When should I apply for jobs?

[TurtlePerson2]

I'm a masters student in electrical engineering concentrating on VLSI design and computer architecture. I graduate in December and would ideally like to begin working at the end of January or the beginning of February. I am wondering at what point I should start applying for jobs.

The thing that complicates the situation is that I am working an internship this summer. I did an internship for the same company last summer and they offered to hire me when I was finishing my bachelor's degree, so I am pretty confident that they will give me an offer at the end of the summer. I really liked working there last summer and will probably accept an offer at the end of this summer if the pay is competitive.

My question is whether I should start applying and interviewing now or if I should wait until the middle/end of summer? Is it acceptable to do an interview then tell them that you won't be able to give them an an answer for 4 months?

Any help from gerbils who have been through the interviewing process would be appreciated. I would really love to hear from gerbils who do the interviewing.

[DancinJack]

There's no harm in applying now and letting people know that you don't graduate until December. Is there any chance you'd be able to work at all during the fall semester while finishing up school?

[yogibbear]

Usually about 7-8 months out from graduation is what I would recommend.

Some of the "big" companies can take ~ 2-3 months to get you through the entire process if they are doing a full on recruitment programme.

[TurtlePerson2]

Is there any chance you'd be able to work at all during the fall semester while finishing up school?

I'm taking a full schedule next year, so I don't think I would have time. More importantly, my school is in Michigan, so any job I would be looking at will be at least 1000 miles away. VLSI design is a good field to be in, but it doesn't exist in the Midwest.

[esc_in_ks]

It's probably a good idea to ask your university's career center (or whatever they may call it). I would imagine there are career fairs at your school, and that's often a good indication of when everyone else is applying in addition to being a good place to meet potential employers.

As a previous poster said, 7-8 months is about right.

It's been far longer than I'd like to admit that I went through this and things may have changed. But I recall the process being something like:

a) go to career fairs, give out copious amounts of resumes to any employer that looked decent
b) hear back from employers, setup on campus interviews for the ones you really want to work for
c) employers send current employees to campus to do loads of interviews
d) if you make it past that, go to an onsite interview at the employer
e) if you make it past that, get an employment offer

I did onsite interviews at three employers around the US, I think I remember accepting an offer probably around January or February, I think, for a May graduation.

Best of luck!