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I would make lists of: 1) PhDs in your area, with a focus on CS and related disciplines 2) PhDs in your area, with a focus on areas that need CS grads (e.g. b

I would make lists of: 1) PhDs in your area, with a focus on CS and related disciplines 2) PhDs in your area, with a focus on areas that need CS grads (e.g. business, etc.) 3) Types of people you work well with (judging by your past--previous jobs, professors, family, friends). Use any typology you want--"creative women in marketing," "decisive men who enjoy technology," "ENFPs of any gender in a creative role," whatever seems to get you a usable list. 4) People in roles that you would like. For example, a developer using lots of creative leeway to build new systems. 5) People in roles that work with people in roles that you would like. For example, a developer might look for people in online marketing or a specific field you want to work in. 6) People who have advised people like you--e.g. professors, counselors at schools (yours or other schools). Then I would contact those kinds of people (getting contact information via local Google searches, Facebook graph search, whatever works--and phone calls are ideal, email less so) and ask if you could meet with them for ~10 minutes for a brief informational interview. Basically explain your situation. See what they think. Ask them if they like their career (if applicable). Don't ask them for a job, but let them know that you are looking for work. If they offer to help you find a job, great. If they seem like they'd be a good friend, terrific. This is one of the fastest methods of starting from scratch and finding a job that I've found. Finding a job is an amazingly analog / human feeling-driven process and sending resumes and filling out applications all day often turns out to be a waste of time, but connecting with people is like manually spinning the warped analog cogs of this messy job-finding machine in your favor. Source: Work as a volunteer in a charitable organization, helping people find jobs / start careers. Edit: Just wanted to say, I've been in a "need a job now" situation before several times (thankfully in the distant past), and it can be pretty depressing. Please take care of yourself and hang in there--with your background you'll find something great for sure.

soham 12y ago
This is great advice. Best way to get interviews is not to apply online; it's to go talk to people. I was a hiring manager where I worked last. We used to get SO MANY applications for each role, that it was nearly impossible to give justice to all applicants. I'd much rather prefer someone talking to me about you, and/or handing your resume to me. Even if you're barely qualified, I'd talk to you first, because it made my searching easier. We used to hire >50% of people via referrals like that. I currently run an interview coaching class (http://InterviewKickstart.com http://InterviewKickstart.com) and give the same advice. Those who heed it, progress faster in their search.
ritchiea 12y ago
This is great advice, I would add one more thing: Start actually working on things. The OP says he/she has not worked on anything outside of academia worth putting on a resume. It is not too late to start a project or working relationship that is a good conversation starter for an industry job. There are so many ways one could do this, you could go to a site like https://www.catchafire.org/ https://www.catchafire.org/ and volunteer your technical skills to a non-profit in need. You could get involved with an open source project. You could also start a project on your own. The first two are preferable to the last because the first two involve actually meeting and working with other people (you need to meet other people to get a job, obviously) but any of them would be a good first step. The other thing I would say is you probably don't need a huge project or a flashy achievement to help yourself be viewed as someone worth giving a job offer. Your phD is going to legitimize your computing knowledge, you just have to show yourself to be interested in also being practical.

soham 12y ago

This is great advice. Best way to get interviews is not to apply online; it's to go talk to people. I was a hiring manager where I worked last. We used to get SO MANY applications for each role, that it was nearly impossible to give justice to all applicants. I'd much rather prefer someone talking to me about you, and/or handing your resume to me. Even if you're barely qualified, I'd talk to you first, because it made my searching easier. We used to hire >50% of people via referrals like that. I currently run an interview coaching class (http://InterviewKickstart.com http://InterviewKickstart.com) and give the same advice. Those who heed it, progress faster in their search.

ritchiea 12y ago

This is great advice, I would add one more thing: Start actually working on things. The OP says he/she has not worked on anything outside of academia worth putting on a resume. It is not too late to start a project or working relationship that is a good conversation starter for an industry job. There are so many ways one could do this, you could go to a site like https://www.catchafire.org/ https://www.catchafire.org/ and volunteer your technical skills to a non-profit in need. You could get involved with an open source project. You could also start a project on your own. The first two are preferable to the last because the first two involve actually meeting and working with other people (you need to meet other people to get a job, obviously) but any of them would be a good first step. The other thing I would say is you probably don't need a huge project or a flashy achievement to help yourself be viewed as someone worth giving a job offer. Your phD is going to legitimize your computing knowledge, you just have to show yourself to be interested in also being practical.