Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was an undergrad and this is just wrong. Most are not going into HFT, and a bunch don't go into FAANG either. And not everyone who gets in was raised in a perfect upper middle class life. Do you really want to care about judgement from people who think not working at a trading firm is a failure? Those people are insufferable anyway
MIT EECS undergrad? I can believe not everyone is HFT out of the college, but there is a broader point being made.
Ask HN: I'm an MIT senior and still unemployed – and so are most of my friends
81–90 of 247 posts
Re: Ask HN: I'm an MIT senior and still unemployed – and so are most of my friends
#82The system failing is the default. Allies tip the scales. You can see the board more clearly now; play accordingly
Re: Ask HN: I'm an MIT senior and still unemployed – and so are most of my friends
#83Not because it will make you rich, but because it shows you have the grit to actually do something. It will also keep your skills fresh and/or grow them.
These things do make a huge difference to hiring managers.
Hunting for work in a down economy is hard and depressing. Building something is a excellent way to stave off depression. Much better than self-pity, alcohol, drugs, videos games, or doom scrolling.
Re: Ask HN: I'm an MIT senior and still unemployed – and so are most of my friends
#84Re: Ask HN: I'm an MIT senior and still unemployed – and so are most of my friends
#85Re: Ask HN: I'm an MIT senior and still unemployed – and so are most of my friends
#86You and your friends should email me with your resume and anything you're proud to have built. I'll extend that to any MIT senior/recent grad who wants to discuss moving to SF and helping us apply LLMs to build product features that solve interesting customer problems.
I'm at james.peterson@fathom.video. Include "[responding to HN thread 43614795]" in the title. I'd love to chat.
Re: Ask HN: I'm an MIT senior and still unemployed – and so are most of my friends
#87Re: Ask HN: I'm an MIT senior and still unemployed – and so are most of my friends
#88Truly 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’…
Re: Ask HN: I'm an MIT senior and still unemployed – and so are most of my friends
#89Wouldn’t starting a startup or business be actually easier in this environment?
Re: Ask HN: I'm an MIT senior and still unemployed – and so are most of my friends
#90You can even just anonymize your resume and make it public.