The COVID-19 pandemic prompted rapid changes to higher education. Most institutions rapidly shifted to remote learning, which caused significant disruptions to teaching and learning. Though a significant amount of scholarship has been dedicated to understanding the impact of the pandemic on classroom experiences, there is a need to investigate the impact of the pandemic on students’ readiness for the workplace. In order to ensure graduates are prepared for the challenges and responsibilities of the workplace, this paper focuses on the anticipated impact of COVID-19 on this critical transition. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to understand how students whose education was disrupted by the pandemic perceived and described their preparedness for the workplace. We address the following research question: How did mechanical engineering students perceive their preparedness for work during the first year of the pandemic? This study takes a constructivist approach to research, aiming to find consensus among students’ constructions of preparedness.