Ask HN: Tips for students before starting their first job

> Which advice did/would have helped you landing your first job after university?

Every job I've ever gotten was through friends. Including my first job.

I got my first job because one of my college friends got a job and recommended me. I got my second job because one of my college friends recommended me for it, after we worked together at the first job, which I helped him get. I got my fourth job because one of my friends from my second job worked there and vouched for me. (My third job was with a startup where I just approached the founders and told them I want to work there, and they said not right now, but we became friends and eventually they hired me when they had money).

Now most importantly, all of these college friends were made while working in technology positions in college.

My point is, it's never too early to start building your network. Make friends with people in the same career track now, show them how good you are at your job, return the favor when you're in a position to help them, and then reap the benefits throughout your life (not to mention the bonus of lifelong friendships).

I think the default for me is probably to bluntly say what I think. Maybe what you learned is needing to “assert your opinion” more. I think either way taking your personal ego out of what is said has been an important lesson for me.

That was a fun read. OT: It helped me dress up a strange thought (read: dumb idea) I had where I pondered what would happen if the person representing the group (10) was the last one hired, had the lowest pay, the least contractual security and can be fired easily by the group. Put the tree upside down. They would function like an elected representative or a janator. It seemed fun to have a bunch of young inexperienced junior hires managing the show. The next level in the tree could work the same way. Let the juniors hire someone to represent them. It would no doubt create tons of new problems but it would get rid of many of the classical ones (that seem to scale with size) In stead of managing people we could simply go back to managing work(?!)

- Until you build a network job hunting is a numbers game. Be ready to apply to hundreds of places.

- Be willing to move. During the great recession a lot of my buddies wanted to stay near home and it hurt them a lot. I moved across the country and have been the better for it.

- Be thoughtful about your partner/spouse choices. I married admittedly younger than most do now but your long term partners/spouse will have a huge impact on things like work and where you live. Make sure those are aligned well.

- Don't lie on your resume but don't be shy either.

- Work on your network as much as you can. Hiring is still a networking game no matter how much we wish it weren't. People like to hire people they know.

- Stay out of debt! I spent the first couple years paying off bad college credit card mistakes.

- Start an emergency fund. I would say at least $1000 but calibrate for where you live.

- You're probably living as cheap as you will ever live. Stay that way as long as you can. Don't be too eager to get rid of roommates or upgrade lifestyle any faster than absolutely necessary.

- Start a good routine of exercising and eating right. It only gets harder later and time is not forgiving for putting it off.

- Start being thoughtful about what you have on social media. This will depend on where you work, live, and want to do but give your last few years of online life a good pass and consider purging anything that doesn't represent who you are now.

- Takes courses on ethics, philosophy, speech, and other things that help you to think clearly and speak confidently.

Read The Beginner's Creed, by Peter J. Denning

https://web.suffieldacademy.org/cs/intro/beginners.shtml