What are you thinking RIGHT NOW?

[mamaprince]

How am I ever going to get through this depression?

[Regulus]

How do you sell yourself?

Long response:

Spoiler: show

Each time has gone a little different. But, I've typically had the following talking points:

If asked, I give a little about my background. I state that I'm a recent graduate and list some of the (non-professional) design projects I've worked on.

I state that I'm much more curious than the average person. Most engineering students only want to be told the answer. I like to go beyond that. I like to know why. This has given me a deeper understanding of concepts and principles than the majority of students have.

If I'm asked why I want this job or what my career goals are, I explain this: "I'm looking for a job that challenges me. There are many jobs that would be very challenging, but I'm not qualified for them. I'm interested in this one because it looks like a good match for my skills and abilities. It would be challenging enough to be satisfying, but not so challenging that I could not do it with integrity."

For every position I've interviewed for, there have always been at least one or two job requirements that I've not met, or not been totally comfortable on. When it comes up, I do mention that in the interview. I'll say, "That's something I don't have much experience with, but I would look forward to learning more about it on the job." Sure, I could lie about having experience with that thing, but I don't want to do that. I'm trying to build credibility here, and I don't want to get myself into a job because I lied about skills that I don't have.

Now here's the killer, I think. In most of my interviews, I've been asked if I currently have a job, if I've ever had a job, or if I've ever had an internship. And the answer to all these questions is no. Besides being shy, this is really my biggest weakness.

It's weird. I've been told my resume is really good, even though there is no work experience listed on it. Instead, I've just listed projects. And, I've noticed, even though I've never written any work experience on an application, interviewers always seem to assume I have experience until I state otherwise. Then there's a disappointed "oh" that I hear come out of their mouth when they learn the truth. If the interview goes there, I lose a lot of confidence and struggle to answer remaining questions.

The last interview with Tesla was the only one I had a chance to explain myself, and I did that by saying:

I didn't study engineering because I thought I would end up wealthy. I don't want to work for Tesla because it would look good on my resume. Those are two things that don't interest me at all. I studied engineering because I wanted to learn about how things worked. I enjoyed solving problems--and so much so, that I didn't bother with anything else.

I know Tesla has a high turnover rate, and I understand why. Many of my fellow engineering students don't have the same natural curiosity that I have. They're in it for the money. I know this isn't supposed to be a technical interview, but if it was, that's where I would stand out among other applicants. My resume is good, but it's not great. I didn't care about making it great. I haven't had any fancy titles or worked at any prestigious companies. I didn't even go to career mixers. Internships and professional networking were things that I just never considered to be a priority. Instead, I spent my time learning, studying, and developing a deep understanding of technical subjects. That's what I've cared about, and that's what I've always been interested in. And, I think that would become apparent if my technical knowledge is put to the test.

In truth, there are numerous reasons why I haven't worked. I didn't need to; my tuition was fully paid for. I didn't have any desire to; I preferred having free time outside of engineering school. And, if I had wanted a job just for the fun of it, I'd still have all the same problems I'm having now, because getting a job is no easy task even when I'm dedicating my life to it.

I had tried getting internships, but I never took it seriously enough. For what it's worth, I didn't even have professional clothes to wear to an interview until my senior year. I procrastinated on all that, as it was something I had wanted, but something I had set very far down on my priority list. I had no idea it would be a gatekeeper, else I would have done so many things differently.

But I can't do anything about that now.

Anyway, I have a few ideas already for how I can improve. I was thinking of starting off the interviews by asking why the person decided to reach out to me. This could help me by doing two things. It would give me confidence in knowing that something I wrote on my resume impressed them, and it would give me a bit of an idea on what part of my background I should talk about.

Another idea: I should ask the person what problems someone in the position could solve. More than likely, they're an HR person that can't answer anything detailed in any sort of way. But if they can, that would give me the opportunity to either describe how I could help, describe something similar that I did, or at least say, "that sounds interesting."

[mamaprince]

I really need to get my life back in order.

[SimbasMate]

Never thought I'd ever have this gold in my life before.

[mamaprince]

This guy really likes me.

[Panda-chan]

Please, please, at least open your eyes. If you have to go now, I want you to at least know I’m here...

[mamaprince]

I really need to go to sleep. Lol

[Azdgari]

Even longer post. Please take everything I write with a massive pile of salt. I'm not a fifty year old HR veteran. I'm one year out of college, working in the field I'm trained in, and have recently started interviewing candidates for my company. My perspective is obviously limited. But here are some thoughts, which you can take or leave.

Now here's the killer, I think. In most of my interviews, I've been asked if I currently have a job, if I've ever had a job, or if I've ever had an internship. And the answer to all these questions is no. Besides being shy, this is really my biggest weakness.

So--I would probably agree with your diagnosis. This is a disadvantage, for sure. Not an insurmountable one at all, but something you should be cognizant of and strategize around. One of the big red flags this raises is that any job, no matter how technical, has a huge swath of non-technical components. Your capacity to work on a team. Your capacity to appropriately interpret client requests--or understand that clients are often irrational, with changing demands and asks, and the understanding that you have to suck that up. Your ability to interact with management--to manage up or down. Your ability to do the small stuff--send emails appropriately, behave correctly in a workplace, make it into work at 9AM every day, etc etc. This all sounds stupid, I'm sure, but it's true: a lot of the true value, to an HR team, of an internship is that it allows employers to say "Well, somebody else already did the smell test, and have attested to the fact that this person understands how to function and behave in a professional environment."

If asked, I give a little about my background. I state that I'm a recent graduate and list some of the (non-professional) design projects I've worked on.

And here, I think, sounds like the best thing to counteract the above problem. Can you elaborate more on these? Were these projects with a university mentor (e.g. professor)? Was there a teamwork component? I imagine that you spinning these projects in the correct ways could make them effective substitutes for work experience. "However, this project was absolutely quasi-professional in nature and atmosphere. I worked on a goal-oriented team under direction from my professor, in an environment where we were all accountable for completing our work at certain standards under a certain timetable. We worked with the end-users of this product in mind, and it was a great opportunity for me to exercise my technical ability with client-focus, something that I think was invaluable in preparing me to be a professional engineer. Our final deliverable was X tangible thing." I don't know if you try to spin like that, but that's something that comes to mind.

I state that I'm much more curious than the average person. Most engineering students only want to be told the answer. I like to go beyond that. I like to know why. This has given me a deeper understanding of concepts and principles than the majority of students have.

If I'm asked why I want this job or what my career goals are, I explain this: "I'm looking for a job that challenges me. There are many jobs that would be very challenging, but I'm not qualified for them. I'm interested in this one because it looks like a good match for my skills and abilities. It would be challenging enough to be satisfying, but not so challenging that I could not do it with integrity."

This sounds excellent to me.

For every position I've interviewed for, there have always been at least one or two job requirements that I've not met, or not been totally comfortable on. When it comes up, I do mention that in the interview. I'll say, "That's something I don't have much experience with, but I would look forward to learning more about it on the job." Sure, I could lie about having experience with that thing, but I don't want to do that. I'm trying to build credibility here, and I don't want to get myself into a job because I lied about skills that I don't have.

This also sounds also excellent.

I know Tesla has a high turnover rate, and I understand why. Many of my fellow engineering students don't have the same natural curiosity that I have. They're in it for the money. I know this isn't supposed to be a technical interview, but if it was, that's where I would stand out among other applicants. My resume is good, but it's not great. I didn't care about making it great. I haven't had any fancy titles or worked at any prestigious companies. I didn't even go to career mixers. Internships and professional networking were things that I just never considered to be a priority. Instead, I spent my time learning, studying, and developing a deep understanding of technical subjects. That's what I've cared about, and that's what I've always been interested in. And, I think that would become apparent if my technical knowledge is put to the test.

This has good bones, but I strongly caution you against characterizing other candidates this way, even if it's true. Teamwork is paramount at most companies, and lots of HR folks will raise immediate red flags towards any sort of "lift me up by pulling you down" lines of thought. It's true, a lot of people in these fields are in it for cash. But it's not about saying why they suck, it's about saying why you're better.

Anyway, I have a few ideas already for how I can improve. I was thinking of starting off the interviews by asking why the person decided to reach out to me. This could help me by doing two things. It would give me confidence in knowing that something I wrote on my resume impressed them, and it would give me a bit of an idea on what part of my background I should talk about.

This could be a good idea. Just depends on who's in the driver's seat as the interview starts.

Another idea: I should ask the person what problems someone in the position could solve. More than likely, they're an HR person that can't answer anything detailed in any sort of way. But if they can, that would give me the opportunity to either describe how I could help, describe something similar that I did, or at least say, "that sounds interesting."

This is, by far, the best question a candidate can ask. "What makes a great [insert job title here]?" As an interviewer, that means that this person is already considering what success looks like in the role. They're not interested in getting a job, they're interest in succeeding in the work that the company does.

[FlipMode]

As someone who has in the last year also been interviewing and hiring, I agree with a lot of what Az said for sure.
I also really like it when a candidate asks question about the company. I.E what steps does Tesla make in their manufacturing processes to reduce waste and pollution in line with their ethics regarding electric vehicles? Something like that.

And also while it is okay to be shy, do try not to let that get in the way of presenting yourself in the best way you can. Being the only candidate who shakes the employers hand for instance can help just that little bit more.

Re: Asking why they reached out to you for the interview, that can be a good idea some times but personally I would leave that question to last. Or after the interview if you are unsuccessful you could contact them again and ask that as a means of constructive feedback.

[DGFone]

Reg, as someone who is also in the engineering field, as much as it might be bad to listen to, here is the cold hard truth:

No resume without any work experience can be qualified as "good". With the way hiring is going on for engineers at the moment, the best way I heard described was this: There is a severe shortage of engineers, and getting a job will be very easy...

... if you have the minimum of 5 years experience that they ask for.

Some positions would tolerate someone with less experience, but you can hand the best interview, but with your lack of any work experience is going to be the real killer of the deal. It might almost be better for you to look for any kind of work outside of engineering just to get "I can do work and here's proof" before trying to get back into the engineering field.