Recent graduate from Texas A&M University

[Winner]

Howdy all!

I am a recent graduate from Texas A&M University and looking to work in Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma area. I have a MS in Industrial Engineering and BS in Mechanical Engineering.

I have a strong technical background and proven leadership skills. I am young and enthusiastic, eager to make an impact. I am interviewing with several companies right now for the position of Quality Engineer/ Continuous Process Improvement Engineer.

I have been reading the forums here for a month now and this place is a heaven for Quality lovers. It’s the best reference and I thought I might put my resume in front of all the experts here. My resume may look quite amateurish for you with all your knowledge but I have got what it takes to get the job done. I will really appreciate if you can provide me with any contacts.

Thanks,

Harsh Kumar

[Bill Pflanz]

Harsh,

Welcome to the Cove and we are glad to be of use to you.

You may want to look again at the threads on resume writing and job search for some useful ideas on finding a job. For recent graduates, resumes are more difficult to write than for experienced workers. It is difficult to tell from your resume what industry or job that you want. There are sections that indicate internship and work in manufacturing, other sections that appear to be more research focused and another section that appeals to the information technology field.

It would be helpful if you decided what your objectives are and make your resume more focused. If your opening sentence about "extensive experience" is about the diversity of areas that you have worked in than your resume shows that but it also makes it seem less focused.

Good luck on your job search.

Bill Pflanz

[Winner]

Thanks for responding Mr. Pflanz. I think for the first time I got an unbiased critique of my resume because whenever I take it to recruiters or employers, they all have the same rosy response- Oh! It’s wonderful; we just want candidates like you who have _____ skills. Hence we get a hard time on learning from previous setback. I will urge all the recruiters here to please please give a unbiased feedback such that we can IMPROVE.

I have been pretty active in every possible area I could be, be it academic or extra-curricular and that’s why there is so much of diversity.

However at an entry level its hard to show that you focused on one thing but you can speak it out that I am interested in doing that one thing, which in my case is Lean Manf/ Six Sigma.

After I wrote my first post, I went through scores of posts in this forum directed towards job search, the best information I got so far after reading for almost 3-4 hours is 2 things
- Tell what you can do for the company during an interview
- Display your inter-personal skills for relatability/ comfort level

I have been getting several interviews in diverse areas however when it comes to Lean Sigma, people turn away fearing that I have less/no experience. They fail to understand that a fresh mind will bring ideas which no one else can bring on to table. Perhaps they have to make some kind of break even between the risk and profit there too.

Anyways, I would like other experts to comment upon interview tactics for ENTRY LEVEL candidates in Lean Sigma area.

Thanks a lot,
Harsh Kumar

[Wes Bucey]

I agree with Bill Pflanz. At the very minimum, you should read through these threads:
Resume and cover letter - How good are yours?
Tips to get past the "gatekeeper" when job hunting
Master's Student finishing up in Dec. Wondering what jobs to look for?
Resumes - How to Write a Resume, Formats and Templates

The point being:
In today's brutal job market, the burden is on the candidate to answer a whole host of questions for himself about his own wants and desires before he ever sends out his first resume or cover letter. He should narrow his focus to find the employer with a problem the candidate can solve. There is lots of information in the threads cited above to help most people figure out how to do that.

The last thing ANY job candidate wants to do is appear weak and indecisive to a future employer. The employer is not seeking to help you. He is seeking help for himself and his organization.

The best person to review your cover letter and resume is someone you know and trust and who knows a lot about you. That person will be the best judge whether your resume truly reflects you. If you learn nothing else, remember this: your resume does not have to appeal to EVERYONE, only the guy who hires you - that's why you should craft a separate cover letter and resume for each employer you approach so you can address that employer's problems and situation and appeal directly to him. No one is served by a "generic" resume.

[ben]

Please take advantage of A&M's placement office or whatever they call it. There are a ton of Aggies out there in responsible positions who will at least be glad to speak with you about your job search and offer suggestions if nothing else.

This is a great resource.

Good luck.

Ben Royal

[Wes Bucey]

Originally Posted by ben

Please take advantage of A&M's placement office or whatever they call it. There are a ton of Aggies out there in responsible positions who will at least be glad to speak with you about your job search and offer suggestions if nothing else.

This is a great resource.

Good luck.

Ben Royal

Excellent suggestion! This goes for most "brick and mortar" schools. PLUS - it doesn't make any difference how long ago you graduated, alumni from ANY era are accommodated.

Thanks for this addition.

[Winner]

Thanks Ben,

I have been emailing aggies from last one month. While the strike rate of posting my resume on Monster, Dice and Career Builder is almost negligible, 2 responses out of 1000s of applications, contacting aggies have been much better, strike rate ~ 5 responses out of every company I contact roughly.

Some of them forward my resume to HR, some forward it to Hiring Manager and others just tell me to go to the website and post my resume there. Hence it does carry some advantage over online websites.

The best resource has been my own personal face to face contacting. It includes my friends who got a job, my seniors from school, people I meet during various associations, people I meet on forums like this, people I meet anywhere. Just meeting a person gives me a big boost in case there is an opening.

I wrote all that because I thought, there might be some other people looking and this might help them. Also if anyone of you is looking or hear anything in the field of Lean Manufacturing/SS please let me know.

Best,

Harsh Kumar