Careers and Life

Reflection

Read these articles on deciding what you value when shaping your career, goals, and life.

• Identifying your personal values
• Identifying your work values
• Finding happiness on the job

Preparation

As you shape your values, you will have questions about your career preparation.

• Discuss questions with your faculty advisor or Academic Program Manager Mike Bernard about your major or program and if it’s the right choice for you .
• Decide whether or not to go to graduate school.

• Check out How to Become a Mechanical Engineer.
• Hopkins Engineers are in demand: watch this!

Resources

These resources can help you with the “mechanics” of career planning.

• The Johns Hopkins Life Design Lab offers career planning and research help, networking and why it’s important, resume critiques, interviewing, career fairs, and employer information sessions.
  • First-Year Launch – start your career exploration here!
  • Join “Handshake” to see job and internship postings, information session announcements, and events at the JHU Life Design Lab.

• LinkedIn – create an account and connect with contacts everywhere – fellow students, alumni, mechanical engineers, other engineering professionals. Check out these articles for good information.
  • LinkedIn for Job Seekers: How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile
  • 6 Ways to Use LinkedIn
  • 29 LinkedIn Tips for Professional Networking, Business & Marketing
  • Use LinkedIn Like a Pro: Hot Tips for Students and Recent Grads
  • How to Use LinkedIn Effectively
• Join the JHU Department of Mechanical Engineering LinkedIn group!
• Visit the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook to learn more about careers.
  • Mechanical Engineers
  • Aerospace Engineers

• Alumni are a rich source of career opportunities!
  • Our Master’s Alumni and PhD Alumni pages list all of our graduate alumni from the Class of 1986 to present, and has links to contact most of them.
  • Go Hop Online to meet alumni.
  • Connect with the Johns Hopkins Engineering Alumni Association.

• The Johns Hopkins ASME Chapter seeks internship and job opportunities from our alumni and connects them to current students. Contact asme.jhu@gmail.com for information.
• Contact Mike Bernard, who has a list of over 1000 bachelor’s and over 500 master’s and PhD alumni and where they started their careers, as well as hundreds of employers where our alumni work. He can connect you.
• Read this article on “How to Network in College.”

Jobs and Internships

• Join JHU Mechanical Engineering’s LinkedIn group – find job and networking opportunities here.
• The JHU Life Design Lab has a jobs and internship hunting tips page.
• Regional Manufacturing Institute of Maryland – connect to potential employers in the region.
• Watch your e-mail for internship and job opportunities sent from the MechE department!
• The US Bureau of Labor Statistics Jobseeker page has a rich information source of careers, jobs, and career outlooks.
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers Career Center. Info about…
  • Internships
  • Job Hunting
  • Career Development
• AKATech: This site offers academic positions in mechanical engineering and many other fields.
• Career Cornerstone Center: The site offers comprehensive lists of employers by scientific discipline, which can be a good starting point in a job search. In addition, there are career profiles of engineers currently in the field.
• Engineering Central: Lists engineering jobs, with a special page just for entry-level postings and job banks for each category of engineering.
• Engineer Info: Millions of jobs from thousands of websites including Monster, Careerbuilder, Hotjobs and Dice.
• EngineeringJobs.com: The site offers job databases, resume postings and professional societies.
• Engineeroxy.com: Academic careers in engineering and technology

READ THIS – Warning of Questionable Hiring Practices for International Software Jobs – be careful before signing a contract!

Interviewing and Other Resources

• Read this info on how to find job opportunities and prepare for interviews.
• Here are some interview questions to consider.
• Upon graduation, join the “ME Jobhunters” e-mail list, where job opportunities are regularly sent.

View and download this handy guide for undergraduate Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Mechanics students for actions to take each of their four years. Refer to it often!

MechE Undergraduate Career Guide

Visit these pages to learn more where our alumni are realizing successful careers!

• BS First Destinations, how our undergraduate alumni fare in the months following graduation.
• Master’s Alumni
• PhD Alumni

You are also welcome to contact Mike Bernard, Academic Program Manager at me-academic@jhu.edu. He can share information on the careers and current employers of the vast majority of our alumni.

• The Johns Hopkins Life Design Lab – 410-516-8056
  • Life Design Educators  –  formerly known as  Career Coaches
    • Mark Savage – Master’s
    • Kara Hunter – Undergraduate
• PHutures for PhD students – Roshni Rao
• Mechanical Engineering
  • Mike Bernard, Academic Program Manager
  • Your faculty advisor
  • Prof. Steven Marra, Director of Undergraduate Studies
  • Prof. Tamer Zaki, Director of Graduate Studies
  • Prof. Steve Belkoff and Prof. Gretar Tryggvason, instructors of Senior Design and Master’s Design