Job opportunities right after University

Dear all,

This is my very first message here. I am looking for more information about this situation in other regions.

I am from Europe, and I will finish a Master degree in Chemical Engineering. The degree I will have says Industrial Engineer specialized in Chemical Processes, from where I come in Spain. This program is of 6 years with 240+120 ECLS/points/credits however you may call them. This as far for the background, I will gladly answer more questions about that.

However, my concern is the following:

I have been already looking for jobs on my own through direct contact to big global companies, for about 2 years. And it seems to me, that nowadays there is a strong bond of preferences for students coming from a Master degree from a university with a predefined agreement for employment with certain companies. My university is rather poor compared to one in the US, neither is the market in strong demand for engineers in my province. So what I am trying to say, is that my university did not offer me any contact persons or make it easier in any way of getting a job for me. However, it seems very unfair that so many jobs in this sector of engineering are only offered to students from certain universities. And unless you have already 5 to 10 years of field experience with you, the HR department of the company will not even look at your application. Which leaves me with no option than getting a job for which I didn't have to study at all in the first place.

I speak 3 languages, I am 26 years old and highly motivated and I have average grade of 6,5/10 ( for example). But I do not get the chance of getting any relevant work experience on my own. I even tried to contact other universities asking for which job offers they have for their students, but I was told that I must pay for a master tuition fee at their university.

So in order to avoid extending myself any longer, I will drop this one question:

Is it more important how you finish your Academic formation or from where? 

Thank you very much for reading and sharing your thoughts. I am curious.

Kind regards,

Felix.

Felix, if you can afford to not receive much income at first, strongly consider an internship where you work for little to no money but the position is (hopefully) easy to get and the experience priceless.  And I think you will see that job opportunities can/will easily open from there.  Good luck.  

Felix,

In my opinion, where you you get your degree from can be helpful for networking and meeting potential employers, but it is only an aid and one of many factors in securing a job.

Many employers require at least a bachelor's degree and as long as the degree is from an accredited school, many do not put a big emphasis on which school the degree is from.  Of course, an applicant can be more appealing if they have a degree from a very prestigious school. A diploma, especially a masters degree, shows that you have the ability and drive to learn no matter where it was obtained.  I would go as far as saying that for many positions, employers only verify that the applicant has a degree and then they focus on other things like personality, experience, drive, future goals, and potential.  They want to know how you as a person are going to fit into and improve their team.

Where are you looking for a job?  In the states, there are many good websites that companies use to post job openings.  Social media websites like Linkedin are also helpful, as well as contacting a placement company that specializes in matching employees with employers.  Good luck.

Thank you very much for your replies and encouraging words. I´m well aware of Job portals like linkedin and infojobs. I am getting a lot of spam for entry positions with 6 years of experience. I still apply and get rejected.

Would you recommend me any site in particular for the US in case I consider coming to the US? that would be interesting. Which one do you Americans use? I guess for me coming from outside of the US would be a little different.

Kind regards,

Felix.

I would recommend Monster and Indeed, because I have some friends that had success with each.  Also, some companies post job openings in some pretty random places. If you have a few keywords, google can be your friend.