Guys, I would like to hear about some experiences that you guys had after school and how you guys ended up where you are now. My friends and I are in that situation and we'd like to get as much input as possible from as many people as possible. Thanks in advance!
How did you find a short term job and/or career after colllege?
- Thread starter FearoftheNight
- Start date
Gibson486
Lifer
- Aug 9, 2000
- 18,378
- 2
- 0
step 1...graduate.
step 2...if you have a job secured before graduation, stop here. If not, go to step 3.
step 3...apply to jobs.
step 4....apply to jobs.
step 5....apply to jobs.
step 6....if you are not getting the idea, then i can see why you are unemployed.
I took me 9 month to find a job and that was right before the economy hit the shitter. I even had decent experience from my coops.
step 2...if you have a job secured before graduation, stop here. If not, go to step 3.
step 3...apply to jobs.
step 4....apply to jobs.
step 5....apply to jobs.
step 6....if you are not getting the idea, then i can see why you are unemployed.
I took me 9 month to find a job and that was right before the economy hit the shitter. I even had decent experience from my coops.
Kanalua
Diamond Member
- Jun 14, 2001
- 4,860
- 2
- 81
in between undergrad and law school (took a school year) I stayed at my college job for a about 6 months, then a call center job until Law school started. After law school, different story. I had a great Federal job lined up...economy hit the can, they rescinded their offer (they made two offers and mine was rescinded as the other guy was already an attorney) two weeks before the bar exam. One of my Professors told me to call a friend of hers, and I've been there for about two years now.
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Just out of curiosity, what federal agency rescinded your job offer? That must've happened pretty quietly because I haven't heard anyone else tell the same story. I'm not saying I don't believe it, I'm just surprised. I graduated law school in '09 and work in the fed govt, but I didn't even get an offer until maybe May of that graduation year.
guyver01
Lifer
- Sep 25, 2000
- 22,135
- 5
- 61
if you're graduing college and don't know what you want to do for a career... you fail at college.
you should know exactly what you want to do before graduating... then you shouldn't have chosen a major and wasted your money on your education.
Imp
Lifer
- Feb 8, 2000
- 18,828
- 184
- 106
Let's see, I graduated, took 4 months off, then started applying. Didn't get anything until the end of October through a temp agency, nothing related to my field of study. Did data entry from November through January. One week after my contract ended, I worked for 2 months as an admin assistant.
It wasn't until June that I got a job related to my field, after nearly 3 months of unemployment. Got this one by applying, applying, applying to everything related, even stuff I was "too good for".
It wasn't until June that I got a job related to my field, after nearly 3 months of unemployment. Got this one by applying, applying, applying to everything related, even stuff I was "too good for".
mmntech
Lifer
- Sep 20, 2007
- 17,501
- 12
- 0
I'd love even to get some part time in my industry right now. Jobs are still slim pickings. All I can say is keep applying, make sure you ask the right questions, and be prepared for a long wait. If you have no idea what you want to do, you'd better decide fast.
Classifieds, Job fairs, and job sites.
Classifieds - Saw an ad running for several weeks which asked for temporary call center reps to handle "open enrollment" (the one time of the year, usually in the fall, when workers are allowed to make unrestricted changes to their health plans, etc) for company clients. That was my first (temp) job after getting my graduate degree.
Job fairs - I went to the Big East Career Fair in Madison Square Garden (since I graduated from an eligible college), and spoke with a Virginia-based insurance company. I ended up e-mailing the Marketing Director who had been at the fair, and eventually secured a few interviews, although I didn't get hired.
Job sites - If you want to work for the federal govt. USAJOBS is arguably *the* site to go onto, although with govt. jobs, there's alot of instruction reading and form-filling out, not to mention months of wait time. I applied for a job late Feb at several geographic locations, took an exam a month later, and then 2 months later got called for an interview, and got the job (still in training as a matter of fact).
The nice thing about job-hunting is that there's many paths to getting a job....a few of my classmates in training found out about the job thru a job fair, or who had relatives/family working (and who knew about the internal agency postings). I didn't have connections or an internship....so if someone has either or both, that should help one's chances.
I strongly recommend besides networking, getting some sort of job/volunteering experience as a concrete demonstration of skills....such as a temp agency. If you don't know what to do for a career, take a career assessment or some sort of aptitude test. I knew what I could and enjoyed doing, and when I was interviewing for the govt. job I had a good sense of what the job entailed.
While the economy has been (tentatively) rebounding, most companies who have been turning profits did so by increasing productivity and laying off workers. It depends on the industry and company / employer, really as there are companies in a hiring mood. The advice to apply and not be easily discouraged, as well as to ask the right questions (especially about a company) and also be at least reasonably sure what you can and cannot do, is spot on.
Well yea. I wanted to go into medicine and realized it wasn't for me, sucks but had to be done instead of realizing it years later. I know a lot of companies train their employees so I wanted to see how people discovered those avenues or I figured I could do something temporarily until I went to do a post grad in something.
Utilize your school's career services center....usually as an alumni you have access to other job boards where people actually call you back.
JEDI
Lifer
- Sep 25, 2001
- 29,391
- 2,738
- 126
networking. online gaming counts!
someone in my clan had a job opening in his company. i sent him my resume. he forwarded it to HR (b4 they even announced the vacant position).
clan's logo as my watermark also helped
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This.
A couple months after graduation, I got an email from my advisor saying that IBM was having a low-key job fair on campus for certain majors. So I put on a suit, drove back to school, and went in with resume in-hand. Struck up a conversation with the first guy I saw, who turned out to be an exec, and he setup an interview for me. Moved to DC and started work a few weeks later.
I would not have even known about the event if I hadn't been keeping in contact and working with my school's career services, and the job I ended up getting was much better than the positions I had been applying to / interviewing for on my own.
I did not apply for jobs until after college. Big mistake. It took me a year to find a job/career.
In the meantime, I found a job as a EE technician on craigslist. It paid comparably well and I was able to use my EE knowledge for the job.
I found my current job by just sending my resume everywhere.
In the meantime, I found a job as a EE technician on craigslist. It paid comparably well and I was able to use my EE knowledge for the job.
I found my current job by just sending my resume everywhere.
Good advice, although ymmv. I spoke with 2 Pace Law School grads, and neither had a good opinion of the job center. But I think it'd be safe to assume that any decent school has a job posting portal or at least some resources (ie wetfeet)....
the part-time job I worked during summers/holidays throughout college took me on as a full-time employee after I graduated.
pay sucked, though... I got my next job after that through networking.
pay sucked, though... I got my next job after that through networking.
Well for one thing you are doing it wrong if you are waiting until you graduate to start applying for jobs. You should start at teh begging of your senior year. Everyone I knew graduating in my class es (electrical engineering) had one or more job offers when they graduated. Personally, I accepted my current job in October of my senior year. I didn't have as many offers as a lot of people because I had less than a 3.0 GPA, but most every offer people were getting were the same price range (55,000-65,000), so it didn't really matter too much.
That is in engineering though, I hear if you have a bogus degree like art history than it is a different story through.
That is in engineering though, I hear if you have a bogus degree like art history than it is a different story through.
I applied for internships the summer after the first year of my Masters. Got one, worked for that summer, continued part-time during the year, was hired full time after that.
More generally, write a good resume and just apply. If your resume sucks, fix it before sending it out since it won't do you any good otherwise. Connections always help, too, so if you know someone at a company they might be able to get you an interview.
More generally, write a good resume and just apply. If your resume sucks, fix it before sending it out since it won't do you any good otherwise. Connections always help, too, so if you know someone at a company they might be able to get you an interview.
Apply for internships during college. Start looking for your real job a year before you graduate. I did an on campus interview in October, an on site interview in November, hired in December, then graduated in May.
Engineer
Elite Member
- Oct 9, 1999
- 39,230
- 701
- 126
While in school, went to the STEPS (Student Temporary Employment Placement Service) office and found an engineering student job doing industrial reports. Landed that job and then over into simple CAD work while there for the next 1.5 years. After graduation, my manager ask me if I could do the automation on a $300,000 press? I was too stupid to say NO, so I worked and did it (still running today). I spent 17.5 years there before the plant closed in March!
Bignate603
Lifer
- Sep 5, 2000
- 13,897
- 1
- 0
I applied for every position I was arguably qualified for (and a couple that I wasn't) that was listed in my area for my major. I started in the fall during my last year of college. I didn't start getting much interest back until about 5 months before I graduated but ended up with a job lined up about 2 months before I left school.
If you've waited until you've graduated to start thinking about it you've fallen behind. The best out of my graduating class all had their jobs lined up months before they finished school. All the people at the bottom of the class started looking around a month before graduation and were confused why nobody wanted to offer them a job.
If you've waited until you've graduated to start thinking about it you've fallen behind. The best out of my graduating class all had their jobs lined up months before they finished school. All the people at the bottom of the class started looking around a month before graduation and were confused why nobody wanted to offer them a job.
Dr. Detroit
Diamond Member
- Sep 25, 2004
- 8,574
- 963
- 126
Step 1) get to know your professors and any society/club that holds meetings for your major
Step 1.5) Register at the Career center on campus
Step 2) Attend meetings and mingle with potential employers wjho give presentations
Step 3) Go to career fairs on campus with a professional resume and a decent looking outfit
I was recruited at what was called "meet the firms" event - I then interviewed on campus - got an invite for in-house interview and got an offer & accepted all by the end of Fall term of my senior year.
Step 1.5) Register at the Career center on campus
Step 2) Attend meetings and mingle with potential employers wjho give presentations
Step 3) Go to career fairs on campus with a professional resume and a decent looking outfit
I was recruited at what was called "meet the firms" event - I then interviewed on campus - got an invite for in-house interview and got an offer & accepted all by the end of Fall term of my senior year.
Nintendesert
Diamond Member
- Mar 28, 2010
- 7,761
- 5
- 0
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