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On my last trip to San Francisco my Uber driver was a 25 year old female with a degree in math. Although she had completed some IT courses, she said that she couldn't find a technical job with just a bachelors degree. She said that the companies were now all requiring advanced degrees.
They are that picky because they can be. That says it's a tough time to be job hunting.
Advanced Degree for a Tech job? I find that so hard to believe.
Many places only require a Bachelors Degree,
( Unless you are trying to be a Director of IT or Professor then yeah an advanced degree makes sense)
You know what's sad? If you study Hindi language you may have a good shot at getting hired for a STEM position. Many companies could not find enough Americans who can go to India to help coordinate engineers over there or become a project coordinator here to communicate with India workers.
No different than a retail manager here who can speak Spanish and give orders in Spanish.
The economy is sooooo bad overall that even STEM degrees are a dime a dozen. The employer's market we're in basically "negates" most college degrees, reducing them to the equivalent of a high school diploma.
Seemingly the only people doing well these days are entrepreneurs/small business - the ones that don't fail anyway. Right now is perhaps THE worst time to be a college graduate/employee type.[/QUOTE]
A lot of people say that but it is still worth it to be a College graduate.
The problem is that kids without work experience out of college will experience many problems finding a job ( does not matter what they major in)
They need to prove to Employers they have at least some very related work experience in their field. Even if it means unpaid or volunteering.
.... Not if it comes with an average $30-$50k in debt for average 4 years of college. Not everyone has rich parents nor qualify for big scholarships, hence student debt is nearly unavoidable for most average folks who want a college degree.
The thing is..... the debt is GUARANTEED, but the "career" part of it is a "maybe" and "hopefully" that is a crap-shoot in the current employer's market.
It's basically like gambling (on credit) at this point, no different really.
Last edited by CuriousMiscer; 07-27-2016 at 09:39 AM..
Most Employees look for Candidates with at LEAST some experience.
The more Work Experience you have the better.
Most companies are not really going to care where you got your degree from.
That's not true. If you go to a top school, you will have better access to recruiting by top companies through your school. Google isn't going out of its way to build connections with Santa Clara Baptist College or whatever.
Experience is more than just a time measurement. If you're applying to be a Software Engineer at Google, then your experience as an IT Help Specialist at a mom and pop shop isn't worth anything and might even dilute your resume.
That's not true. If you go to a top school, you will have better access to recruiting by top companies through your school. Google isn't going out of its way to build connections with Santa Clara Baptist College or whatever.
Experience is more than just a time measurement. If you're applying to be a Software Engineer at Google, then your experience as an IT Help Specialist at a mom and pop shop isn't worth anything and might even dilute your resume.
That's true. There have also been stories about students who even go to elite school graduated and still either fall into unemployment/underemployment.
I think anyone with enough common will realize that :P
Obviously you want to do something programming related if your intention is to be a Software Engineer.
That's true. There have also been stories about students who even go to elite school graduated and still either fall into unemployment/underemployment.
I think anyone with enough common will realize that :P
Obviously you want to do something programming related if your intention is to be a Software Engineer.
Straw man argument on your part. I never said that everyone who has an elite education and elite internship does well.
There have also been stories about students who even go to elite school graduated and still either fall into unemployment/underemployment.
From my experience this is from people who didn't do any sort of career preparation (especially if they don't have a "marketable" degree). I knew some of those. This falls into my point, even at elite colleges you do need to think about life after graduation and try to plan for that.
ETA: Though I will say I personally didn't know a single engineering graduate who was not able to find a job, the ease made me quite jealous.
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I never said that everyone who has an elite education and elite internship does well.
I actually would say this is true, barring some very unusual extenuating circumstances, if you did respectable enough in an elite college and secured nice summer internships to build a respectable CV I can't imagine how you would NOT find a decent full time job. Personally I can't think of anyone who didn't. But you can always find one example of anything.
.... Not if it comes with an average $30-$50k in debt for average 4 years of college. Not everyone has rich parents nor qualify for big scholarships, hence student debt is nearly unavoidable for most average folks who want a college degree.
The thing is..... the debt is GUARANTEED, but the "career" part of it is a "maybe" and "hopefully" that is a crap-shoot in the current employer's market.
It's basically like gambling (on credit) at this point, no different really.
I only came out of 6k in debt and ended up working in a Government IT Help Desk which I still think is a decent gig.
My college was mostly paid for by Financial Aid.
And during those years you can bet I took plenty of Part Time IT support jobs/internships to start building my resume and most of them were paid.
You definitely want to turn that maybe into " YES I WILL find a job months before graduation"
The people that I graduated with who came out with no certs or job experience had some rough times before finally landing that first job.
In Tech especially, experience triumphs
That's because getting relevant internships is either equally ruthless if not more ruthless than getting a post graduation full time job. I remember the insanity of trying to get a summer internship and I went to a nationally recognized top 10 engineering school and the competition was cut throat.
Its almost intellectually dishonest to point towards internships because they are just as bad if not worse than getting a post graduate full time job, so of course if you have one you will be a shoe in but that's like saying if you have previously placed in the Olympics that you will be invited back again. That might be a valid argument if you could get an internship just by registering like you do for a normal class. I mean how many times should young people be made to run the gauntlet, they had to run it once to get into the top tier school and continue running it to be allowed to continue year after year ....
The "competition" is getting unhealthy, getting a job should not be like getting into the Olympics.
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Originally Posted by CosmoStars
I bet none of those STEM Grads have any Internships or previous work experience during their years in college
That's because getting relevant internships is either equally ruthless if not more ruthless than getting a post graduation full time job. I remember the insanity of trying to get a summer internship and I went to a nationally recognized top 10 engineering school and the competition was cut throat.
Its almost intellectually dishonest to point towards internships because they are just as bad if not worse than getting a post graduate full time job, so of course if you have one you will be a shoe in but that's like saying if you have previously placed in the Olympics that you will be invited back again. That might be a valid argument if you could get an internship just by registering like you do for a normal class. I mean how many times should young people be made to run the gauntlet, they had to run it once to get into the top tier school and continue running it to be allowed to continue year after year ....
The "competition" is getting unhealthy, getting a job should not be like getting into the Olympics.
I guess my experience is different than your
My very first IT job was at a Computer Lab pretty much being the desktop guy. (paid)
At the same time I was an intern because my program offered an internship class and I was required to complete an internship as part of my Degree Program ( Again Desktop Support) . ( Paid in Units)
2nd internship was at a Children's hospital I volunteer to do IT support for their company for a couple months. (Unpaid)
3rd internship was at a school district (Paid) I was an intern for 2 years then hire on to full time employment.
None of these jobs were that hard to get maybe because IT support doesn't get a good rep but its at least a good way to enter the IT Field.
Some of the internships I was applying to did not have enough people applying for them .
The pay was pretty good for most of them but I guess the college kids didn't really want them.
Last edited by CosmoStars; 07-27-2016 at 01:20 PM..
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