What kind of job should I be shooting for out of college?

[JM Aggie08]

My best? I have no idea and don't feel like that even matters. The current job I am at, I interviewed thinking I was going to do Java, got told I was going to do Python during the interview process, and then started doing PHP/MySQL on my first day. They're pretty similar like one of the posters above stated. The libraries is a different matter and I don't feel like it matters anyway since a lot of people don't access the libraries and use frameworks that take care of most of the work. (At my job we use CakePHP for one of the sites) In my mind, Python, Java, C, and PHP are all very easy to go between. In terms of familiarity (Or really, having used last), from most used recently: PHP->C->Java->Python. So...

What is an application stack, according to you? Something like LAMP? I'm not familiar with most jargon that people are going to throw at me. Google didn't help much on this front.

Skill set wise, I am not marketing any of them. I'm fine with doing anything since I feel comfortable with any language, but I understand an employer might not feel that way. (Hiring a skill set versus talent)

I truly hope that your self-confidence is warranted :hmm:

The majority of reputable, larger employers are going to be hiring for a particular skill set. I'm really not sure how smaller/start-ups work, but from what I've seen in the IT industry, you need to market something other than a personality.

 

[purbeast0]

imo, on your resume, i'd put your "technical skills" section higher than at the bottom of the page. that is probably the most important part of the resume to me so that they can see what technologies you have experience with immediately.

i also sugar coat my technology experiences. so basically if i've touched 1 part of technology even for 2 seconds, it goes on there. then if it comes up in the interview, i tell them the amount of experience i have with it. i'd also just do "HTML, CSS" and take the / out of there, because they are different.

i'd also put operating system as well as tools down in that list of technical skills. what ide's have you used? what kind of version control software? what kind of bug tracking software? what operating systems have you developed in?

edit:

also on your objective, if it were me, i would add to the very end of what you already have there " ... and learning new technologies." learning new technologies is what is going to make you be able to go into any programming job and pick up any language and get the job done. once that "clicked" for me in the profession, that is when i started to feel like i actually had a "career" instead of just a "job". don't care if that sounds corny but that's the truth.

 

[jaedaliu]

Based on what I see in your resume, you want to be a programmer?

You have plenty of space on the bottom of the page. I would add some relevant course/project work that can demonstrate what you've done with your technical skills section. That should be more useful than just a list.

Monster should have a bunch of programmer jobs in every city. Find ones that offer relocation where you want to go.

 

[mikeford]

Relocation for you first job is a bold move, as first jobs are rarely ones you want to stay at, they are learning about what you want to do and how jobs work. By adding travel to the equation its makes success a few variables less likely.

Do some local interviews if for nothing else the practice.

 

[bignateyk]

CEO of a major company.

 

[TridenT]

Based on what I see in your resume, you want to be a programmer?

You have plenty of space on the bottom of the page. I would add some relevant course/project work that can demonstrate what you've done with your technical skills section. That should be more useful than just a list.

Monster should have a bunch of programmer jobs in every city. Find ones that offer relocation where you want to go.

To start, I would. Eventually, I would like to try coming up with ideas and solutions rather than implementing other people's. Not sure if that's clear as to what I mean.

I've added a section now that includes some relevant coursework. Here's a snapshot of the bottom. http://imageshack.com/a/img163/8303/98vk.jpg It needs work, but it's just a hack job right now.

What websites would you guys recommend for searching for jobs?

 

[Scarpozzi]

To start, I would. Eventually, I would like to try coming up with ideas and solutions rather than implementing other people's. Not sure if that's clear as to what I mean.

I've added a section now that includes some relevant coursework. Here's a snapshot of the bottom. http://imageshack.com/a/img163/8303/98vk.jpg It needs work, but it's just a hack job right now.

What websites would you guys recommend for searching for jobs?

Drive around your city and see if you can find what companies are withing a 5-10 mile radius of where you live or want to live.

Make a list of companies and divide the list up by industry. Try to pick industries and companies from that list that are likely to be doing well in current and near future economy and visit websites of those companies....look for positions that fit your skills and interests....apply.

 

[TridenT]

Drive around your city and see if you can find what companies are withing a 5-10 mile radius of where you live or want to live.

Make a list of companies and divide the list up by industry. Try to pick industries and companies from that list that are likely to be doing well in current and near future economy and visit websites of those companies....look for positions that fit your skills and interests....apply.

That's what I've been doing (Minus the driving and actual applying), but I don't really know what is available in those two areas. There are a lot of companies and places available. (Austin and NYC)

 

[TridenT]

i'd also put operating system as well as tools down in that list of technical skills. what ide's have you used? what kind of version control software? what kind of bug tracking software? what operating systems have you developed in?

I'm wondering why the IDE portion matters. (I use netbeans for PHP, but most guys at my work use Vi as their 'IDE') I can understand the version control (a bit), but it seems so trivial that it doesn't matter. Similarly with the OS, unless you're doing shell scripting or something where you need to use particular things that are an integral part of the OS.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Start out as a gimp, and make your way up to fluffer in 2-3 years.

What you think just cause he's gonna get a fancy piece of paper he gets to go right to the front of the line? No way, Trident is just a jizz mopper looking to score a lube squirter position.

 

[purbeast0]

I'm wondering why the IDE portion matters. (I use netbeans for PHP, but most guys at my work use Vi as their 'IDE') I can understand the version control (a bit), but it seems so trivial that it doesn't matter. Similarly with the OS, unless you're doing shell scripting or something where you need to use particular things that are an integral part of the OS.

to show that you can use any tools rather than the ones listed on your resume. it shows that you can pick up tools and learn them rather than just sticking to the tools you are used to. it also will pick up on keyword matches.

same with version control. git handles things much differently than svn does. perforce and cvs are also a bit different. again, it just shows that you can work with any tools rather than limited tools, and also matches keywords.

 

[CountZero]

That's what I've been doing (Minus the driving and actual applying), but I don't really know what is available in those two areas. There are a lot of companies and places available. (Austin and NYC)

I like to use indeed.com to get an idea of who hires in a particular area. Glassdoor can also give some idea.

As for your resume you should tailor it to the job you are applying for. If I see a college grad with a massive list of skills but only a few that are relevant to the position I assume two things 1) you listed everything you ever touched even a little bit not what you specialized in or feel very comfortable in and 2) you didn't really look through the job requirements outside of skimming that it was entry level. Also everything you list is fair game for questions so don't list it if you aren't ready to be asked a technical question about it.

Course listing is nice, project listing seems better. At the very least it gives an interviewer something to ask about.

I have one master resume and then I tailor my resume for company and/or position. Sometimes that just means rewriting stuff to match the lingo used for that company. For example in my field some companies call it tape out or tape release or chip release. Or they might call it chip level or top level, block level or partition level, etc. I change the resume to match the language they used in the requirement. If they abbreviate something I do the same, if they spell it out I do the same. My master resume has very long lists of items under my job but I will cut (or turn multiple bullets into one summary bullet) stuff that isn't relevant to the posted position(s) so that it is focused on landing an interview for that exact job.

Go to career fairs, at least for EE the vast majority were not local and were paying relocation so I'd imagine with the strong CS program at UW it would be the same. IME new grad relocation is pretty common and nobody going to Seattle to hire for jobs in another part of the country is expecting a new grad to foot the bill to move.

 

[TridenT]

I like to use indeed.com to get an idea of who hires in a particular area. Glassdoor can also give some idea.

As for your resume you should tailor it to the job you are applying for. If I see a college grad with a massive list of skills but only a few that are relevant to the position I assume two things 1) you listed everything you ever touched even a little bit not what you specialized in or feel very comfortable in and 2) you didn't really look through the job requirements outside of skimming that it was entry level. Also everything you list is fair game for questions so don't list it if you aren't ready to be asked a technical question about it.

Course listing is nice, project listing seems better. At the very least it gives an interviewer something to ask about.

I have one master resume and then I tailor my resume for company and/or position. Sometimes that just means rewriting stuff to match the lingo used for that company. For example in my field some companies call it tape out or tape release or chip release. Or they might call it chip level or top level, block level or partition level, etc. I change the resume to match the language they used in the requirement. If they abbreviate something I do the same, if they spell it out I do the same. My master resume has very long lists of items under my job but I will cut (or turn multiple bullets into one summary bullet) stuff that isn't relevant to the posted position(s) so that it is focused on landing an interview for that exact job.

Go to career fairs, at least for EE the vast majority were not local and were paying relocation so I'd imagine with the strong CS program at UW it would be the same. IME new grad relocation is pretty common and nobody going to Seattle to hire for jobs in another part of the country is expecting a new grad to foot the bill to move.

Yeah, glassdoor wants me to add my wage and where I work, but I have a student job right now with a research group. It doesn't qualify in the same sense.

I don't think I have any projects worth mentioning. I've done projects for classes, but they're never worth talking about.

I don't know if I will go to that length to tailor a resume, as that sounds pretty extreme. It also sounds kind of worthless for what I am currently going to be applying for. There isn't a whole lot of technical jargon that's going to need to be in my resume. Most of it is pretty straight forward and cannot be renamed.

It's different at UW. To go to the CS tailored career fairs, you have to be in the department. If you're not in the department, you don't get to go to them.

 

[Ns1]

I don't know if I will go to that length to tailor a resume, as that sounds pretty extreme.

LOL

holy fuck.

LOL

you srsly can't be bothered to tailor a resume to a job description?

 

[Hacp]

Yeah, glassdoor wants me to add my wage and where I work, but I have a student job right now with a research group. It doesn't qualify in the same sense.

I don't think I have any projects worth mentioning. I've done projects for classes, but they're never worth talking about.

I don't know if I will go to that length to tailor a resume, as that sounds pretty extreme. It also sounds kind of worthless for what I am currently going to be applying for. There isn't a whole lot of technical jargon that's going to need to be in my resume. Most of it is pretty straight forward and cannot be renamed.

It's different at UW. To go to the CS tailored career fairs, you have to be in the department. If you're not in the department, you don't get to go to them.

What's your GPA?

 

[brianmanahan]

industrial engineer specializing in consumer goods quality assurance:

 

[mvbighead]

LOL

holy fuck.

LOL

you srsly can't be bothered to tailor a resume to a job description?

This. Every resume I hand out is fitted to the job I am applying for. I go into relevant skill sets that would be applicable to THAT job. If they want a Unix admin, I am not going to go on for hours about PowerShell.

If you can't do be bothered to do this, that I am fairly confident some of those reading your resume can't be bothered to call you back. You'll possibly get luck with some, but if they have a stack of 50, they're going to pick the person that most closely lines up with what they're looking for. If they want a Java guy and you go on about C#, they'll chuckle as they toss your resume into the trash.

 

[slugg]

My best? I have no idea and don't feel like that even matters. The current job I am at, I interviewed thinking I was going to do Java, got told I was going to do Python during the interview process, and then started doing PHP/MySQL on my first day. They're pretty similar like one of the posters above stated. The libraries is a different matter and I don't feel like it matters anyway since a lot of people don't access the libraries and use frameworks that take care of most of the work. (At my job we use CakePHP for one of the sites) In my mind, Python, Java, C, and PHP are all very easy to go between. In terms of familiarity (Or really, having used last), from most used recently: PHP->C->Java->Python. So...

What is an application stack, according to you? Something like LAMP? I'm not familiar with most jargon that people are going to throw at me. Google didn't help much on this front.

Skill set wise, I am not marketing any of them. I'm fine with doing anything since I feel comfortable with any language, but I understand an employer might not feel that way. (Hiring a skill set versus talent)

I almost want to get you an interview at where I work. Once you fail it miserably, it'll humble you.

You said yourself that you don't have any projects worth mentioning. You said yourself that you don't know any of the industry jargon. You obviously don't know what Test Driven Development is, either (e.g. you thought QA was responsible for unit tests). But then you're saying that your winning attribute is your personality. I hate to break it to you, but it's a losing combination.

I would go so far as to say that you may want to take a completely different approach. Why don't you take any old programming job and look for a new job in a year? Stop trying to get a high paying job in the perfect city.