I'm just asking because my TBM/RM nephew graduated from there with a mechanical engineering degree last December and still isn't able to find a job.

He's been on several trips visiting companies and having interviews but to no avail.

It probably doesn't help that he was home-schooled during his high-school years...so there's that.

His main interest is in aeronautics but since BYU-I didn't have a program for that he went with mechanical engineering instead.

Is it tough all-around for engineers in the United States to find work?

My daughter graduated in aeronautical engineering from UW and has had no problem finding work.

Could be that mechanical engineers aren't as in as big of demand, or just as likely, BYU-I doesn't have a well-thought-of program.

First off - CONGRATULATIONS on your daughter getting her degree from YouDub! She must be a wiz!

Second, I agree that compared to UW I don't see how BYU-I could stack up. I mean, if I were hiring an engineer I would much rather go with the UW grad any day.

My sense for many years is that Most engineering grads from most schools have a hard time finding work

When I was a student ages ago, an engineering degree was a golden ticket to a decent career. I could be wrong but that is just not true anymore.

Not really the case...

2018 Engineering Outlook: #1 Job, Mechanical Engineer:

25,300 Projected Jobs | 9% Growth Rate | $84,190 Median Salary | 1.1% Unemployment Rate

https://blog.trimech.com/staffing/in-demand-engineering-jobs-2018

Sadly, I think a BYU-I degree can't compete with actual Mechanical Engineering degrees.

Overall, it ranks 4th out of 7 schools just in Idaho; 21st out of 39 "Rocky Mountain" schools, and 802nd out of 1383 schools in its size category nationwide. In mechanical engineering, it ranks 242nd out of 326 size-category schools nationwide. Well below average in all of those rankings.

Thanks for your insight and research. I'm not sure how well my nephew did grade-wise in school so there's that.

It does seem odd that he's still job-hunting in a field that should be clamoring for more engineers.

Whatever "stigma" there is (if any) from a BYU-I degree can certainly be overcome.

Did he intern anywhere? Employers love kids who've interned in their field -- they have experience and not just book learning.

Is he designing/building things on his own time and dime? Employers love people who see their field as a passion, not just a 9-5 job. Something they do on their own time for free because they love it, not just because somebody pays them to do it.

Does he need some resume help/interview coaching? Plenty of people around (probably some at even BYU-I) who'll do this for free or a small fee.

Is he a member of professional societies, like ASME?

https://www.asme.org/

They're not just for "certification," but for job networking.
And keeping current in your field.

Thanks for all of your advice! I will pass these ideas along to my brother. His kid needs a job.

I beg to differ on taking a long time to find a job. This is a more recent phenomenon. I work with two guys right now that are BYU-I ME graduates. As long as the person has good skills, and has the ability to communicate, they ought to be able to find a job. And I have to agree with the comment about only looking in ZION. That drastically limits your choices and chances.

When I graduated from U of U in 1978 (with a 2.7 GPA), I did 11 interviews on campus, got invited to a second interview with all. Did 8 and got 8 job offers. I seriously considered three and finally picked one.

Right NOW might be a trying time to find employment; it is hard for all disciplines and very hard for some. But overall, I have not ever seen times like now. The name of the game is changing, and the business models of all the technology companies are changing drastically. I am glad I am retiring in 14 to 19 months from now.

If he's interviewing with companies based in Utah or Idaho, yes, it's OK. Any other states, no. Especially if he's putting missionary service on his CV.

I am in the Central US. I know of 3 recent grad's, who had jobs lined up prior to graduating in Mech Engineering. For the grad in question, probably a combination of home school, BYU-I, missionary service on resume, low job opp's in his state, his presentation, etc. He should change his image and/or presentation. May have to take a basic entry level position somewhere to build his portfolio.

BYU-Idaho? Is this a 2 year degree in Engineering? If so, get your BS. BTW, my son is director for mechanical engineering for his company, they can hardly find any engineers.

Sadly, BYU-I is now a 4-year private university. Yea.

You didn't mention a key thing in competing for 'great jobs' which people would like to try and get -------- GRADES!

Even when I graduated, many competed for 'better jobs' and they needed pretty high grade point averages or an 'in' with the company.

After I retired from my first career (military). I went back to interviewing and competing for jobs (grades, test scores, experience, certifications, etc.). I was competing for some jobs for over a month but then got the job offer I wanted from one and took it.

After the 'top graduates' are selected, many others eventually took 'jobs' in their fields.

I'd suspect the difficult job search is less about the university, and more about their grades, their presentation skills, and their personality.

I also agree with Mr Kolob, his comments are spot on.

If he really wants to get a job right away, the military is always looking for mechanical engineers. It would be a steady job with steady pay, and some adventure. If he doesn't mind the travel. Too, with a college degree, he'd start off at an officer's pay scale.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2018 10:15AM by Amyjo.

I'm in the market for a good EE right now, but the pickings are scarce.

There has always been a problem with fresh graduates of engineering schools: most of them don't know how to do anything useful. They know lots of theory and have done a few class projects, but it will take a couple of years for them to get reasonably productive in a commercial work environment.

That's not 100% true of course. Some graduates are passionate about their field and have done lots of extra stuff on the side. These can often be useful right away, but they're the exception rather than the rule.

The problem is that some people get engineering degrees, not because they are interested in the work and love doing it, but because they think it will be a path to good-paying jobs. These are the ones who will have problems finding employment. This is a syndrome often seen with foreign students, where an engineering degree is considered prestigious and a pathway to a job in the U.S., an H-1B and an eventual green card. Again not 100% (I've worked with some truly exceptional ones in the past), but something that needs to be considered when hiring.

I’ve worked with EEs who’ve forgotten everything. It’s like they didn’t even go to school. They cram for tests, get good grades, then poof. It’s gone. Sometimes I wonder if companies would do just as well bringing on burger flippers to learn on the job.

From what I've read online yes there are many Engineers that have a hard time finding $84,000 a year jobs. Productivity has so much improved within the 20th century and profitability has gone so high within since the industrial revolution, that maybe there isn't enough work anymore for brainiacs?

My company hired an industrial engineer from BYU Idaho to try to find time wastes. He stayed for about a year and then disappeared, now our company is asking us what our opinion is to make things better. I guess we are as smart as engineers?

If they ran out of work for him (or other white collar schmoozes) I wonder why they just don't come out to the floor and help out? The hourly pay isn't that much less. There is such a class divide within production it's working against them.

anono this week Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My company hired an industrial engineer from BYU
> Idaho to try to find time wastes. He stayed for
> about a year and then disappeared, now our company
> is asking us what our opinion is to make things
> better. I guess we are as smart as engineers?

When it comes to what wastes time in your work, you're probably smarter than most engineers :)

Then again, that particular BYU-I grad might just have sucked at what he was hired to do...so they canned him.

Rexburg Local here! I have a lot of friends that went through the mechanical engineering program at byui. Math is a b*tch and bounces a lot of the kids from the program. My friends have quickly found high paying jobs with big companies. One is a failure engineer for Harley Davidson. My observation is that you should seek to intern somewhere that has meaning. Yes if you stay local, you limit your options.

He should be willing to relocate *anywhere* for his first job. And if he doesn't have a paying job by now, he should look into an internship.

What ever the major field of study, the best thing a college student can do is to find work in their major during their summer breaks.

Internships, pre-entry level, anything that will give one experience in their field. Be willing to do anything that will show initiative and drive.

Don't go back packing across Europe because you worked hard at school. That doesn't cut it with future employers.

The son of my wife's boss, got his degree in international business and did nothing in his summers. When he went looking for a job he wasn't considered because he didn't have any experience. Then it was how can you get experience if they won't hire you. It's too late now. He is working for a fire department and making decent wages.

a complete waste of time for Science and Engineering degrees.

I hire scientists and engineers and would not give a BYU-Idaho resume a second look.

Mechanical engineer grads from good engineering schools are getting multiple offers this year.

My niece graduated from BYU-Idaho and ended up as grocery store checker.

What??? With all the jobs there are out there? With the best economy and lowest unemployment rate ever? I mean there are tremendous opportunities. Tremendous opportunities. America is great again. Everyone who wants a job has it. The unemployment rate is only because of the lazy people of color who want the government to take care of them. Everybody else is just swimming in money. The tax cuts gave every American an opportunity to be rich. Rich, I tell ya. The country is bleeding jobs. So all he has to do is put his resume out there and he will have a job tomorrow. Well, ok, so the job will be at Wal-Mart, but that's beside the point.

A few years ago I was on the hiring panel to hire a new junior Mechanical Engineer. Everyone we were interviewing were recent college graduates. Even though we looked at where their degree was from, the first thing we did was throw out any resumes with a college GPA less than 2.9. If their GPA was less then 3.5 they better have worked while going to college. In the interview we looked at hobbies. Any engineer that couldn't fix his own car had better make a great impression in other areas because if he can't fix something as simple as a car, how is he going to keep our combustion turbines operating and properly diagnose failures. We got a great engineer from some podunk college with about a 3.1 gpa, worked his way thru college, and as a hobby built dune buggies. He turned out to be excellent.

If he is looking for a job in an ivory tower he better go to a top rated university. If he goes to a university like BYU-I he better be doing other things to set himself apart and he better get good grades.

Thanks for sharing this! It makes a lot of sense. I suspect that my nephew's hobbies include playing games and would be clueless on how to fix a car. I hope I'm wrong, but I should discuss this with his dad.

Thanks!

I've interviewed dozens of mechanical and electrical engineers over the years and this is a very accurate description of the process for new college grads, except I conduct a phone interview before deciding to bring a person in for a face to face.

There is a definite step function at the 3.0 GPA point. Below that at a lot of companies your resume gets tossed. Our HR people pre-filter them and don't even pass them on to the hiring managers. Even when we're desperate for people, like we are now. It can be the best job market ever, and if you have a 2.8 GPA, you're going to have a much harder time getting that resume in front of the hiring managers than a new grad with just .2 points higher. So, if you are a college student, I highly recommend at least meeting that 3.0 threshold, or your job hunt could be much, much more difficult.

And yep, for sure, one of the questions that I ask in an interview is, "describe a time when you took something apart and put it back together." If a passion for understanding how things work doesn't come through in the interview, they don't get the job.

I laughed hard while reading this, Norma Rae.

NormaRae Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What??? With all the jobs there are out there?
> With the best economy and lowest unemployment rate
> ever? I mean there are tremendous opportunities.
> Tremendous opportunities. America is great again.
> Everyone who wants a job has it. The unemployment
> rate is only because of the lazy people of color
> who want the government to take care of them.
> Everybody else is just swimming in money. The tax
> cuts gave every American an opportunity to be
> rich. Rich, I tell ya. The country is bleeding
> jobs. So all he has to do is put his resume out
> there and he will have a job tomorrow. Well, ok,
> so the job will be at Wal-Mart, but that's beside
> the point.

In the oil field, we had several engineers from Rexburg working for contracting companies. Of course, they were boomers, moving from one construction project to another. Good pay, worked with good people on big, interesting projects.

It will be a tough road only because there are a lot seasoned engineers that are out of work already and desperate enough to take the lower pay just to have the job. Target and Walmart salesman jobs as they wait are getting really old.

There is always software engineering.

It sounds like someone is looking in mormonia only.Try Texas . Your education gets more respect outsise the Moridor.

I don't know if this may be of any help yet my husband is a professor in the mechanical engineering department at the U of U. Having been in the corporate world for decades before he went back to teaching, he's noticed that many of his students, both graduate and undergrad, have difficulties with their communication skills. Simple construction of sentences, repeated grammatical errors and inappropriate familiarity with their audience are just a few of the problems he encounters.

With department oversight, two grad students had interviews with large corporations, one was a complete no-show without any apology and the other showed up twenty minutes late, with little concern for his tardiness. It is his opinion that while some companies focus on a strong GPA while others are influenced by the choice of university, strong communication skills may be all the more beneficial in the early stages of job seeking.