About to graduate and no job

[Anonymous]

I graduated from college in 2002 with no job lined up and a major on English. I applied non-stop for two months and had a really good job by early August. With CS from UVA will be fine. Just move to a city and join the Alumni club. You can network there this summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it is real... OP you write like an angsty 50 yo woman. So stop doing that.

Ha! Best advice so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I stumbled upon this forum unexpectedly. I'm on the brink of graduating from UVA with a degree in Computer Science from the School of Materials Science and Engineering, boasting a 3.75 GPA. Despite applying to over 300 positions and participating in five interviews, I haven't secured any job offers yet. Interestingly, some of my high school friends attending Mason and James Madison, also majoring in CS, have already landed jobs, thanks to their stronger networking connections facilitated by their parents. While I did have internships during my sophomore and junior years, they haven't panned out as expected. Reflecting on it now, my college roommate, who's majoring in business/marketing, often advised me to allocate less time to studying and more to playing golf with him, emphasizing the importance of networking. In hindsight, I realize I should have heeded his counsel more seriously. Fortunately, I'm not burdened by student loans, and I'll be living with my older brother post-graduation, alleviating any immediate financial stress. However, the weight of disappointment has me contemplating skipping the graduation ceremony due to my overwhelming sense of depression.

Troll. Get a life.

[Anonymous]

Playing golf with a college roomate while in college won't have gotten you anywhere professionally, get real.

Take a long hard look at why the internships and interviews didn't pan out.

Have your resume reviewed by adults in positions to provide meaningful feedback - are there any characteristics which render it uncompelling?

Do some informational interviews, using the UVa alumni network - don't ask those people for jobs, but do ask them for advice on breaking in to your field. You can identify alumni who may be willing to help by using LinkedIn or by asking the University Placement Office for help with that.

Do some practice interviews with accomplished professional adults who can give you useful candid critical feedback. Videotape the interviews and dissect the recordings for affectations, distracting mannerisms, quirky speech, or other potentially off-putting problems.

Be self-critical - are you presenting yourself as someone who would be an attractive new employee? By attractive, I mean the whole package, not just physical appearance - do you have the correct skills and education for the roles applied for, do you dress appropriately, are you well-groomed, do you communicate effectively both verbally and in writing? Do you present as appropriately self-confident without being arrogant? Can you explain away anything unfavorable in your background? Do you express an appropriate understanding of the employer's business and how you can contribute to its success, or are you focused on what the employer can do for you? Are you flexible with regard to conditions of employment, or are you holding out for a job location, working hours, work from home policy, or other employment characteristics which a given employer may not be willing to offer? The pickier you are, the less likely your requirements will align with what is being offered.

There's no obvious reason a CS grad from UVa should not be able to find good employment - identify the weaknesses in what you have been doing up to this point, and take corrective action accordingly. Don't keep taking the same approach and expect a different result.

[Anonymous]

Job market is bad, no thanks to the current administration

[Anonymous]

If this is isn't a troll, then go to graduation and go out and have some fun while applying for jobs.

It will be your last chance to have fun and relax for quite a while, so use it.

[Anonymous]

3 quick notes

No one cares about your GPA

99.99999% of companies don’t care where you got degree

Easiest way to find a job is to have a job. Any job.