New Electrical Engineer

Still looking...

2008-08-29T20:26:00.000-07:00

2008-08-07T20:32:00.001-07:00

Anybody ever work for a large worldwide company that's tanking? I have. It was ugly. I worked for a computer chip manufacturer that also specializes in another department of computing. You might be able to guess what company it was if you follow the sector. The company is failing. Well the whole sector is not doing so great actually. I got out because I was in a unique position that no one had ever had before.

That's not a problem. I can deal with new things. It's just that a lot of these companies don't necessarily train you much if at all. I was basically thrown into the lion's den so to speak. I had to cut my losses and leave, although I made a decent amount of scratch before doing so. I do sort of regret it and maybe I could have stayed a little longer, but past is history.

Here's to the future on the day after my b-day. :)

Go celebrate on my behalf, and pour out a little liquor.

Random

2008-07-29T17:42:00.001-07:00

I'm hungry. I think I'm gonna make some chicken. Fried chicken. And risotto with a whole block of parmesan and some portobellos. I think I might turn this into a cooking blog. LOL. Nobody reads this anyway, just something I use to waste Google's bandwidth. Anyone have a recipe idea? Maybe I'll post some cooking how-to videos to Youtube. :)

First Poll

2008-07-15T17:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry about my pathetic plea for people to find me a job. Hehe, was having a couple drinks and suddenly I'm on my blog begging.

I put up a poll (in the right hand bar) if you'd like to vote how long it took you to get your first job out of college or if you just gave up and went back to school. So vote! No voting registration card necessary.

Also I have a job interview tomorrow so wish me luck!

Edit: The company wanted more experience than I currently have. No dice. :(

Need another beer now, please.

I Need a Job!

2008-07-14T15:38:00.000-07:00

I really need a job. Engineering company in FL and preferably minimal travel. I'll give someone my first 2 paychecks for a job, even if it's contract. Something in the $20/hr+ category. Seriously.

The "Cube"

2008-07-06T09:44:00.000-07:00

First day on that job:
I got assigned to a cubicle. A cubicle is like a desk, only spread out (usually) in 3 directions, boxing you in, hence the name. You get an uncomfortable chair, a computer to use, some drawers full of papers from the last employee that had that space, and some empty space for you to bring all your own little things that make "the cube" yours. Things like a stapler, pen/pencil, and calendar are not included in your cube obviously. You have to bring your own stuff. It's good to label your stuff, especially if it's important or expensive because co-workers sometimes "borrow" stuff from your cube when you're not there, as I learned.

I tell people to label their stuff with masking tape and a marker for best results with labels such as "MINE" or "LEAVE ME HERE" or "[insert name] will be angry if you take me". One time I left for lunch and came back to find my $100 calculator missing. After asking around the place for about half an hour I found the perp. They said they "were bringing it right back". This is where I learned to label my stuff.

First Interview After College

2008-06-28T16:16:00.000-07:00

So I never did any internships during school. I was busy working in the service industry, i.e. waiting tables and bartending. Didn't want to leave the money for resume "upgrades".

So I finished undergrad and had submitted my modest resume on some websites, hoping for the phone call that would get me my first real job. After all, it did say that I had a Bachelor's degree. :)

About 2 months goes by and finally I got a voicemail. Paraphrased: "Hi, I'm the VP of operations here at Company X, and I see you have some good potential. Would you like to come in for an interview?" I was very excited, went out and bought a suit (never had one before this), and went to the interview. It was with an electrical engineer with whom I'd be working and learning on the job.

Basically the first interview consisted of the man asking me about classes I'd had in college and if I'd try my best to work there at Company X. Of course I said. A few days later I hear back from the VP. He wants me to come to a 2nd interview. I go and interview with him, this time getting grilled a little further about what skills I'm good at, etc. I answer what I think are good answers, you know the kind they like to hear, but being honest if there was actually anything I didn't know what the hell he was talking about.

He then gives me a walkaround tour of the Company. It all seems very interesting, he's telling me what the people I see are doing, and I see people working on laying components on PCBs and such. The interview worked out great, and I got the job a few days later, with a title of Junior Electrical Engineer. Exciting stuff it was. I mean it was my first "career" interview and I actually landed the job!

I'll go into more details about this Company in my next post. Hopefully by midweek.

GRE on Monday, yikes!

2008-06-21T20:45:00.000-07:00

So, I have the GRE on Monday @ noon. I'm nervous as hell. I had 2 months to study, and I've put in most of that time studying vocab words. By the way, there's about 3500 of them in a study guide I downl..--er...bought.

The math isn't too tough if you can reason and know your formulas for various simple shapes (circles, triangles, pythagorean theorem, graphing, high school stuff really). They do try to trick you purposefully however, and I've tripped up on some of the example tests I've taken on PowerPrep. The verbal though....arrrgghh. Good enough will be good!

I couldn't study today due to some occurance of a friend that I just found out about this morning. Bad news and I'll leave it at that. This is a blog meant to help, and not to bear bad news.

Sunday I'll study a couple hours. By this point either I know it or I don't. Will find out Monday unofficially my score. :) I'll be relieved whether I do well or not. Just knowing where I stand is fine! I can always take it next month if necessary.

Starting from scratch ain't easy.

2008-06-17T10:19:00.000-07:00

When you finish your 4 (or in my case 5) -year tenure in your undergraduate studies you, like most, may have high hopes of quickly landing a job and having it pay you $50K+ your first year. We can all dream, right?

However after making your new shiny resume that lists your Bachelor's degree and sending it all over the place, you may find out that's it not all that easy to find your first job.

Such is the beauty of employment agencies. They are generally free to use in my experience. They see your resume on Monster or another big job search engine where you've eagerly posted you resume, and if they like your resume and think one of their current clients (employers) is a good potential match they will call you. Some of these agencies are very good about describing the job to you over the phone, some haven't a clue as to what to tell you. They can often get you interviews though, and if you get the job your new employer pays the agency, and you don't see any fees or anything out of your own pocket.

Totally off topic: Last night I chopped the tip of my left index finger a bit with a kitchen knife while slicing onions for my famous meatloaf. It's been a little uncomfortable to type this with the huge bandaid I have on. :)

'til next time!

P.S. Let me know in the comments if you want to know about anything related to my blog here or if there's something specific you'd like me to post about.

First Post

2008-06-16T21:41:00.000-07:00

Hello ladies and gents. I'm starting this blog to share some stories about my career in electrical engineering. I'm a recent graduate from one of the larger universities in Florida. So far I've had 2 jobs in the field, and I'm currently studying for the GRE for a Master's.

Right now I'm currently looking for new work.

I'll be updating my site with stories of days I've had at the jobs I've held and keep it interesting and funny if possible, and keep you guys up to date with job progress, interviews, and the dreaded grad school when that comes. 0.O

First real post hopefully by Tuesday or Wednesday this week. Stay tuned.