Electronics employers in Toronto?

Hello,

I'm a fairly recent graduate of EE, and I also have an electronics tech. diploma under my belt. I'm *desperate* to find work in the electronics industry, especially something in analog design, embedded control, or RF engineering. I'm living in Toronto, Canada.

I'm having some real difficulty in finding a junior position - i.e., one that doesn't require 5-10 years of experience, or a Masters degree. It's the old 'can't get the job without experience, can't get the experience without a job' story. :-( I've had lots of nice comments about my resume / cover letters, but 'we've hired someone else with more experience than you' is starting to get old. Going back to school is not an option for me, due to family commitments.

Right now I'm working as a consultant for construction projects - mostly low voltage distribution. Lots of drafting and paperwork, and absolutely no exposure to electronics whatsoever, but it's paying the bills for now. It's also driving me mad because I know exactly what industry I want to work in, I just can't seem to get hired.

If anyone out there could offer some advice in finding a junior position in the electronics industry, I'd be grateful. Right now, I'm so disheartened that I'd even appreciate hearing from others in a similar situation, just so I know that I'm not alone. :)

Thanks in advance, snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com

Reply to
Minus3db
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  1. Keep trying.
  2. Get a copy of "What Color is your Parachute". More than half of it is for finding the right career, but there's nice job finding bits in there.
  3. Keep trying.
  4. Find out if you have any friends, relations, fellow club members, church members _whatever_ that work in the industry and _use the connection_. I got my first job through a former girlfriend.
  5. Keep trying.
  6. Look for smaller companies, or companies who are hiring but not to the position you want, or temp agencies. My first job wasn't the best job -- I was wrenching on PC's for the most part, me with my MSEE, but I got enough experience to apply for my _second_ job which was better, and my _third_ job which lasted for almost 10 years and which I left to start working independently (and my first job out of school turned into my first customer out of 9-5 work).
  7. Keep trying.

And for those of you who are still in school? Get an internship if at all possible, or even a job as a stock clerk in your target industry. Meet as many people as possible, keep track of them if they go someplace else, and make sure folks know what you want to do when you get out. Even as a stock clerk you can show drive and competence, which is a plus when they interview you as well as a bunch of total unknowns.

Good luck.

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Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
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Reply to
Tim Wescott

I read in sci.electronics.design that Tim Wescott wrote (in ) about 'Electronics employers in Toronto?', on Wed, 19 Jan 2005:

I agree with this 100%. I did two spells of internship with the company I wanted to join, and when I went for the employment interview, I'd already worked for two of the board members. The fact that I had saved them several thousand pounds (in 1957, when that was money) helped as well.

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Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only. 
The good news is that nothing is compulsory.
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Reply to
John Woodgate

Sometimes it's who you know rather than what you know. Check out some connections through family, friends, co-workers...

Mike

Reply to
Mike

Schmooze around trade shows, local meetings and such like that fit your area of interest. There are often head hunters trolling about those affairs too, though they tend to want more experienced types.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
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Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

Google around for the Ask the Headhunter site. He has some really good advice for how to get hired, and how to survive the interview process.

If you know what you want, and you know who is doing it, then those are the people to focus on. Talk to them. Talk to their sales folks. Talk to their customer support. If they have products or development kits, get them and learn how to use them!

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Charlie
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Reply to
Charles Edmondson

In article , Minus3db wrote: [...]

There are many many companies within a short GO train or subway ride of you so don't lose hope.

[....]

I think you should have someone else read your resume and do a mock interview with you. Never believe the "nice comments and reasons we didn't hire you". It may be true but never believe them. If you didn't get hired, it means that somehow you didn't match up with what they were hoping for.

The cover letter gets your foot in the door. The Resume is the boring documentation that backs up your interview. It really is the interview that gets you hired. These days there are other qualified people out there. It is useful to research the company you are applying to to find out what they are likely to care about and then brush up on those subjects. Their web site is a good place to start.

Some interviewers will throw bogus stuff like what appear to be mistakes into the conversation (I do this) as a way to see how you react. Inexperienced people are less sure of themselves and tend to go along. Good and more experienced people do something to flag the error without saying "You're wrong-wrong! so dreadfully wrong!" The best is to indicate that you think the person mis-spoke, that you misheard or perhaps your resume wasn't clear on that point.

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kensmith@rahul.net   forging knowledge
Reply to
Ken Smith

Yeah, but this isn't really a fair comparison. You're one of the smart ones. ;-)

Cheers! Rich

Reply to
Rich Grise

Absolutely! I thik all of the "newbs" we've hired in the past ten years have been interns through school. Even in bad times we hired them after graduation. Once you're in, you're in. "IN" is the issue.

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  Keith
Reply to
keith

Co-op programs help with this. Univ. of Waterloo has an excellent co-op engineering program with lots of interesting spin-offs such as Research in Motion, Certicom etc. locally. Helps pay for school (or, more likely, lots of beer, too).

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
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Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

Yes, I glump Coops in with interns. The coop program is invaluable, particularly for those not independantly wealthy. It's the only way to fly these days.

I got lucky 30 years ago. I didn't do any co-op time, but wangled a job as a technician workign for the university for my four years. It didn't pay more than minimum, but the employers loved the experience.

The worst thing is *no* work experience. All employers want to see that you're responsible. Even if you were slinging pizza in college, it's better than doing nothing. ...assuming the grades are in reason.

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  Keith
Reply to
keith

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