> This is exactly the type of student that I figured companies would
> want, but having gone through two interview processes already, it
> doesn't seem that way.

That is common when you get interviewed by some personell lacky instead of
real engineers.  Some engineering managers also have this problem (some of
them got there because they were more interested in management than
engineering, often because they were incompetent at engineering).

> Even though I have landed two jobs so far,

Um, then what's the problem?

> companies seem to be going for the students with good grades.

Good grades are always an advantage.  I wouldn't hire a C student
regardless of whatever else they tell me.

> The type
> of student who you described ("but I did all the work and got good
> grades etc...") is EXACTLY what the majority of my class (and a lot of
> EE classes now) is like, and is rather depressing quite frankly. Hardly
> any of them are interested in pursuing projects on their own time...

I call them drones.  Yes, some of the people can get away with it some of
the time, but eventually the better engineers will bubble to the top.  We
had a few people like that when I was at HP.  They kind of floated along
and eventually got projects done, but needed a lot of help from others.
Everyone knew who the smart and dumb guys were, and the dumb ones had
little chance for advancement although they didn't know it (Who's going to
tell them, it's easier to laugh at them behind their back).

You should also consider what the work environment will be like at
companies that hire those you know to be drones.  When I entered the job
market in 1980, a lot of drones went to Raytheon and Honeywell.  These
companies were deliberately avoided by others as a result.

I know none of this is consolation for your coop job problem, but maybe
helps put it in perspective.  Hang in there, you will eventually be
rewarded.

> yet some of them have landed considerably better jobs (could be also
> because lying on resumes seems to be a common practice now).

Whatever happens and no matter how desparate you are and how many other
people are doing it, don't ever ever lie on a resume.  I've actually
thrown people out of an interview for doing that.  I may not be able to
tell what the truth really is, but I (and you should assume any
interviewer) can spot the BS a lot better than you probably think.  Once I
see something suspect, I'm going to drill down until you either adequately
explain it or you are proven to be a lier.  There is no recovery from the
latter case.


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