Job hunting and life quandries

I need a bit of advice and I know you guys are good for it.

Its a novel, I know, but I appreciate those who take the time and grant some guidance/ encouragement

I graduated with my B.S. in Engineering (materials science) with a minor in Physics last May. I had a (extremely underpaid) research assistant-ship at the university that I stayed at through the end of August. I then moved up to Pittsburgh/ moved in with my girlfriend. She had a lease that it was prohibitive to get out of early, that lease is up at the end of February.

Neither one of us really likes Pittsburgh all that much, we just don't have any friends or anything going up here. The girlfriend got her Masters in Public History (geared towards being a museum curator) when I got my bachelors. Her job prospects in her field in Pittsburgh are slim to none, she works as a barista at starbucks right now. My prospects exist here, but arent that great.

So we decided early last fall that we were going to job hunt down around Baltimore, DC, NoVa, etc area as we both have a ton more connections down there as well as much better job prospects. (for her, a ton more museums, for me, much more tech sector)

Heres where it starts to suck, I have been putting out >10 job applications a week and since August I have had ONE interview (didnt pan out) in that time. Right now I am operating on my savings, which is going to have me tapped out in 5-6 months financially.

What we had said was that at the end of Feb we were moving down that way, ready or not. I am starting to wonder if that would be a good idea. Yes, the girlfriend can transfer to another starbucks down there to keep something coming in for her. I am not above getting an "in the meantime job", but havent been able to yet as we were looking to move rather soon.

The real killer is that no matter how we look at it, rent down there is going to be 2x as much as what we are paying right now.

I am starting to feel more then a little discouraged on my job hunt, I havent even had a call about one in over a month. On the bright side, I have a friend with a company down there that referred me with her company, which I have since put in 9 applications with, 5 of which now read "under consideration", but I am still discouraged.

In moving down there, we have to guess as to where to get an apartment, we will have to pay security deposits as well as having moving expenses.

on top of all this, my girlfriend has college loans that she has had to put under deferment for economic hardship, even with her starbucks job. The deferment ends about a year from now.

Is moving down there the right thing to do right now? I already feel a few steps from drowning with watching my savings diminish. (that said, I have no debt right now, which is something I avoid like the plague it is)

I just feel a bit lost.

P.S. If anyone has a line on a job in engineering in the DC/baltimore vicinity, I could defiantly use a hand.

My guess is, all hiring is kind of put on hold until after the first of the year. People are distracted by other things. Keep up the good fight.

I've got a BIL in VA Beach that works for Stihl. I'd be happy to shoot him an e-mail and see if they are looking for anyone. That's a good bit south of where you were looking, but it might be worth a shot.

Maybe the reason the rent is higher there is because people can afford to pay higher rent, because they have jobs.

Does it look like the deferment on her school loans is NOT going to expire if you stay where you are? IE: that argument doesn't hold water.

It boils down to this: Stay where you are unhappy, or go somewhere with some connections and see what happens.

I say that you should move. I have a degree in MS&E. What kind of jobs have you been applying for? Taking a technician or QA job is something that a lot of people with engineering degrees are having to do now. Not to say that the market is saturated, but it kind of is. A lot of experienced engineers and PE's have been laid off, and are snatching up what used to be entry level jobs.

Edit: Have you considered moving farther south?

I would much rather live in Pittsburgh than anywhere near DC/Nova area. I tried to find a job in Pittsburgh last year in fact, but it didn't work out. I completely understand wanting to live in a place where you have family and friends though, if I could find a job near where I grew up, I'd move back there. I found one last year, but the pay was less than half of what I was making, so I declined that offer.

Are you willing to travel for work? I know of a job based in Federick, MD for a young engineer, but I figure it will involve travel. I'll PM you.

Hang in there, finding a job is a tough job these days.

No, the girlfriend's deferment is not impacted on where we live.

She is gung-ho on moving, I have been too.

I guess its looking to application fee's, security deposits, and rent that has me stressing over my finances and how long I can keep up without a job.

Rotard, At this point it is pretty much ANYTHING I am qualified for. My experience was all in Nanotech research (did a lot of CVD, SEM, TEM, AFM, XRD) and have a few papers (one authored, 3 co-authored) from that. Problem is that in that field they all seem to want a masters degree at least.

It being the end of the year, don't get too down. NOTHING happens between Thanksgiving and New Years.

DC area is a LOT more expensive. It's reasonable to be concerned. OTOH, it also has some of the lowest unemployment in the country.

If you're REALLY up for a change, the oil operations in the Dakotas seems to be paying people good money to relocate there.

In reply to Apexcarver:

i have heard that ZF (transmissions) is hiring engineers in design and test, in Fountain Inn SC, just a bit south of Greenville. it's a beautiful area.

Apexcarver wrote: No, the girlfriend's deferment is not impacted on where we live. She is gung-ho on moving, I have been too. I guess its looking to application fee's, security deposits, and rent that has me stressing over my finances and how long I can keep up without a job. Rotard, At this point it is pretty much ANYTHING I am qualified for. My experience was all in Nanotech research (did a lot of CVD, SEM, TEM, AFM, XRD) and have a few papers (one authored, 3 co-authored) from that. Problem is that in that field they all seem to want a masters degree at least.

Yeah, and when you have the MS, they want someone with with a PhD and 10 years of experience.

I'd check with pretty much any manufacturing company. You're qualified to use analytical equipment, so you could do research and development or quality assurance. Unfortunately, undergrad-level research and papers aren't worth much. Throw them on the CV/resume, but don't expect them to land you a job. They will give you something to talk about, however. I was fortunate and landed a pretty decent job straight out of college, but it required far more analytical work than I cared for. An entry-level engineer is pretty much a salaried tech. What's worse, is that you'll (probably) have to get a new job to get a meaningful promotion.

The vast majority of what I am applying for doesn't have much to do with what my experience is.

Havent really looked at moving further south as the GF's career has best prospects in the DC vicinity.

It does help to hear that its probably just the season and noone really does much till newyears. I was gonna say, before thanksgiving I would have a few calls a week from recruiters at least, but since thanksgiving I have had bupkiss.

What is "materials science"?

What do you love?

Is relocating an option?

Any hands-on mechanical tech work (CNC, machine programing, etc)?

It's too expensive to live in Baltimore, which is why people are buying/renting in droves in the southernmost part of PA along the I-83 corridor. You may want to consider that too. Cheaper, little crime, and if you can take the Metro to work the station is only about a 30 minute ride.

+1 on southern Pa. Lots of people commute from my area (Gettysburg) to Frederick, Gaithersbug, Rockville, Baltimore,DC etc. Rents and property values are considerably lower than Md.

A friend of mine lives in Gettysburg and commutes in to Bethesda. That seems like a lot of driving to me.

T.J. wrote: A friend of mine lives in Gettysburg and commutes in to Bethesda. That seems like a lot of driving to me.

This. And not good driving. I live in DC and work in Silver Spring, just on the line. My co-worker commutes from Frederick every day. It's stop and go on the highway or stoplights and residential.

That said, he loves his job and grew up in Frederick so he actually lives rent free with his folks, so he puts up with it.

When we moved here, my fiancee (gf then), had a nice job lined up at a hospital in the area but I had nothing and no connections. we moved to be closer to family up north(NY/NH) and for a better economy. We had been living in FL and I had been laid off. It took me 2 months to find a job.

I think you'll find something in a reasonable short time. I got lucky in finding something I liked a lot. The pay was good but it took a move to a different job to really get any sort of raise. I also agree with the comment about it will probably mean just taking something that's not great pay but will lead to better pay and a better job down the road. You've got a great start and once you get into someplace and show you can do well not just in school, you should be fine. Just get in the door.

Your girlfriend is a different situation. If you're going to move someplace with the best prospects for her, it's pretty much here or NY.

I don't see how you can NOT move here for her career long term. I could see you both moving from here after building more experience but this has got to be the best place to do it.

when we moved, we rented a tiny apartment in arlington for 9 months. we knew it would be tiny and not awesome, especially for the money. It was worth it to wait and see where we were going to end up working and to get a better feel for the area. sounds like you know the area so it's probably just a matter of waiting to see about where work is.

good luck!

I do a fair amount of hiring. I almost always put folks that are out of the region on the bottom of the pile. Reason being, I'm fairly certain they don't have housing set and so forth. No reason for me to deal with the hassle, unless they are absolutely the perfect candidate. Perhaps, get one of your friends in the area be a mail drop for you, so you can at least put a local address on your resume.

Oh, and I did see that the Monster World Rally Team was hiring out of their base in Park City Utah, in case you want to move all the way across the country.

sachilles wrote: I do a fair amount of hiring. I almost always put folks that are out of the region on the bottom of the pile. Reason being, I'm fairly certain they don't have housing set and so forth. No reason for me to deal with the hassle, unless they are absolutely the perfect candidate. Perhaps, get one of your friends in the area be a mail drop for you, so you can at least put a local address on your resume. Oh, and I did see that the Monster World Rally Team was hiring out of their base in Park City Utah, in case you want to move all the way across the country.

That was one of the things that I have been really considering as a push to move. I still maintain my MD residency (moms house, where I clear all of my paper), but it is on the other side of the state.

Right now we are looking in Gaithersburg, Germantown, and Manasses. Also considering Brunswick (md).

The other consideration is that right now, my GF(24) dosent have her license or a car. (never got it, with her family it was car or college and she got her masters, nuff said that she did the right thing) She got her permit and we are working on her driving, but my car is a Miata (stick). (borrowing moms subaru (auto) for 2 weeks to get a start) We are hoping to get her license before leaving PA (her current residency) as its faster/easier/cheaper to get there. (no sitting through drivers ed, which she dosent need really)

Absolutely get a license prior to moving. What a PITA to have a non-driving adult. Uhg.

Also - What exactly is Materials Science? You mention nanotech, but outside of classifieds weapons and academic research, is that applicable industrially yet? Does your degree have "normal tech" aspects to it? For instance, nanotech would be useless at every company I've worked. OTOH, I have worked at a place where we did material validation of every lot of steel we received.

Forgot to mention, if you have an out of region address, make sure you mention in your intro letter, that you are moving to the area on x date. This way they know you are committed to the area, regardless of whether you work for them or not.

Ah, Materials Science...

Primarily studies in materials qualities, such as treatments of steel, aluminum, polymer applications, and also into finer aspects of materials. Crystal structures, material applications, as well as creating new materials to be used for a variety of reasons. Also corrosion protection and failure analysis. Basically looking at the very small scale properties of materials to best suite a purpose or improve its qualities.

My nanotech stuff was very closely linked with micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), which all has current applications in electronics. Much of the work I have been exposed to is similar to creating a computer hard drive or processor, not to mention other components. (my later work was specifically creating devices using semiconducting nanowires)

If its still confusing, wiki to the rescue! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materials_science

Gotta say, if anyone is reading this looking for what field of engineering to get into, EE seems the best right now. A whole lot of jobs on that front for network type work.

I empathize with you apex. Same situation , only im in the north east.

Your resume might suck. PM me if you'd like a fellow engineer to take a look at it and help a brotha out.

In reply to Apexcarver:

Living in StL is cheap. Send me a resume. Dye and chemical factory where engineers are always being hired. They'll probably fly you in as well.

Have you looked at Huntsville, AL? I love it here and there are lots of engineering companies and a very cheap cost of living.

Also I would suggest posting your resume via google documents. I did that and a number of members here gave me a lot of help improving it.