Hi, all.

My son graduated from college this spring with an engineering degree in Robotics and Industrial Automation, and is looking for his first career job. He had a great internship last summer at a local company, great culture and industry, but they recently acquired another local company so they are not hiring right now.

I was wondering what strategies you'd recommend for finding his first job post-college, specifically in this industry. He's got his resume finalized, he's on LinkedIn and Indeed, making connections, working with some recruiters, and researching local companies. The industry contacts are the key.

Anything we may have over looked? Perhaps there are career websites tailored specifically for this industry? He is primarily looking to stay located in the South Central PA region for now. Thanks for any guidance you can provide.

Cheris

Don't have much advice regarding that specific industry, except expanding one's geographic preferences is always helpful when looking for a career position. Pittsburgh boasts one of the strongest robotics industry communities in the U.S. and it's only a couple hours from S Central PA, so he should seriously consider applying to firms in that region.

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Robotics and Industrial Automation

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...specifically in this industry.

Industry is not the same as his sought job field. What industry did he do his internship in? It shouldn't matter, but trust me, it can.

I work in the field, such as it is, self employed. It's a very broad field of work, and very often specialized.
I've worked in many different "industries" including manufacturing factory automation, automotive OEM, pulp and paper, emissions monitoring, and combustion controls, among many other things.

The thing to understand here is that some but not all of the work done in some of these fields is an "old boys network". Pulp and paper is notorious for this mindset, especially on the production side. So yes, he's going to need as diverse a resume as possible, and personal networking may be of impact.

Robotics and Industrial Automation is mostly keyed toward manufacturing, but not always. I'm also guessing, based on that degree, that he's got a fair amount of electrical background as well? Did they cover electro-mechanical stuff like servos, hydraulics or pneumatics? The programming side of the "robotics and automation" part can vary a lot as well. There are a lot of common skills that can be applied across various industries. If he has any subset of his learned skills that he is particularly good at, or enjoys more, he may be able to narrow it all down based on the industry which uses those skills the most.

I’d suggest looking at biotech/bio pharmaceutical companies. Lots of need for automation engineers in that field.

He needs to do some research into which specific companies he'd like to work for, put up a LinkedIn profile, and then begin working to make contacts with recruiters at his target companies.

Don't let him fall into the trap of shotgunning resumes into all of the job ads he can find, because many of those may not have real openings. Getting on the radar of a recruiting team may get him past the automated gatekeeping functions and into being evaluated more closely by real people.

He might also get to interview for openings that are not externally posted yet.

South Central Pa is not the robotics hub of anything…LOL.

He may need to relocate to get the best exposure and cut his teeth in the field.

Over here in Eastern Pa. And NJ, there are pharmaceuticals galore with the need for controls and automation. Robotics in auto loading systems is also starting to rise as the FDA demands more and more hands-off in manufacturing.

Thanks for that feedback. Appreciate it. His internship was at a local company that makes robotic arms/systems for automated packaging foods and bakery items. He really enjoyed it. His degree did include a lot of electrical engineering as well as mechanical, control systems, CADD, intelligent machines, computer science, PLCs, rapid prototyping, working with Mitsubishi SCARA arms outfitted with Cognex vision systems, etc. For his senior project he built a mechanized robot that could explore the interior of a small-scale house, put out fires, and "rescue" people. He enjoys the hands-on aspects of this field. In the past he's stated his dream job would be working at Disney World as an Imagineer. So you get the idea.

Feel free to email me, I've been in intralogistics for over 25 years.

Right now the industry is not in the greatest state. Many companies have paused hiring, some have had layoffs. Typical when the economy dips but a lot of this can be traced back to some miscalculations by companies related to growth in 2021 into 2022.

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My son graduated from college this spring with an engineering degree in Robotics and Industrial Automation, and is looking for his first career job.

Often, it's necessary to start a career with the right job/firm rather than pivoting around a particular location. He may want/need to broaden his net if there's not much local.

Anyway, your/his first stop should be his college's placement office. I hope he was all over that before graduation, but that's not a given.

Look up the companies who went there recently to recruit for people graduating with his major or who sent job postings to the placement office. Those would be companies who a) like his college's program, and b) have had openings recently. Your son's target market, in other words.

Was his college in the area he wants to stay? If so, there's a fair shot the companies recruiting there have openings in that area. Here's hoping.

Anyway, if any of those companies turn out to be in the region your son is considering, the next step while he's there is to ask the recruiting offices for their contacts at those companies, and (can't hurt to ask) see if someone in the placement office might be willing to get him a personal introduction to someone at those firms.

Can you tell us more about the degree?

Is it a BS from a 4-year ABET accredited engineering program? A lot of employers (well, incompetent HR departments) look for the most common degrees - ME, EE, IE, CS, etc. and ignore more specialized ones. If he is fully qualified as a Controls Engineer then he should have no trouble finding a job - if not, he might considering continuing schooling in that direction. There is a lot of demand for Controls Engineers that can program PLC's, Robots, and various other controls. Usually they have a EE background.

Look at Automotive Integrators like: Comau, Thyssen Krupp Systems Engineering, Kuka, Fives Cinetic, Hanwha Tech M (South Korean), Hirata (Japanese). They mostly have their U.S. offices in the Detroit Area. I've worked with all of them in some way or another.

Might also look at the robotics companies - ABB, Fanuc, Yaskawa, Nachi, UR, and various others.

Another option is to work for a manufacturing plant that uses the stuff - most of the remaining manufacturing in the US is in the midwest and south.

Thanks for the continued feedback.

Yes, he is working with his college's placement office, as well as his engineering department's industry contacts and local alumni. He was focusing primarily on finishing his spring semester strong academically, and was less focused on those contacts. But now he is. I may be a bit more difficult to work with them post-graduation, but we will see.
And yes, his college is only 40 minutes from home, so all their industry contacts are local.

His degree is a ABET-accredited, a BS in Automation & Intelligent Robotics Engineering Technology. It's not a pure, theoretical engineering degree, it's more of a real-world application of engineering skills. Whereas pure Engineering degree students tend to need a lot of on-the-job training just out of school, these Engineering Technology students can jump right into the field since they have hands-on experience. Like I mentioned earlier, he can program PLC's and robots.

The systems integration field is a big one that several alumni go into. There are may manufacturing businesses in this area and that's an avenue he's exploring.

Thanks again for the info and suggestions.

York PA... that's Harley Davidson's home base, no? Imagine if he got a job there? He can come back and live at home again... under your rule. LOLOLOL!!!!

What you want to get as a fresh graduate is to get into a corporation's Professional Development Program. Find a Fortune 500 company in your field of interest and they will have a Professional Development Program.

It's the business world's Officer Candidate School. Your first few years, they will rotate you through their various divisions for several months each. The purpose is not only do you get exposure to different work experiences, you get to know people and they get to know you and you build a network. From that pool of people who understand how the company works and who the people are, they draw the division level managers.

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Originally posted by Rey HRH:
What you want to get as a fresh graduate is to get into a corporation's Professional Development Program. Find a Fortune 500 company in your field of interest and they will have a Professional Development Program.

It's the business world's Officer Candidate School. Your first few years, they will rotate you through their various divisions for several months each. The purpose is not only do you get exposure to different work experiences, you get to know people and they get to know you and you build a network. From that pool of people who understand how the company works and who the people are, they draw the division level managers.

I would agree with that. My background is software engineering but I think HRH's advice is still pertinent to your son's field. Early on in my career I did stints with Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase. Both offered professional development programs and each program allowed me to really expand my network. I still golf with many of the people I met. In addition to the professional networks they actually worked my ass off. I hated it at the time but the experience I gained was fantastic and it's quite a nice little addition to my resume.

One other thought is he may want to check out consulting firms. He may make a bit less than other opportunities because typically consulting firms want more experience. As a consultant he will gain experience in many different aspects of robotics engineering. He will also be able to build his pro network. It may require more travel but after a few years his resume will be looking good and he'll have the contacts to back it up. My son took that route with the plan of putting his toe in the water instead of diving into the deep end career paths. Seems to have paid off.

Good luck to your son. Kind of an exciting time for both you. A few years back my son was going into the IT world as database administrator. It was pretty darn rewarding watching him get his wings and fly.