Jeff Martin ⋅ Ashburn, VA The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ⋅ 25 years experience

I’d suggest that you network at the target company or industry. Use LinkedIn to find people already working there and reach out to them. Ask them the process they used to get hired and ask them to help you navigate the hiring process and if they are willing, ask them to submit you as a referral. These activities require much more time on your part but in my opinion would greatly increase your chances for success. Good luck!

Jerome Wong ⋅ Scarsdale, NY BNP Paribas ⋅ 16 years experience

Your experiences are as valuable as what you are able to convince potential employers they are worth. Just like Bryan Mills, you have a unique set of skills which need to be packaged correctly and targeting the right employers. For example, drones are used for inspection of nuclear and other power plants where your background may fit well. Happy to have a discussion if you are interested and best of luck.

Rgds,
Jerry

Jerome Wong ⋅ Scarsdale, NY BNP Paribas ⋅ 16 years experience

Your experiences are as valuable as what you are able to convince potential employers they are worth. Just like Bryan Mills, you have a unique set of skills which need to be packaged correctly and targeting the right employers. For example, drones are used for inspection of nuclear and other power plants where your background may fit well. Happy to have a discussion if you are interested and best of luck.

Rgds,
Jerry

George Wilhelmsen ⋅ Rochelle, IL Sargent & Lundy ⋅ 38 years experience

You have a unique skill set - you worked on avionics and electronics, and yet you are a ME.

That makes you VERY valuable, and the job market for Engineers right now is very good. (it's a GOOD time to be an engineer!)

Where would you like to work?

There are nuclear plants that area that are looking for skills like yours - you are flexible. Please consider looking at the nuclear industry.

How you market yourself is exactly as you did for this message - you worked on avionics and electronics, and have your ME degree. You are looking for challenging and rewarding work. I think you'll get more offers than you might believe.

We're also hiring new grads at Sargent & Lundy. We have divisions in that area. Check out our website.

https://sargentlundy.com/careers/

Joe Engle ⋅ Indianapolis, IN Electrical/Software Eng. + MBA ⋅ 30 years experience

Hello Kyung.
Congratulations on the ME degree!!
If you are applying for an ME position in a company where your prior experience applies, then your experience may directly apply and put you above entry level. Otherwise, your engineering status is entry level, and the PRIMARY EMPHASIS OF YOUR RESUME SHOULD BE YOUR ME DEGREE AND STUDIES. That said, think of how you may be able to use your previous experience(s) in your resume. For example:
1) Even if not specifically related to the desired position you can highlight your achievements. I.E. Finished projects ahead of schedule, awards, recognition, etc.
2) Maybe a point about working well within a team, or maybe being a good leader.
3) Maybe actions that show you are responsible, or conscientious, or a problem solver, etc.

You get the idea. Using a bit of the unrelated experience to help make the case to hire you. Like I said, use a small percentage of these as compared to your primary ME points.

Best of luck Kyung and hope these ideas help.
Joe

Richard Byrne ⋅ Hillsborough, NJ Intel Corporation ⋅ 53 years experience

From my experience, unless you have already done an internship in Engineering, you should apply for entry level or intern jobs. If you are still in the Military, you could look into the skill bridge program. For best results, you would be willing to relocate. I've added job search links to resources & videos under this section of my EE web[page:
http://eehot.com/ee.html#jobs - commercial job searches
http://eehot.com/ee.html#networking - Free LinkedIn premium for 1 year
http://eehot.com/ee.html#mentoring - see skill bridge
http://eehot.com/ee.html#cool - see skill bridge

Commercial Job search your location (5 jobs found):
https://www.indeed.com/q-Mechanical-Engineer-Entry-Level-l-Columbia,-SC-jobs.html?from=relatedQueries&saIdx=6&rqf=1&parentQnorm=mechanical%20Engineer&vjk=ad8a9d84d9f68366

Commercial job search, no location specified (467 jobs found)
https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=Mechanical%20Engineer%20Entry%20Level&sc=0kf%3Aattr(EXSNN%7CFCGTU%7CHFDVW%7CQJZM9%7CUTPWG%252COR)explvl(ENTRY_LEVEL)%3B&vjk=cbde502ceb65eee8