Job Advice

SF12

Hi all - new Boards poster here. I'm looking for some advice.

I'm a civil engineer, but lost my job just under 5 years ago. Like many civil engineers, I took the first job that eventually came along. I'm still in it - it's a permanent role.

I have about 5 years experience on site, and then about 3.5 in the role I'm currently in. The problem is that I'm over-qualified for the role I'm in, it's not an engineering job and,(without going into much detail) it's not exactly a progressive role, it's a bit of a dead end.

I have been searching a lot for a new job, but I'm just not having any luck. I think it's a combination of things - my CV might need a revamp, though it's not bad, but mostly, I'm not all that sure what role to look for. I feel like I'm too long out of engineering in some ways, and I can't go back to site (have a family now/hours/travelling etc) I would like to get into consultancy, but I'm not a graduate, but I don't have design experience. I'm also trying to avoid a long commute, as I'm currently travelling quite far to get to work.

I'm casting a fairly wide net, and I am trying not to put too many restrictions on my search (ie, location/salary/hours etc), but I'm finding it hard to get anything.Has anyone got any suggestions as to what I might do? I've also got a Masters in the bioengineering field recently too, but I'm tied to Dublin; there are limited enough options for that here - although I am looking, but again, not sure what roles to focus on.

Any ideas?

Turbulent Bill

If you don't know what you want, write a list of generic things from your current job that you like, along with the subject areas that interest you. This will narrow down the potential roles to ones you'd be happy doing, regardless of qualifications and experience.

You'll also need a tailored CV for each application, showing how you fit that particular job and not just your general profile. I've been an interviewer, and am amazed at how few people give specifics on how they're suitable for a given job, even when they really are.

CatFromHue

Are there any short courses, Grad Certs, or Grad Diplomas you could take to add to your design experience/skills?

Five years on site experience is alot I would think and would imagine you'd slip back into it all pretty quick.

Alkers

You could apply for a few designers who advertise grad positions and try and bargain for a better starting out salary?

SF12

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I'm pretty good at tailoring my CV for each job and including a tailored cover letter, but I'll look again at how I do that. I suppose, Turbulent Bill, my big problem right now is that I don't like my current job at all. And unfortunately, there's not much about it that's particularly useful in terms of career progression - it's a low level job, without much responsibility or opportunity to move upwards. I want to move away from it back into engineering if possible. But as I said, I feel that I'm wouldn't get anything in the design side unless I start at graduate level (and most companies only want grads from the last 2-3 years - they specify that in their job ads), and as I said, without previous design experience, I don't feel that I will have much luck applying for the more advanced jobs. I feel myself that yes, I would slip back into an engineering role easily enough; I'm a very quick learner and I would love to get stuck back into a proper job, but it's convincing companies of that when you're in a pile of CVs without the exact experience that seems to be the problem.

I have done a number of short courses CatfromHue, aswell as my primary degree and Masters. I'm also a Chartered engineer, although I'm going to do some of the online CPD courses on EngIrel anyway shortly, just to add to things.It's hard to know what other courses I could do, without getting into specific areas like finance etc, which tend to be relevant to exact jobs - I have a PM dip and a number of other ones done which are a bit more general.

I think I'm going to take the general approach of applying for jobs that I think I could be suited for and seeing what happens. It's a bit disheartening though. Do people think that I could get back into engineering, or should I just stop trying altogether at this stage?? Any other thoughts about the industry or approach to job hunting would be welcome, sometimes other people see things that I just don't when thinking about this stuff.

Dr_Bill

First off I hope you managed to find something and fortunately the market is improving. In my experience I think you might have to cast the net further than Dublin and give consideration to the UK. It is possible to commute on the Ryanair bus every Monday & Friday, I have to do this myself, while not ideal I think it is important to have an open mind about it.

Are you looking to work in design or on the contractors side?

SF12

Thanks Dr Bill. I would like to get into design side of things but as I said, I'm worried about just not having the experience to get in above graduate level, and I feel I'm too far out of college to be looking at grad jobs. Also most grad positions now specifically want people qualified in last 2 years, so I can't really go for them.

I'm not in a position to travel right now - without posting a lot of personal info, I became a mother recently, so I have to stay put.

Turbulent Bill

SF12 wrote: »

I think I'm going to take the general approach of applying for jobs that I think I could be suited for and seeing what happens. It's a bit disheartening though. Do people think that I could get back into engineering, or should I just stop trying altogether at this stage?? Any other thoughts about the industry or approach to job hunting would be welcome, sometimes other people see things that I just don't when thinking about this stuff.

With some experience (regardless of how low level it is), a Masters and CEng I'm surprised you're not getting to interview with at least some of your applications. This suggests to me that your CV is weak - it doesn't demonstrate your skills and talents to potential employers. Even if you don't have specific experience, you could add a skills section to show how you've demonstrated generic skills in work.

Get someone to critically review your CV, or even anonomise it and post it here.

SF12

Good idea, thanks. I was beginning to think I'll have to get CV looked at alright, I'll just go ahead and do it.
I'd rather not post it here, as it's a bit obvious, but thanks for the offer.