Parents of College kids

[mom2rtk]

While the Peace Corps may and probably not what your son wants, there maybe something else not related to engineering that help him figure out what he wants to do.

I know it's late in the game, but many schools have a chapter of "Engineers Without Borders" the OP's son might want to check out.

 

[disykat]

Several people beat me to it, but I was going to suggest government jobs too. Good solid career jobs with good benefits, but without the huge salaries and glam of the high tech world. My DH spent his entire career in government work because he enjoyed the work and preferred to avoid the edgier, more competitive jobs that make more money. (High tech really took off right after he started working.) This is a terrible time to enter the tech world due to lots of layoffs. One of our sons lives in the city and is climbing the career ladder doing project management in research and development in tech and loves it, but it's not for everyone. He could decide to start in a government job and, like my DH, find out it's a good solid fit.

 

[kymom99]

If your son thinks he might want to go in another direction, I still think as others have said, encourage him to just graduate. Don’t worry about the job part yet.

Something to think about: have him look into the student conservation association. They have various opportunities for internships in the area of conservation. He may be able to use his tech experience while exploring other options. Having this experience on his resume may help him find employment in a government agency. My son has completed 3 programs through the SCA. It’s a wonderful organization.

As far as the resume, I agree to have someone look it over with a fine tooth comb. Get some feedback and make necessary modifications. My son applied for dozens of national park jobs and didn’t even get an interview. My husband spoke to a professor at the university where he works. He offered to look at the resume and he was nice enough to send it to someone he knows in the NPS. That person gave him some changes, which he fixed, and soon after he got some hits. It was so stressful but his diligence paid off.

 

[cmlnkb]

Thank you everyone for all the comments and advice. I will share it all with my son. You’ve all been so helpful. I really appreciate it!

 

[chattadisser]

I agree that leaving college is scary for him. He does NOT want to come home and the thought of maybe coming home is also stressful to him. Thank you for this insight. I agree, it is also fear of change.

I think fear of change can be a large factor at this point in kids lives. I know at the end of my senior year of school I was scared of "what's next" and I did have a hard time afterwards even though I stayed at the same school for grad school. I think the prospect of getting out of the safe zone of college, your friend group disbursing potentially across the country and having to be on your own is daunting. That's also a lot of life changes all at once.

I would second everyone else who has suggested that you and he focus on his mental health and finishing right now. It sounds like you all and he are doing this, so keep up the good work - it can be hard. Keep in mind too that mentally his brain is still maturing so please keep encouraging. College and HS kids have way more stress now than they did previously, all we can do at times is make sure they know they have a safety net and allies.

 

[cmlnkb]

I think fear of change can be a large factor at this point in kids lives. I know at the end of my senior year of school I was scared of "what's next" and I did have a hard time afterwards even though I stayed at the same school for grad school. I think the prospect of getting out of the safe zone of college, your friend group disbursing potentially across the country and having to be on your own is daunting. That's also a lot of life changes all at once.

I would second everyone else who has suggested that you and he focus on his mental health and finishing right now. It sounds like you all and he are doing this, so keep up the good work - it can be hard. Keep in mind too that mentally his brain is still maturing so please keep encouraging. College and HS kids have way more stress now than they did previously, all we can do at times is make sure they know they have a safety net and allies.

I agree! HIs life may change drastically, if he finally finds a job he could be moving away from everything he knows and be alone. Exciting yet scary.

 

[sk!mom]

I’m so sorry OP. Parenting can be harder at this stage than I ever expected. You’ve gotten a lot of good advice so I’ll just second all of it.

I will say that if I had any more kids, I would make the amount of intern/job help a college gives a much bigger part of the college search.

Oddly enough, I was at an out of state wedding last night and was seated with a family headed out on a college visit trip this morning to my state. I had experience through my own kids and multiple nieces and nephews and I mentioned that of the schools they were visiting a plus for Texas A&M was that I don’t know of any other school that provides the level of intern/job support they do. They also have a strong alumni network that hires fellow Aggies.

That factor is something that I would consider much more with what I know now. Every other school that I’m personally aware of offer much less help. The grads are much more on their in their search.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

This is way out of the box but please hang with me.

My older sister was a Chemical Engineer major. Halfway through her sophomore year, she came home and told my parents she was leaving CU and transferring to a small college in Durango. She never went to class at CU because skiing was more fun. Yet she was still getting straight-As. She had never had to struggle in school and decided wasting money on an expensive school was stupid.

The school she transferred to was the complete opposite of CU as all engineering classes were no than 10-15 students so each assignment was geared towards the individual student but there were also group projects. She was at this school for a few weeks when she called and asked me how to study.

Her senior year, especially the second semester, sounds like what your son is going through now. My sister was terrified to leave college yet at the same time, afraid to come. It was at this point she realized that she didn't want to be a Chemical Engineer but had no direction.

While she failed badminton as her PE credit, they signed off on her PE credit because she was on the ski patrol at the town ski area and she was allowed to graduate. Seriously, who fails badminton? She now says it was a subconscious attempt to not graduate because she had no focus, only fear of the unknown.

One of her professors saw what she was going through and handed her a brochure on the Peace Corps. She applied, interviewed, and spent the next 4 years in the Philippines in the PC helping villagers build fishponds and other structures. After her PC commitment, she stayed in the Philippines for two more years with her husband and a bit later, their daughter.

When her and her DH and DD moved from the Philippines, she had no desire to go into Engineering. Instead, she went back to school and got her teaching degree and became a math and science teacher. Later she became a principal.

My sister and I both talk about the depression we both felt in college but our mom didn't believe in depression or any other mental illness. My sister credits her professor for saving her life by handing her that brochure.

While the Peace Corps may and probably not what your son wants, there maybe something else not related to engineering that help him figure out what he wants to do.

Can he use any of his classes to help him get an emergency teaching license in math or science? Someone mentioned Teach for America. My friend's son did TfA and loved it.

As other have said, look at government positions.

Public school districts also need computer engineers. While the pay may be lower than public sector, there are many benefits to working for a school district.

The unknown is terrifying, even for those of us who are way older than a college senior (retiring was terrifying for me because of the unknown). Encouraging him, like we can see that you are, will help him with the baby steps. Looking beyond the typical Computer Engineering position may be what he needs to get started. He just needs a door to open to those out of the box ideas.

I’ve been following this thread, and after the texts my DD sent this morning, I passed on a bunch of the advice given here for her to share with her boyfriend. My DD is 24 and graduated in 2021. Her boyfriend is the same age but is 2 years behind academically because he dropped out of one of the academies after 2 years, did 2 years of community college and is now a 2nd semester senior finishing up 2 years at a 4 year university. His journey has had lots of detours along the way, but he’s always been focused on the end game - a mechanical engineering degree and a 2nd lieutenant commission in the Marine Corps. He applied for, was accepted to, and successfully completed 10 weeks at USMC Officer Candidate School this past summer. This was no small feat! Now all he has to do is graduate and he’ll commission. This is his dream.

But he texted DD today that he is failing some of his classes (he’s only taking 4) because he’s burnt out, not doing the course work, and just wants to be done with school. He is very smart and capable of doing the work, so I’m not sure why he’s shutting down. A couple weeks ago he had to cancel Spring Break plans because he and another student found out that the other 2 kids in their senior capstone project group dropped out of school without telling anyone or doing their share of the yearlong project work. The 2 remaining guys had to get an extension through the weekend and try to make up the missing work. I know this caused him a ton of stress. I feel so badly for him that the wheels are falling off the bus this late in the journey.

DD is trying to be there for him. She told him to meet with all his professors to see if they can help him make a plan to complete enough work to graduate. She also suggested he cut way back on his internship hours (he’s already completed the required number of internship hours for graduation, and his firm keeps begging him to work for them post graduation versus go Marines, so he has 2 post graduation job choices lined up). She suggested he use the extra time to get his work done. She told him as a last resort to talk to his professors about incompletes in a class or two, so he can focus on finishing a couple now and work on finishing the others this summer.

His parents are not going to be supportive if he doesn’t graduate. They saw him through dropping out of the academy, and this is his 2nd chance. If he blows this, I think they are done. I’m pretty sure this is causing him stress as well.

Does the hive mind have any other advice I can pass on to my daughter to give to him?

 

[kymom99]

I’ve been following this thread, and after the texts my DD sent this morning, I passed on a bunch of the advice given here for her to share with her boyfriend. My DD is 24 and graduated in 2021. Her boyfriend is the same age but is 2 years behind academically because he dropped out of one of the academies after 2 years, did 2 years of community college and is now a 2nd semester senior finishing up 2 years at a 4 year university. His journey has had lots of detours along the way, but he’s always been focused on the end game - a mechanical engineering degree and a 2nd lieutenant commission in the Marine Corps. He applied for, was accepted to, and successfully completed 10 weeks at USMC Officer Candidate School this past summer. This was no small feat! Now all he has to do is graduate and he’ll commission. This is his dream.

But he texted DD today that he is failing some of his classes (he’s only taking 4) because he’s burnt out, not doing the course work, and just wants to be done with school. He is very smart and capable of doing the work, so I’m not sure why he’s shutting down. A couple weeks ago he had to cancel Spring Break plans because he and another student found out that the other 2 kids in their senior capstone project group dropped out of school without telling anyone or doing their share of the yearlong project work. The 2 remaining guys had to get an extension through the weekend and try to make up the missing work. I know this caused him a ton of stress. I feel so badly for him that the wheels are falling off the bus this late in the journey.

DD is trying to be there for him. She told him to meet with all his professors to see if they can help him make a plan to complete enough work to graduate. She also suggested he cut way back on his internship hours (he’s already completed the required number of internship hours for graduation, and his firm keeps begging him to work for them post graduation versus go Marines, so he has 2 post graduation job choices lined up). She suggested he use the extra time to get his work done. She told him as a last resort to talk to his professors about incompletes in a class or two, so he can focus on finishing a couple now and work on finishing the others this summer.

His parents are not going to be supportive if he doesn’t graduate. They saw him through dropping out of the academy, and this is his 2nd chance. If he blows this, I think they are done. I’m pretty sure this is causing him stress as well.

Does the hive mind have any other advice I can pass on to my daughter to give to him?

My friends son had some mix up that caused him to be withdrawn from school in the middle of his last semester. He had to retake those courses over the summer which he did do, but he couldn’t officially graduate until December. I’m not sure if that would interfere with his plans or not. Apparently universities only confer degrees at certain times.

 

[VandVsmama]

My son is a Senior in the College of Engineering at Boston University and this last semester is pushing him over the edge. He is struggling to get through it even though he is at the finish line. He has regretted his major since the end of sophomore year but it was too late at that point to switch majors. He is extremely discouraged because he cannot find a job, he has had several interviews but never makes it past that first interview. I don't know what to do say other than to encourage him to keep swimming but I think he is running out of gas. He is so close I cannot imagine him losing control now. I thought having a diploma from BU was a shoe in to finding a job but apparently not. He is also disappointed in his GPA at this point and scared it will end worse. Thanks for listening and any advice is greatly appreciated! He has put so much hard work into his major only to be let down and feel it was all for nothing. BTW he is a Computer Engineer not sure what opportunities are available to him after this without experience. Thanks for listening

Haven't read all the replies. Some items to consider:

• Instead of switching majors at this late stage in the game, he needs to just finish his degree and graduate.
• He needs to go to the career center on campus and do some interview prep. do some mock interviews.
• if mock interviews aren't available at the career center on campus, he needs to find some other resource online...somebody to do a mock interview w/him and give him constructive and honest feedback.
• There's probably something in the way he's presenting himself that is putting employers off.
• Thanks to the Silicon Valley Bank failure about a week ago, the tech start up job sector is probably drying up temporarily.
• BUT the parent company of Zelle (Early Warning is the parent company's name) is hiring people in droves right now. Including summer interns. He should apply now.
• He also needs to be willing to pretty much move to anywhere in the US for a job.
• A computer engineer could easily switch gears into an IT sort of job.
• In the tech sector, it's often about what your skills are / what you know...so, for example, does he have any programming skills?
• what does he really want to do?
• It's ok to not know what you really want to do right now...but he needs A job to occupy himself while he figures it out.

 

[ak517]

For the OP, regardless if your son is interested in possibly attending grad school, often faculty at universities will need a post-bac to assist with research. Computer engineering is mighty useful in a broad range of sciences (atmospheric science or epidemiology, for starters) assuming they know how to code! This path may not be as enticing as a government job and may require digging around university websites, but could help connect your son with different applications of his major, “transferable skills” and all that.

I also second (or third) suggesting he check out university resources for interviewing or resume workshops. They are usually very hands on, and he can find out if they offer practice interviews.

Finally I’ll throw a suggestion out I haven’t seen for “informational interviewing.” It could be hard if he doesn’t have any connections to people with his background or degree, but it is SO useful to learn about new career opportunities that you wouldn’t have known about before. For someone just starting out without strong faculty mentors, I usually recommend searching around on LinkedIn for people with their degree who graduated from their university, send a message with a personalized note asking about interviewing them about their path and current role, and including their email to show they’re legit. This requires a filled-out LinkedIn, but hopefully your son has one already. I call this option for “soul searching,” and I did a lot of it during my post doc.

 

[MartyParty]

My son is a Senior in the College of Engineering at Boston University and this last semester is pushing him over the edge. He is struggling to get through it even though he is at the finish line. He has regretted his major since the end of sophomore year but it was too late at that point to switch majors. He is extremely discouraged because he cannot find a job, he has had several interviews but never makes it past that first interview. I don't know what to do say other than to encourage him to keep swimming but I think he is running out of gas. He is so close I cannot imagine him losing control now. I thought having a diploma from BU was a shoe in to finding a job but apparently not. He is also disappointed in his GPA at this point and scared it will end worse. Thanks for listening and any advice is greatly appreciated! He has put so much hard work into his major only to be let down and feel it was all for nothing. BTW he is a Computer Engineer not sure what opportunities are available to him after this without experience. Thanks for listening

Sorry for you and your son. It is extremely frustrating. I know this experience all to well first hand. I also graduated with an engineering degree in the early 1990's. Companies were doing "down sizing" but corporate media thought that name to harsh and change it to "right sizing". Tens of thousands laid off engineers with 10-15 years experience asking for graduate level pay...the year I graduated. I had zero interviews and 100+ rejection letters. I kept those letters for motivation, worked some fill in jobs for about 5 years, and then finally landed a descent job.

In your sons case it sounds similar. Regardless if he likes computer science or not, with his degree he is competing with tens of thousands recently laid off tech works (Twitter, Facebook, etc.). I'd suggest he either go the contract route (contract not direct hire positions) to gain experience or as others have said go another year or two working towards a different major or different discipline in graduate school.

Tell him he is not the first person to have this issue and he won't be the last. But keep looking forward. He is vastly ahead in his career with a college degree and from a well thought of university. It will all work out in time.

Best of luck...

 

[cmlnkb]

I’ve been following this thread, and after the texts my DD sent this morning, I passed on a bunch of the advice given here for her to share with her boyfriend. My DD is 24 and graduated in 2021. Her boyfriend is the same age but is 2 years behind academically because he dropped out of one of the academies after 2 years, did 2 years of community college and is now a 2nd semester senior finishing up 2 years at a 4 year university. His journey has had lots of detours along the way, but he’s always been focused on the end game - a mechanical engineering degree and a 2nd lieutenant commission in the Marine Corps. He applied for, was accepted to, and successfully completed 10 weeks at USMC Officer Candidate School this past summer. This was no small feat! Now all he has to do is graduate and he’ll commission. This is his dream.

But he texted DD today that he is failing some of his classes (he’s only taking 4) because he’s burnt out, not doing the course work, and just wants to be done with school. He is very smart and capable of doing the work, so I’m not sure why he’s shutting down. A couple weeks ago he had to cancel Spring Break plans because he and another student found out that the other 2 kids in their senior capstone project group dropped out of school without telling anyone or doing their share of the yearlong project work. The 2 remaining guys had to get an extension through the weekend and try to make up the missing work. I know this caused him a ton of stress. I feel so badly for him that the wheels are falling off the bus this late in the journey.

DD is trying to be there for him. She told him to meet with all his professors to see if they can help him make a plan to complete enough work to graduate. She also suggested he cut way back on his internship hours (he’s already completed the required number of internship hours for graduation, and his firm keeps begging him to work for them post graduation versus go Marines, so he has 2 post graduation job choices lined up). She suggested he use the extra time to get his work done. She told him as a last resort to talk to his professors about incompletes in a class or two, so he can focus on finishing a couple now and work on finishing the others this summer.

His parents are not going to be supportive if he doesn’t graduate. They saw him through dropping out of the academy, and this is his 2nd chance. If he blows this, I think they are done. I’m pretty sure this is causing him stress as well.

Does the hive mind have any other advice I can pass on to my daughter to give to him?

My son is also doing a capstone project which he claims his partners are NOT contributing to adding more stress on him. He is also taking 20 credits! I feel bad for your daughter's bf too. Hugs to him. I can't imagine his parents being "done" frustrated I can agree but ultimately he needs their support.

 

[chattadisser]

I’ve been following this thread, and after the texts my DD sent this morning, I passed on a bunch of the advice given here for her to share with her boyfriend. My DD is 24 and graduated in 2021. Her boyfriend is the same age but is 2 years behind academically because he dropped out of one of the academies after 2 years, did 2 years of community college and is now a 2nd semester senior finishing up 2 years at a 4 year university. His journey has had lots of detours along the way, but he’s always been focused on the end game - a mechanical engineering degree and a 2nd lieutenant commission in the Marine Corps. He applied for, was accepted to, and successfully completed 10 weeks at USMC Officer Candidate School this past summer. This was no small feat! Now all he has to do is graduate and he’ll commission. This is his dream.

But he texted DD today that he is failing some of his classes (he’s only taking 4) because he’s burnt out, not doing the course work, and just wants to be done with school. He is very smart and capable of doing the work, so I’m not sure why he’s shutting down. A couple weeks ago he had to cancel Spring Break plans because he and another student found out that the other 2 kids in their senior capstone project group dropped out of school without telling anyone or doing their share of the yearlong project work. The 2 remaining guys had to get an extension through the weekend and try to make up the missing work. I know this caused him a ton of stress. I feel so badly for him that the wheels are falling off the bus this late in the journey.

DD is trying to be there for him. She told him to meet with all his professors to see if they can help him make a plan to complete enough work to graduate. She also suggested he cut way back on his internship hours (he’s already completed the required number of internship hours for graduation, and his firm keeps begging him to work for them post graduation versus go Marines, so he has 2 post graduation job choices lined up). She suggested he use the extra time to get his work done. She told him as a last resort to talk to his professors about incompletes in a class or two, so he can focus on finishing a couple now and work on finishing the others this summer.

His parents are not going to be supportive if he doesn’t graduate. They saw him through dropping out of the academy, and this is his 2nd chance. If he blows this, I think they are done. I’m pretty sure this is causing him stress as well.

Does the hive mind have any other advice I can pass on to my daughter to give to him?

I think these are all great suggestions. Maybe it would be helpful o make weekly and monthly plans to get him to the finish line. Then he could just focus on one week/day at a time. I do this process now with my own life and work when I get overwhelmed. Make plan and then focus on the immediate future, knowing that if I just work each day it will all be fine.

My friends son had some mix up that caused him to be withdrawn from school in the middle of his last semester. He had to retake those courses over the summer which he did do, but he couldn’t officially graduate until December. I’m not sure if that would interfere with his plans or not. Apparently universities only confer degrees at certain times.

I would recommend he check on this if he decides to go the route of finishing some in the summer. When I was in college, I had an internship left to finish in the summer after graduation. I was in a small program with an advisor who knew me. I walked in graduation in May, finished the internship that finished off my degree requirements in summer but my diploma reads that I graduated in December since they didn't confer degrees in the summer term. Didn't matter for me, but it may in some cases and it's always good to know in order to make his own decisions.

 

[OKbyme]

My son is a Senior in the College of Engineering at Boston University and this last semester is pushing him over the edge. He is struggling to get through it even though he is at the finish line. He has regretted his major since the end of sophomore year but it was too late at that point to switch majors. He is extremely discouraged because he cannot find a job, he has had several interviews but never makes it past that first interview. I don't know what to do say other than to encourage him to keep swimming but I think he is running out of gas. He is so close I cannot imagine him losing control now. I thought having a diploma from BU was a shoe in to finding a job but apparently not. He is also disappointed in his GPA at this point and scared it will end worse. Thanks for listening and any advice is greatly appreciated! He has put so much hard work into his major only to be let down and feel it was all for nothing. BTW he is a Computer Engineer not sure what opportunities are available to him after this without experience. Thanks for listening

Editing to add....he is also taking 20 credits this last semester on top of his senior capstone project! My poor guy! NO wonder he is burnt out

I read this and feel so badly for your son. It is such a scary time for most college grads when they actually have to find employment. And now many college grads are facing a world changed due to Covid. It was tough before, tougher now I think.

My youngest DD just graduated over the summer with a Computer Science degree. She had a job within a month of graduation. The FB Parent support group for my son's college had also been reporting the jobs their DD's had been getting. Many of those with son's were reporting their frustration with the lack of offers or even interviews their son's had been getting. Don't discount the desire of many companies to hire women for their companies at this time either.

My son's friend went to a school well known for their programs with a requirement of a 9 month long internship. He was offered a position with the company, but it wasn't the direction he wanted to take. It took him 8 months after graduating with his degree to find a position.

There are only so many positions open, so he may need to realize it might take longer then he thinks to get a position. Also, there are a lot of positions my son applied for that used ATS systems. Humans don't even see the resume or the value of the graduate without passing the ATS software. He will need to put together a terrific resume but also might need to tweak it for any positions where he applies.

For now, maybe he needs to concentrate on graduating, enjoying that moment he graduates and celebrate his accomplishments. Have him work on his resume, but not obsess over getting a job right; I think he needs to let go of that pressure for now.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

My son is also doing a capstone project which he claims his partners are NOT contributing to adding more stress on him. He is also taking 20 credits! I feel bad for your daughter's bf too. Hugs to him. I can't imagine his parents being "done" frustrated I can agree but ultimately he needs their support.

My DD gave me a little more info on her boyfriend’s situation. Luckily none of the classes he’s failing are engineering classes. This is good because some of those are year long classes or are only offered in the spring. Failing one of those would have seriously messed him up. He’s failing 2 online elective classes. He procrastinated getting started on the modules, waited too long, and now some of the modules are locked. That’s what sent him into the anxiety ridden tailspin. He emailed the professors to see if the modules can be unlocked. We shall see. The other plus to these being elective classes is that unlike engineering classes that he needs to earn a C to pass, these classes only need a D to pass. With 6 weeks left, he might be able to pull that off. If he does fail them, it’ll cost him some money, but won’t cost him much time. He can retake the classes during summer school and apply for August graduation. His school doesn’t have a ceremony in August, but it does confer degrees in August.

All this is causing the two of them a lot of stress.

 

[MrsPete]

This is a tough time in a kid's life. I remember being afraid of "what came next". I knew how to be a student, and while parts of college were less-than-fun, I was nervous -- no, afraid -- of moving forward into a new phase of life. My children were similar, and it was harder for my youngest, who graduated in the thick of Covid.

I'd emphasize to him that it's March, so that means -- what? -- six more weeks of classes? Yeah, he has a very hard load this semester, but the finish line is so, so close. Do all you can to support him during these last few weeks: Order him Grub-hub meals, go up to see him on Sunday afternoons, send him encouraging cards ... always focusing on the fact that this is almost over, and he needs to put in this last push.

I agree he could've changed majors as a sophomore, but that's water under the bridge. Even if he ends up in a different career field, he's too close to the finish line to stop this degree.

Yes, he needs to pay attention to his mental health as well -- as someone else said, while he's in the depths of it, he may not recognize that the process is working. But, honestly, I suspect focusing on "it's almost over" will help too.

Emphasize to him that he's coming out of college at a difficult time, and you're not upset if he doesn't start working in his field a week after graduation.

The military could potentially be a good fit for him, and -- if I were just coming out of school again -- I'd totally consider it.

 

[mrs. magoo]

So my oldest son did not find a job right away after finishing college. He interviewed for many but did not get any offers. He finally took a temporary job for experience. He worked the temp job for about 7 months before he landed a permanent job. My oldest daughter is a teacher so no problem finding a job there - she was hired before she even finished her degree.

My younger daughter is graduating in May. She is a fashion merchandising major ( it is basically a marketing degree but using fashion). She has applied to many jobs and actually got 2 interviews but so far no offers. She is willing to move anywhere as well. She does not want to move home if she can avoid it. She is burned out on school so grad school is not an option right now. I think she may end up working temp jobs for a bit.

She is a bit disappointed since both her cousin (environmental engineer) and her sister found jobs so easily but I think she is also ok with taking her time.

Best of Luck to your son.

 

[dreamer17555]

Hey, I was just thinking of the OP today as we are getting close to many college graduations. I hope things have improved.

 

[Travel60]

More "broader job" suggestions.

You said your son had worked at a bank. Investment houses hire engineers to run financial modeling because engineers know math. They call them "quants" (I.e. quantitatives). The bank experience might be a plus.

Similarly, large retail companies (think Lowes, grocery chains, clothing chains, etc.) hire engineers to do "big data" analysis. Again, the math and modeling experience of an engineer is a perfect fit.

Teach for America might give him a couple of years to get his feet back under himself and figure out what he wants to do.