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I've always found the whole "Get a STEM degree if you want ample employment" argument to be a bit specious. It implies that all degrees that fall under this ra
by res 14y ago
I've always found the whole "Get a STEM degree if you want ample employment" argument to be a bit specious. It implies that all degrees that fall under this rather large umbrella are of equal worth, but the reality is that prospects are better for those under the "TE" portion of this umbrella.
Even within that smaller subsection, those working on, say, Aerospace Engineering degrees are likely envious of the prospects of Computer Science guys, and the Computer Science guys are looking at their upper-division coursework wondering if they shouldn't just bail out and test the waters of whatever startup hotspot is on their minds.
It's better than worrying about what you could possibly do with your Theater degree, but it's still stressful for the people under this giant umbrella of promise.
At the end of the day, I guess everyone feels like the grass is greener somewhere.
- jedbrown 14y agoI have yet to meet someone with decent software development skills and a degree in a scientific/engineering field that had any trouble finding good work. I have seen a lot of unfilled postdoc and higher positions due to inability to find competent people.
- thaumasiotes 14y agoAt the risk of whining... I'm now three years out of college, still trying to get a tech job (during the middle year, I was otherwise employed and not trying). My degree is a double major in CS / math; I obviously can't provide an objective evaluation of "decent software development skills", but I worked at CreateSpace for six months during college with no complaints in that regard, and I got that position by winning the contests they'd hold at my school. It's getting to the point where I wonder if I should go back to college so I can be eligible for internships... Certainly, I'll take a portion of blame here for being totally incompetent at seeking and landing jobs. But I'm so, so sick of the memes that "tech hiring is super hot right now / it's a seller's market in tech labor / look how easy it is to get work". Is it, in your opinion, possible to have decent software development skills without years of experience under your belt? Do you meet many such people?
- patio11 14y agoSo, those memes are true descriptions of the market right now. You have presented persuasive evidence that you have sufficient programming skill to be marketable at present. How about spending the next six weeks in a self-directed boot camp for learning how to be better at seeking and landing jobs? Treat it like you're learning a new language: wake up in the morning, go to it, pound on it until evening, stop. There's a billion things you can do to start here. In general, read Ramit Sethi on the topic. Specifically, who do you know that has hiring authority? (Buddies at CreateSpace? Have any moved on?) Who can they introduce you to? Do you like coffee? I actually don't, but they often sell chai tea at the same places, and you could drink pretty much infinite chai tea right now just by saying "I can FizzBuzz, interested in getting coffee or something?" Hiring directors at most companies needing engineers are desperate and they'd love to hear you out, if for no other reason than you maybe be Starcraft buddies with their next hire.
- Woost 14y agoI don't see anything that mentions where he is...it's entirely possible that he's in the middle of nowhere tech-job-wise. If that's the case, the first move should be "go somewhere with a tech job market".
- natrius 14y agoGoogle suggests he lives in Santa Cruz. I'd always assumed someone with his description would have no problem finding a job in the Bay Area.
- mechanical_fish 14y agoOne reason why patio11 suggests the whole "coffee" angle is that a coffee meeting is a better way to provide personalized advice. Otherwise we're reduced to playing HN Twenty Questions. ("Startup or not a startup? Bay Area or not Bay Area? Is your CV bigger than a breadbox?") Having said that, "are you looking for your dream job in Zanesville, Ohio, or in SoMA?" is a fine entry in the Twenty Questions game. My own contributions would be: A) "Could you put some contact information in your HN profile?" B) "Can you describe something you've actually built? And if you haven't built anything yet, could you build something this week and send us the link to its Github page?" But, of course, this is Twenty Questions, so either of these could turn out to be silly questions once we know the context.