Mature Graduates

engiweirdo

Is there anyone here graduated in their 30s or above in engineering? How did you get on with job searching after. Was it easy/hard to pick up work? Did you complete/get accepted for a grad programme?

34 year old grad here and am really f-in struggling now tbh. Strong suspicion the cv goes straight in the "do not hire" file. Had a few interviews but same sh1te in all of them "not for this role but maybe in the future", yeah right. Am the only one from a graduate class of 12 still stuck like this.

Just wondering am I the only one(maybe I smell/come off as a psycho), and what have been others experiences.

GavMan

What field of Engineering? Not a lot of detail to go on but to be honest (as someone who has been a hiring manager) if I got a CV from a 34 year old grad, I would be on to them like a hot snot. Someone in that position has obviously found some modicum of drive, application and determination to want to re-train, upskill or get a qualification.

I presume it is a B.Eng you have received. One thing I would suggest is completely revising the CV or attending a CV Clinic to get help. Your college should have a careers office to help with that and most job/careers fairs would too. Start there. Then look how you performing in interviews when you get them. A brutally honest appraisal from a 3rd party perhaps. Perhaps you are not projecting yourself in the best. Then look at superficial stuff like appearance, dress code, etc. Perhaps you think that shouldn't matter but it does. If a role has the potential to be client facing (in the real world or digitally) and you're not suited and booted, that will be a big no no for a lot of employers.

Then ask yourself if you expectations around salary etc are realistic. Talk to a recruiter about what you can reasonable expect to earn. Is it in line with what you expect? Realign the 2 positions.

Are the roles you are applying to actually suitable to a grad?

engiweirdo

GavMan wrote: »

What field of Engineering? Not a lot of detail to go on but to be honest (as someone who has been a hiring manager) if I got a CV from a 34 year old grad, I would be on to them like a hot snot. Someone in that position has obviously found some modicum of drive, application and determination to want to re-train, upskill or get a qualification.

I presume it is a B.Eng you have received. One thing I would suggest is completely revising the CV or attending a CV Clinic to get help. Your college should have a careers office to help with that and most job/careers fairs would too. Start there. Then look how you performing in interviews when you get them. A brutally honest appraisal from a 3rd party perhaps. Perhaps you are not projecting yourself in the best. Then look at superficial stuff like appearance, dress code, etc. Perhaps you think that shouldn't matter but it does. If a role has the potential to be client facing (in the real world or digitally) and you're not suited and booted, that will be a big no no for a lot of employers.

Then ask yourself if you expectations around salary etc are realistic. Talk to a recruiter about what you can reasonable expect to earn. Is it in line with what you expect? Realign the 2 positions.

Are the roles you are applying to actually suitable to a grad?

Mech/Manufacturing Engineering, yeah its a BEng, got a 2.1 in it. I'd experience previously in operator roles.

I've been for career coaching about 3 weeks ago and went through interview answers/etiquette in some detail. Also rebooted the CV on the back of advice received, always suited, booted, groomed etc for interviews.

In the 3 weeks since the career coaching (had 5 unsuccessful interviews prior to this) have applied for basically every suitable job in my location and even a few in others (cant do Dublin/Cork where a months rent = months pay) and honestly have'nt had a response to a single one. Well except for today, had applied for a "6 month contract Grad Design Engineer" role, called by the recruiter, attended the office to be told the role was filled but they also do temp work(feck off like).

At this stage there isnt an employer in my area I havent had an unsuccessful application with yet so I'd say I know where the re-submitted(albeit new) cv is heading straight away.

Sorry should have added, all the roles I apply for are Grad/Junior positions.

Turbulent Bill

If you're not getting to interview for roles you think you're suitable for, look at your CV / application again. If there are specific attributes or skills required (or even just mentioned), call out explicitly how you demonstrated these in a tailored CV. Recruiters will get lots of applications, make it easy for them to select you by ticking the boxes.

Mine any contacts you have through friends, family, college network etc.

If you're failing multiple interviews, take an honest look at how you're coming across. It's understandable that you'll be disheartened after rejections, but honestly, future employers don't care. In any case, by calling you for interview they're already confident you can do the job. Chin up, chest out, demonstrate why they were correct to call you in.

Best of luck!

KeithTS

Agree 100% with the above, if you're getting called for interview then they think you're a good fit from your CV and something you're doing/not doing at interview could be letting you down.

That's positive as once you identify it, you should be able to rectify it.

I graduated from EE at 30 and had no problem getting hired, had a number of offers before sitting finals so age wasn't a problem, I did move abroad for a lot of the opportunities I was given though.

A few friends in the same age group really struggled finding work and the main reason was that they were quite rigid in their thinking.
Salary had to match what their 30+ mates were getting even though they may have had 5-10 years experience in their field and they weren't flexible with any moves or working abroad type situations.
This is understandable as the older we get the more settled we are and so on but the employer doesn't/shouldn't really care about that. They'll take on the person that does what they need, especially for grads.

Based on that, all I can say is to go for the job you want, don't worry about salary (struggle to get by 6 months if you must, work away from home if that's all you can get). Get a few months experience under your belt and then more jobs will be open to you. a year or two building good experience will pay off in the long run if you're able to make it work.

Best of luck with it, I know all too well what a sacrifice it is going back to study later in life and not seeing good results at the end is soul destroying but you'll get there and won't look back in a couple of years. The 4-5 guys I knew who struggled for as year or so after graduating got sorted and are loving their careers now btw, so don't give up!