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So...you want a fun exciting job that pays well and challenges you? Get in line. No one cares that you have a degree. It means nothing right now because you

So...you want a fun exciting job that pays well and challenges you? Get in line. No one cares that you have a degree. It means nothing right now because you have NO EXPERIENCE (on paper). You have to go through the grind just like everyone else so that you can learn, build on it, increase in your position and area of expertise, and then down the line begin teaching someone who is then in the CRUD job you were once in. Nothing will ever replace starting at the bottom and working your way up. This takes time, sweat, and sometimes tears. I started at 18 and am now 36.

colanderman 6y ago
I disagree. Having a portfolio and connections can land you a job in your field of interest right away. Source: personal experience, starting from a similar place as the OP. My advice to the OP: you already have a good portfolio. Network with professors with whom you are on good terms, friends who have already entered the work force, public-ish open source figures in your areas of interest. Ask around if they have openings for even intern work (which does not imply CRUD!). Once employed, as your co-workers and managers recognize your talent you'll bubble your way up to a well-matched position, from which point "normal" career advice takes over. As someone who has worked in the distributed/embedded space for a few years now, the biggest complaint I hear from management about hiring is that finding talent, even "green" talent, is hard. There's not enough interest in the space. Managers love recommendations, and someone like a university professor who has seen your work and interacted with you is perfectly positioned and glad to recommend someone promising to their industry friends. Granted, location probably plays a big part in this. My experience is limited to the Boston area. Side note, I've never seen frontend/CRUD → backend/embedded/distributed/what-have-you treated as a promotion path, not even across employers. The teams doing CRUD work for a product are usually organizationally or geographically separated, or even an entirely different company, from those doing the type of work you're interested in. Frontend/CRUD isn't "drudge work" to get to the position you really want, it's just a different job description entirely.
- BlackNitrogen 6y ago
  There are a lot of different jobs. Some of them are easier to get when you are starting. Some jobs take some background to get you in the door. But there are a vast number of companies and different jobs. Figure out what you are interested in, look at job boards and apply. The monthly hacker news job thread lets you look for jobs in certain locations, easily in the browser.
randomuser1998 6y ago
No I am more than happy to take a significant pay cut to do more challenging work.

colanderman 6y ago

I disagree. Having a portfolio and connections can land you a job in your field of interest right away. Source: personal experience, starting from a similar place as the OP. My advice to the OP: you already have a good portfolio. Network with professors with whom you are on good terms, friends who have already entered the work force, public-ish open source figures in your areas of interest. Ask around if they have openings for even intern work (which does not imply CRUD!). Once employed, as your co-workers and managers recognize your talent you'll bubble your way up to a well-matched position, from which point "normal" career advice takes over. As someone who has worked in the distributed/embedded space for a few years now, the biggest complaint I hear from management about hiring is that finding talent, even "green" talent, is hard. There's not enough interest in the space. Managers love recommendations, and someone like a university professor who has seen your work and interacted with you is perfectly positioned and glad to recommend someone promising to their industry friends. Granted, location probably plays a big part in this. My experience is limited to the Boston area. Side note, I've never seen frontend/CRUD → backend/embedded/distributed/what-have-you treated as a promotion path, not even across employers. The teams doing CRUD work for a product are usually organizationally or geographically separated, or even an entirely different company, from those doing the type of work you're interested in. Frontend/CRUD isn't "drudge work" to get to the position you really want, it's just a different job description entirely.

BlackNitrogen 6y ago
There are a lot of different jobs. Some of them are easier to get when you are starting. Some jobs take some background to get you in the door. But there are a vast number of companies and different jobs. Figure out what you are interested in, look at job boards and apply. The monthly hacker news job thread lets you look for jobs in certain locations, easily in the browser.

randomuser1998 6y ago

No I am more than happy to take a significant pay cut to do more challenging work.