I was actually going to write a fresh post, but then I realized that a lot hasn’t changed since the last time I posted here. Here’s the old post if you’re interested.

Short version: I cannot find employment at all in my field (electrical engineering). It’s not “we’re not hiring”, it’s “we’re not hiring you.” I need to pay bills. I am physically and emotionally exhausted from being so close to poverty for so long.

What has changed:

  • I have been through about 10 interviews. Furthest I’ve gotten in one company’s hiring process is to 2nd interview. Rather than 30 applications, I have filled out over 150 applications, but I’ve honestly lost track. No offers. I have exhausted all the entry-level engineering opportunities my college’s job board has to offer. I literally have to wait for new jobs to be posted because I applied for everything. The problem is that I don’t have experience. My resumé is fine (probably) as it gets me interviews, but I simply do not have engineering experience. I am fully convinced that no engineering firm will hire me in my current state.

  • I ran out of meds about a month ago, so I feel a lot more irritable. My parents have offered to pay for a psych appointment and meds, but like…once. I will take it, but I’m waiting until I know for sure I can get more meds by the time I run out.

  • To my absolute shock, I was accepted to pursue a master’s degree at my alma mater, and the Financial Aid department has assured me that I qualify for financial aid. So at least I’m allowed to…go into further debt for further education. Yay.

Now if capitalism [1] were not an issue, I would immediately pounce at the opportunity to do a masters degree. I enjoy learning and if I thought I could choose, I would go into research. However, I gotta pay the rent (even and especially if I live with my parents), I gotta eat, and I gotta pay back the loans. Even if I go with the degree, I have to make money to pay the rent while I’m in school.

My degree is/would be in electrical engineering. I always told myself I’d be able to get a job after all this, I always told myself I picked a “safe” major. But I can’t do this anymore. I can’t be constantly living on the edge of poverty like this. And the fucking interviewers are starting to ask about the gap in my work history since I fucking graduated. HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO GET EXPERIENCE IF YOU STUPID FUCKS WON’T LET ME GET EXPERIENCE?!?!? I wish I never went back to fucking school and I fucking hate my life.

[1] Not looking to proselytize or debate politics, but I’m not sure how else to explain to people what economic impulses force me and most other humans to act against our interests. If it bothers you, replace “capitalism” with whatever you think is responsible for making ordinary people act against their economic interests.

  • PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S [he/him]@lemmy.sdf.orgOPEnglish
    5·
    1 year ago

    Your link to your old post doesn’t work for me, goes to some crypto thing.

    That’s wack. I just checked it in Jerboa, Firefox, and Firefox again but actually switching to the copy of the post hosted on your instance. All of them pointed to the correct link ( which should not be crypto-related; I’m not a fan of crypto, but I have yet to mention it anywhere on Lemmy).

    Try this: https://programming.dev/post/548878

    Do you mention that you have autism in your CV?

    Thank you for the suggestion, but I am 100% not putting that on the resumé. If it goes anywhere, it goes in the “do you have any disabilities” section employers are required to post. Based on the dozen or so engineers I’ve met in my family and my colleagues in engineering school, I 1000% do not trust engineering firms to use any information to not fuck me over.

    If I’m a little rude, I’m a dime a dozen. Most engineers are direct and to the point, possibly at the expense of politeness (myself included). If I’m autistic, that invites a whole bunch of preconceived notions that an otherwise good interview cannot fix.

    • CameronDevEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      Dunno what the deal was with the link, but that one worked.

      You’re right that rudeness/directness is common amongst engineers, but getting past the interview process often requires masking that and at least faking being pleasant. I do respect your opinion here though, I wouldnt want to get labelled and put in a box either.

      Does your uni/college/whatever have a careers department? Mine did that offered interview practice and feedback, maybe that could be valuable for you?

      In any case, best of luck, i hope things turn around for you soon. Remember you really only need to get your foot in the door once, and after that it gets a lot easier.