Featured Guest Blogger: Nick Jameson

If you’re the average college senior nearing the point where you enter the real world, you have every reason to be worried: the economy is stagnant, the recession appears to have no end in sight, employees aren’t hiring, and Americans in their 20’s are, percentage-wise, the least employed demographic segments. No doubt about it; there’s a lot of concerning data out there, and looking for a job post-graduation may be a more painful process than medical billing or sitting at the DMV.

But if you’re an engineering student about to complete an engineering degree, you may feel a bit better about your chances. You have a highly marketable major, after all, and your parents, friends, and college advisers are probably telling you that engineers have nothing to fear. It’s a growing field, they say. It’s recession-proof.

So, for those of you out there in that situation, what should you believe? Should you expect years of unemployment or a long line of suitors? Are post-grad, entry-level engineers truly weathering the recession as well as some may think?

The answer, as you may expect, lies somewhere in the middle. A few things that are for sure: engineers possess a marketable skill set, demonstrated career potential, and an intended line of work that has certainly been growing in recent decades. On the other hand, though, the recession has still taken its toll on engineering firms. So what does this mean for the post-grad applicant? It probably means job offers and excellent employment opportunities are out there – but you’re going to need to be resourceful in tracking them down. [Read more...]