EE Job Application Strategies

[386engineer]

I was wondering how you guys approach applying for Electrical Engineering jobs. I am located in the US.
[1] Do you manually find companies, sift through job positions and apply?
[2] Do you use a recruiter? If so, do you find the recruiter to be helpful? Do you use multiple recruiters? Do you pay for the recruiter? I have seen a lot of sites say "no recruiter resume / contact"
[3] Do you use job aggregators? If so, which ones?
[4] What application automation do you use? How many apps do you get through a day?


Approaches I have taken:
For [1] & [3], I search related companies of fields / markets I am interested in and use sites like angel list, hackernews, boston specific job hunting sites, and NYC job hunting sites. I have not used a recruiter yet.
I also try to find friends at specific companies, find a position I have the qualifications for and contact them.

Automation I use:
I use 3 different resumes for different types of jobs. I custom modify coverletters. I use roboform to automate filling out the job entry blanks. I try to shoot for 10-20 a day, but ideally I would like to increase this.

Things that don't seem to work well:
Linkedin. I have almost exclusively been contacted by spammy hiring manager for unrelated positions. The only time it helps is when a company has linkedin-only posted positions or an application can be sped up using linkedin information adding.

Other bits:
Of the companies I have applied to less than 20% of them respond.
It sometimes takes weeks to months to get a simple phone screen / first interview.
(B.S. EE with 2yrs experience, good college, projects.)


P.S. This is my second EEVblog forum account. My main eevblog account is directly linked to my professional profile / brand and I don't want the ALL Mighty Internet Index to find me.

Thanks everybody!

[rstofer]

I have no idea how to go about finding a job.  Mine were pretty much handed to me and I've been retired for 14 years so take this with a huge helping of salt...

Join the IEEE and find out if they have periodic meetings in your area.  What you are trying to do is 'network' your way into a recommendation.  Meet the other engineers (at least the sociable ones), BS about electronics, ask about jobs, that kind of thing.

I was never a joiner but I did attend a couple of Plant Engineers meetings and they were quite good.  There were some very qualified members from all the largest employers.  Alas, at the time most companies were reducing headcount, not increasing.

Makers fairs might be a possibility.  Makers workshops (where you used community equipment for you private projects) might be another.

Sending in a 'cold' resume or CV seems destined to fail.  They wind up in HR and those folks have no idea what they're looking at.  On a good day, if the feel like it, they might forward your resume to someone who actually hires people.  More likely not...

Don't overlook working for a 'body shop' as a contract employee.  Many companies hire 'temps' through agencies.  There are a number of reasons for this but mostly it has to do with the ease of terminating a contractor.  Just call the agency and tell they you don't need their temp any longer.  No pain, no strain and no lawsuits.

If you do good work you might be offered a permanent position.  If there are no positions, so what?  You learn a little more and offer it to their competitors down the street.

[rhb]

This is a bit of work as it requires social engineering.

Pick a few companies you *really* want to work for.  Track down people your age who work for the company and find out where they go after work on Friday for a drink.  Start hanging out there after work on Friday.  There is a high probability that their manager will show up from time to time.  If you get to know them, the job will find you.

You need to become a regular fixture so this will only work for 2-3 companies at most.  It won't be quick unless you get wildly lucky.  But it will work.

With the exception of my first and third job, everything found me.  Dwell time was 3-8 years, most of which was as a contract employee.  The first contract job was a 3 month contract which I terminated after 3 years.  They were about to go through another layoff and I didn't want to deal with the agony of the regular staff.  I reported to the new job on Monday and they had an unannounced layoff on Tuesday.  On my last one, which found me by name.  It was a former boss of mine I got an offer of a "permanent" position the day before they announced a layoff.  HR would not commit  to whether I would have a job or not, so after consultation with my boss, I declined.  We cut my hours back for a few months and then I went back to full time as a contractor.  I stayed there for 6 years until a merger and two years after.  I left to look after my aging parents which required leaving Houston.