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Mechanical Engineer Recent Graduate Jobs in Washington

Quantix ProTech was recently featured in US News and World Report and Forbes. Job Title: Mechanical Engineer Location: Gaithersburg, MD Type: Contract to Hire Length: Six months plus Client located ...

Mechanical Engineer

Fairfax, VA ยท On-site

$95K - $122K/yr

Join Dewberry as a Mechanical Engineer: Innovate Sustainable Solutions in a High-Performing ... Whether you're an experienced professional or a new graduate, you'll have the chance to collaborate ...

Mechanical Engineer

Fairfax, VA ยท On-site +1

$95K - $122K/yr

Join Dewberry as a Mechanical Engineer: Innovate Sustainable Solutions in a High-Performing ... Whether you're an experienced professional or a new graduate, you'll have the chance to collaborate ...

Lead, Mechanical Engineer

Millersville, MD ยท On-site

$135K - $210K/yr

Lead, Mechanical Engineer Job Code: 40268 Job Location: Millersville, MD Schedule: 9/80 reg with ... Graduate Degree and a minimum of 7 years of prior related experience. In lieu of a degree, minimum ...

This is an excellent opportunity for a recent or upcoming civil engineering graduate to gain hands-on experience with site layout, grading, utility design, stormwater management, permitting ...

This is an excellent opportunity for a recent or upcoming civil engineering graduate to gain hands-on experience with site layout, grading, utility design, stormwater management, permitting ...

Lead, Mechanical Engineer

Laurel, MD ยท On-site

$135K - $210K/yr

Lead, Mechanical Engineer Job Code: 40268 Job Location: Millersville, MD Schedule: 9/80 reg with ... Graduate Degree and a minimum of 7 years of prior related experience. In lieu of a degree, minimum ...

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Mechanical Engineer Recent Graduate information

What does a mechanical engineer recent graduate do?

A Mechanical Engineer Recent Graduate typically assists in designing, developing, and testing mechanical devices and systems under the supervision of experienced engineers. Their responsibilities may include creating technical drawings, performing simulations, conducting experiments, and supporting manufacturing or product development processes. They often work as part of a multidisciplinary team and use engineering software to analyze and solve real-world problems. This role is an entry-level position that provides opportunities to learn industry standards, gain practical experience, and develop professional skills.

What types of projects and responsibilities can a recent graduate mechanical engineer expect during their first year?

As a recent graduate mechanical engineer, you will likely start by supporting more experienced engineers on a variety of projects, such as preparing CAD drawings, assisting with prototyping, conducting basic calculations, and participating in design reviews. You may also be involved in testing and data analysis, as well as documenting results and presenting findings to your team. Early on, you'll gain hands-on experience with industry-standard tools and processes, and you'll often collaborate closely with multidisciplinary teams, including manufacturing and quality assurance. These responsibilities are designed to build your technical foundation and teamwork skills, preparing you for more complex tasks as you progress.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a mechanical engineer recent graduate, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Mechanical Engineer Recent Graduate, you need a solid understanding of engineering fundamentals, problem-solving skills, and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or a related field. Familiarity with CAD software (such as SolidWorks or AutoCAD), basic simulation tools, and experience with industry standards or entry-level certifications are highly beneficial. Strong communication, teamwork, and a willingness to learn help recent graduates stand out and adapt quickly in professional environments. These skills and qualities are important because they enable new engineers to contribute effectively to projects, collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, and grow within the industry.

What is the difference between Mechanical Engineer Recent Graduate vs Mechanical Design Engineer?

AspectMechanical Engineer Recent GraduateMechanical Design Engineer
Required CredentialsBachelor's in Mechanical Engineering, internship experienceBachelor's or Master's in Mechanical Engineering, some design certifications
Work EnvironmentEntry-level, team-based, engineering firms or manufacturingDesign-focused, CAD software use, product development teams
Employer & Industry UsageEngineering firms, manufacturing, aerospace, automotiveProduct design companies, automotive, aerospace, consumer products

Mechanical Engineer Recent Graduates typically have a bachelor's degree and internship experience, working in entry-level roles within engineering or manufacturing sectors. Mechanical Design Engineers focus more on product development and CAD design, often requiring additional certifications. Both roles are common in similar industries, but their daily tasks and focus areas differ, with recent graduates gaining foundational experience and design engineers specializing in product creation.

What are popular job titles related to Mechanical Engineer Recent Graduate jobs in Washington?

For Mechanical Engineer Recent Graduate jobs in Washington, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What job categories do people searching Mechanical Engineer Recent Graduate jobs in Washington look for?

The top searched job categories for Mechanical Engineer Recent Graduate jobs in Washington are:

What cities in Washington are hiring for Mechanical Engineer Recent Graduate jobs?

Cities in Washington with the most Mechanical Engineer Recent Graduate job openings:

Infographic showing various Mechanical Engineer Recent Graduate job openings in Washington as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 86% Full Time, 6% Part Time, 2% Temporary, 5% Contract, and 1% Nights. Highlights an 92% Physical, 1% Hybrid, and 7% Remote job distribution.

General Engineer (Recent Graduate)

Department of Energy Headquarters

Washington, DC โ€ข On-site, Remote

$57K - $91K/yr

Full-time

Posted 9 days ago


Job description

Summary
This position is part of the EDF Office of Energy Dominance Financing, Department of Energy. The Recent Graduates Program is a dynamic, one-year developmental program that promotes careers in the Federal Government to recent graduates. Recent Graduates who successfully complete Program requirements may be eligible for non-competitive conversion to a term or permanent position in the civil service.
Learn more about this agency
Duties
Help
The EDF Office of Energy Dominance Financing office works to secure and strengthen American energy assets; boost American energy innovation and technologies; expand affordable, reliable, and secure energy for all Americans; create American jobs; and bolster national security.
The following are the duties of this position at the GS-12. Since you are being selected at a lower grade level, you will have the opportunity to learn to perform all these duties and will receive training to help you grow in this position.
As a General Engineer, you will:
  • Plan, prioritize, and execute engineering projects and initiatives, managing their sequence, direction, progress, and overall implementation.
  • Research and analyze engineering data and conditions to address technical uncertainties and determine practical, cost-effective solutions.
  • Evaluate and resolve engineering problems, develop sound recommendations for improving programs or methods, and implement actions to resolve unique technical conflicts and policy issues.
  • Evaluate program needs to prepare essential project management and technical documentation, including budgets and technical specifications.
  • Serve as a technical point of contact to collaborate and negotiate with diverse internal and external organizations, contractors, and individuals on technical engineering matters in diverse technologies including nuclear, fossil, geothermal, critical minerals, advanced manufacturing, and transportation technologies.
  • Prepare and deliver comprehensive technical reports and presentations to senior leadership.

Requirements
Help
Conditions of employment
  • Must be a U.S. Citizen, National, or Foreign National who meets both Immigration and Annual Appropriations Laws.
  • This employer participates in the e-Verify program.
  • Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for Selective Service.
  • Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by a background investigation.
  • A Pathways Recent Graduate Participant Agreement is required.
  • Recent Graduates serve a trial period for the entire duration of their excepted service appointment.
  • Applicant must provide proof that they have obtained an associate's, bachelor's, master's, professional, doctorate, vocational, technical degree, or a certificate from a qualifying educational institution with the previous 2 years.; OR
  • Applicant must provide proof that they have completed a qualifying career or technical education program within the previous 2 years.
  • Veterans precluded by a military service obligation have up to 6 years after completion of degree or certificate to apply.

Qualifications
You must meet the eligibility and qualifications within 6 months of the closing date of this announcement.
To be eligible for the Pathways Recent Graduate program you must be a:

  • Recent graduate who has completed, within the previous two years, a qualifying associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational, technical degree, or certificate from a qualifying educational institution or completed a qualifying career or technical education program that awards a recognized postsecondary credential (such as a Registered Apprenticeship Program or Job Corps). -OR-
  • Student who within 6 months of the closing date of this announcement will meet the education requirements and will graduate with a qualifying associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational, technical degree, or certificate from a qualifying educational institution or completed a qualifying career or technical education program. A student may not be appointed to a position until they have graduated. -OR-
  • Preference eligible veterans who were prevented from applying during the two-year period due to their military service obligation may begin their two-year eligibility period upon release or discharge from active duty. Eligibility for these veterans cannot exceed six years after degree or certificate completion. You MUST submit a copy of the DD214 showing the duration and dates of service that precluded you from applying due to the military service obligation.

For the GS-07: You must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-05 grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience for this position at the GS-7 includes ALL of the following:
  • Performing basic project management activities; AND
  • Performing routine engineering tasks; AND
  • Creating reports or presentations.

OR YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR THE GS-7 BASED ON EDUCATION: 1 year of graduate-level education
OR YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR THE GS-7 BASED ON SUPERIOR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: A bachelor's degree AND meet one of the following:
(1) Class standing You must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision based on completed courses; OR
(2) Grade-point average (G.P.A.) You must have 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum OR 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; OR
(3) Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society (other than freshman honor societies) You are a member of one of the national scholastic honor societies recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies (https://www.achshonor.org/). The Bachelor degree must still show the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform in this position.
OR YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR THE GS-7 BASED ON A COMBINATION OF EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE: If you have some qualifying education and some qualifying experience, but don't fully meet either requirement on its own, you may be able to combine them. Only graduate education can be used in this calculation. Experience must be reflected in your resume, and transcripts are required.
  1. Divide your qualifying graduate semester hours by 18. That gives you your education percentage.
  2. Divide your months of qualifying experience by 12. That gives you your experience percentage.
  3. Add the two together. If the total is 100% or more, you qualify.

Note about Superior Academic Achievement (SAA): Applicants usually cannot claim credit based on their overall GPA if more than 10 percent of their total credit was based on pass/fail or similar systems, rather than on traditional grading systems. However, if they can document that only their freshman-year courses (25 percent or less of their total credit) were credited on a pass/fail or similar system, they can use their overall GPA to claim SAA. If 10 percent or fewer credits or only freshman-year courses were based on pass/fail or similar systems, such credits can be ignored, and the GPA can be computed from the graded courses. Applicants can, however, still claim credit based on their last 2 years if 10 percent or fewer credits were based on pass/fail or similar systems. Applicants who cannot claim credit under the GPA requirements may claim credit for SAA only on the basis of class standing or honor society membership.
For the GS-09: You must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience for this position at the GS-9 includes ALL of the following:
  • Performing basic project management activities; AND
  • Researching established engineering guidelines to assist in solving engineering problems or discrepancies; AND
  • Creating and delivering reports or presentations.

OR YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR THE GS-9 BASED ON EDUCATION: 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree
OR YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR THE GS-9 BASED ON COMBINATION: If you have some qualifying education and some qualifying experience, but don't fully meet either requirement on its own, you may be able to combine them. Only graduate education in excess of one year (18 semester hours or equivalent) can be used in this calculation. Experience must be reflected in your resume, and transcripts are required.
  1. Divide your qualifying graduate semester hours beyond the first 18 by 18. That gives you your education percentage.
  2. Divide your months of qualifying experience by 12. That gives you your experience percentage.
  3. Add the two together. If the total is 100% or more, you qualify.

Note about Graduate Education: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.
Experience may include paid or unpaid work, including internships, volunteer service, student leadership, military service, apprenticeships, or other relevant activities. Resumes must clearly describe duties, dates, and hours worked per week.
Education must be obtained from an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Education
You must meet the following Basic Education Requirement listed below in order to qualify for the 0801 series:
Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must:
(1) lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by 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 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)1, 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)2 examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and 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 the basic requirements under paragraph A. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A.
  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 bachelor's 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. (The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.)

FOREIGN EDUCATION: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements. You must show proof the education credentials have been deemed to be at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. education program. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. For special instructions pertaining to foreign education and a list of organizations that can evaluate foreign education, see the Department of Education website. If you are qualifying on foreign education, you MUST submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. Refer to OPM Instructions. <