My career after graduation has gone from high volume low cost electronics in the lighting industry, to automotive briefly, to low volume high value in the semiconductor industry to currently low volume high cost in the gas industry.

The real changes happened in my last two roles, and they were not specifically industry changes I had singled out. Going into the semiconductor industry happened during COVID and I had been furloughed. I saw the job description advertised on a job board, directly by the company and thought "I can do that", and it turns out I could.

I'm now nearly three months into the gas industry as an Application Engineer and it is very clear that this is very different for me. The hiring manager was adamant that I was the right candidate, so I know I have to repay that trust. My skills are right for what the fundamentals of the job requires, the experience and underlying knowledge are what is lacking. Therefore I'm reading, asking questions, taking in as much as I can on a daily basis. 

As Andy stated in his first couple of paragraphs, LinkedIn, job postings and recruitment agencies are the way in. When you are seriously searching for a job, you should upload a searchable copy of your CV to sites like Indeed, CV Library, Reed and Total Jobs. Then be prepared to answer unknown numbers, use your voicemail and get job specifications sent to you. A lot of these enquiries to you will not be suitable, but as part of the search it is easy to allow a lot of the vacancies come to you - let the agencies do the work. Then you set up more refined searches and alerts on the aforementioned sites and only get the relevant vacancies you want. I also find it helps to have a good relationship with key recruitment agencies in your region - you will soon get to know the diligent agents/agencies and the ones to ignore.

For interviews, you just really need to research the company, their competitors and the industry generally. Show how your skills match the job description, as the hiring manager will have an idea (that's why you have an interview in the first place). Then ask really pertinent questions based on what the interviewers are saying. Listen carefully and as mentioned by Andy, don't try to blag it.

My career after graduation has gone from high volume low cost electronics in the lighting industry, to automotive briefly, to low volume high value in the semiconductor industry to currently low volume high cost in the gas industry.

The real changes happened in my last two roles, and they were not specifically industry changes I had singled out. Going into the semiconductor industry happened during COVID and I had been furloughed. I saw the job description advertised on a job board, directly by the company and thought "I can do that", and it turns out I could.

I'm now nearly three months into the gas industry as an Application Engineer and it is very clear that this is very different for me. The hiring manager was adamant that I was the right candidate, so I know I have to repay that trust. My skills are right for what the fundamentals of the job requires, the experience and underlying knowledge are what is lacking. Therefore I'm reading, asking questions, taking in as much as I can on a daily basis. 

As Andy stated in his first couple of paragraphs, LinkedIn, job postings and recruitment agencies are the way in. When you are seriously searching for a job, you should upload a searchable copy of your CV to sites like Indeed, CV Library, Reed and Total Jobs. Then be prepared to answer unknown numbers, use your voicemail and get job specifications sent to you. A lot of these enquiries to you will not be suitable, but as part of the search it is easy to allow a lot of the vacancies come to you - let the agencies do the work. Then you set up more refined searches and alerts on the aforementioned sites and only get the relevant vacancies you want. I also find it helps to have a good relationship with key recruitment agencies in your region - you will soon get to know the diligent agents/agencies and the ones to ignore.

For interviews, you just really need to research the company, their competitors and the industry generally. Show how your skills match the job description, as the hiring manager will have an idea (that's why you have an interview in the first place). Then ask really pertinent questions based on what the interviewers are saying. Listen carefully and as mentioned by Andy, don't try to blag it.