I graduated in May with my associates degree, and sadly after applying a bit nothing, not even a reply email. I am convinced I am just unprepared for this industry, I will admit I don’t have a GitHub with 1 billion contributions, and a bunch of connections. but can I seriously get nothing. I can’t afford the 25K needed for my bachelors. I am honestly considering put in my applications to target or whatever and giving up.
I would say take a good look at what your resume looks like. Usually no responses back is an indicator something is wrong with your resume and causing issues.
-
Are you filling out the cover letter / “Say something about yourself” section on every application? I largely just throw ChatGPT at the problem and then do a second pass over it to make sure it looks good before submitting
-
Resume should be kept very short and sweet, with 90% of its content being focused on specifically name dropping key technologies by name you have used so automated systems pick it up. If you are a MERN dev for example, make 100% sure that “MongoDB”, “Express.js”, “React” “Node” and “NPM” are all verbatim somewhere on your resume.
Typically your resume should be quick and easy to scan from the top left corner to bottom left corner and convey most of the info. Id’ recommend watching some videos and read some posts on how to make a solid resume.
Other than that, I strongly recommend having a github that has a fully functional simple application on it that you have made on your own time, with numerous commits and a well fleshed out readme, ideally multiple paragraphs.
Just as an example, I have numerous projects on my github and most of them have some semblance of a readme. Try and include:
- What is the application
- Why would you wanna use it
- Installation instructions
- A blurb linking to the report page for the github, that basically amounts to “Found a bug, report it here”
- A simple basic roadmap of future features you are thinking of adding (doesnt need to be actually happening, but it looks really good to have)
I made a solid resume just I have no work expereince since I never really worked in high school due to my controlling dad. Other than that I do fill out the cover letter section is a very similar manner to what you said
From my experience, usually a lack of responses means the resume has some form of issue going on. Formatting, font choice, etc etc.
Resumes are largely automatically parsed by machines nowadays, so 99% of the filtering happens by code, not a human, which means you really wanna optimize the resume for being picked up by machines properly. It can be tricky.
Some people unironically copy paste the entire job posting into their resume in the smallest possible font, white color, to “hide” it in the resume, but it still gets picked up by automated machines and as a result floats their resumes up to the top. Something to consider researching.
You sound like you’d prefer to take the easy way out.
Typically, if you went to college, you learned to learn. If you didn’t, finish your BS and learn to learn.
Conversely, you didn’t learn to apply for jobs or interview. Put your learning skills to the test and learn to apply and interview.
It sounds like you’re in a rush, and potentially a money crunch. It’s not defeat to take a small job, but you should be able to apply on your off hours if you really want it.
I worked for a messily $10/hr + applied to 10 jobs a day until I got an offer a year later for $40k starting. I took it on the spot, went into debt, but now 8 years later, make over $120k and I’m debt free.
I’m just considering what the modern landscape of min wage jobs are, you pretty much work 24.7 for min wage, so in considering I won’t have time to maintain anything else cause I’ll be at work
Well, you’re still young, so you probably have to find something to cut costs like finding a few roommates or living at home with parents.
Also, if you have a cs degree, you should be able to at least work in anything that requires Excel like accounting/book keeping/data entry/data analysis, which should get you past $7.25/hr.
Also, check local (assisted living/long term) pharmacies for data entry jobs. I know they’re at a deficit, and pay starts around $17/hr.
I think a studio somewhere is about the best I can do, living at home is kinda ugh, and I have been doing that for the past few years and living here has been sadly a hot pocket for my mental illness. keep mind if I did leave it would still be in the south. I am just kinda considering a min wage job since I don’t really see a way to get into tech now, and I need a lot of thing to survive sadly including ADHD meds and likely something to stop my depressive episodes from getting this bad. After that I will likely be okay to kinda work on software dev stuff in my free time and maybe do an online bachelors part time while trying to build the portfolio I did not during my years in college. I doubt it will be pleasant working at Target or something and living in a studio apartment I almost not afford but it’s better than nothing
Target should be on the more pleasant side, and they’re not minimum wage. $7.25 is minimum, and that’s fucking rough. I did that in early college, but had family I could stay with.
Good luck and make sure they give you full time (and health insurance).
Is this for a software development job? You should look at contributing to open source and also find a personal project to work on that shows off your skills.
I just feel like none of this is reasltic given I will be working most of the time, and unable to maintain anything. If I’m only home 1-2 hours a day how can I maintain anything
Do you work 7 days a week?
Because most people usually still have some semblance of weekends off, and usually it is on weekends that I maintain my personal projects.
Yes, you’ll need to work a full time job, live with roommates, and make ends meet while you assemble your portfolio on Github, ideally.
I primarily applied to a couple jobs a day, every workday, on my breaks at work on my phone. It’s pretty easy to just pop open LinkedIn on my phone during breaks and fire off a couple applications with ChatGPT generated cover letters.
On weekends I’d apply to more, but mostly put my energy into meal prepping for the week to conserve energy on one of my weekend days, and then the other just focusing on my projects.
-
The tech industry is rough rn, and people with a bachelor’s plus internships are having a rough time, so your position is gonna be even tougher.
With that said don’t stop applying. Apply to any and every programming job and don’t be picky. Even if you only get $40k out of college, after a year of work experience you’ll have many more opportunities!
from what I am getting at here, not to be negetive but my degree is kinda useless and I 100% should be looking for min wage jobs. I don’t really feel like I will have time to build anything else for myself lmao
I wouldn’t say useless. Hopefully you learned useful things in school. And you probably feel confident about your ability to get a BS, if you can figure out the finances. But if you look at job listings for programmers, software engineers, IT folks, etc. seeing a request for an associates degree is pretty rare. Most places ask for a BS (and an MS or PhD is preferred for many roles and specializations). So the associates is of limited utility.
Having little or no job experience is probably hurting your chances quite a bit. Employers like to see at least a few internships on a college hire resume. Since you just finished the 2 year degree, maybe you could apply to internships and position it as “doing an internship before going back to finish the BS”. They don’t have to know that you aren’t sure you can afford to get a BS. Sometimes getting an internship is easier than a full time job since there aren’t expectations of a BS and work experience. And from the employer’s POV it’s a low risk hire, since interns are short term.
Does your school have an office that helps students with job listings and resume books? If so, you might see if you can leverage their services as a recent grad. Could you maybe get a job at your school? Even if it’s a part time job that a student might do like assisting the IT folks or helping in computer labs or really any random thing that involves computers in any way.
If you are low on money and have bills/rent then get whatever job you can, ASAP. You don’t want to risk homelessness while holding out of a job in your chosen industry. Good luck!
I just feel like my degree is very useless! Unless I have time for unpaid internshios I’m kinda skrewed
The internships should be paid.
You are unprepared for this industry because it is saturated, even moreso now that AI is considered a part of the application pool, and every employer does something that wasn’t taught in your classes. The hiring process is designed to be brutal. It is what separates the engineers from the programmers, and the programmers from the script kiddies. It isn’t for everyone unless you have the drive for it.
You will have to try harder if you want to get somewhere in this industry. That also means further learning, whether at university or on your own. This is a lesson I am still learning after almost 20 years. I graduated with a comp sci associates in 2008, and worked on a contract basis throughout my 20s and early 30s. I still have nothing to show for it in my late 30s, because I let every negative experience push me backwards, to the point where the career just crashed and burned, and I ended up at McDonald’s. Don’t make those same mistakes.
You are going to have to pay your bills in any way possible, even if that means working a “min wage job”, which has absolutely no shame. You don’t have to give up your dream if you work at Target. Not everything has to be an absolute. You can work at Target while working on a side project that will give you those 1 billion GitHub contributions.
Put in the work.
You will have to try harder if you want to get somewhere in this industry. That also means further learning, whether at university or on your own. This is a lesson I am still learning after almost 20 years. I graduated with a comp sci associates in 2008, and worked on a contract basis throughout my 20s and early 30s. I still have nothing to show for it in my late 30s, because I let every negative experience push me backwards, to the point where the career just crashed and burned, and I ended up at McDonald’s. Don’t make those same mistakes.
from what I am gathering from all of this, that I will likely never really work in the industry consdiering I am gonna need 3 jobs to stay a float you do realize I have little to no time. lmao
I do understand your lack of time, you are not alone. I was hoping that my (similar educational and emotional) experience would show you that giving up and allowing hardships to move you backwards isn’t the way to go. I’m not saying your goal will never happen for you. I’m saying the “finish line of success” is constantly moving, and this is a marathon and not a race. Don’t let yourself get in the way of yourself. As long as your basic needs are met (housing, clothing, food) and you are making steps towards your end goal - no matter how small - you are making progress.
These are some of the things I stuck to after the burnout that kept the goal moving when working 45 hour weeks in an understaffed kitchen:
- Too tired? Read code and update the docs. It keeps the projects fresh in my mind.
- Too upset? Bug smashing time! The dopamine boost is amaaaazing.
- Can’t sleep because the sleep schedule is fucked up? I’m awake, instead of getting upset about that, use that energy write a function or two and then go back to bed. It doesn’t have to be a whole feature. Conventional/Atomic commits are fabulous for this, especially when using git flow.
- Woke up a little too early? Pull in some PRs and test them. Use the work day to figure out whether I want to merge them or not.
- Leisure time is leisure time. If code feels like leisure, do it.
Obviously, the above may not work for you, it only serves as an example of how to redirect your feelings and reality to be a little more productive, to get closer to your goal. Your methods may be different.
My perception of you (going by posts on here and Mastodon) is that you have the passion that is required to succeed, and lack the self-confidence and determination to really go for it. The determination is the most important part because with enough determination, you are the one in the driver’s seat. Use your passion to reinforce your determination. In time, the results of your determination will reinforce the self-confidence.
You can do it, you just need to believe in yourself. If it helps, I believe in you too. Big hugs to you, sis. You’ve go this.
I don’t even think I’ll have time for any of this between a few min wage jobs
What exactly do you want to hear? Are you hoping someone on here is just gonna offer you a job because of this sob post and your winning personality? People have given you lots of advice and your only response has been “but if I’m working for minimum wage I won’t have time, waaaaa”. Like do you even have one minimum wage job yet? If not, what are you doing with your time right now? Stop imagining some future where you’re working 3 jobs and start doing some shit to better your situation. Or don’t, because capitalism fucks everyone over and someone has to lose big. If you’re certain it’s going to be you then it probably is.
if it helps, I was sending out custom CVs to companies for two years to the tune of 10+ a day before I got hired for my first “real” tech job.
after working here for years, I really realize how little I knew and how badly I came off.Removed by mod
WTF is a guard card? I’ve been a security guard twice and never heard of this.
Removed by mod
OP, I’ve been reading your replies in this thread, and in my humble opinion I think you need to re-evaluate your worth. If you believe you’re only worth a minimum wage job, then it’s not surprising if you end up in a minimum wage job.
This industry is rife with imposter syndrome. But you know what the thing about imposter syndrome is, is only the people who know enough to know that they don’t know everything feel it. Do you truly know nothing about programming, or are you a boss babe with a couple of years of formal education in the field?
If you really feel that you don’t have the experience to get an entry level job, then you deserve to do something for yourself to raise your confidence. Start a project, especially if your education has been mostly theoretical. It can be difficult at first, especially if you feel like you don’t know where to start. But in my experience, even the most difficult problem can be broken up into small, manageable pieces. I think you’ll be surprised how quickly you’ll learn to build stuff, and you’ll be getting some real experience to. You might even wonder why you were ever worried in the first place.
I feel others covered what’s needed, but just wanted to say don’t give up. Yes, you may have to do some odd or non ideal jobs, but just don’t lose your passion. I know from personal experience.
OP could try tech support. I know that sucks, but at least they’ll get their foot in the door.
Define “applying a bit”
It’s very much a numbers game. If you’re applying to 20 jobs a day, try to up it to 30, etc. If you’re currently unemployed, finding a job is your job, spend at least several hours a day doing it
I have tried that I am honestly kinda considering I can’t get into the tech industry cause I did not start doing shit while I could. I am fuckup lmao
You might also be the Lone Ranger telling the full truth and nothing but the truth 😉
Integrity died prior to the invention of the modern computer.
For how long.
The environment is a bit different, but I got laid off during covid and it took me about 4 months to find a job. Probably 10-30 applications a day 5 days a week. I got maybe 7 interviews total.
End of the day you only need one company to offer you a job, and with IT you at least have the option of remote work
I put this is a comment but felt it was reverential to the entire thread I guess
I think a studio somewhere is about the best I can do, living at home is kinda ugh, and I have been doing that for the past few years and living here has been sadly a hot pocket for my mental illness. keep mind if I did leave it would still be in the south. I am just kinda considering a min wage job since I don’t really see a way to get into tech now, and I need a lot of thing to survive sadly including ADHD meds and likely something to stop my depressive episodes from getting this bad. After that I will likely be okay to kinda work on software dev stuff in my free time and maybe do an online bachelors part time while trying to build the portfolio I did not during my years in college. I doubt it will be pleasant working at Target or something and living in a studio apartment I almost not afford but it’s better than nothing
Have you tried applying to marketing agencies? They typically have a need for general web/software type work.
All things considered I doubt I will have time for that, I need a few min wage jobs just to live, do you really think I have time go do unpaid internships
OP didn’t say anything about unpaid or even internship.
Sorry comments are hard to follow
I have not really tried market agencies, I haven’t seen them on job sites as much. Maybe cause I’m looking at remote
I’d recommend taking another pass at marketing agencies. Of the 4 I worked for, 2 were fully remote, and 1 was hybrid.
If you’re web savvy, you’ll likely be building and maintaining WordPress sites. Other responsibilities might be working on integrations to help CRM (Customer Realationship Management) software connect with other platforms. There could be other stuff to do, but my time in agencies was mostly stuff like that.
If you’re web savvy, you’ll likely be building and maintaining WordPress sites. Other responsibilities might be working on integrations to help CRM (Customer Realationship Management) software connect with other platforms. There could be other stuff to do, but my time in agencies was mostly stuff like that.
I have actually maintained a linux server for years, to run my websites, and various things in docker however I kinda see it as undocumented experience given I kinda just have done this silently over the years
It’s experience. There’s no such thing as undocumented experience. Training yourself to see your experiences as valid in an of themselves is a process, one I’ve struggled with myself; but, it’s really important as it’s expected that from employers that you’re not filtering out expertise you have because it “wasn’t professional enough” or whatever. Running a Plex server for friends to stream from is valid experience and worth considering if you’re building out time ranges on your resume (eg. N years of experience with $technology)
I’m not too familiar on how it works in the US but from my experience it’s easier to start at a lower position and move up internally, tech support or sys admin for example. But again, I’m completely ignorant how it is in the US, this is all based on Europe.
I never got a university degree but the position I applied to was junior sys admin and I asked for a pretty low salary. I worked a year there and made myself irreplaceable enough and looked for better offers to leverage that and got a raise along with a better position. That was like 10 years ago and now I’m in devops instead where I can do pretty much anything, including development, though I prefer sys admin tasks, with those I need to work like 4 hours a week if automation works as it should. Oh and never tell anyone you don’t have enough to do, that will just land you more work for no pay.
I think a studio somewhere is about the best I can do, living at home is kinda ugh, and I have been doing that for the past few years and living here has been sadly a hot pocket for my mental illness. keep mind if I did leave it would still be in the south. I am just kinda considering a min wage job since I don’t really see a way to get into tech now, and I need a lot of thing to survive sadly including ADHD meds and likely something to stop my depressive episodes from getting this bad. After that I will likely be okay to kinda work on software dev stuff in my free time and maybe do an online bachelors part time while trying to build the portfolio I did not during my years in college. I doubt it will be pleasant working at Target or something and living in a studio apartment I almost not afford but it’s better than nothing
I think I am gonna get someone to look at resume, and maybe try to get a support job. Ya know like Comcast, or whatever. I think I might have half decent odds.
If you are in the US, then you can get a BSCS for pretty cheap at Western Governors University. It’s $4k per semester and self paced, so it’s possible to graduate in one semester. I did it in 3 semesters with unmedicated ADHD, and FAFSA grants covered most of it.
