Is there really job out there for us

Hi guys:

I've been laid off for almost three months now, and thank god there is a PE exam to keep me busy. But is still make me worry, well you couldnt take umemployment forever. Just recently, my liad off co-worker told me. Someone had told him that there are jobs out there, but they are looking for good engineer. Do you guys agree with him? And, all I see out there is structural engineer job. People like me got some experience in waster water, and a lot of in water resource, is there job there for me? And, how long do us need to wait? Next year? I'm sure a lot of people have see this happen, what is your take on this.

tsli

I would say that companies are being highly selective about who they hire. I don't think it is necessarily because there are a shortage of jobs, but rather, there are an abundance of good candidates. Since there are so many candidates for the jobs, companies can take the time to make sure they are getting the best engineer for their money. This usually means that you really need to be a better salesman than engineer. You have to make these people think that you are the greatest engineer ever...then make sure to you live up to the expectations that you set during the hiring process.

But trust me, there are jobs out there to be had. In fact, I was contacted by a headhunter this morning with EE jobs in the area.

wilheldp_PE said:

I would say that companies are being highly selective about who they hire. I don't think it is necessarily because there are a shortage of jobs, but rather, there are an abundance of good candidates. Since there are so many candidates for the jobs, companies can take the time to make sure they are getting the best engineer for their money. This usually means that you really need to be a better salesman than engineer. You have to make these people think that you are the greatest engineer ever...then make sure to you live up to the expectations that you set during the hiring process.
But trust me, there are jobs out there to be had. In fact, I was contacted by a headhunter this morning with EE jobs in the area.

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I believe you, casue after I fix up my resume and post it on monster. There were 5 headhunters called me up the next day. Is alomst a three weeks now. I didnt hear anyting from them. Thats why I think they are just collecting resume, when the job come, they state making the call. But, like you said whats the best way to sell myself. Any tips for me?

tsli

That's what the headhunters on monster do. It is almost impssible to get off their mailing lists, too.

tsli001 said:

I believe you, casue after I fix up my resume and post it on monster. There were 5 headhunters called me up the next day. Is alomst a three weeks now. I didnt hear anyting from them. Thats why I think they are just collecting resume, when the job come, they state making the call. But, like you said whats the best way to sell myself. Any tips for me?

tsli

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I don't know what other recruiters do, but we don't contact people from Monster unless there is real job that we feel someone is a fit for. It would be a complete waste of time to contact people just to collect resumes. Think about it. The resumes are sitting there on Monster, so why would they need to "collect" them? The fact is, though, that once you are contacted and express interest, the recruiter then sends your resume to their clients, who then choose who they are interested in taking the next step with, which is usually an interview. Also, you must keep in mind that with a recruiter, it's an ongoing process. Clients are giving them new job requisitions all the time. So while one employer is rejecting you, there is always the possibility that the next employer will like you. Therefore, the recruiter will never tell you that you have been rejected outright.

Another thing you should know is that sometimes employers take weeks just to screen resumes sent to them by recruiters. With some, it's because the resumes get passed from one person to another - from HR to a manager to another manager, etc.. With others, it could be one person who's too busy to look at the resumes. Some companies ask recruiters for candidates when the hiring need isn't imminent. Some employers like to "window shop." See what kind of people are available and if they see someone they really, really like, they'll act.

As far as e-mails from recruiters, it's a good idea to open an e-mail account (e.g., Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail) specifically to collect emails from them. If you are tired of getting e-mails from them, just stop checking that e-mail account.

tsli001 said:

Hi guys:
I've been laid off for almost three months now, and thank god there is a PE exam to keep me busy. But is still make me worry, well you couldnt take umemployment forever. Just recently, my liad off co-worker told me. Someone had told him that there are jobs out there, but they are looking for good engineer. Do you guys agree with him? And, all I see out there is structural engineer job. People like me got some experience in waster water, and a lot of in water resource, is there job there for me? And, how long do us need to wait? Next year? I'm sure a lot of people have see this happen, what is your take on this.

tsli

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If you are interested in working in water or waste water, my company ( MWH) may have an opening for you. We mainly focus on "Wet Infrastructure" and have offices all over the world. I am sure there are positions open, just depending on where you are willing to relocate to. You can look at our website (www.mwhglobal.com) and see if there are any positions that interest you.

If you like I'd be happy to take a look at your resume and send it up the chain.

A little advice from someone who does hiring, me. Skip monster and all the other crap including craigslist. It is really impossible for me to deal with all the imbiciles that are on those sites. The problem is there are thousands of people modifing their resumes to make it look like they are qualified even when they dont even know what the job is.

Almost all the people I have hired have mailed or better yet walked into the office and dropped off a resume. If you call ahead and ask the ladies up front really nice who is the head of ---- department they will tell you and you will know who to address your cover letter to.

MechGuy .. my mailmans son in law(I advised him) walked into the MWH Pasadena office with a resume in hand and got a job in two weeks. This was about a month ago. The larger firms who are doing federal work are still busy and are good places to look. MWH, Parsons, CH2Mhill, ITSI, LFR, TRC, URS,ATC, Ninyo and Moore,Delta, Geosyntec.

There is no doubt that things are tough, but if you dont seperate yourself from the Pac you really dont have a chance.

MechGuy said:

If you are interested in working in water or waste water, my company ( MWH) may have an opening for you. We mainly focus on "Wet Infrastructure" and have offices all over the world. I am sure there are positions open, just depending on where you are willing to relocate to. You can look at our website (www.mwhglobal.com) and see if there are any positions that interest you.
If you like I'd be happy to take a look at your resume and send it up the chain.

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of course, I am interested in working water or waste water, and I am willing to relcoate too. However, I do have other question. Right now I got laid off now, the state got some money for training. I was wondering what kind of training I should go for. I got 3 to 4 years in water resource konwing TR50 and TR 22 pretty well, and I know HEC-2 from drain pipe design. I got less than a year in water/waste water design. I am thinking taking those HEC-RAS certify class from the government money. I was wondering any suggestion for to what kind software class that I should take to make myself a better sale?

tsli

I've always had my resume's printed on nice cotton paper or something classy like that and I pound the pavement, do research on companies, spy on jobsites to see who's doing what and other nosy things. A few times I've just gotten addresses of companies I think do interesting work and drop off resume's in an 8 hour circuit of driving on my days off.

Another tip is after an interview, go straight out and mail a thank you card to the company.

If you need people skills, join a Toastmaster's group in your area, it's cheap and works better than anything I know.

MGX said:

I've always had my resume's printed on nice cotton paper or something classy like that and I pound the pavement, do research on companies, spy on jobsites to see who's doing what and other nosy things. A few times I've just gotten addresses of companies I think do interesting work and drop off resume's in an 8 hour circuit of driving on my days off.
Another tip is after an interview, go straight out and mail a thank you card to the company.

If you need people tskills, join a Toastmaster's group in your area, it's cheap and works better than anything I know.

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Guess what, I am in the toast master in my old company, in fact they did send me a kit for it. I'm just wondering what kind of course I should take to improve me water resource technical certify coruse.

tsli

someone sent me this ..

http://www.employmentspot.com/job-results/?keywords=AECOM

EnvEngineer said:

A little advice from someone who does hiring, me. Skip monster and all the other crap including craigslist. It is really impossible for me to deal with all the imbiciles that are on those sites. The problem is there are thousands of people modifing their resumes to make it look like they are qualified even when they dont even know what the job is.
Almost all the people I have hired have mailed or better yet walked into the office and dropped off a resume. If you call ahead and ask the ladies up front really nice who is the head of ---- department they will tell you and you will know who to address your cover letter to.

MechGuy .. my mailmans son in law(I advised him) walked into the MWH Pasadena office with a resume in hand and got a job in two weeks. This was about a month ago. The larger firms who are doing federal work are still busy and are good places to look. MWH, Parsons, CH2Mhill, ITSI, LFR, TRC, URS,ATC, Ninyo and Moore,Delta, Geosyntec.

There is no doubt that things are tough, but if you dont seperate yourself from the Pac you really dont have a chance.

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Nice! Yeah our federal branch has been ok, other portions of the company not so lucky I hear. Glad I picked the job with the federal contract right around now!

EnvEngineer said:

A little advice from someone who does hiring, me. Skip monster and all the other crap including craigslist. It is really impossible for me to deal with all the imbiciles that are on those sites. The problem is there are thousands of people modifing their resumes to make it look like they are qualified even when they dont even know what the job is.
Almost all the people I have hired have mailed or better yet walked into the office and dropped off a resume. If you call ahead and ask the ladies up front really nice who is the head of ---- department they will tell you and you will know who to address your cover letter to.

MechGuy .. my mailmans son

in law(I advised him) walked into the MWH Pasadena office with a resume in hand and got a job in two weeks. This was about a month ago. The larger firms who are doing federal work are still busy and are good places to look. MWH, Parsons, CH2Mhill, ITSI, LFR, TRC, URS,ATC, Ninyo and Moore,Delta, Geosyntec.

There is no doubt that things are tough, but if you dont seperate yourself from the Pac you really dont have a chance.

Click to expand...

You know what EnvEngineer, after my PE exam I will do that walk up to those big company and just drop off my resume. Any advic to how should I approach when I step in the door?

tsli

tsli001 said:

You know what EnvEngineer, after my PE exam I will do that walk up to those big company and just drop off my resume. Any advic to how should I approach when I step in the door?

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Why wait?

SSmith said:

Why wait?

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Hello my PE exam in 3 weeks. Need to cramp when or what even I can.

tsli001 said:

Hello my PE exam in 3 weeks. Need to cramp when or what even I can.

Click to expand...

So it is not possible to job hunt during the day and then study 4-5 hours at night then?

I passed the PE while working full time with a pregnant wife. I can assure that it can be done without with less than a full time commitment.

Oh well. Sounds like you've made your decision already anyway.

(Also--I don't think that I would ever prioritize taking an exam before finding a way to provide for my family. But that's just me and my value system.)

SSmith speaketh true.

tsli001.

do some homework and see who does your type of work. With the internet its pretty easy to see what the big boys are doing. If you are starting and willing to do anything interesting find out what the expertice of that office is.. construction, bridges, remediation, waste water and direct your cover letter to that interest, dont doctor your resume. Call ahead and see if you can get the name of the department head or senior engineer.

If you called me and said you would like to stop by for a minute to drop off your resume I would see you and I dont know of anyone who would not. I suggest you call and say you are walking by on tuesday and could you drop off a resume. If they say they are not hiring tell them you will leave it at the front desk but.... is there a department they could recommend you talk with.

if you really cannot get a name, there will be a receptionest at the front desk, tell her you are really interested in talking about a job with one of the project managers and could she suggest someone (try to get past a refferal to the HR ie dead zone).

Good Luck, PS you dont need your PE to get the job, let them know you are taking the test but I would not wait.

BTW

Parsons California

CH2Mhill

I would not take these listings seriously, there are two issues 1) it probably took over a month for the listing to be posted, and 2) is is likely to be filled internally.

The other issue is the same as monster and craigslist, your resume ends up in a big pile. And i mean big. Please dont get me wrong apply but also use the listing to find out what departments they have and what type of people they are hiring. With that walk in the door.

I do that. Thats what I do at night do some job hunt. My question is how about other compamy like

ITSI, LFR, TRC, URS,ATC what about those guys?

tsli