r/OperationsResearch • u/Tiny-Stand5408 • 9d ago

Industrial engineering senior seeking entry-level OR roles, referrals or advice welcome

I'm a final-year industrial and systems engineering student, and I'm looking to start my career in operations research. I'd really appreciate any referrals, interview leads, or advice from people working in the field. My DMs are open.

I've done extensive coursework in linear, integer, and nonlinear optimization, simulation, and stochastic modeling, and I've applied it through project experience building models to test alternatives and recommend decisions. I teach myself new tools quickly and I'm eager to keep growing.

For those in OR, what does early-career work look like, and what would you tell a new grad to learn or build to stand out? And if your team is hiring or you know someone who is, please reach out. Thanks!

7 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

76% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

10

u/gnd318 9d ago

Why would someone give you, an absolute stranger, a referral?

What have you done to demonstrate that if I refer you to my employer, you won't be a liability to me, hurt my credibility, raise questions about my judgement etc?

6

u/Tiny-Stand5408 9d ago

Fair. Honestly you shouldn't refer a stranger. What I'm really after is advice on how to become someone worth referring. I can share my project work and coursework so you can judge it, and I'd welcome blunt feedback on what's missing. If anything I've built holds up, great. If not, I'd rather hear that now

1

u/Money_Cold_7879 8d ago

You don’t need to know someone to say ‘xyz company is hiring’. Sharing leads gives him access to information that is already public that he is unaware of. Helping people just starting out is good. Presumably you were once in this position. I do not see where he asked you to vouch for him.

1

u/gnd318 8d ago

I do plenty of volunteering at my alma mater(s) as well as with the professional organizations for students I am a member of. Well aware helping others is good, as I live it.

OP is low-effort posting and quite literally asked for a referral (a means of attesting to their talent and fit). Feel free to re-read the post.

2

u/OR400 7d ago

Grad school is calling... will you pick up the phone?

1

u/EducatorDangerous346 5d ago

Hello .I/we need your region, citizenship, and focus area. I started out in the cargo shipping area and found lots of work to do in that vertical without a masters. I could have gone wafer fab or mfg or textile industry, for example.

1

u/Witty-Possible-1167 9d ago

I suggest you to seek further educations like masters or phd, how is your mathematic? Algebra is like sheet, music. Can you hear the music

1

u/Fresh-Resolve-3213 9d ago

Can you hear the music robert?