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Any Environmental Engineers/Related Fields Here?

R

rr5025

Nov 12, 2008
848
8
#1
I hate to bring some complaining to here but I am really getting frustrated.

I graduated from Penn State in December, and was trying to get into Grad School (was waiting to see if there was funding which there didn't seem to be) and started applying for jobs in March.

All of the positions I have been applying for have been either "Environmental Scientist, Environmental Engineer, Environmental Trainee, Hydrogeologist ect." Pretty much all environmental related fields. My degree is in Civil Engineering and I have had courses in the areas of water resources, geology, soil mechanics, hydrology, environmental engineering and surveying to mention a few. I know I am no an expert, my experience in the field is limited to course work and labs but I did have an internship at a construction company where I have muchos experience liaising with sub contractors and owners ect.

The thing that is driving me crazy is I've applied to literally every job I've seen that's related in Pittsburgh. Almost every day I am scouring monster, craigslist and USA Jobs, not to mention googling environmental firms in Pitt and checking all of their career opportunities pages. In the end I'd say I've applied to about at least 40 positions and have heard nothing back from any. I go through all the motions and call to check everything went through, call to keep in touch ect. This is really getting extremely frustrating and honestly demoralizing.

I'm just wondering if any of you guys are in a related field and if any of you are maybe could you take a look at my resume and tell me if I am unqualified for these types of jobs? This is really the only explanation I can think of, I understand certain people have caused a huge financial crisis and money is pretty tight but I figure that if I was qualified for these positions I would at least be getting an interview or two.

Sorry for the length and thanks for the help.
 
#2
I am only an environmental engineering student, but I would look over your resume if you want me to. I have taken a few resume clinics and I know what to look for. Have you tried looking for a job as just a civil engineer? It is the broadest engineering field, so I would have a hard time thinking that you can't find a job at all. Try applying to a really big company (such as Stantec) for any job you can get, then you have the ability to apply for internal job postings in the environmental field. I'll be honest, I have no idea what the environmental engineering field is like in the US, but I am fairly familiar with what it is like here in Canada.

The courses that you mention sound a lot like the courses that I am taking in environmental engineering, so I can't see how you wouldn't be qualified. Most of the time it comes down to a bad resume and cover letter, not lack of qualifications.

lowsound
 
#4
I'm a geologist in the environmental consulting business...I'll take a look.

...but I have to tell you right off the bat, it's probably not you. Business is bad and has been been for a while. This goes for the drilling and lab subcontractors, the consultants, and even the regulators. I'm guessing the same goes for civil engineering?

Your best bet is to get in with one of the mega-companies (Parsons, URS, Reynolds Group, etc). They tend to have the larger, recession-proof contracts.
 
#6
I used to run a geo-environmental company. The good news is that engineers are in higher demand than environmental scientists and even geologists. The bad news is that demand is low across the board right now. Be persistent. Call the companies you've applied to and ask to talk to management. I would sometimes interview candidates just to get them to quit calling me. Sometimes something clicked, and they'd end up with a job.

Communication skills are more important than academic accomplishments in my book. Self-confidence and a positive attitude go a long way. DO NOT overstate your experience and abilities. Puffing up will get you in trouble and damage your reputation, which becomes increasingly important as your career progresses. You most likely will have to start out as a technician to get field experience. Our engineers always have to spend their first year getting the lay of the land.

Bottom line, keep trying. I want to say "the early bird gets the worm," but that's the wrong cliché. But it's something like that.

Hang in there.
 
#9
I'm a first-year Environmental Tech student, myself. What you've got under your belt sounds really close to the subject matter I'm learning about as well. One thing that has been repeated since day one is that you need to be pretty flexible about where you're willing to work... are you solely looking for work in the Pittsburgh area?
 
#12
Thanks for the responses guys.

Right now I wanna hang in Pitt, I will be moving eventually but I kind of planned to hang around for a year or so.

I'm just glad to hear that I am qualified, this has just been getting extremely stressful and frustrating.
 
#14
Speaking of Stantec and Pittsburgh... I work for Burt Hill (Architecture/Engineering) here in the Pittsburgh area and we were just purchased by Stantec. Literally the merger was voted through this morning. So Stantec is now going to have offices in downtown Pittsburgh as well as Butler, State College, Clevelend, Philly, DC, Boston, etc. Something you might wanna look into. Good luck !
 
#17
To be clear, I am not in your field. However, I am in Asia because of the work my wife is doing in South Korea. Asia is rocking. There may be opportunities here for you. The US governement has many subcontractors here that use US citizens only. They do take entry level folks. The perks can be good, especially if you are open to new cultures.
 
#18
Petrochem could use your background in both engineering/construction and/or environmental. If you get REAL tired of looking locally, relocation worked for me(looked in Louisiana for 7 months, moved to Texas to actually get engineering work in 1989).
 
#19
crockpot2001 said:
To be clear, I am not in your field. However, I am in Asia because of the work my wife is doing in South Korea. Asia is rocking. There may be opportunities here for you. The US governement has many subcontractors here that use US citizens only. They do take entry level folks. The perks can be good, especially if you are open to new cultures.
Click to expand...

There is actually a lot of environmental work in Asia, one of my professors does some consulting work on the side and a lot of it is for jobs in Asia.

lowsound
 

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