4 ms·

My advice to an undergrad is: Go to grad school. Now is the perfect time to apply, and generally CS/EE students get paid to attend by having their tuition paid

My advice to an undergrad is: Go to grad school. Now is the perfect time to apply, and generally CS/EE students get paid to attend by having their tuition paid for by their advisor and getting a stipend for research/TA jobs. There is also government money to be had. Ride out the storm in Grad school, gain some skills, and expand your network. When you finish the economy should be good again. If you're a grad student, maybe try to get a post-doc? But assuming more academia is not for you, look for jobs outside of tech companies. Like apply for a job building the McDonalds app or writing software for John Deere tractors. The job probably won't be great, but you might get lucky and find a company that has realized that tech is the future and are investing in it (I recently met some guys from Ford who were doing some crazy cool stuff). If you want to try to find which non-tech companies are embracing and investing in tech, look for old companies that have been featured in keynotes at re:invent or Google Cloud Next. And of course use your network. Find friends who did get jobs and ask them if there are any more. While there are general hiring freezes, some companies will open up a few jobs to counteract attrition, and some will exempt new college grads from their freezes (because you guys are cheap and eager to learn their way of doing things without preconceived notions). Good luck, and try not to get too down if you get ignored or rejected a lot -- it will happen to the best of people!

claytongulick 4y ago
I think this advice is highly dependent on career goals. What sort of work is interesting to you, and why? Going to grad school is only a good idea if there's something specific you're trying to learn. It's a means not an ends. For someone who doesn't have real life work experience in their field, I don't think it's the best idea. I think working in the industry for a few years (at least) and seeing the types of jobs and work that are available is a better approach. After you have some experience and want to specialize in a specific thing (AI/ML, etc...) going to grad school might make sense, depending. When I'm hiring, it's actually a bit of a red flag for me to see a resume with a graduate degree and no work experience - but the positions I hire for tend to be very practical business development types things, not really that appropriate for graduate level. Unfortunately, that's 90%+ of the market. Many hiring managers will be hesitant to hire you in that situation, because the assumption is that you're overqualified, under experienced, and will leave for a more senior opportunity as soon as you get the chance. I was given the advice to avoid going to grad school early in my career, and I'm glad I followed it.
- jedberg 4y ago
  You're ignoring the context of the post. This is advice for what a new grad should do right now in this particular economy. You're right that grad school is more effective after working a few years, but its still a better option that starvation if you can get into grad school with a stipend. And if you throw away the resumes of someone who went straight to grad school, you're just missing out on a lot of good candidates.
  - claytongulick 4y ago
    > You're ignoring the context of the post. No, I'm not. Getting out and working is the best thing you can do in a down economy, even if it's a crappy job, or not as much money as you'd like. > And if you throw away the resumes of someone who went straight to grad school, you're just missing out on a lot of good candidates. Where did I say I throw out resumes? It's a red flag. Those can be overcome in interviews or with other mitigating factors, but pretending like this isn't an issue doesn't help anyone.
twblalock 4y ago
Unless you already know you want to do something that requires a graduate degree, the opportunity cost is still too high even in this job market. Even a crappy job in your field is going to make you financially better off than 2+ years in a graduate program that doesn't help you achieve your career goals.

claytongulick 4y ago

I think this advice is highly dependent on career goals. What sort of work is interesting to you, and why? Going to grad school is only a good idea if there's something specific you're trying to learn. It's a means not an ends. For someone who doesn't have real life work experience in their field, I don't think it's the best idea. I think working in the industry for a few years (at least) and seeing the types of jobs and work that are available is a better approach. After you have some experience and want to specialize in a specific thing (AI/ML, etc...) going to grad school might make sense, depending. When I'm hiring, it's actually a bit of a red flag for me to see a resume with a graduate degree and no work experience - but the positions I hire for tend to be very practical business development types things, not really that appropriate for graduate level. Unfortunately, that's 90%+ of the market. Many hiring managers will be hesitant to hire you in that situation, because the assumption is that you're overqualified, under experienced, and will leave for a more senior opportunity as soon as you get the chance. I was given the advice to avoid going to grad school early in my career, and I'm glad I followed it.

jedberg 4y ago
You're ignoring the context of the post. This is advice for what a new grad should do right now in this particular economy. You're right that grad school is more effective after working a few years, but its still a better option that starvation if you can get into grad school with a stipend. And if you throw away the resumes of someone who went straight to grad school, you're just missing out on a lot of good candidates.
- claytongulick 4y ago
  > You're ignoring the context of the post. No, I'm not. Getting out and working is the best thing you can do in a down economy, even if it's a crappy job, or not as much money as you'd like. > And if you throw away the resumes of someone who went straight to grad school, you're just missing out on a lot of good candidates. Where did I say I throw out resumes? It's a red flag. Those can be overcome in interviews or with other mitigating factors, but pretending like this isn't an issue doesn't help anyone.

twblalock 4y ago

Unless you already know you want to do something that requires a graduate degree, the opportunity cost is still too high even in this job market. Even a crappy job in your field is going to make you financially better off than 2+ years in a graduate program that doesn't help you achieve your career goals.