Upon starting my senior year after a summer of interning, I had a signed contract for full time employment upon graduation at US Steel in Gary, IN. I didn’t have to worry about job searching during the fall semester, but over Christmas break I received a letter and a phone call from US Steel that they were taking back all contracts they had given out to interns due to the deteriorating economy. Now I need to speed up my job search efforts because of my lack of activity last semester.
While navigating through search engines I didn’t really find too many positions that appealed to my interests. Aurora Flight Sciences was a company that I had been looking at last spring, and I wondered if they had any job openings available. While going through the job descriptions, I found a position that had requirements that I satisfied, and was genuinely appealing.
http://tbe.taleo.net/NA7/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=AURORA&cws=1&ri...
Location: Manassas, VA
Job Description:
Design Mechanical components for UAVs. Produce and analyze UAV mechanical system design solutions. Work as member in an integrated product team fashion through the development life cycle from initial requirements definition, system trades and concept development, detailed design, manufacture, integration, and test. Preparation of design and analysis documentation for informal and formal review presentation.
Specific Requirements:
• 0 - 5 years experience preferred.
• Bachelor's degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering required.
• Advanced degree preferred.
• Familiarity with a solid modeling CAD package required.
• Hands-on experience preferred.
The description immediately made me want to apply. I have always had an interest in the design of mechanical devices and machines. Being able to communicate and work with team members to develop new ideas, and apply concepts to a new design development is something I find myself to be very good at.
As for the requirements that are being asked, I feel that I would be a strong candidate. Past experiences including, but not limited to, school, personal projects, and industry exposure, gives me a variety of knowledge. I have had a great deal of hands-on experience making the job more appealing to me. By the time I graduate I will have a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering. For the past couple of years I have had to use different types of CAD modeling for school and non-school related projects. With my CAD experience, I will be able to more quickly adapt to new software.
The experience that is preferred for the job fits into my category. I am a hands-on type of worker and I enjoy designing and building mechanical devices. My job experiences include my US Steel internship this past summer, and agricultural style work. I feel I have gained a large amount of knowledge and diversified my professional abilities while being involved in different types of mechanical projects.
Upon my graduation in August I will have a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology. While working to complete this degree I have studied many different aspects of engineering while applying what I have learned to real world applications. I have gone through a couple of CAD packages, which is a requirement for the job. Having this type of degree puts me in a position to be more hands-on, allowing me to create a design while having the understanding of how something is being physically pieced together, including, but not limited to, welding, screws, composites, and other types of fastening techniques.
This is a technologically advanced work environment. Using state of art equipment will allow me to continually improve my skills, while researching and developing new composite materials for prototypes. I will be able to learn and apply experiences learned in an environment like this to many other jobs.
While I realize that this company is not immune to the poor economic outlook, I want to understand exactly how it is being affected by the recession. Since I just had my contract taken back from US Steel, I don’t want to be in the same situation with Aurora. Looking through the news and their customer base, I found that they have many contracts through branches of the military such as the Air Force and Marines; also in different flight based companies, which may be facing the economic downturn differently than some other mainstream industries.
I don’t have a specific city or state where I want to live after graduation, but Virginia is a state I was previously looking at moving to, it seems to be an ideal place for relocation. It is close to the ocean, close to Washington D.C., and is an area home to many young professionals.
Overall, for this position I would be very beneficial to the company by providing useable services that I have accumulated in past experiences. I would enjoy working in their environment to improve my own skills and technical understanding of new materials. I also would enjoy relocating to a different state for a change of scenery. I am very excited about applying for this job.
While analyzing the jobs posted on the search engines, I was not finding one that I truly was excited about, making it hard to find a job. The ability to look through postings and specify what you are looking for makes it easier for searching. Next time I look for a job while using a search engine to locate an opening; I will know where to look for more appealing postings that are available.
Instructor commentary
This response provides interesting information about how you came to select this position and why you feel it is a good fit for you. I think there are two main ways to revise this analysis. The first is that you mention some interesting hooks, but you don't give them sufficient concrete development. Here are a few examples:
These are interesting, but you need to state as specifically as you can what you did, for whom, and what the effect of your work was. What were your positions at US Steel and in agriculture, and what specific tasks did you undertake? What were their outcomes and benefits to the company? What are the "real world applications" you mention, and what kind of CAD tasks did you complete? A good story is one with tangible details. Connect specific tasks you have completed or items you have made in school or work with what the job ad requests. The golden rule of employment documents is show, don't tell. Specific stories stick; general statements don't.
Also, you should turn to a discussion of how your analysis shapes your cover letter (and other documents). Recall that the assignment description states: "Think of the Job Ad Analysis as a prelude to the Cover Letter." You should make tentative determinations about what the central theme or argument of your cover letter will be and how you will use the material in this analysis correspondingly. You want to treat this analysis as groundwork for the documents ahead of you, which means attention to both content and structure.
Overall, however, you've got a fine start, and you should be able to mine much of this content for your other employment documents.