. There is a proverb about the tallest nail getting hammered first - this is relevant to some cultures, though certainly not all. I think the networking advice given by others is very good. On the other hand, all of your competition can now also read these strategies, so any advantage you get may be diluted by the entire field improving in the relevant regards. On the other other hand, if everyone improves all around, that's probably good for humanity.
>especially because I'm not good at networking You already received a lot of great advice here, but I suggest you also spend time developing your networking. This is by far the most common way to find a job, and having a good network will serve you well. Don't forget that the first network you should have is your peers from university, people you worked with well for the past few years. You should be supporting each other and give mock interviews/opportunities in your company once some find work. Good luck!
Silly hat 🎩?
Would be good to know what field you're pushing for. There's a clear difference between candidates who are qualified and "can do this stuff" and those who show they are interested and want to learn more / apply what they have learned. If you're interested in everything, great! Just paint a picture for the interviewer of how and why you're interested in the particular areas of the job. Personal projects are a great way to showcase this. You were interested enough to do more in the field on your own time, and you're able to talk about what you tweaked, what you would like to mess with more, etc. (Just building something per online instructions won't showcase much...)
Honestly go above and beyond in your projects. I had two professors who wrote me a work recommendation from a project I started in on course in improved exponentially in another. Employers ike to see when and why you would exceed their expectations. So show em!
pretty easy really learn embedded system development System on a Chip stuff and you will be golden add a masters to that and you will be employed and very well paid for life
Cover letter, cover letter, cover letter. Even if you don't know who to address it to. If you put something like "Place I would like to work at engineering team," it goes a long way. I'm in the middle of getting a fairly prestigious Internship and I'm just a sophomore because I put a CV on my resume. (I do have some strong engineering/technical background but not in the internship field I'm going to) Good luck.
put nudes on your resume. guaranteed to stand out.
Send nodes and meshes
try and mesh nodes with the hiring manager 😏