Jacquie,
here’s one more approach that no one has mentioned yet … first of all, does your college have an on-going relationship with any local industries?
where I came from, the college organized several “advisory committees” made up of local industry engineers and managers ... these committees met four or five times a year for the purpose of keeping the college “on track” by recommending additions and improvements to the curriculum … unfortunately many of these recommendations were never acted upon … usually because the faculty members were stretched too thin to devote the time and effort required to develop the necessary course material …
just one quick specific project example: “some of our plant technicians only work with the PLC systems on a very infrequent basis … and so occasionally they have a hard time going online with the PLC processors for troubleshooting purposes … we really need a detailed, systematic approach to setting up the communications for each of the brands and types of processors our plant uses” …
so assuming that there is an active advisory committee available … and assuming that there are some viable ideas for some worthwhile projects lying around on the back burner … and assuming that a hard-working highly-motivated individual just happened to step up and tackle one of these projects … and suppose that the final result clearly demonstrated this individual’s ability to “get the job done” … and to work well with the local engineers involved … and also indicated the presence of a meticulous attention to detail … etc., … etc., …
do you think that this just might help said individual “get a foot in the door” with the local industry involved?
and yes, I’ll admit that there are quite a lot of assumptions here … but then again, grand opportunities are often reserved for those who dare to mine gold in the same soil where others only grub for potatoes …
finally, the fact that you’re a female should make little or no difference to your eventual success IF (big if) you’re able to demonstrate your abilities to the right type of prospective employer … simply put, the type of people with the ability to “get the job done” are usually quite good at recognizing the same attributes in others with whom they come into contact … your biggest hurdle is likely to be in “arranging” a situation in which you’ll be able to demonstrate that you actually do have the “right stuff” … unfortunately most job-hunting experiences will force you to jump through some preliminary hoops in the “human resources” department before you ever get a chance to finally talk to the “decision maker” who is your preferred audience …
maybe … just maybe … the approach I outlined above will prove useful in bypassing some of the usual “job applicant” hurdles … particularly the inevitable requirement for previous experience … and yes, I have seen it work before … more than once …
finally, if you do decide to try this route, be sure to keep in mind that a meticulous attention to details WILL have a serious impact on your eventual success … simply put, when you’re trying to make a good impression, neatness and completeness DO count …
good luck …
