OK, let's begin on this journey. As a former college Dean, I have done lots of this for graduating seniors-- I thought and still think that is part of the job the Dean-- help the grads find jobs after graduation.
Step 1-- Get involved with your school alumni group. Go to their happy hours, career fairs, etc. Dress appropriately and visit with as many folks as you can. Don't be greasy-- give a card, get a card. On the back of each card-- (have a good pen with you) write down 3 things that the individual who gave you the card said that will help in the job business. It may be the company president's name, the HR director, what department in Timbuktuu is hiring-- 3 key kernels that are important. That way you will now what you are doing when you get home.
Step 2-- Once home, send a THANK YOU note to everyone who gave you a card. You can make them on publisher or get some nice ones at the store. Thank You notes are a BIG DEAL-- this is easily done, but either is never done or poorly done. Just do it-- tell whom ever you visited with THANKS. YOu'll be surprised at the results.
Step 3-- Every morning, out the door at 0730, resumes, cards and a map in hand. Go pound on every door that is even close to what you want to do. Practice the elevator speech, be nice to the receptionist, the goal is to get the resume in the hands of someone other than the janitor. If you come home before 6PM, you are doing something wrong--either you ran out of resumes or you failed to plan your day.
Step 4-- Do it again the next day-- different shirt, different tie
Step 5--Repeat for 4 weeks. This is HARD WORK, however, these are HARD TIMES-- drastic conditions call for drastic actions-- you may think this is way over the top-- not so.
I used this same protocol with a kid that graduated from TCU. He had been looking for 5 months and no luck. He had already moved back in with Momma and DAddy and had to share a room with little brother. However, he did listen and he used the approach. He went to a career fair back at school, TCU, was interviewed by the team from the company and they took his resume. That day, they were not looking for resumes for engineers, however, they took his. They called him a couple of days later, he got a plant trip and an offer about 3 weeks later. His call to me was should he hold out for more money-- he was offered $69K as a BSME, with a moving and signing bonus. He told me that his offer was $10K higher than any of his classmates. I told him that there was probably an extra $5K on the table, however, he had been looking now for 7 months, was living with Momma and Daddy and sharing a room with little brother. My advice was to take the offer, say no more and go to the nearest church, denomination not important and PRAY TO GOD for at least an hour that GOD was watching.
Fast Forward a year, he made about $85K with overtime last year and has just been promoted to Associate Site Engineer. This is a true story-- no puffery--however, the technique works.
Good Luck in your job search!
A volunteer idea may be to work on a Habitat for Humanity House using your engineering skills. You will bump into some folks that may be able to hook you up to a hiring official.
Let me know what happens.
