I remember sitting in front of my laptop as a new graduate, staring at endless job portals. No referrals. No insider contacts. No “friend of a friend” to open a door. Just my resume, my drive, and a deep uncertainty about whether that would be enough.
But that’s where my engineering career began.
In college, I learned to hustle for opportunity. I took on extra projects, led events, and entered competitions — not because someone told me to, but because I believed that if I built enough value, someone would eventually notice. That belief became my north star.
After graduation, I started applying directly to companies. I didn’t always know someone on the inside, and I didn’t have warm introductions, but I had something else: my resume. And sometimes, that was enough. I got callbacks, and even interviews, from just applying on company websites, without ever messaging someone on LinkedIn or sending a follow-up email. My resume spoke for me.
Of course, not every door opened automatically. I also learned to reach out to hiring managers, recruiters, and team leads. Cold calls. LinkedIn messages. Sometimes silence. Sometimes success. I even landed a few leads by showing up at job fairs and conferences, armed with nothing but confidence and curiosity.
When I moved to the U.S. for graduate school, I thought things would get easier. Instead, they got harder. New country. No community. Financial constraints. I had to start over — again. But I’d done it before, so I leaned on what I knew: deliver results, stay consistent, and speak up even if your voice shakes.
One of the hardest hurdles came before I even stepped foot in the U.S.: financing my education. With no cosigner, no collateral, and no financial safety net, I still secured an education loan based solely on my professional record and resume. It was the clearest proof I had ever seen that a track record of persistence and results can carry weight, even when no one’s vouching for you.
Every opportunity I’ve earned — internships, jobs, leadership roles — has come through a mix of strategy, perseverance, and belief in my own work. Some came from building LinkedIn connections, calling companies, or reaching out to HR and hiring managers. Others came simply from pressing “Apply.”
Here’s what I learned — and what I hope you’ll carry with you:
- Even when you don’t have connections, your resume can vouch for you. If it’s built with intent, it can open doors on its own.
- Your resume won’t speak unless you give it a voice. I didn’t just list my experiences — I showed how I solved problems. That made me memorable.
- Ask even when you expect silence. I applied anyway. I messaged anyway. And sometimes, that one ask turned into a life-changing reply.
- Leverage every formal and informal path. LinkedIn, job fairs, even chance conversations — they all matter when you’re building an engineering career from scratch.
- Know when to fight and when to move on. In rooms where I was the only woman engineer, I often had to defend my place. Sometimes that meant pushing back, and other times it meant walking away and finding a space where I didn’t have to justify my worth.
If I could give my younger self one piece of advice, it would be this: Don’t wait for someone to refer you. Build your own door, and be ready when it opens.
