Keys to job selection success, or, how to keep the romance growing: In the spring, the old saying goes, a young man's fancies turn to love. But during the bleak days of late fall, the focus for rising engineering graduates (of each gender) is clearly the “wooing” of potential employers

Unlike the fancies of spring, a successful job search must be an affair of the head, not of the heart. Every expectant graduate hopes for a job/career romance that will last well past the early honeymoon in the first job as an engineering professional. This is the time for clear thinking, careful planning and deliberate decision-making to avoid the job market seductions of cleverly orchestrated interviews, well-rehearsed interviewers, exciting locations, and enticing job titles and salaries. The key to job selection consists of putting the passion of the job search moment aside and concentrating on the “morning after” realities of the engineering positions being offered.