I have an upcoming interview that includes a factory tour of a metallurgical facility. I have no idea how to dress for this interview. Some parts of the day may include meeting with people in the office.

During my virtual interview the male manager seemed to be wearing slacks and a long sleeve button down.

Will safety gear like boots be provided? Should I wear something easy to change out of and into some sort of safety suit?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Hi guys, i just started in a new company + new country + new business area (highly regulated) and i thought it would be good for my career. But i got demotivated extremely fast and hate the vibe there and now want to leave again. Since i started working i always feel like i barely have anything to do and never understand how others are so busy. So far the longest time i stayed somewhere is 3 years. How do i know if it is just the struggles of beginning or if the job doesn't fit. And how do i learn something if i get no tasks (i did ask for tasks of course) and get bored really fast and then leave. I feel like i'm always in onbording mode. Or as if u have bonding issues, but with jobs.

So after 3 short term jobs, i would now leave again after 9 or 10 mo ths or so. I'm scared that my CV is screwed up now.

Can anyone relate or what do you think?

I’ve been told I’m pleasant in appearance/demeanor and am young, so maybe that’s why? But I’m not qualified to deal with these grievances as I’m not the project manager. It’s annoying how they all come at me for project problems when I’m working on just one part. I’m unsure how to word “bro thats not my problem go talk to X person” Any strategy? Or can anyone relate?

In the world of construction management, I embarked on a journey that took me from being an admin to an assistant project manager. As a female in a predominantly male industry, I faced numerous challenges and obstacles along the way. However, after years of striving to prove myself, I have made the difficult decision to leave project management behind. This blog post explores the reasons behind my departure and sheds light on the issues faced by women in construction management.

A Man's World: From small-scale projects to multi-million dollar data center jobs, my experience in construction management has been diverse. Equipped with a bachelor's degree in construction management, I have always been an advocate for asking questions when faced with uncertainty. My primary responsibility has been to ensure the safety of everyone involved in the projects I managed.

The Breaking Point: Despite my dedication and hard work, the burnout, underappreciation, and lack of respect I encountered eventually took their toll. The toll on my well-being, mental health, and personal life became increasingly evident. Constant stress, overwhelming responsibilities, and a sense of not being respected became daily realities. Though I always treated others with utmost respect, I found myself being treated like an admin rather than a project manager.

The Authority Dilemma: During my performance review, I received 5 stars across the board, with one comment: I can come off as a little strong. However, when foremen and laborers disregarded project instructions, it was necessary for me to take an authoritative stance. Deviations from the plan often led to meetings with the crew, questioning what went wrong. If uncertainty arose, it was expected that they would reach out to the project manager - me. Yet, when I expressed my concerns or took charge, I was labeled as "too much," a "bitch," or "intimidating." It made me wonder: if a male were in my position, would he be seen as a leader, an authority figure to be respected?

Unfulfilled Promises: As a project manager who had relentlessly pursued education and fought my way to reach this level, I found myself no longer wanting to continue. The expectation of working long, grueling hours and sacrificing personal time became unbearable. Even when I won bids and estimated projects, the vice president would often take over, eroding the trust and effort I had invested. It was disheartening to witness young, inexperienced male project engineers with more leverage and authority than I, a seasoned female project manager with six years of experience and the ability to manage multiple jobs simultaneously. The demanding hours left me with only a few hours at home before waking up early the next day.

A Standard That Must Change: It became clear to me that the lack of respect and support experienced by females in construction management is an unfortunate standard that should not exist. There is an underlying desire to see us fail, to prevent us from succeeding and holding positions of authority. We are often relegated to administrative tasks, despite our capabilities and qualifications. Ultimately, I have come to realize that my mental health and well-being should take precedence over what I once believed would be my career goals.

Leaving project management behind was not an easy decision, but it was a necessary one. My journey as a female project manager in a male-dominated industry has shed light on the systemic challenges faced by women in construction management. It is imperative that organizations address these issues and create an inclusive and supportive environment that recognizes the value and contributions of all individuals, regardless of gender. As I move forward, I prioritize my mental health and well-being, knowing that my worth extends beyond my chosen career path.

I have been working in engineering (manufacturing, upstream and downstream- oil and gas) for 15 years now, i liked the work itself, problem solving, trouble shoot, finding alternative but not anymore..... last couple years, i have noticed im surrounded by bitter old men that will never give me promotion considering im a woman and visible minority, ive been treated very badly , that at the age of 32 years old, i drive away from work during lunch time to cry. Also the direct manager usually take all the credit for the work i did. I worked in 5 companies in the span on 15 years, all of them is the same.. male domanit enviroment. Whats a good career path you suggest i switch to? im in Canada, Alberta

Hi guys,

I just graduated college and will be starting a job in mechanical engineering in a couple months. I know that one of my major weaknesses is that I really lack confidence, and therefore am bad at expressing my opinion on a subject and also I'm just really quiet. I'm trying to make a good amount of progress before I start work and was wondering if anyone had any book/resource recommendations, or just advice of their own?

I am taking the Civil FE exam in June and was wondering if anyone has any advice. I have been doing practice problems for each section. YouTube channels I’ve used are DirectHUB, Mark Mattson, and Coach James.

I'm the only woman engineer pretty much on our entire team and the men frequently say Sir and Mr.(Last Name) when referring to one another around me, but just call me by my first name. It annoys me to no end, because it seems needlessly exclusionary in an already male-dominated profession. I don't want to Ms'd or Ma'am'd, it just doesn't make sense why they do this. I also don't buy them not recognizing that they immediately switch when talking to me. It's very boys club.

Also, it's mainly the lower level engineers doing it, which is extra strange because they're the younger ones. My bosses and their bosses don't ever do it

I've tried talking to my one peer on my specific team and he almost immediately reverted to doing it again.

Have you all dealt with this in your workplace?

Edit to add: I'm mid-level and some of them are both younger than me and at a lower level. They still will call my peer sir/Mr. And have not even once attempted any honorific for me or asked.

Not every guy is doing it. It's about 3 of them. They do it regardless of if the favor is returned. It's not a do unto others situation.

Edit 2: thanks for all the ideas and support everyone! I think I've hashed this out in various threads and people are asking redundant questions now, so I'm going to dip out of the conversation. I've talked to a my manager about it and we'll see how it plays out in the future!

Y'all I'm currently at a smaller conference (100 people) and I'm the only female speaker. It's so weird. Like I'm used to few women, but feel really out of place being the only one. There's evening event, too, and I have no idea what I'm gonna do. Do you ever get used to being the "invader" of the gentlemen club?

hi! so i’m currently a junior in software engineering(technically a sophomore, course wise) but i recently found an interest in aerospace and i’m wondering if i should double major, i would have to take physics and calculus 3 & 4 but they don’t scare me as much as they used to, does anyone have any advice?

For a little bit of background, I have been working in operations for around 5 years now. The past two were as a supervisor (which I loved and had great relationships with my crew.) I was promoted to manager over another operations area within the site in January.

This all happened a month before our annual shut down and I was forced to plan for an area I am totally unfamiliar with. I literally planned almost everything in under a month, was the only area to stick to our maintenance timeline, executed the most work in at least 5 years and had very few start up issues. I was actually given a very large spot bonus for all this today!

My issue is my operators. When I came over, I spoke with all my senior operators about feedback on jobs, feasibility with the schedule, and checked in somewhat regularly to make sure I wasn’t missing anything during planning. I valued their opinions since I didn’t have working knowledge of the area. The guys told me they appreciated having a say in what was going on.

I handed out daily agendas highlighting scheduled work, ordered extra tools/t shirts and even had a golf cart approved for the guys to use during the shutdown. But day one of our outage, it’s like a switch flipped, and they’ve been hostile ever since. I was told they described me as “annoying,” that they resent me as a “babysitter” and that they were going to “put me in my place.” Any time I questioned something that deviated from how they’ve always done it, even just trying to get a better understanding, I was told to stop “butting heads” and “trying to disprove” them.

My relationships with the guys has only gotten worse since then. For example, they came to me about a motor that is starting to bind up today. I agreed the maintenance work needed to be scheduled so it wouldn’t fail in the middle of the night. However, I asked if this was something that could wait another 1.5 weeks. Another part of the plant would be shutting down then, so we wouldn’t be limiting production. My operator yelled at me about how difficult I am to work with and that I never “listen” to them. The whole situation is almost funny because it’s so contradictory.

I hate saying this, but this is a very old school area of the plant and I feel like a lot of the pushback is because I’m a woman. If a man had asked the same question, they wouldn’t have had a problem with it.

But I don’t enjoy working like this. I’ve asked some of my peers about how they would handle it, and it’s a toss up to just apologize for whatever slight these operators think I’ve done and to give it time for these guys to adjust to me since they haven’t had a manager in so long.

How would you ladies handle this?

My manager told me today that he was disappointed in me for submitting a REQUEST last week for paid time off in August without first having a plan in place, for when I take said leave, for the project I’m leading. And yet HE was the one who approved my request last week, two hours after I submitted it. At any point he could have, you know, not approved it or just asked me for a plan upfront. But no, gotta approve it and then express disappointment in me. Thanks.

Ugh. So yeah. My week has started out JUST GREAT.

How’s your week?

Kinda a vent but I'm at a crossroads where I'm applying to new jobs and feeling frustration (that I understand is very normal and this is a tough market) and also feeling frustrated at work. I've been here 2.5 years and don't feel like I'm growing or really being involved the way I think I should. TLDR: at 2 year in, were you promoted to a new level, were you taking on bigger responsibilities, did you leave for a new job?

I get kind of "dropped" from pieces of big projects, or never copied and my manager doesn't help. When I ask if he can send me some email that I wasn't copied on but found out through someone else, he replies "I don't check to see who else is copied" "I didn't notice you weren't copied, I don't look". It's really tough because a lot of these things aren't directly my task but would help immensely with just having context of delays, quality issues, etc that are happening as part of my product line that Im the engineer for- so if i am asked to assist I can recall that X happened but we did Y and this is how I learned from it. I'll get tasks or notified of some issue at the customer and then see it started 2 weeks ago and I could have gained knowledge from it or offered help then.

I'm trying to tell myself I didn't get copied because it's not my scope. One of the big responsibilities promised to me when I was interviewing was failure analysis and interacting with the customer for solutions, whether manufacturing, quality, design, etc. I've never been involved in a failure analysis project.

Hi all long time lurker first time poster. I graduate next week with a BS in microbiology and was offered a promotion at the current job (in aerospace/ robotics systems used in space) because of my graduation something I discussed with my manager nearly a year in advance but no details about pay etc were given. I was always swamped dealing with work and school so I did not think much about it until I was presented with the promotion paperwork (while on PTO to study for my last set of finals which I found a bit odd to be honest). They also wanted me to sign it asap before I even have the required in person meeting to discuss all of the details.

My main concern is that they hey want to switch me from hourly to salary. Which is scary because this company is nowhere near a 40 hour a week company. Due to poor planning and lack communication everyone is spread thin and works a lot overtime… often to do it all over again because the work ends up not being acceptable or just wrong.

The offer changes my title from a level 5 tech (I have been doing engineer level work process development, subject matter expert, process training, ect for 3 years at this company) to an Engineer level 1. I arrived at this company already with 10+ years of production, documentation, QC, process development, and research experience which I used at this company for 3 years to bring the department that I am in now up to par since no one was doing it before I arrived. I am also heading a research project I do 99% of the work for in addition I o my other duties that the company proudly shows off to investors. I basically doing two jobs mainly because I am hoping to publish a paper based on the project while not having to work in a lab for free. I live in CA and I am my only support system and I cannot afford to do research at academic pay.

Also my direct manager is going to go on maternity leave in the near future and I am going to be expected to take on a lot of her duties before and during that time to keep the department running in this crazy environment.

My hourly pay equates with to 96k before overtime and the pay as a salaried employee with the promotion would be $104K. It did some rough math and if I work more than 3 hours of overtime a week I am basically making my previous pay (hourly rate before my promotion). Am I crazy? I mean I feel like it makes no sense for me financially to switch over to salaried. I have not signed anything yet I realized I should not be dealing with this on PTO but this company is kind of messy. Can someone give me some advice I am freaking out and it is distracting me from studying for my finals. Am I being ungrateful or crazy to thinking about staying salaried?! Is this normal pay for level 1 in Ca? Should I be level 2? I’m confused. Thank you for reading this is you have made it this far.

Hello, again, everyone. I just wanted to update everyone on my experience with SWE as a remote, non-traditional student.

It has been a communication disaster. I emailed membership@swe and they responded and said I did nothing wrong, that they've CC'd swe@turazo about the situatuon and I can join an Affinity Group if I'm remote. I have heard nothing from swe@turazo, and nothing from the three mentors I booked over the week. The response felt overall dismissive, but it was a response none-the-less.

While this was happening my CEU's in the Advanced Learning Center have stopped registering. I have not heard back from learning@swe and have emailed them three times.

I took up membership@swe's offer to look at Affinity Groups. I've emailed four or five women that have not responded. I'm honestly not in the mood to keep up with them after chasing the three mentors, membership@swe, swe@turazo, and learning@swe.

The whole organization is shoddy at communication and I'm unsure what else I need to do to be included. I'm bending over backwards for an organization that champions itself a catalyst for women's involvement in STEM, yet I can't get involved with them in any capacity. I will not be renewing my subscription for the next year. I'm happy it works for all the women it works for, but if you aren't an 18 year old with a hosted group on your campus that you attend daily, I would not suggest being a part of it.

I'll be looking into all the other suggested engineering groups and any suggested here. Thanks for reading and all your help!

Hello everyone, I'm finishing up my degree and looking to go into materials engineering with lab work, but I specifically want to start a family in the next few years too.

Has anyone got any stories or recommendations/advice about this from anywhere between the social aspect* to lab safety when pregnant? * I know that one of the things used against women in most jobs, but imagine STEM specifically too, is pregnancy/maternity leave etc. and I want to be prepared ahead of time. If anyone has clarifying questions or anything please let me know. Also, if this isn't the right place to post..

Thanks!

title

I had reported unfair treatment and verbal abuse by my boss and being isolated from team. Also sexual harassment by senior. Due to this I have suffered sleepless nights, panic disorder, depression, suicidal feelings. I applied for resignation and serving notice period.

One day my manager and this senior were trying to sabotage my work by ignoring me in meetings and chats, so I deleted my document on company server, which is not having any sensitive data. And its not important since its restored from backup same day. But now company is suspended and firing me, after I had already applied for resignation. I have asked them for 3 months severance for the harassment and they cant fire me as I already resigned else I will report the harassment to EEO. Please advise what to do.

hi! i’m new to reddit so forgive me if this is the wrong place to ask this, but i just started a new job in a testing lab, where i am literally the only woman (out of ~60 people). all of the guys wear polos and khaki pants, and i have no clue what the equivalent of that is for me. (i could probably wear exactly that, but that feels kind of boring and sad.) most of the women in my life wear like a skirt and heels to work, but this is very much not that vibe—everyone is required to wear big black leather steel toed boots and safety goggles. any advice i could get would be much appreciated!!

I'm breaking my silence about a past internship experience. As an established SWE, I'm no longer afraid to burn bridges with my previous company, and am completely uninterested in ever working for them again. About six years ago, I interned at a prominent tech company based in Seattle. While many might assume it was Amazon due to their poor reputation, it wasn't Amazon.

During my internship, I faced blatant racism from both my manager (a man) and project lead (a feminist woman whose passion against bigotry didn't seem to include Asians). Some of the comments I endured included:

• Project lead asked me what I "actually wanted to do", mentioning that "Asians are pushed into tech by their parents and lack genuine interest in tech."
• Manager - "Asians are often quiet and shy, not cut out for leadership. But just because you're different from us doesn't mean you can't succeed!"
• Project lead - "You should seek therapy for your 'tiger parents'. It's clear you suffer from low self-esteem due to Asian parenting" (Despite the assumption, my parents are not 'tiger parents'.)
• Project lead - "You're just good at rote memorization and following directions. A students like you aren't as good as C students like me who are lazy but clever." (Ironically, I was a party student and mostly got Bs. She assumed I got As and stayed in my room all the time.)

In addition to these troubling comments, which marked my first encounter with racism in the tech industry, there were other instances of unprofessional behavior that made my internship incredibly challenging:

• My project lead subtly slut-shamed my choice of clothing at one point (A pair of jeans from American Eagle she deemed as "low cut").
• I have a back problem that causes me to slump. My manager commented on my posture, suggesting it was why people bullied me, and why I would find it hard to succeed. He even went as far as to say that "the strong will always eat the weak," implying that my posture marked me as one of "the weak."
• My manager used our 1:1 meetings as opportunities to vent about his family issues. It seemed his family had a black sheep, and he openly bullied and ostracized this family member.
• My manager drove recklessly in the parking lot (speeding), scaring me.

Furthermore, the manager seemed to show a peculiar preference for a particularly attractive intern who often wore revealing clothing. While there's nothing wrong with her choice of attire, it struck me as odd that he appeared predominantly interested in her. He frequently engaged in lengthy conversations with her, neglecting his duties towards me, his assigned intern. What's more, he continuously compared me unfavorably to her (I endured many of these long rants), insinuating that I should aspire to be more like her in every way.

While I'm not considering legal action (I don't want people to google my name, and see a lawsuit), it's liberating to discuss this on Reddit and seek closure. If anyone has advice or suggestions on how best to address this situation, I'm all ears! This was undoubtedly the most unprofessional internship experience of my life.

Hey, guys!

I'm currently working in an onsite job. I received a great remote job offer and I accepted it. Obviously, my boss isn't happy with that, and he gave me a speech on how remote work is not viable for engineers.

Of course, I just proceeded with my resignation. However, I'm curious to know about your experience with remote work. I'm not from the US, but I want to understand the worldwide trend. Do you think that remote opportunities are going to increase, or is my boss correct? Will companies end it?

Hello! I am Silke and I study elektromechanics. I am 17. And been doing it for 3years now. At first it was hard to make male friends because I’m the only girl in my class but now I am fine. But most of my classmates see me as less Because I’m a girl. They talk behind my back and laugh when I get something wrong then I hear them say “woman aren’t smart” or “go back to the kitchen”. Even one of my classmates refuses to learn my name. He knows every male name in my class except for me (the female). I am one of the highest scoring people in my class and still they think I’m stupid. Even when I just talk to a guy everyone thinks I slept with him. I always have to prove myself more then them. I don’t get why…and I know it’s always gonna be like that. Even the school doesn’t care. I have to walk a block to go to the toilet. For a year I had to change in the bathroom… now a change in a small cleaning closeth. Sometimes when we go do sport on another campus I see the huge rooms for the girls to change in and I get nothing like that. The guys don’t have it any better they have to change in the classroom so sometimes when I walk in they are still changing…akward to say the liest 🥲. (English isn’t my first language)

The sexist, racist, homophobic, toxic architect guy who's very class-ist (he's indian) has been promoted and the shifts have resulted in me (F) reporting to him . My worst nightmare has come to life. I'm base in a western country and land of free as is he. Just wanted to give u a fee examples:

According to him women shouldn't need to have promotions and they're best suited for paperwork/admin/non decision making engineering roles. Stay a developer or BA . No need to get into PM/SM etc

According to him me being in inter religion relationship (me WoC & my partner is Caucasian) is not acceptable in 'our culture'

According to his assumptions 'I don't give a sh*t' because I act like a dude at work and don't let my environment dictate my reaction so I try to maintain a poker face.

We had a PO end his own life. Management got us all on a call 4 days later and broke the news. I worked with him very closely being into tech BA stuff. So, According to him it 'must have been his gayness because he had a husband' he literally asked me 'how can a man have husband insert a disgusted expression '

According to him he doesn't care about other religions because his is the first (telegu) and original and oldest recognized civilisation and all others are useless except for 'white man's' religion.

There's more but u get the part. I've been mentored by a very Sr. PM about to be promoted to lead the PMO. this man didn't know and once he found out , after he gets promoted he canceled my mentorship.

He's never clearly or implied his dislike for me but he always tell me I'm beneath him in the caste order of things.

I've asked him how does any of this impact my work? My ability to do work? My ability to perform ? He says my spot should've been given to one of telegu women. I replied I interviewed and got thru.

I'm terrified of his hold on me now that I've been aligned under him.

I have a 1-1 with man and I'd like to start recording it. How do I go about it w/o utilizing teams? Any FREE apps that can record both way convos on the cell phone?

There are no women in engineering groups or chapters where I live, but I do believe there’s the population and need. I’m looking to create a group and I’m looking for input: is it appropriate for a single group to serve both students and professionals? What is (or was) most important to you - educational opportunities, networking, mentorship/advice, social aspect, advocacy, other? Should such a group be exclusive to engineers or more broadly women working in the engineering industry ? Other advice if you’ve created or been a part of a similar group?

Hi everyone, I'm in uni in my 3rd year of mechanical engineering in Canada. I had a course this past semester which was basically just a group project and I was in a group with 4 men. 2 of these men had an openly sexist attitude, which made working with them very difficult and unpleasant. For example, nearly everything I worked on was scrutinized, whereas other teammates' work was not. Also, one of the guys kept bossing me around and treating me like his secretary.

Part of the grade comes from our peer reviews. I got my grade back recently and it's awful! I asked the professor why, and he said I need to "invest more time and effort in completing tasks in group projects".... Based on this comment, I believe I got a bad grade based on the peer reviews but I'm not 100% sure.

I did my fair share of the work, if my teammates wanted to go and change all my parts (even though they were fine!) that's their choice, but it doesn't mean I didn't do anything. I feel it is unfair that I'm being penalized for this.

I even wrote in my peer review that I faced issues with their misogyny and I described the problems briefly. So I'm not sure why he still removed so many marks.

How can I explain this properly to the prof? I want to send him an email and CC the head of the mech eng department, but I'm not sure how to word it and I'm worried nothing comes of it.

More details on the project: We had to do a presentation, 3D print a small model of our submit a final report along with some peer reviews. I not only did over 60% of the presentation PowerPoint, but I also presented most of the slides.

For the 3D printed model, I asked in the group chat what files I should print because I had access to a printer, but everyone ignored me and talked about other things instead. But I did bring all the tools and hardware to assemble the model.

Then for the CAD models, I started the CAD and did decent designs for a few parts, but my team decided to modify all of them. For one of the parts, the teaching assistant even said my design was good and I just needed to do some calculations to justify it, but my team still decided to change it.

And finally, for the report, I did several parts which I would consider to be equal to what everyone else did (except the guy who treated me like his secretary, since he did next to nothing in the report).

Hi, I'm hispanic, studying computer science, and I'm thinking about joining one of these societies. If anyone has attended one of these conferences, was it beneficial? If you have attended both, which was the most valuable?

I am young (~25F) and unsure how to handle this situation.

There are only two women on my team of about 30. The other woman is an expert in the field, about 10-15 years my senior, very well-respected, and one of the most important and contributory members of the team. I have always looked up to her and hoped to be like her one day.

She has never interacted with me of her own volition. I have always suspected she didn’t like me, but a conversation with a coworker of mine just revealed to me that she vocally hates me. Apparently most everyone knows it, and everyone actively works to prevent her from ever being put with me on a project (for my sake, but also her desire). Allegedly I made a joke YEARS ago that she found offensive and she doesn’t forgive people. Many people have tried to reason with her about it, but she doesn’t care. From what I can understand, the joke was me quoting the TikTok trend of “I’m just a girl” and she took it as me being misogynistic (I am a very vocally very feminist woman, but she wouldn’t have known that at the time I guess). She also apparently has a track record of working poorly with women. Both of these things were told to me by the coworker.

Of note, her boyfriend is a project lead. We only have three project teams. Her boyfriend used to be my project lead, and I always felt like I was ignored and treated poorly. I was never tasked and almost never spoken to. I barely learned anything and accomplished next to nothing while on that team. I see newer hires than me on his team now being spoken to and taught more than I was.

I don’t know what to do. I feel like shit because someone hates me. I feel like shit because I feel I am not being afforded the same opportunities as my (male) coworkers. They will never put me on a project with her and I already had a horrible experience being on her boyfriend’s team, and each team has a different specialty and therefore different learning opportunities. This leaves me stuck on the third team, which is fine for now and I like it, but that isn’t fair for me long term.

The most obvious choice is to find a new job, but I work in a VERY niche field and I got very lucky to get the role I did. I will have a very hard time finding my job with the same benefits and opportunities. I also owe at least another year due to a tuition payment plan.

I’m feeling incredibly lost. I can’t talk to my coworkers about it because I don’t want to gossip. I don’t want to bring it straight to HR or some other body like that because that will be going nuclear. I’m looking for support and/or advice.

Hello everyone,

So I finally graduated -- civil engineering class 2024. Yay but the job search is tough. I live in a big city in Canada and since January I've been applying for openings in water resources/ wastewater literally everything with keywords water, entry level, new grad, eit that didn't require access to personal vehicle cuz I don't have one.

I have taken courses pertaining to the said field all the way until my senior year. Even my capstone was about the field. In addition, my co-op work term was at a wastewater treatment plant!

These are clearly stated in my resume and cover letter that are customized to every single posting.

Now, every single one of these postings I applied for has rejected me. I don't understand what I am missing.

I have definitely applied to other entry level fields even though I don't necessarily have the experience for them given that it's been 5 months since I first started applying.

My questions are:

• What could I do to improve my chances? Ie. Take a masters degree? Take a certificate course?
• Is it common not to find work for this long? Cuz to be honest in my capstone course I'm the only one who doesent have a job yet. I'm getting the impression that my classmates have a job waiting for them post graduation

Any other recommendations is also welcome! Thank you.

I’m wondering how manager would think if I express my feeling bad about progress. The background is that the team have a messed up schedule and things aren’t always aligned well with partner team either. This caused delay in my delivery. My manager never blamed, partially as he is aware of the messed up schedule, and he sometimes added request in last minute too. But I feel very bad, partially as I think things could be improved if proper decision/arrangement was done at the beginning phase; partially as the constant change without reasonable planning is so much energy draining for me. I would like to report to manager during 1:1. But also don’t want to be taken as being needy or complaint.

Also, this is an old corporate with out of date management in general, and I joined less than two years ago. I found any valuable change is too slow yet right now they want to shoot for fast delivery (partially due to pressure in down economy).

Another fact is that there’s toxic colleague in the team who is kinda yes man, making people happy without caring work quality or really solving problem, eg, hiding problem until another capable and unlucky one (like me) to fill the holes. I suspect he already corrupted the system over the years since before I joined. But to survive in the short term for me, I’d probably not be perceived as being too unpleasant? but to only focus on my delivery and ensure quality, and in a collaborative way at least seemingly.

Please would you share your perspective as manager? Or any thoughts. Much appreciated.