The Welsh needs some more career advice

[thewelsh]

So as those of you who post on these threads know I've been applying like mad for an internship. I just received my first, and hopefully not only, job offer. It only pays about half of what most positions pay, but it is my only offer. I would like to have it as a fall back in case I do not get another one. I have also emailed the HR person to see how long I have to accept the offer but have not heard back yet.

Can I accept the offer and if I get a better one just let the former employer know two weeks ahead of time? Should I just hold out and see if something better comes along and just not give a response to the current offer?

Any input is appreciated. O and if it matters its an engineering internship at a place called tri-star electronics.

[TY ler]

First off if they have not replied to your e-mail call and speak with them personally. There is nothing wrong with holding out to see if any other offers come your way. If you do accept the offer and later get another offer from a company which you would rather work with think hard about it ... if you choose to leave the current one so quickly then there is a chance you will burn your bridges.

You also have to take into considerations the possibility for growth within the company. You may be starting out at a lower salary but if there is a greater chance to move up within the organization then it may be justifiable.

There are so many variables to take into consideration when starting your career... but ultimately it is your career and you have to do what will make you happiest ... or the most money lol

[thewelsh]

Thanks tyler, I just talked to them and they would like an answer by monday the 16th.

[Chrith]

suck as many dicks as you can for as much money as you can.

[jewbacca]

engineers are always looking for a quick chew

[Steve E]

suck as many dicks as you can for as much money as you can.

i don't think you will get better advice than this

[penguinofsleep]

if you take it, yes, there is potential for growth and for you to learn a lot since it looks like a small company from a quick google search. or maybe it will be an almost complete waste of time and you will have gotten almost nothing but a bad taste in your mouth out of it. so it depends on how much of a risk you want to take. there is the whole big vs small company thing as well for you to learn from and for you to see one particular management style (the one at this company). also, if you leave too quickly, it may not only burn bridges, but it may also reflect poorly upon you in future endeavors (id say give it 3 months minimum) - ie if someone runs a check on you and see that you worked somewhere for only a month or so, they are going to have questions or doubts in the back of their head. lastly, and not always, if you start with a lower pay, chances are your next job or two will underpay you as well since sometimes your pay is based on past pay history. however, at the same time, if u start at a low pay and are making a lot by the time you leave, it says a lot about your potential and ability, much more than making a moderately high pay and staying at such.

ie at a past job i had, it was also at a small company with a crappy commute, but the stuff i got to do and learned there i would say was invaluable (keep in mind I could have been doing something else to make more $ much more easily) and I would do it again if i went back in time.

if you say no, then nothing changes. nothing lost except for maybe an opportunity and potentially some time depending on how you look at it.

also, it seems like you are going into your 3rd year of engineering at ucla? good luck with that if you are working at the same time... any free time you had before will pretty much disappear if you work and maintain at least somewhat decent grades (or idk, maybe you are an academic genius and your classes are a joke to you). what little free time you have will probably go towards people important to you. not trying to downer you, but just speaking from my experiences so that you know such a thing is coming.

[thewelsh]

Thanks a lot penguin, that was really helpful. This company from what I have seen and who I have spoke to the pay stays at 11.50/hr, standard pay for their interns and they are not really looking for full time people after school. I will be going into my 4th year, but am going to grad school. Most internships in my field pay around 20.

I guess I just told myself I dont want the position. O well hopefully i hear back from somewhere else before next monday to make this decision easy.

[Klaustrophobia]

considering that it's an internship, you don't need to worry about this job's impact on future jobs as far as pay and whatnot. at this point in your working life, simply having an internship is FAR better for your future prospects than not having one, no matter what it is (as long as it doesn't interfere with school). i'd say hold out until the deadline for something else you would rather have, but accept if it doesn't come.

[beachbum]

$11.50/hr...man that is poor. I pay my temp help guys $13/hr and I am in natural resources, a terribly low salary field.

[hobo]

welsh, did you transfer into UCLA or go there straight outta highschool

[thewelsh]

straight there, I have some friends who transferred.

[stepho]

What field are you in? $11.50 is pretty crappy. I make more unclogging toilets. It is shit work, but it pays...

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[TY ler]

Unclogging toilets doesn't require you to read I take it ... he's in engineering.

[hondarider525]

Unclogging toilets doesn't require you to read I take it ... he's in engineering.

unclogging a toilet doesn't require you to read......

[Logan]

dood got a htc evo. he must be doing pretty well for himself

[TY ler]

unclogging a toilet doesn't require you to read......

Point was that Welsh said the type of business in the first post and stepho neglected to even read that. I apologize for my improper wording.

[drewC.]

Is this a summer internship or all year or what? Sorry if I missed this in your last thread. I say take the internship unless you get a better one by the deadline. Since you're already at UCLA, I'm sure you will want to go to an equal or better school for grad school. An internship is almost a necessity for the top tier engineering schools.

I'm very jealous of you by the way. I'm 4th year aerospace and applied like mad this past year for a summer internship from big companies like Boeing/Lockheed to smaller companies in Florida. I even had some personal recommendations that didn't lead anywhere, so needless to say it's frustrating considering I'm at a 3.43 GPA with a solid resume to add to it. I'm most likely going MS or ME in aerospace also and I know it's somewhat of an unspoken rule at UF that you should have an internship before applying. That's my .02cents though, go with what you're happiest with.

[thewelsh]

ya its a summer internship, and I am not super concerned with an internship for getting into grad school. if I raise my gpa by .03 I get automatic acceptance here at LA, and if I apply with my current position I will most likely get accepted. The internship is to build up my resume for the job hunt after grad school and to get money in my pocket.

And it is a crap shoot, you have to know someone which i dont and I assume you don't. Good luck to you in your hunt.

[BART]

How's the job market for interns right now? That would be the main reason to take a job that pays half rate. With high unemployment I can't imagine there are a ton of intern jobs. Is $20 an hour the average or just what some people are getting? That is an important distinction

That being said $10 an hour sounds pretty horrible to me unless it was some sort of incredible experience opportunity.

And you can do whatever you want in terms of renegging on an informal agreement to take a job. Just know that bridge may be burned in the future.

[drewC.]

That's about the average for mechanical/aerospace at a decently established company or firm. I can't really speak for other engineering types though. I'm not sure about the market though. I want to say that it is slightly down, but the demand for engineers is pretty constant. This is slightly unrelated but still interesting: I attended an information session for an MBA opportunity for engineers and they were talking about how many companies are revoking the ability of funded graduate degrees for employees.

Welsh: Just curious, what's the GPA for automatic admission to grad school there, and is that for if you're an undergraduate already?

[TY ler]

Welsh for the record my advice above was pertaining to a job offer ... I misunderstood you. I got lined up with an internship for the summer recently too and went with my first choice company but they were also the first to contact me with offers ... I later turned down a few companies. I would accept the internship because no matter what you do it will boost your resume for all other companies you may be interested in. As for pay it is a little low but you don't really take a summer internship for the money ... as tempting as it may be. My internship will pay me 3 times my current hourly wage so I'm stoked but it is only over the summer.

[penguinofsleep]

if I raise my gpa by .03 I get automatic acceptance here at LA.

this changes everything. screw the internship, especially at $11.5 an hour. get this done instead even if it means taking classes in the summer. internships come easily compared to this. not trying to blow smoke up ur ass but think of it this way:
ur pretty much close to top of your class right now given the above. then count in the fact that you are at one of the top engineering schools in the US. now count in that about 20-25% of people who start in engineering graduate/make it through (at least it was like that at uci). think back to what you did at la and how much u had to do to get where you are there. now think about how many people get internships in how many different fields and how many of those are semi-bs jobs where you don't really do much of anything (b/c this is what will be seen, correct or not, in the eyes of a lot of employers or people in similar shoes). what is it to spend $1 or 2k this summer to get automatically accepted into a good grad school which you already want to do anyways? plus u can be an intern after u graduate but before you go to grad school.

bart: except for civil engineering, engineering in general wasn't hit as hard by the recent economic downturn as most other industries. the demand was still there and imo given how little the government understands and consequently messes with this field in general, it wasn't sucked into the BS of this "recession" as badly.

[thewelsh]

wow, thanks for the ego boost. Are you an engineer?

And those points that you were making are pretty much my reasoning behind not wanting to accept the position. I think I am going to accept the offer and just ruin my reputation at that company if something better comes up. I am not too worried since the person I would be answering to went to cbu, if you know what that is and I never plan on working for this place. I am going to talk to the guy who offered me the job, different person than who my boss would be, and see if I can get more money or at least an extra week or two to decide.

[penguinofsleep]

yes, electrical engineering. took some engineering classes in other eng fields for some lols though. insightful and all but i kind of regret it now since i didn't do as well in them as many of my ee classes.

[thewelsh]

So your still in school and have found a PAID internship? Do you realize how high the unemployment rate is?

Did you make your schooling choice for the money or because you think you'll enjoy the possible careers it offers?

In my field most every internship is paid. My classmate, basically the same credentials as me just accepted an offer for 25 an hr plus 3500 for housing over the summer.
I made my choice for both, I like building and designing things, but if money was not a thing I probably would've become a machinist, fabricator, or mechanic.

[Chrith]

how many dicks have you sucked so far?

[thewelsh]

I'd say a good 10 to 20, I lose track when the double penetration starts to happen.