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Ask HN: I'm an MIT senior and still unemployed – and so are most of my friends

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Re: Ask HN: I'm an MIT senior and still unemployed – and so are most of my friends

#51

Post by Pet_Ant »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #3

https://www.reddit.com/r/hiringcafe | https://hiring.cafe/ (not mine, but I've chatted with folks its worked for) Know when to rest, not to quit. Take whatever job you can now while continuing to look for your next role. > What helped you push through when it felt like the system failed you? Grit and nihilism. No one is coming to save us.

> Grit and nihilism. No one is coming to save us.

What I'll say won't help you now, but: this will help you later.

Don't assume you'll always be able to find a job. Work towards financial independence early. Avoid debt. Don't get some fancy car as a "treat" to yourself, counting on your future income to make payments... that income might not come.

Sorry it sucks right now. Don't give up, don't let your skills dull. Keep grinding and take any programming job just to start getting that 2-3 experience that locks out so many of the labour market.

Re: Ask HN: I'm an MIT senior and still unemployed – and so are most of my friends

#52

Post by valbaca »

When I graduated in 2011, the Great Recession was just beginning to unthaw. I nearly joined the Air Force as an officer. I even went to MEPS and did the physical but decided against it at the last second and joined a military contractor instead.

It was a similar situation, but honestly nowhere as dire as yours. Even in that rough situation, the best of my state college were at least getting one offer. I cannot imagine how rough it must be for MIT grads to not be getting job offers.

I'm not proud of either, but I did what I needed to so that I never moved back home.

Re: Ask HN: I'm an MIT senior and still unemployed – and so are most of my friends

#53

Post by tarentel »

giraffe_lady wrote: post #23
Aurornis wrote: post #2

Truly sorry you feel this way. For what it’s worth, this was common for people graduating into the 2008 financial crisis, too. It’s actually unusual that we went for so long without another period of contraction. From last time around: The people who kept pushing and took any job, anywhere turned out okay. This translated to a lot of people taking jobs below what they expected to get or having to move when they didn’…

> You’re early in your career. This current period of turmoil doesn’t mean that much Is that true? I seem to remember data showing that the 2008-2010 graduate cohorts never overall caught up to the ones that came immediately before or after them. Like sure sure OP has an engineering degree from MIT they're more like the ones that did catch up. But I'll bet there are a lot more people reading this who are about to gra…

I graduated in this time period and that makes sense. I definitely didn't start doing what I wanted until some time later. I guess in a sense that makes my career overall a few years behind resume wise but at this point, being in the industry 15 years instead of 17 probably isn't going to move the needle too much in terms of salary but who knows. Either way, at this point in time, I don't feel like I've missed out really.

Also, I graduated from a pretty mediocre state school. I'm by no means starving.

Re: Ask HN: I'm an MIT senior and still unemployed – and so are most of my friends

#55

Post by bryanlarsen »

2002 felt similar, although it was never so bad that even MIT grads had trouble finding jobs, just those of us from low tier schools.

The classmates who took non-tech jobs after graduating in 2002 never came back to the industry. They generally did alright, but taking a job outside the industry makes it really difficult to get back in. Employers expect to hire people with no experience straight out of school.

That MEng sounds like the best option to me. That was definitely the best option for my 2002 classmates.

Re: Ask HN: I'm an MIT senior and still unemployed – and so are most of my friends

#57

Post by peterldowns »

laidoffamazon wrote: post #47
peterldowns wrote: post #39

Send me an email — I'm an '18 and if you're telling the truth about side projects, interview skills, graduating, etc. then I should be able to help you find a job very quickly, either in my own org or with someone I know who is hiring. > I’m facing the very real possibility of moving back home to an unstable and abusive environment while continuing to job hunt You don't have to do this. You can do anything you want y…

> Realizing that I am owed nothing, and focusing on ways to get what I want. I don't think the system _ever_ fails people with "merit" like MIT grads. It fails people like me that can't get into top schools that went to 50% accept rate public schools. I graduated in 2018 too - I guarantee people like you consider me and my career accomplishments in the intervening years to be failure worthy. I genuinely think a typic…

How dare you guarantee that I'd consider you a failure? You don't know me, don't put that on me. In fact I am pretty sure I wouldn't consider you a failure. You're saying a lot of negative things about yourself and I don't know you or your situation but I hope you don't give up.

Re: Ask HN: I'm an MIT senior and still unemployed – and so are most of my friends

#58

Post by laidoffamazon »

ElevenLathe wrote: post #12

Many student loans can be put on basically indefinite hold via income based repayment (if you make little enough, your minimum payment is zero, but the interest keeps accruing). This gives you some flexibility to take any job you can find, even something that doesn't require a degree. You might also look into trades, depending on your engineering specialty. A machinist with a MechEng degree from MIT or a millwright w…

MIT students almost definitely don't have student loans. The degree is free to cheap.

Re: Ask HN: I'm an MIT senior and still unemployed – and so are most of my friends

#59

Post by carabiner »

Aurornis wrote: post #2

Truly sorry you feel this way. For what it’s worth, this was common for people graduating into the 2008 financial crisis, too. It’s actually unusual that we went for so long without another period of contraction. From last time around: The people who kept pushing and took any job, anywhere turned out okay. This translated to a lot of people taking jobs below what they expected to get or having to move when they didn’…

I don't think it was that bad. I graduated 12/2008 in aerospace engineering from a big state school. Not MIT. We all had at least 1 offer from big companies, even the middling students. I had 2 offers, and probably could have swung a third. It felt like the recession mostly affected the housing market and older career folks, but for us new grads things were mostly normal. This feels like a permanent shift due to AI in part, and interest rates going back up since pandemic.

Re: Ask HN: I'm an MIT senior and still unemployed – and so are most of my friends

#60

Post by erikerikson »

laidoffamazon wrote: post #47
peterldowns wrote: post #39

Send me an email — I'm an '18 and if you're telling the truth about side projects, interview skills, graduating, etc. then I should be able to help you find a job very quickly, either in my own org or with someone I know who is hiring. > I’m facing the very real possibility of moving back home to an unstable and abusive environment while continuing to job hunt You don't have to do this. You can do anything you want y…

> Realizing that I am owed nothing, and focusing on ways to get what I want. I don't think the system _ever_ fails people with "merit" like MIT grads. It fails people like me that can't get into top schools that went to 50% accept rate public schools. I graduated in 2018 too - I guarantee people like you consider me and my career accomplishments in the intervening years to be failure worthy. I genuinely think a typic…

Even your gilded claim is breaking down these days it seems.

I started in state schools and leveraged that into one of the world's best (half the MIT professors had graduated from my alma mater when I was deciding where to go) for my MSc.

As [likely] one of the people you reference, I am a counter example to your guarantee. No one should fail who contributes in good faith. Live life well, be responsible, have fun, spread joy, and no matter what happens in your career you'll have succeeded.

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