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Exactly. Customer service is mostly its own field and once you get shoved into that role, it's hard to escape.
Ok, maybe I used a poor example, but isn't it possible to find a non-technical role at, say, Microsoft, meanwhile contributing to coding projects on GitHub, and then possibly be moved into a technical role in the future? That seems like a better option than living at home, working at McDonald's, trying to code in my free time and then competing with other recent grads who are applying for these junior software development positions.
B.S. in Mathematics and a good computational background. I've tried for entry-level Data Analyst and Software Engineer and similar positions whenever I felt I met the qualifications. No success yet. Furthest I've been is a 2nd interview. If I had a ton of prospects currently on the horizon, I would keep devoting my time to trying for these sorts of jobs that use my background, but right now I have 0 prospects and I might never have one a successful one.
So I need to downgrade my expectations for my first job. Certainly I would be okay with a first job that doesn't require any kind of complex problem solving or unique skills, but I want to feel like I'm getting closer to a "real" job all the while. For instance, if I could get a job just answering phone calls at Amazon, that'd be awesome because I'm sure I could have some future opportunity for a good job if they hire internally; whereas I know I'm not getting anywhere if I just get a job taking orders at McDonald's.
What do I need to do? Should I just strip down my resume to highlight basic soft skills and then shotgun-apply to a bunch of podunk jobs at a decent companies? That was my plan.
That's the right mindset, stay away from fast food and focus on jobs like answer phones at Amazon. Never downgrade your job preferences too much because you will be stuck and miserable
Search for "entry-level software" on Dice, Indeed, etc. It's difficult to find a gig that doesn't already want 2-5 yrs professional experience. The places that do take any recent grad who can prove his skills, are Amazon, Google, Facebook and a few others, but it's a competitive process.
How much coding (C++, Java, C#, etc.) have you done? If it's more than a single semester "Survey of Programming Languages", there's your experience.
It costs next to nothing to apply for jobs where you think "If only I had 2-5 yrs experience, I'd be perfect for that job." Don't eliminate yourself, let the employer make that decision. The worst that can happen is you get a polite rejection letter.
Often qualifications such as "2-5 yrs" are there to keep the 18yo script kiddies from wasting their time.
How much coding (C++, Java, C#, etc.) have you done? If it's more than a single semester "Survey of Programming Languages", there's your experience.
Sorry, that doesn't count as professional experience. Usually a listing will specify something like "2 yrs industry experience for every year of college completed" and they'll put it in bold for emphasis. If I memorized C++ primer and Cracking the Coding Interview, that still wouldn't replace actual experience. Neither would any amount of homework from Computer Science classes.
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