Engineering Career Guide

Welcome to the Engineering Career Guide! This resource is designed to support engineering students navigate their career journey with information on the career development process, helpful links to a variety of tools to support the job and internship search, offer and negotiation preparation and planning. Use this guide as a starting point to gather initial information, and reference for resources to return to regularly.

Engineering Recruiting Timeline

Each industry has a different recruiting timeline, or peak times when job roles in an industry are posted. The information below is a helpful guide but, it does not mean that opportunities aren’t available outside of the suggested timeline.

Career Everywhere (for Everyone).

We believe that engineering students may seek career advice from the Career Center as well as from faculty, staff, Duke alumni, our employer partners and more. Learn more about our philosophy and guiding principles.

Know Yourself. Explore Options. Focus & Prepare. Take Action. Refine & Evaluate. Career Development Process. Duke Career Center.

Our career development process encourages engineering students to work through a 5-phase, iterative process of knowing yourself, exploring options, focusing and preparing, taking action, and evaluating and refining. Learn more about the phases and their related activities.

Career Readiness

The Career Development Process is focused on your career readiness and eight competencies most important to employers. Each of these competencies support your preparedness for work and career after Duke.

As part of our tools and resources, you will find 15 Duke-specific guides that are available to you 24/7 and include many of our most popular career readiness resources.

To learn more about careers in engineering, visit this resource to get you started.

We offer a range of services for engineering students at Duke including career advising appointments, drop-in career advising, workshops, career fairs, and employer-hosted events. You can schedule appointments and view all career events in Handshake.

Appointments and Drop-in Career Advising
  • 1:1 appointments in 15- or 30-minute increments. Virtual or in-person, scheduled in Handshake.
  • Drop-in Career Advising –no appointment necessary and in person.
  • Virtual Drop-in Advising –scheduled via Handshake.

Learn more about career advising and scheduling.

Career Assessments

Assessments through FOCUS2Careers and Strengths Profile.

Events and Fairs

Events ranging from small group advising, workshops, employer sponsored sessions, and career fairs.

Resumes, CVs, cover letters, and references are all parts of the application process. Each company will have different requirements. For example,

  • Some companies do not want a cover letter while others make it optional.
  • Engineering resumes require a skills section and a projects section.

View engineering specific resume examples in our resume guide. Visit the cover letter guide to begin drafting your story.

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)

ATSs are digital filing cabinets that companies use to store and track applicant materials and information.

ATSs are often considered a resume reviewer–a digital tool that scans resumes for keywords or phrases related to the job posting. This preliminary scan is sometimes viewed as a way for companies to rule out applicants. This is not necessarily the case. Every company approaches application reviews differently. Many companies have University or Campus Recruiters who review every resume that comes through for a job role. If a company does use an ATS in this way, it is best to tailor your resume to the job posting you are applying to.

Jobscan

Jobscan Premium is available to Duke students using your SSO credentials. This tool will compare your resume to the job description you provide, recommend updates to improve and better align your resume with the job posting. Additional resources within Jobscan include a job search tracker, ATS information, and resume examples.

A thoughtful, active job search will set an engineering candidate up for success when looking for a job or internship. The best approach is the one that works for you–there isn’t one way to have a successful job search. Here are some helpful tools to get you started in developing your strategy:

Networking

Don’t underestimate the power of networking for your engineering career goals. Informational interviewing is a wonderful approach to networking that centers the person you’re meeting and their career story. This is a great method when you are looking for long-term connections with alumni and engineering industry professionals.

On-campus opportunities for networking with alumni and employers can be accessed through Career Fairs, Career Center events, and Duke Engineering events.

Check out these resources to get started with networking:

Disclosing Personal Information

Through the application process, you may be wondering if and/or when you might disclose personal information to a potential or new employer. The links below offer guidance in navigating different disclosure processes.

Each individual situation is different so, please consider meeting with a career advisor or trusted mentor to discuss any specific questions or concerns you might have.

Engineering students have the option to expand their digital presence beyond LinkedIn and Handshake. ePortfolios and GitHub are two additional ways to highlight your skills and experiences.

LinkedIn

Sharing your experiences, goals, and connecting with others is just the start of what LinkedIn offers its users. You can search for jobs and internships, endorse skills and get recommendations, and research career paths of alumni and industry professionals in your areas of interest. Get your profile updated today using the resource below. Be sure to follow Duke University and join the Duke Alumni Network Group.

Handshake

Is your one stop shop for appointments and events through the career center and employers. Your Handshake profile includes background information on your education, work, organization, and volunteer experience, as well as your skills and goals. You also have the option of uploading your resume and adding specifics on your career interests and goals.

By making your Handshake public, you allow other students and employers to find you, message you, and view your profile information.

ePortfolio

Share more in-depth information on your projects and class work alongside visuals like photos, videos, or graphics. ePortfolios are a great way to show your personality and style while telling the stories that highlight your engineering skill sets. You can link to your ePortfolio on your resume, your LinkedIn, GitHub, and even your email signature.

GitHub

A platform that allows developers to create, store, manage, and share their code as well as contribute to open-source projects.

In addition to being able to link to your profile to show your work, you can also get practice using different skills on open-source projects of interest.

In engineering, different types of interviews exist. In your internship and job search, you may experience more than one type of interview-potentially completing 2 or more interviews as part of the process. No matter the type of interview, practice is important to solidifying the key points and experiences you want an employer to know and in building your confidence while reducing your nerves.

Behavioral

“Tell me about yourself.”

“Share a time when you…”

“Why should we hire you?”

Each of these are examples of behavioral interview questions. Oftentimes, your first interview will be behavioral. It gives the interviewer(s) a chance to learn more about you and what you’ve shared through your application. Don’t miss out the resources linked below to get you started and give you practice.

  • Interviewing Guide
  • Big Interview
    • Practice questions by engineering specific industry areas including aerospace, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, AI/machine learning, biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, engineering level 1 and 2, IT, NLP engineering, and more.

Technical

Technical interviewing most often refers to an interview that will assess your coding or programming skills. It may also refer to any interview where a technical skill is being assessed including core engineering concepts related to the job role and your field of interest.

These interviews may be completed online, in person, or take-home style assessments completed within a timeframe. Companies may use interviewing platforms like HireVue or HackerRank for online or recorded technical interviews. Depending on the role and level you are applying to, it’s not uncommon to have multiple technical interviews.

Practice is crucial for any technical interview. Gaining confidence in the language and engineering skills you are interviewing with while also thinking out loud will help prepare you. There are many great, free tools to help you practice.

Illegal Interview Questions

There are certain questions that employers legally cannot ask you about. Discriminatory questions should be avoided by an employer including questions around age, race, gender, religion and disability. Learn more and view examples below.

The excitement of receiving a job offer is a wonderful feeling! Before making any decisions, review the resources below to help you evaluate your offer and prepare for negotiation.

Engineering offers many opportunities for graduate studies. Use the guide below to learn more about researching and applying to graduate school.