Ask 100 kids what they want to become when they grow up and I'll bet you none of them will say " a human resource manager."

People with dreams and ambition don't strive to join HR, they simply end up there. HR people simply do the job. They hire as they're told, they fire as they're told and they dish out benefits and 10 year service award pens, as told.

So when a young smart ambitious engineer like you wants a job, who do you go to?

The only time you should ever deal with a HR department is if your qualifications perfectly match the job description. Then HR's job is easy: "yes this is what the engineering manager wanted, experience with FMEAs, understands GD&T, 10 years experience with auto electronics. Perfect." In which case it does not matter if you're a looser with the words "world piece" tattooed on your neck.

The problem with being an engineer straight-out-of-school is that your resume might not radiate with experience or some of the specifics the HR department is trying to match. Even though at university you were the brains behind a solar vehicle that crossed America, you had no formal training in junk paperwork like FMEAs, so you're sh*t outta luck.

So what do you do if you are a clever, bright, interesting engineer with a lot to offer but not a perfect fit to a job? Here's help from an insider:

Find out who the design manager responsible for posting the job is. How do you do that?

1) JFGI

2) Often email addresses are kept secret, so spend 30 seconds deducing it: name_surname@company.com

3) Verify your finds by pretending to sell V14GRA with your gmail address that you only use for anonymous use (and to the other design managers reading this, I know you're smiling and saying "so that's why I get so many of those emails").

4) Make the kill by sending lots of pictures or parts of the really cool stuff you've done and at the bottom of the box leave a copy of your resume. Easy.

5) Repeat 200 times.

Some of the best people I ever worked with, found us and not the other way round. So don't sit around waiting to be discovered.