Michigan Tech students are on the search for jobs, but with a highly competitive job market, it is becoming more difficult for students to find the positions they want. While Michigan Tech boasts a high post-grad employment rate, that number doesn’t reflect the effort that graduates must put forward to get those jobs.
One thing that the university does well is equipping its students with the right resources for them to have the most successful chance at getting their dream job. Cody Kangas, Director of Career Services at Tech, said, “Employers are coming, Husky talent is in demand, that is never going to go away. But how each individual Husky is positioning themselves, that’s where there are tools and resources across campus ready to go, but students just need to take advantage of them. Get your resume ready, get your Handshake profile rolling, get out to Career Fair.”
Michigan Tech graduates, meanwhile, are finding different ways to cope with an ever-changing job market. Seth Broekhuis, a mechanical engineer, shared his story of when he was looking for a job before his graduation. He said that he initially had received an offer from a company that he had interned for the previous summer and was going to work there full-time, but during his senior year, over spring break, he received the news that he was being let go. Pressing through adversity, he began to look for other options. “I also started talking to friends and family members about asking around to see if anyone they knew had an opening…those people were the most helpful because they had an ‘in’ into the companies I was looking for and could vouch for me in terms of character and experience.”
Ladd Stanton, who recently graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering technology, offered some advice to current students: “Be open to anything. I had an idea of a dream job and my current job does not reflect that at all, which is not a bad thing. It’s actually cooler than I thought. I didn’t have any co-ops or internships so I was anxious about interviewing for sure. In my experience, I feel like I am a step or two ahead of the other new hires at my company thanks to the method of thinking instilled in me at Tech.”
Finding the right job may not be easy, but the more effort students put into their search, the more success they’ll find.
