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  1. #41
    basically we were promised 50k jobs with a decent degree. however, this was a lie. with a normal bachelor's degree you can land a job for 35k. if you want to work 50hrs a week you can land a job for 40k. sucks ballz but the only alternative is going back to get a masters. which will result in 10's of thousands of more dollars in student loans. im working at a job stressing my ballz off all day earning 35k. i could make this much working as a door man at a bar ( my college job ). pretty sad but at least i get to sit down instead of standing all day. i do about 60% of my work every day bc i feel underpaid, and would rather quit than coming in after-hours.

    also, i have several friends with bachelor degrees that work at bars. the ones who have real jobs work 9 hrs per day and get paid 40k. welcome to the real world where your only chance is having a friend in high places.
    Last edited by lockattack; 2012-05-08 at 03:32 PM.

  2. #42
    Herald of the Titans Theodon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tiporispit View Post
    My dad grew up on a dirt floor in Southeast Kentucky. There were times when he went hungry because they couldn't afford food and rent at the same time. At 18, he went to Michigan on a bus with a single month's rent in his pocket, which he made washing dishes at a local diner. He put in an application at Ford Motor Company who had been advertising openings all over the country. He worked 60-80 hours a week for 31 years. He lives on oceanfront property in Florida and drives a Viper.

    He went where the jobs were. He didn't know a single person there.

    Basically, what you posted is complete garbage. The problem isn't a lack of opportunity. The problem is a lack of drive and willingness to give up the video games and partying to work 60+ hours a week. The children of that generation are spoiled, entitlement babies. When life hits them in the face, they crumble and cry in the fetal position. It's everyone else's fault. Always.
    I'm sorry but what you've posted is totally irrelevant. Not only is the OP not trying to seek employment in America, rendering the even then job market environment story totally irrelevant, the current one in any 1st world country isn't like that, showing you are totally out of touch.

    Connections and being in the right place is actually more important. There's many people out there with the drive to get in to a job but the market is totally screwed up right now. I was looking in to doing voluntary work to get some job experience in anything I could get, and even the employers for work you don't get paid for want 1-2 years experience in the role most of the time. Am I going to have to fucking pay employers myself to get some work experience now?

    Even after graduating college, you have to carpet bomb the job market for any and all kinda of shit jobs to even stand a chance of getting a job, and chances are your training and education will mean shit to the job role you are performing, and after the work is done and you've been laid off due to cut-backs you are back to looking for another shit job to scrape by in. It's who you know and what opportunities they can get you now, not what you know and how hard you can work. The job opportunities that have come up and that I've seized in the past have all been gained through either a friend or family member in the company, and they got that job many years ago before things went to crap.

    An example of how many job cuts have been going on that is relevant to that tale you've told isn't hard to find;

    "In 2002, General Motors had 177,000 employees in North America. By the end of 2008, that number had shrunk to 93,000, or 49% fewer employees than it had just six years earlier. GM plans to further cut its white collar workforce by 3,400 by May of this year, and the General is looking to cut 10,000 white-collar posts globally by the end of 2009. That will make nearly 100,000 GM jobs lost."
    That article ended in 2009, and things haven't exactly went uphill from then. If your Dad was in the same position now as he was then then the story you toold wouldn't involve getting a job at a Ford factory as the job opening no longer exists. There are no "job advertisments all over the country"
    Last edited by Theodon; 2012-05-08 at 03:54 PM.
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  3. #43
    Banned Beazy's Avatar
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    KPMG is hiring in the Dallas office for a entry level C#.NET programmer.

    Search for KPMG on google and take a look at what they have avail in your area. You would be surprised to learn that many financial institutions are looking for good SQL and C# programmers for building good in depth reporting tools.

    Look for KPMG, Earnst and Young, and Price Watterhouse Coopers, to name a few. Hammer away at your SQL and C# skills and someone will take you. Real Time Reporting is worth GOLD to the financial world.
    Last edited by Beazy; 2012-05-08 at 03:44 PM.

  4. #44
    Merely a Setback Reeve's Avatar
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    Lots of companies in general are. Almost every type of company out there right now needs some people with programming experience, and C# and .NET are pretty useful.
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  5. #45
    Quote Originally Posted by studkaw View Post
    I have a masters degree in science and engineering. I finnished 1,5 years ago. Have been unemployeed since than. I sob with you. Hope you find a job really soon. I know the pain and suffering from it.
    If you don't mind moving look into energy field like the oil and gas industry. I know here in south Texas there are companies that are having a hard time finding people like you. Almost everyone I meet that is in a technical part of the industry is from another area no one is a local including myself. Look for area that are hiring and look to see if it is possible to move it may pay off. I did for me i moved to another part of the state here in Texas over 6 hour drive to get back home and i am making over twice what i was. If you really want to get into the industry look at Halliburton. I know big scary name but from what iv seen working for them they tend to hire mostly college grads and send them to their engineering school to get exp and after a few years working for them most the engineers i knew moved on to a lot brighter places including myself.

  6. #46
    I know your pain OP, I just lost a design position to a 45 year old guy with an outdated portfolio and 1995 knowledge of software..... Why? because he worked in a studio for 10 years doing scrub work where I have been working freelance since graduation, have an award winning portfolio and recommendations from very high places. My answer was you are just not experienced enough to fit into the dynamic of our studio.

    Im keeping myself busy with work, I make 3 figures a year, but I couldnt even get a mortgage for a condo without a job letter from my dad who makes 60 g a year..... because I didnt have a steady income...

    Sigh, Im just venting right now because this post hit a button for me lol... Good luck man, all I can say.

  7. #47
    Merely a Setback Reeve's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Odane8713 View Post
    If you don't mind moving look into energy field like the oil and gas industry. I know here in south Texas there are companies that are having a hard time finding people like you. Almost everyone I meet that is in a technical part of the industry is from another area no one is a local including myself. Look for area that are hiring and look to see if it is possible to move it may pay off. I did for me i moved to another part of the state here in Texas over 6 hour drive to get back home and i am making over twice what i was. If you really want to get into the industry look at Halliburton. I know big scary name but from what iv seen working for them they tend to hire mostly college grads and send them to their engineering school to get exp and after a few years working for them most the engineers i knew moved on to a lot brighter places including myself.
    Yeah, the oil and gas industry is always looking for people with development/programming capabilities.
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  8. #48
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    Quote Originally Posted by IIamaKing View Post
    Yes do this if you want MORE LOANS on top of your student loans. This is also the BEST time in history to start up a small business what with the solid economy and all.
    Or take the risk and have it pay off, like what I done. If however you want to be another sheep basically begging a company to make them money then that's fine assuming they ever hire you. I'm not sure how the situation is there but there are some really good government incentives here for starting up your own company. If I was the OP I would be looking into this as a serious career move.

  9. #49
    Quote Originally Posted by Reeve View Post
    Yeah, the oil and gas industry is always looking for people with development/programming capabilities.
    That was directed to the person that said he had a masters degree in science and engineering. But the industry does need computer science degrees as well many companies have there own software developed so they are able to do their jobs easier and quicker. From accounting, inventory control, and like what i deal with everyday cement slurry and stimulation calculations and well simulations and more then likely many more different areas.

  10. #50
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    thank you all for the suggestions and kind words.

    so, in no specific order:

    Autism: yeah, my autism isn't as much an obstacle for me as it's a benefit. the biggest hurdle is that I need clear and solid communication, because I'm really bad at making assumptions about what people expect from me. the biggest benefit is that i'm very attentive towards details and can easily see in code where things might go wrong. I can also get a good mental overview of code that explains to me how everything is connected to each other.

    Driver's license: I guess in the modern economy, this can give a lot of issues if you don't have your own transportation. i'll see how this works out for me. i'll also likely need the right kind of car (parking sensors and such).

    Student loans: I actually don't have student loans that I know of. Belgium is pretty great on that perspective. i think i spend 1500-2000 EUR on school and books, not counting things like my 4 day teambuilding school trip to Barcelona.

    Location: I'm in Belgium, as i've mentioned several times in this thread already. I live on a 10 minute bike ride from the town station with a direct connection to Antwerp and Mechelen, the 2 biggest cities in the province and Brussels. from there, there's a pretty tightly woven public transportation system with subway systems, bus lines and tram cars.

  11. #51
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    You know who fault this is

    1.University / College / Apprentices School
    I see there commercial come here and less that 6 month or 2 years get your degree and we ever help you find you a jobs this is total BS and is nothing more that smoke and mirror and this really piss me off "if i was a parent" if my kids put all that effort and i paying for it and is total BS and even thought the jobs marker is in the sh@# can they still do because they a low life and greed hungry

    2.The visa program
    As i said before company will do ANYTHING to being foreigner worker and take american and even thought the us govt tell these company you must find unemployed american worker they will circumvent and weasel and said we try and lies about it and get away from it and " here come the foreigner train " and i said time and time again is a shi##t loop hole and is must be closed america should american first NOT FOREIGNER!

    is not a racist rant.................IS THE TRUTH!

  12. #52
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    Important things:

    Reliability
    Availability
    Experience.

    Unfortunately, all three of those are not something you can buy from college.

  13. #53
    My advice - be persistent. Keep sending those CV and Resumes, keep applying. It's perfectly normal that it doesn't happen overnight even with the perfect records. I don't think this has anything to do with the crisis. The States are among the countries you can get a job in IT easily, a developed country. I don't mean to counter-complain, but it's much worse in countries with collapsing economy where it was already bad before the crisis and now even worse. Be grateful that you are living in a well developed country.

    I have friend sin West Europe that landed jobs there even though they were foreigners and everyone knows how the recruiters look at people from other countries, especially when they are just on the same level in their career development as just any other local student. But for them to get the job, it took them over 400-500 CVs and several interviews in the span of half a year.

    So, don't stop sending CV. Don't be picky especially if you don't have any experience, because you need experience now and you shouldn't only look for the money and benefits.
    Now these points of data make a beautiful line.

  14. #54
    Bit of a wall of text for you to go through but this is just my advice cant be to specific because every case is different but just bits that might help you.

    With the job market where it is at a 1 in 3 application to interview is very good. I know in the UK for most Junior positions in IT there will be several hundred applications per post and someone will sometimes already be earmarked for the job but it’s a requirement here to advertise jobs that you have available, so don't get too worried that you aren't getting the responses that you are hoping for.

    My best friend’s brother has Autism and he is a very capable driver and there are driving instructors that do specialise in teaching people with disabilities, so depending on your autism I wouldn't try to ignore the opportunity to learn to drive as it will increase your availability to work in locations not supported by public transport, and also looks good on a CV. Autism charities can also support you with information and sometimes even help with funding in such cases so I would try to contact them as they would be more knowledgeable than me on the situation. I don't know about Belgium's infrastructure but in the UK leaving rurally and without easy access to transport can be a complete killer when searching for a job.

    Most will sound like typical things that you would already know but that can really help when searching for a job:

    • If there is a phone number or an opportunity to meet someone to go along with the application, phone them up and ask a couple of questions especially if there's something that you're unsure about with a job description or application just don't ask anything stupid. It shows that you're interested in the position rather than just filling in a bunch of applications for jobs that you don't really care about. If whoever is recruiting has seen or heard you, you will stick out more than just another white sheet of paper between the last guy and the next one.

    • Always ask for feedback. If you are invited to an interview and you don't get the position the interviewer will happily give you the reasons why you weren't successful and it can help you next time, even if its 'we found a better candidate.' it’s better to know that than to wonder why you never got the job. You can also send a letter asking about an application if you don't get invited to interview as you might have done something wrong during the application process or with your CV, but it’s a lot rarer to hear back when doing this.

    • Cast your net out further 30 applications seems like nothing to me personally less than 3 per month and I don't think you will have much success in the near future without a big slice of luck. Getting a job really is a numbers game if your sending out more applications then you have a higher chance of being successful.

    • Send speculative letters to employers asking about job vacancies and employment opportunities quite often jobs are recruited for internally and someone promoted within the company leaving a lower position within the company that remains unfilled which your speculative letter might give you an opportunity to fill before the job is advertised . You mention that you see a number of jobs that you would like but yet to develop the skills for, make sure you make a note of the company and send them a speculative letter about other possibilities within the company. Showing this type of initiative can help you land a job that might even be created just to give you a chance if you impress them enough.

    • Companies will often not take the chance with a newly qualified student because it will cost them more money to train using new systems, processes and fitting them into a team environment than it would to get someone more expensive that’s already got proven working experience and it’s a gamble to some extent. Explain your adaptability to the company with a work trials, apprenticeship, and internships. Making you the most financially viable candidate will make sure that you’re high up on the list when considering a new employee and gives you a great chance to gain experience.

    • Getting another job or start volunteering that you will work while applying for a more ideal role, even working a few hours in an office or volunteering at a charity can help your chances with employment. I got my job because I had volunteered at Macmillan Cancer Support for a couple of years during unemployment/ part time shit work, and my boss's family had been helped by them in the past. So you don’t know when your good deeds will have an unexpected result. And it shows that you've been keeping active rather than like you said having a big blank spot of a year that's empty.

    • Colleges often have small focused courses especially in IT that will only take around 6-8 weeks or so or industry standard accreditation's for Programming that you can get fairly quickly you should look into them. Although you will probably know more than what's being taught it shows that you're still keen to learn rather than just resting on a Degree, and expecting that to do everything for you.

    And I echo what everyone else says don’t mention the autism at all. If they bring it up during interviews talk about it in a positive light but get the job on your own merits, not that the company might have some stupid quota to fill or that you believe it won’t discriminate because it might do and it might cost you a job that you would otherwise have got.
    Last edited by gnomey; 2012-05-08 at 05:00 PM.

  15. #55
    Herald of the Titans Nadev's Avatar
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    First and foremost, you have my respect for pursuing a career despite your autism. My younger brother has it and I just hope that he will be able to find a comfortable work environment.

    Keep up the good work. If you convey confidence and commitment, then a job shouldn't be all that hard to find if they give you a chance.
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  16. #56
    Quote Originally Posted by Monk Brewslee View Post
    Total rubbish. I run a series of companies and you're going to ask me to lower my standards because stupid people can't reach them? Education is a joke right now, it is getting insanely easy. If it takes you 5 - 6 years to learn a subject, where all you have to do is store information in your head where the answers are in the back of the book, and you can't get 100% then I don't want you.

    The issue is that the governments have removed buisness from education, so now they're not the same and no longer connected.
    You realise expecting any human to get 100% in any test is stupid right?

    People can doesnt mean people should. And nowadays If you cant remember a forumla who cares, its all easily available in things called books and internet.
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  17. #57
    Quote Originally Posted by Kipling View Post
    It took me almost 3 years after graduating to get a "proper" job

    The problem now, is that SO many people are coming out of uni's with degrees, many of them micky mouse degrees at that, so its no longer "LF graduate for job" its now "LF graduate for job, link ilvl and 'chieves"

    If you don't have 3-5 years experience, you'll struggle to get a job out of uni.

    I had to settle for a college leavers job, rather than a graduate job, just so I can get that experience to go with my degree. So I'm being paid a lot less than a graduate might expect. But in 1-2 years time I'll have that experience, and can either pester my boss for graduate pay, or start looking for that graduate job.

    ---------- Post added 2012-05-08 at 03:13 PM ----------

    Also, look for internships/work experience placements, try to fill your time with expereience, even if its unpaid!
    Sadly, this. Everyone pushes people saying, "You need a college degree if you want to get ahead in life!" All this does though is create too many educated people while not increasing the need. Instead of a small supply with medium demand, we now have a extremely large supply with no demand due to an over saturated educated work force.

    The reason you see so many people working as waiters, fast food, etc. while holding a degree is two fold. 1) There are way too many degrees out there that are useless. 2) There are too many applicants due to too many educated individuals.

    I personally can list 5 people that can't find jobs currently while holding degrees. Two of them I understand why they can't; those being a history major and a woman's study major, both of which have little to no demand. The other three are a teacher, a doctor, and an accountant. Those annoy me that they can't find jobs. The teacher can't find work because they want at least 2 years of experience teaching before they'll hire, something they can't get when no one hires them. The doctor can't find a residency match because although they claim to be understaffed for doctors, they aren't willing to hire more on either. The accountant, I have no clue why he can't.

  18. #58
    When I was at school, they valued themselves based on grades people got, as well as how many people they sent on to higher education.

    I didn't go. I had a place, but had a think and decided to go for a trainee position, rather than put three years of my life into a degree. I work for a small company. I went from being on a small team to being in charge of a small team. I don't have a degree. My boss doesn't have a degree. The owner didn't have a degree. Some of my employees do. I have no idea how. Some of them can barely tie their laces. I don't ask for degrees. I ask that you can do the job.

    Some people ask for degrees. Some jobs I would expect you to need a degree. For example, if you're going to be cutting people open and fiddling with their internal organs. That's the sort of thing where I'd expect people to have formal qualifications. Some things don't need a degree. They just need common sense. Many people in large organisations like you to have a degree for everything above the level of cleaner, so that when you turn out to be an incompetent, lazy shyster, they can just tell their boss that you had a degree so thought you'd be OK. Just as nobody ever got fired for buying Microsoft, nobody ever got fired for hiring a guy with a degree.

  19. #59
    My brother went a year and a half without finding a job in his field (had a shitty part time job just to keep a bit of spending money) when he graduated from his power engineering. He just found one about 3 weeks ago, he's moving at the start of June to start his career. I see it happen quite often, you can't get into your selected field in the position you want right away and people just seem to be endlessly looking. I know you're already past the "point of that year", as I will call it, so it's probably starting to wear on you. He said the only way he found his way through it without going crazy was to just sit back and relax, enjoy the time he had to himself while he looked. He didn't stress about it too much and didn't focus on things that were beyond his control. That being said it was still certainly a breath of fresh air when he finally got his job.

  20. #60
    Pandaren Monk Chrno's Avatar
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    tbh.
    It mostly has to do with the way you write the company your interested in.

    If you make a damn good letter that can impress the people working their you have high chances of getting an interview.
    When you go to the interview make sure to remember a few rules:
    - Don't talk about cash (yet, comes at 3rd/4th interview)
    - Shake his hand like a man (gives a good first impression)
    - Be honest, BUT, don't talk yourself down.
    - You can mention the fact you have autism, just make sure you also ADD to that what you do about it, and how you try to counter those effects (very important).
    - Try to sound enthousiastic about the work, like a passion.
    - They will try to make you feel uneasy, try to keep you cool and stare them right back in their face (without arrogance) and just reply to their questions.
    - Write down some positives AND negatives of yourself and just go in and don't leave before you take that job home

    Take it for what it's worth but it got me a job pretty damn fast
    working their for half a year now, w00t
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