How to get a job right out of college.

[Beca]

Oddly on topic, what are peoples thoughts on cover letters? Always include? Don't bother? Only write one if they ask?

I would always submit one if it's an option. I feel like it can only help; if they don't want to read it, you don't lose anything but minutes of your time

[rowdy]

Tomorrow mark my 18 years of employment, ah I wish I am young and innocent like you all!

18 years in one job?

yeah.. i am dumb and oddly loyal!

I've been with the same company for 19 years

[Oobly]

Or:

1. Study whatever you like, or don't, but definitely spend some time LEARNING something. <-- this shouldn't ever stop, actually
2. Find a product or service related to your interests that the public want.  <-- hardest part of this process, I reckon
3. Start your own business selling that product or service.
4. <-- find and hire people who can do the parts of running a business that you suck at...
5. PROFIT!! <-- keep in mind that your business exists to provide the product / service, not just to make money, but it needs to be profitable in order to continue providing the service / product. And of course you need to be able to eat...

If these is all like too much work, then you can of course do the default thing like in the OP and join the rat race, with some corporation getting the benefits of your efforts and paying you some small percentage of it.

Also, owning always makes more financial sense than renting a place of the same size. If you factor in convenience, however, renting can make sense in some situations (such as temporary accomodation), but IMO, most of the time it's still better to own. It's also hard work to own a place, keeping it clean, maintaining everything that needs it, managing bills, etc. However, loan payments (if you're decreasing capital, not just covering interest) are an investment, essentially paying money to yourself instead of your landlord. If you can't pay more than the interest, then you've bought a place that's too advanced for your current station in life and should have bought something smaller / in a different part of town and you certainly wouldn't be able to pay rent on the same kind of place.

Well.... that's how I feel at least..

[iri]

If these is all like too much work, then you can of course do the default thing like in the OP and join the rat race, with some corporation getting the benefits of your efforts and paying you some small percentage of it.

or join a corporation which will pay you big percentage.

[Belfong]

Rowdy! High fives. I have a buddy! 19 years! What sort of line are you in?

[Zombly]

Engineering booming in Canada too, all my friends got engineering degrees, all have jobs, while I simply have an accounting diploma, to poor to get a degree in business currently, and work contract jobs for Governments until one day, someone's like wow look at dis guy.

[tricheboars]

i got a degree in history and religious studies and work in IT.

undergraduate majors dont mean ****. all you need to do with an undergrad is show that you know how to write and articulate yourself.

masters degrees are the undergraduate degrees in this generation. i have been out of school for 7 years working in IT the entire time.

IT needs people that are not socially awkward to interface with clients and end users. neckbeards are a dime a dozen, what we need is people who know how to talk to the lay person and get them where they need to go without any attitude.

[C5Allroad]

Step 1: **** *****es
Step 2: Get money....

[rowdy]

Rowdy! High fives. I have a buddy! 19 years! What sort of line are you in?

Software development (although these days it seems to be more sales and marketing, which I suck at).

[MsYutai]

If it's just a house you're after, that's pretty easy now a days. Buddy of mine bought a foreclosed ranch home just outside of Boulder, CO for 16k. That's less than his car's worth
Personally I'd much rather rent. Being tied to one location when you're out of work is a bad idea.

How many years ago was this?!

The "house" was probably a shed on someone else's property at that price, lol.

Anyways, buying a home can be inexpensive, as you can buy a home nowadays with only 5% down payment.

Just make sure you aren't spending more than 35% of your take-home pay per month to make sure you can afford a mortgage and food. Haha

[kmiller8]

Anyways, buying a home can be inexpensive, as you can buy a home nowadays with only 5% down payment.

lol no, you can buy a house nowadays with 0% down and usually can talk the seller into paying closing costs. I know this because one of my old coworkers did this.

#RuralDevelopmentLoans

[HoffmanMyster]

undergraduate majors dont mean ****. all you need to do with an undergrad is show that you know how to write and articulate yourself.

masters degrees are the undergraduate degrees in this generation.

This is so very untrue as a generalization.  If I got a masters degree (which would be dumb for my industry), it wouldn't help me at all.  And a PhD would only help if I wanted to go into academia or if I definitely knew I wanted to go into research (it would give me a slight pay bump starting), which I don't.  So...that would be a huge waste of my time.

Also, if all I've shown is that I can write and articulate myself, well then ****, that's some pretty hard stuff to do...   

[noisyturtle]

Would you:

A) Take a temporary job for <1year that pays almost twice as much as your current best job offer and requires you to move
B) Take a salary job that offers stability and benefits that you could potentially keep for the next 4-5years and is local

[user 18]

Would you:

A) Take a temporary job for <1year that pays almost twice as much as your current best job offer and requires you to move
B) Take a salary job that offers stability and benefits that you could potentially keep for the next 4-5years and is local

Need more information. If you're moving to an area with similar/worse job prospects, don't take it, particularly if they won't cover relocation expenses. Take the salary job and keep looking -- you're more likely to get job offers coming from a stable job than coming from nothing.

Also: how good are the benefits?

[nubbinator]

Depends on the job market where you're moving to.  If it's good and you'll be able to find a second job in that year, go for it, otherwise the stable one is probably better.  You also have to think which one will look better on your resume for what you want to do.  I know working in mental health/health care/law/social work (my job encompasses all three) will look better for the future work I want to do than marketing would.

[noisyturtle]

Alright, for more info it would potentially be a script writing job in Chicago (really don't want to move to Chicago.) Or an assistant producer's position in Cali or WA.
Both would have equal starting benefits, and the producer position has room for promotion. The Chicago job would be for only 9months, but pays way more and I could jumpstart a writing career in gaming, as opposed to a low-end producer's position with a lot of work ahead, but the potential for promotion and much more stability. But I'd be almost broke for the next two years.

PS no offense to anyone who lives around the Chicago area, but I've had enough of ****ty winters growing up in MA (plus the gaming industry is fading fast in the area, so it's a gamble anyway)

[vivalarevolución]

Career and home buying advice brought to you by a recent college grad with little-to-no adult life experience.

[SpAmRaY]

Career and home buying advice brought to you by a recent college grad with little-to-no adult life experience.

[vivalarevolución]

Also, something to consider when buying a home than just the cost of a down payment and mortgage, for all you newbs:

-insurance
-maintenance
-utilities
-your lawn and equipment needed for the lawn
-time spent cleaning all that space
-HOA fees
-remodeling
-potential decline of the value below buying price (see 2009)
-all the stuff you will buy to fill that space
-all the stuff you have to buy when things break and fall apart, because things will break and fall apart.
-lack of mobility
-difficulty of selling if you have to move
-debt slavery

If you want to deal with all that, go ahead.

[Melvang]

Also, something to consider when buying a home than just the cost of a down payment and mortgage, for all you newbs:

-insurance
-maintenance
-utilities
-your lawn and equipment needed for the lawn
-time spent cleaning all that space
-HOA fees
-remodeling
-potential decline of the value below touring buying price (see 2009)
-all the stuff you will buy to fill that space
-all the stuff you have to buy when things break and fall apart, because things will break and fall apart.
-lack of mobility
-difficulty of selling if you have to move
-debt slavery

If you want to deal with all that, go ahead.

I would still rather deal with that than paying rent.  For one reason.  It is the single most important decision for increasing net worth.  Not that it is important to just increase it, but if something comes along and you need to take a loan for something, you can. 

[vivalarevolución]

Also, something to consider when buying a home than just the cost of a down payment and mortgage, for all you newbs:

-insurance
-maintenance
-utilities
-your lawn and equipment needed for the lawn
-time spent cleaning all that space
-HOA fees
-remodeling
-potential decline of the value below touring buying price (see 2009)
-all the stuff you will buy to fill that space
-all the stuff you have to buy when things break and fall apart, because things will break and fall apart.
-lack of mobility
-difficulty of selling if you have to move
-debt slavery

If you want to deal with all that, go ahead.

I would still rather deal with that than paying rent.  For one reason.  It is the single most important decision for increasing net worth.  Not that it is important to just increase it, but if something comes along and you need to take a loan for something, you can.

I have to disagree.  There are other ways to increase net worth.  Start a successful business, buy some land, do some research and get into investing, call yourself an expert, get a book, and go on speaking tour, etc.  I just do not think that having a mortgage with all the associated costs of money and time are the best way to increase net worth.

If you have to pay for it and it is not producing income for you on a regular basis, I would consider it a liability.

[digi]

Market is low, apr is low, you get to write off the interest on your taxes. You will be able to sell for a substantial profit (depending on area) in 3-5+ years. Nothing but gain right now. I do understand if you want to be mobile and move around then that's a completely different story.

All the things you list are very cheap and mostly optional. HOA fees only apply in certain areas, home insurance is cheaper than car insurance and you only have to populate your house with what you chose.

[Xowie]

The best way to get a job right out of college is to make connections WHILE you are still in school. Look for paid internships or unpaid internships if you have to. Making X amount of dollars should be secondary to gaining experience.

Completely agree with this. My three roommates in undergrad did summer internships (in engineering fields) every year in college. They made a lot of money during the summer and were able to live in a new place for a few months. When we graduated, all three had employment offers from the places they interned at (2 accepted the other found a different job).

[tgujay]

How to get a full-time salary job before you graduate college:

Step 1: Major in Accountancy/Computer Information Systems
Step 2: Get internship in Information Systems
Step 3: Don't **** up
Step 4: ?
Step 5: Get full-time salary job offer before you graduate
Step 6: Profit

[elton5354]

No wonder I couldn't find a job. I messed up step 1. My major is art history.

[tgujay]

No wonder I couldn't find a job. I messed up step 1. My major is art history.

I thought you weren't even old enough to be in college?

[JPG]

No wonder I couldn't find a job. I messed up step 1. My major is art history.

Then you can just work in IT. You have one of the perfect profiles for it since anyone can work in IT.


A few coworkers (now fired) had no real IT formation. They knew how to code (barely) and managed to keep their job for a few years before getting fired. But both found a new job since then. And since a lot of job in IT is NOT coding, then with motivation and hard work you can do really well and learn whats needed on your own.


And if your are good at bull****ting people, you can try the sale department 

[eth0s]

umm, working at a job kind of suxx.

I worked at a job from 1992 to 1998.  Worst 6 years of my life. 

[Battou62]

Kmiller8 master troll. It took me 13 months to find a job after graduating with an engineering degree : /

[JPG]

Kmiller8 master troll. It took me 13 months to find a job after graduating with an engineering degree : /

There's no magic formula at finding a job, but the main factors are:


1. How many job offers there is that you are searching for at the time you are searching for one and in the area where you are searching for a job.
2. If you are picky or not about the job you are searching
3. Your qualifications and your ability to demonstrate/convince that you have them
4. How good you are at selling yourself
5. Luck!
6. Etc.


Don't expect to get a job in less than 3 months of intensive research. It's possible, but don't expect it.


Searching for a job takes a lot of time and energy. Be ready for it.


If you do all you can and can't find a job, try to think about what is wrong (searching for wrong job, searching at wrong place, need to improve the way you sale yourself, etc.)


I don't have a lot of experience searching for a job, but when you really want to get one, you can. But it just might not be the job of your dream.


Also, while I agree that some jobs are more fun than others and that there are better employers than others, in many cases, a job is as good as what you make of it. If you decide that your job will be fun, you probably can make it so unless you are stuck with really **** coworkers.

[HoffmanMyster]

Alright, for more info it would potentially be a script writing job in Chicago (really don't want to move to Chicago.) Or an assistant producer's position in Cali or WA.
Both would have equal starting benefits, and the producer position has room for promotion. The Chicago job would be for only 9months, but pays way more and I could jumpstart a writing career in gaming, as opposed to a low-end producer's position with a lot of work ahead, but the potential for promotion and much more stability. But I'd be almost broke for the next two years.

PS no offense to anyone who lives around the Chicago area, but I've had enough of ****ty winters growing up in MA (plus the gaming industry is fading fast in the area, so it's a gamble anyway)

But... If you move to Chicago, you could visit WI and be my new best friend.

[Beca]

umm, working at a job kind of suxx.

I worked at a job from 1992 to 1998.  Worst 6 years of my life.

are you a housewife now

you're living the dream

[Belfong]

umm, working at a job kind of suxx.

I worked at a job from 1992 to 1998.  Worst 6 years of my life.

You are lucky to not work at a job and have the dough to purchase Clacks!

[nubbinator]

There's no magic formula at finding a job

Sure there is.  Step 1: Be from a wealthy family.  Step 2: Your family or a wealthy family friend gives you a well paid job in a managerial or executive position in their company.  Step 3: Play golf/polo/squash/go yachting and profit.

[osi]

There's no magic formula at finding a job

Sure there is.  Step 1: Be from a wealthy family.  Step 2: Your family or a wealthy family friend gives you a well paid job in a managerial or executive position in their company.  Step 3: Play golf/polo/squash/go yachting and profit.

Good ol' boy network!

[JPG]

There's no magic formula at finding a job

Sure there is.  Step 1: Be from a wealthy family.  Step 2: Your family or a wealthy family friend gives you a well paid job in a managerial or executive position in their company.  Step 3: Play golf/polo/squash/go yachting and profit.

That's not a job. It's a status. If you don't work, how can you call it a job?