Mechanical Engineer Recent Graduate Jobs in California

Launch or advance your electrical engineering career with the Bureau of Reclamation!

Apply your engineering skills to electrical systems that support critical water and power infrastructure. Gain experience in design, analysis, testing, troubleshooting, inspections, and system operations while working on meaningful projects that serve communities across the West.

Learn more at: https://www.usbr.gov/
This vacancy is open to Recent Graduates only.

Qualifications:

This position is open to Recent Graduates only. You must meet the eligibility requirements for the Pathways Recent Graduate program as outlined below:

To be eligible for the Pathways Recent Graduates Program, you must have completed a qualifying associate's, bachelor's, master's, professional, doctoral, vocational, or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution within the previous two years.

Veterans who were unable to apply within the two-year eligibility period because of a military service obligation may have an extended eligibility period, up to six years after completing their degree or certificate. You must submit documentation verifying your Recent Graduate eligibility.

Recent Graduates who successfully complete all Pathways Program requirements may be eligible for noncompetitive conversion to a term or permanent position in the civil service. See the Additional Information section for more information

In addition to Recent Graduates eligibility, you must meet the Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR) for this position. Please review the Education section below for the specific IOR requirements.

You must also meet the qualification requirements below for the grade level for which you are applying:

To qualify for the GS-5: You must meet the Individual Occupational Requirement described above. No additional specialized experience is required.

To qualify for the GS-7, you must meet one of the following:

• Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to at least the GS-5 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience may include performing developmental electrical engineering assignments such as assisting with engineering analyses, calculations, data collection or modeling; troubleshooting electrical equipment or systems; assisting with electrical engineering designs; preparing or interpreting basic technical documentation; or participating in engineering facility reviews, assessments, or inspections.
• Education: One full year of graduate-level education in engineering or a directly related field that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work; OR Superior Academic Achievement (SAA).
  • Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A.): You may qualify based on a bachelor's degree in a field directly related to the position and Superior Academic Achievement. S.A.A. may be demonstrated by one of the following:
    • Class standing: Graduated in the upper one-third of your college, university, or major subdivision.
    • Grade-point average: A GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale based on all coursework or coursework completed during the final two years of your curriculum; or a GPA of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale based on required courses in your major field or those courses completed during the final two years of your curriculum.
    • Honor society membership: Membership in a qualifying national scholastic honor society recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies. Freshman honor society membership does not qualify. See OPM for a list of eligible societies.
• Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of qualifying graduate-level education and specialized experience that, when combined, meets 100% of the qualification requirement. To calculate your percentage, determine the percentage of qualifying graduate education you completed toward 1 full year of graduate education. Then divide the number of months of qualifying specialized experience by 12. Add the two percentages together. The total must equal at least 100% to qualify. You must submit transcripts and include the hours worked per week for your qualifying experience.

To qualify for the GS-9, you must meet one of the following:

• Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to at least the GS-7 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience may include performing conventional or routine electrical engineering assignments such as conducting engineering analyses; preparing or evaluating electrical engineering designs; troubleshooting electrical equipment or systems; preparing technical documentation; or participating in facility examinations, condition assessments, construction inspections, or other engineering reviews.
• Education: Two years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree, or a master's or equivalent graduate degree, in engineering or a directly related field that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.
• Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of qualifying graduate-level education and specialized experience that, when combined, meets 100% of the qualification requirement. Only graduate education in excess of 1 full year of graduate-level education may be used toward this combination. To calculate your percentage, determine the percentage of qualifying graduate education completed beyond the first year toward the additional year of graduate education required for the GS-9. Then divide the number of months of qualifying GS-7 level specialized experience by 12. Add the two percentages together. The total must equal at least 100% to qualify. You must submit transcripts and include the hours worked per week for your qualifying experience.

To qualify for the GS-11, you must meet one of the following:

• Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to at least the GS-9 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience may include performing professional electrical engineering work such as analyzing and evaluating electrical systems or equipment; preparing, reviewing, or modifying electrical engineering designs, calculations, or specifications; troubleshooting electrical systems and recommending solutions; conducting engineering studies, testing, inspections, or condition assessments; or preparing technical engineering reports and documentation.
• Education: Three years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree, or a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, in engineering or a directly related field that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.
• Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of qualifying graduate-level education and specialized experience that, when combined, meets 100% of the qualification requirement. Only graduate education in excess of 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education may be used toward this combination. To calculate your percentage, determine the percentage of qualifying graduate education completed beyond the first 2 years toward the additional year of graduate education required for the GS-11. Then divide the number of months of qualifying GS-9 level specialized experience by 12. Add the two percentages together. The total must equal at least 100% to qualify. You must submit transcripts and include the hours worked per week for your qualifying experience.

Volunteer Experience: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement, 09/14/2026.Education:

This position has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR), to meet this basic requirement applicants must meet one of the following (A or B):

A. Education: A Bachelor's degree or higher in engineering. To be acceptable, the program must:

1. Lead to a bachelor's degree (or higher) in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET); OR
2. Include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics.

OR
B. Combination of Education and Experience: College-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following:

1. Professional registration or licensure - Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT), or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions.
2. Written Test - Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination, or any other written test required for professional registration, by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico.
3. Specified academic courses - Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in A above. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program.
4. Related curriculum - Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions.

You must submit a copy of your transcript(s) to support claimed education. Transcripts must include your name, school name, grades, credit hours earned, major(s), grade point average or class ranking, and date the degree was conferred, if applicable. A typed list of courses, grades, semester/quarter hours, GPA, etc. will not be accepted. Non-submission may result in being rated not qualified for the position. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.

Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, you must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs. Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | U.S. Department of Education. https://www.ed.gov/about/initiatives/international-affairs/recognition-of-foreign-qualification

Employment Type: OTHER