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Ask HN: Roadmap returning to college with small network, no job, little income?

Hello everyone, thanks for giving this a read. To make a long story short, I graduated with a Bachelor in Fine Arts degree in 2007. Worked on campus doing tech support, then later turned into web development. I've picked up several contract web development jobs since graduating. That came to a screeching halt in early 2015. After being turned down repeatedly for jobs due to a lack of relevant knowledge and my previous experience being snubbed, I'm choosing to go back for an education. My colleagues and Facebook friends haven't given me good job leads. I have been poor for a few years, and I'm not motivated to make new friends anymore. I'm hoping to be as successful as possible, but having been out of school for so long and in a more difficult position (I need a stable full-time job, I have a weak support network) I have no idea where to begin. Since I already have programming experience, majoring in CS may be a bit too redundant and on-the-nose, so perhaps a EE major with CS minor is a possibility. I have a related interest in low-level programming and would love to eventually get into a job at a large semiconductor firm, or working on hardware for a company with a vision I really like. But I need advice on things like managing your time, studying, what jobs to work at, networking, etc. At this point I'll even take inspirational or tales of caution, every bit helps. My job background is mainly in web dev, doing LAMP stack and JavaScript (Node, React, jQuery) development, C# .NET, HTML and CSS.

mrkstu 9y ago
My first advice would be some self reflection- "My colleagues and Facebook friends haven't given me good job leads. I have been poor for a few years, and I'm not motivated to make new friends anymore. "I have a weak support network" Careers are built on networks- a college degree is a checkbox for some jobs but has little to do with your career. The time invested in building up friendships is much more valuable than class time. The effect of your network dwarfs any career advancement the degree will give you- and your career will undoubtedly continue to suffer even with a degree unless you build that network. That said- LEARN. Be knowledgeable and capable and your contacts will be confident in utilizing or referring you for work.
- amazonavocado 9y ago
  Admittedly that may be one of my big failings since graduation- I continued to treat subsequent jobs as simply "jobs" and not a career. When I got out of college I had a very incomplete view of what getting a career afterwards entails. I didn't get an internship, I didn't go talk to my professors after school, I didn't care about clubs (because I didn't participate in clubs in HS). Career center wasn't very helpful for art majors. I did not live near campus, as I took the train to commute daily. I'd be thinking it's okay if I didn't get an internship because I've already had relevant part-time experience at that point. So I just hopped online to apply to more jobs. And figured, as long as I'm professional and do my job well, everything will be fine. Also, it was difficult to foresee the appeal and benefits to networking for your career, because I had trouble making friends in college and in jobs, and I fell back on my high school friends for social activities. Whether I was working as a cashier at Sears or building web pages for a local client, my social life and work life were always separate. I found most of my classmates in art classes difficult to relate to. There are no clubs or social groups for art majors, either. This turned me off from attempting to make friends in college and I stuck with my old high school friends. I think it's harder to appreciate the benefits of networking if you have a hard time finding people with common interests. So I missed the forest for the trees.

mrkstu 9y ago

My first advice would be some self reflection- "My colleagues and Facebook friends haven't given me good job leads. I have been poor for a few years, and I'm not motivated to make new friends anymore. "I have a weak support network" Careers are built on networks- a college degree is a checkbox for some jobs but has little to do with your career. The time invested in building up friendships is much more valuable than class time. The effect of your network dwarfs any career advancement the degree will give you- and your career will undoubtedly continue to suffer even with a degree unless you build that network. That said- LEARN. Be knowledgeable and capable and your contacts will be confident in utilizing or referring you for work.

amazonavocado 9y ago
Admittedly that may be one of my big failings since graduation- I continued to treat subsequent jobs as simply "jobs" and not a career. When I got out of college I had a very incomplete view of what getting a career afterwards entails. I didn't get an internship, I didn't go talk to my professors after school, I didn't care about clubs (because I didn't participate in clubs in HS). Career center wasn't very helpful for art majors. I did not live near campus, as I took the train to commute daily. I'd be thinking it's okay if I didn't get an internship because I've already had relevant part-time experience at that point. So I just hopped online to apply to more jobs. And figured, as long as I'm professional and do my job well, everything will be fine. Also, it was difficult to foresee the appeal and benefits to networking for your career, because I had trouble making friends in college and in jobs, and I fell back on my high school friends for social activities. Whether I was working as a cashier at Sears or building web pages for a local client, my social life and work life were always separate. I found most of my classmates in art classes difficult to relate to. There are no clubs or social groups for art majors, either. This turned me off from attempting to make friends in college and I stuck with my old high school friends. I think it's harder to appreciate the benefits of networking if you have a hard time finding people with common interests. So I missed the forest for the trees.