Jobs after undergraduate degree

[Anonymous]

DS will graduate with a CS degree in 6 months. Unlike high schoolers doing retail jobs to boost college applications, should they focus more on summer internships and other tutoring jobs during college, and job search for after-graduation.

He is unlikely to get return job offer at internship. With current market conditions, should he focusing on research projects, grad programs etc? So confused in dealing with 20+ son.

[Anonymous]

If he is graduating in 6 months, he should be focusing on the actual job search!! It will take that long to find a job in this market.

[Anonymous]

This isn't your responsibility. He should be well aware what his next steps should be. He should be at the career center, speaking with his advisor, doing networking events. If his career path includes grad school, then he should be looking at that and taking the GREs, etc. But this is up to him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This isn't your responsibility. He should be well aware what his next steps should be. He should be at the career center, speaking with his advisor, doing networking events. If his career path includes grad school, then he should be looking at that and taking the GREs, etc. But this is up to him.

Agree

[Anonymous]

Cut the cord! He needs to do this on his own starting with career counseling at the school. He can use you as a sounding board.

[Anonymous]

I think a well informed parent is helpful to talk through options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS will graduate with a CS degree in 6 months. Unlike high schoolers doing retail jobs to boost college applications, should they focus more on summer internships and other tutoring jobs during college, and job search for after-graduation.

He is unlikely to get return job offer at internship. With current market conditions, should he focusing on research projects, grad programs etc? So confused in dealing with 20+ son.

You really think High schoolers get retail jobs to boost college applications? very odd and presumptions statement.

Why is he not working? or has never worked? whether "retail Jobs" or summer camps or lifeguard jobs most kids have some type of job under their belt?

What's your son's excuse for never working? Why are having to deal with a 20+ son? If he's getting a CS degree, he should be smart enough to find a job on his own!

[Anonymous]

We are expats turned immigrants who weren't well versed in local educational system or job hun, nor had connections to hook them up so we weren't much help to our kids. On top of that, our kids went into completely different fields than ours so they had to figure out how to dig their own paths and where to find tools to do it. It worked out well but they had to work twice as hard than friends with guidance and connections.

[Anonymous]

My kids never did retail jobs and turned out just fine, they did work hard to earn enough merit scholarships to make up for that.

[Anonymous]

Internship helping at a company he wants to be hired by. If he is good, hopefully they pick him up for first job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS will graduate with a CS degree in 6 months. Unlike high schoolers doing retail jobs to boost college applications, should they focus more on summer internships and other tutoring jobs during college, and job search for after-graduation.

He is unlikely to get return job offer at internship. With current market conditions, should he focusing on research projects, grad programs etc? So confused in dealing with 20+ son.

If his internship is unlikely to lead to a job, he should focus on job hunt and GRE prep as a backup.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS will graduate with a CS degree in 6 months. Unlike high schoolers doing retail jobs to boost college applications, should they focus more on summer internships and other tutoring jobs during college, and job search for after-graduation.

He is unlikely to get return job offer at internship. With current market conditions, should he focusing on research projects, grad programs etc? So confused in dealing with 20+ son.

You really think High schoolers get retail jobs to boost college applications? very odd and presumptions statement.

Why is he not working? or has never worked? whether "retail Jobs" or summer camps or lifeguard jobs most kids have some type of job under their belt?

What's your son's excuse for never working? Why are having to deal with a 20+ son? If he's getting a CS degree, he should be smart enough to find a job on his own!

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS will graduate with a CS degree in 6 months. Unlike high schoolers doing retail jobs to boost college applications, should they focus more on summer internships and other tutoring jobs during college, and job search for after-graduation.

He is unlikely to get return job offer at internship. With current market conditions, should he focusing on research projects, grad programs etc? So confused in dealing with 20+ son.

If his internship is unlikely to lead to a job, he should focus on job hunt and GRE prep as a backup.

Agree.

[Anonymous]

I believe you have received some very bad advice in the answers above.

All the wealthy people I know leverage their networks to help their children land their first post college job.

The advice above to let your child figure it out on his own is doing him a disservice.

It is how I was raised and while there are benefits to it - it definitely taught me grit - I was raised this way because I do not come from an upper socioeconomic background.

It has been a long time since I worked in the software industry. There seems to be a couple of trends though that bear acknowledging

- one is the massive shift from a human capital business - software developers - to a financial capital business - huge data centers for AI machine learning.

- the second is the number of young people that jumped into the field and studied CS in college.

I believe your son needs to understand how to stand out against this backdrop.

First - yes your son should be working on internships in his field. It’s not a popular opinion now but many years ago I interned for free at a telephone carrier. That directly led to my first job as my first hiring manager had started his career at that same company and in the same building.

I would ask does your son have a passion for software ? Only he knows this - if he truly does - and you can afford grad school - I would consider a grad degree and I would specialize in system internals - operating systems, compiler design. There is an abundance of higher level programmers - but real systems level programmers are hard to find - it’s a different level.

If he went into CS because he thought that is where the money is - I would think long and hard and maybe consider pivoting.

If he went into CS because he likes math and STEM then I might consider a masters in data analytics or even applied math.

I would encourage him to work but I would also encourage him to continue to write software.

Every organization needs computer help so all your friends and colleagues firms likely need help.

Two last points - my oldest graduated from a LAC (Liberal Arts College). They worked with him on a weekly basis to help him land a job. They prepped for interviews, helped with the resume, they were a source of support. So use the college placement office.

Last, consider moving this to the college forum. A lot of folks in similar situations and recent experience can share their learnings.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe you have received some very bad advice in the answers above.

All the wealthy people I know leverage their networks to help their children land their first post college job.

The advice above to let your child figure it out on his own is doing him a disservice.

It is how I was raised and while there are benefits to it - it definitely taught me grit - I was raised this way because I do not come from an upper socioeconomic background.

It has been a long time since I worked in the software industry. There seems to be a couple of trends though that bear acknowledging

- one is the massive shift from a human capital business - software developers - to a financial capital business - huge data centers for AI machine learning.

- the second is the number of young people that jumped into the field and studied CS in college.

I believe your son needs to understand how to stand out against this backdrop.

First - yes your son should be working on internships in his field. It’s not a popular opinion now but many years ago I interned for free at a telephone carrier. That directly led to my first job as my first hiring manager had started his career at that same company and in the same building.

I would ask does your son have a passion for software ? Only he knows this - if he truly does - and you can afford grad school - I would consider a grad degree and I would specialize in system internals - operating systems, compiler design. There is an abundance of higher level programmers - but real systems level programmers are hard to find - it’s a different level.

If he went into CS because he thought that is where the money is - I would think long and hard and maybe consider pivoting.

If he went into CS because he likes math and STEM then I might consider a masters in data analytics or even applied math.

I would encourage him to work but I would also encourage him to continue to write software.

Every organization needs computer help so all your friends and colleagues firms likely need help.

Two last points - my oldest graduated from a LAC (Liberal Arts College). They worked with him on a weekly basis to help him land a job. They prepped for interviews, helped with the resume, they were a source of support. So use the college placement office.

Last, consider moving this to the college forum. A lot of folks in similar situations and recent experience can share their learnings.

Good luck.

THIS is excellent advice.