My career is not progressing as I thought it would. I need some advice.
I graduated with my Bachelors in EE in December of 2024. For about a year after graduation, I was studying for my NERC RC exam, which I failed with a 66% in September 2025. After taking the exam I applied for 100+ jobs before I was finally hired as a Distribution Technician in March 2026. The Technician job was a contract job that was supposed to last until December 2026, but I was blindsided this past Monday by being let go. Ive applied for 10+ jobs since Tuesday. I see all of these engineering jobs, even entry level ones that require 0 years of experience require experience in all of these CAD software's (AutoCAD 3D electrical, Revit, Microstation, PLSS-CAD, PLSS-Tower, etc). When I look on these CAD companies websites to see how much they cost for a subscription to try and self teach, they cost thousands of dollars to subscribe too. My university never offered any classes that I can think of that taught you how to use the CAD programs. How am I supposed to learn and gain experience with these programs if I can't get an entry level job that is willing to teach me how to use it, or pay a reasonable price for a subscription to try and teach myself? I want to work in the Power industry, but I'm also open to manufacturing engineering (especially for electric vehicles), and engineering jobs in the defense industry. I'm worried going back to school for a masters might be my only option, but I dred the thought of having to go through engineering school again as I was only an average student. Any advice is much appreciated. Thank you!