Looking to pivot from circuit design into the power grid industry

[YoungRF555]

Hello all,

I am a young EE who has spent a little over a year working in the circuit design world mainly working on PCB and RF power systems. I was sadly just laid off but happily I'd Like to pivot my career a bit. I have been studying for my FE exam to obtain my EIT so I want to utilize that certification and work either in power generation, transmission, or distribution. I have placed around 30 applications with a pretty broad resume and CV. I have gotten very little bites so I am trying to take a more focused approach

The catch is I have little experience in big power outside of university and studying for my FE exam. I luckily was able to get Revit and AutoCad for free from a student license as I still had some eligibility left.

My question is how can I showcase the skills I am gaining from viewing youtube tutorials on the two programs? I want to be able to make a statement on my resume to show that I am not only listing autocad and revit among the man of other programs I have listed as being proficient on my resume. Reaching out to those in the industry I've been told revit and autocad are the big two in the power industry that employers want to see so I want to make it known that I have put a lot of time and effort into teaching myself to become proficient.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions on self guided projects or general advice for me breaking into big power.

PS I'm willing to work anywhere in the Philly or NYC metro areas if you or anyone you know is urgently hiring please link !!   

[Clear as mud]

You may have an easier time getting a job with a rural electric cooperative than a big power company.  But their headquarters will be in a small town, not a major metropolitan area.

Autocad and Revit by themselves aren't really enough.  These companies will want you to show that you can do power system modeling, figure out where to put capacitors or compensators (which I think are inductors), and have some understanding of substation protective relaying.  SCADA system programming along with HMI design and/or telecommunications protocols may be helpful too.

But my advice may not be worth much - I wasn't ever an actual "electrical engineer," at least not a Professional one.  More of a technician or assistant at best.