Engineering Graduates - Please Wait Here. No Crossing.

We thought that we might inspire a few engineering graduates this week with a story. [sod this, we want to inspire ALL GRADUATES!].

FIRSTLY HERE COMES THE DOWNER [apologies]: It's tough out there, in the job market place; even for the guys and girls who have great degrees from fantastic universities. Even for the lucky few who have managed to find super networking opportunities. 

The reality check is
that there are no places to hide anymore. Your friends, colleagues, and competition are pulling out all the stops to land your dream job. 

So what are you waiting for?

Why are you relying upon outdated CV's templates, dusty old forums, random blog posts; all naughties [00's] strategies, to find yourself YOUR DREAM job? 

We will keep referring to it as your DREAM job, because if you are considering working at a bar, then you had better have a plan to bridge that gap between stop-gap-job and launch-pad-job. Or you may just remain there.

Crossroads? Waiting for no-one?

If you find yourself queuing subordinatley at the cross roads of life, waiting patiently for the next opportunity to reveal itself, then don't bother. You may as well join the traffic and head along a different path. Just because the signs say STOP, or GIVE WAY, or 'please be patient whilst we connect you'... doesn't mean that you need abide by these rules. 

Break the mould and do 'it' differently. What is IT? This is.....

CASE STUDY TIME - Najwa Jawahar [Graduate Engineer @ WSP, and Young Undergraduate International Structural Engineer, Design Winner of 2011, IStructE]

Not long ago this rather ambitious young lady contacted me through LinkedIn. She asked me to help her find a job. LIKE SHE NEEDED MY HELP!? Well apparently, even IStructE International Award Winners need a bit of inspiration from time to time ;)

Together, we decided to start a new group on LinkedIn, aimed at pulling together an entourage of engineering graduates so that they could hunt for career opportunities together, learn, pool resources, and collaborate. 

The group grew to over 500 graduates members worldwide. They began sharing experiences, and along with the lightest of touches from seasoned engineers helping the conversation along, the group began to prosper.

What happened next was inevitable. Najwa was approached by a UK engineering company, [WSP infact] and asked to interview for a position within their firm. She landed the job, and it was later announced that Najwa had won a Young International Structural Engineer Design Award for 2011 [undergraduate entry]. She launched herself into the engineering industry with a BANG!

Najwa receiving her award from the IStructE

You have the power to command your own destiny. Ask for help, but bring something to the table too. When I was introduced to Najwa, I knew she would easily make it with or with out my help. But I still wanted to help her inspire a change. 

Because its cool :-)

Weldone Najwa and thank you for allowing us to write this blog post.


You will find both Najwa and ourselves commenting and inspiring graduates to share what knowledge and leads that they have on The GradEng Network [LinkedIn Group]. You can also reach Najwa on Twitter [@Najwa_Jawahar] and on LinkedIn.


Engine[er]