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What happened to you after college?

Pseudo

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Did you get a job in your field of study immediately? Did you have to take up part time work before finding a major related job. Did you take a job unrelated to your studies?
 

kyli_ryan

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I had to get part time jobs until I could get into a Masters program. I was out of school from June-December and started my Grad program this January. I'll be done this May and hope I'll be able to get a job pretty soon after I'm done. I'm ready to feel like my life is starting...:dry:
 

Ivy

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I was a dumbass and majored in English because "I love literature" and "good writing is always in demand." Then I spent the next two years being a nanny, and the next five years after that being an at-home mom to my daughter. Which I loved, but I also felt under-utilized. I did childcare (both as a nanny to the child I watched before she was born, and to other children in my own home) to make ends meet because it was my one marketable skill that I could practice without needing to hire childcare of my own (which would have negated the amount I could have earned at anything else I was qualified to do).

When my son was born five years later (seven years ago), I had an opportunity to do some freelance writing and editing, which is what I did until this year when I started working full time in that field, which is less fun but more stable.

Edit: I know I sound bitter. And I do feel like I was capable of being more productive even while raising my children, if I'd been able to stage a stronger launch after college. But I've loved my life, for the most part- just never felt like there was enough money.
 

cascadeco

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I majored in Ecology. I had a demoralizing time of it for the first several years out of college. I quickly realized I wasn't going to easily find employment in that field - certainly not full-time right off the bat, without any experience to speak of. I volunteered right out of school, which was a great experience and got me great experience for the resume; however after that I didn't find anything. So, I took a completely unrelated job which was a really really stupid move on my part (the nature of the job), quit after 3 months, was demoralized and, panicking, decided to enroll in a peripherally related Masters program, but that was a rash move so didn't end up going through with it, and then finally got a few short-term full-time jobs in the environmental field. I then realized after the 2nd one ended that the field was way too competitive and I didn't have any desire to live with my parents for several years, off-and-on unemployed until I actually *could* land a full-time job in the environmental field (and also didn't want to get a Masters degree only to compete with tons of Masters graduates who were all vying for the same more entry-level jobs I was applying for because there weren't enough full-times available at that time), so forgot about the field, temped, got hired into the service department of a financial company, was further demoralized and depressed for 3 years or so, then finally got into a Systems Analyst role, which was much better.

A lot has happened since then but basically after I gritted my teeth for a few years through the entry-level crap position, I could move onto greener pastures and at the very least it wasn't AS bad after that, and for the past 4 years or so of my working life (I took over a year off in the middle of all of it) my jobs have been much more suited to my personality, skillset, and abilities. Decent challenge level, or potential for challenge. Lots of learning, changes, and such since those first several yrs out of college (In a good way).

I know, that was such a happy story. :laugh:

:smile:
 

highlander

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Did you get a job in your field of study immediately? Did you have to take up part time work before finding a major related job. Did you take a job unrelated to your studies?

I got a job about 3 months after graduating in my field of study (computer science). The 3 months seemed like an eternity at the time. I did well at it right away. Put in a lot of unpaid hours earlier in my career in an effort to learn. I took a whole bunch of training late at night for example or studied the systems I supported. I would study books and technical manuals too. Was pretty motivated I guess. Took the CPA exam but I never did anything with the accounting background at all.

I did work part time all the way through college and during summers. Had a couple internships. Drove a fork lift. Was a busboy. Mopped floors and did dishes. Was a security guard. Was a cook. Whole bunch of different things.
 

kelric

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After college, I worked in a lab (the same one I'd worked in as an undergrad) for a couple of months before starting a PhD program in the fall. Worked in a lab while I was in graduate school, and after seven years of that, I decided to leave the program with a Masters instead of finishing the PhD (which, as my project(s) had petered out wasn't happening soon). Stumbled onto a job in IT, and I've been in that job ever since.

All in all... the IT has been relatively good for me, although I'm looking for other opportunities (in the same general field) right now.
 

Tyrinth

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Oh joy. Well this thread is giving me a lot to look forward to when I finally graduate...
 

Usehername

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I wandered during undergrad, and took a gap year to a 3rd world country for a year because I was confused about my professional path. Got the degree, entered a PhD program. Got frustrated with academic culture after a few years, went looking for an internship to gain marketable industry skills so that I could eventually made a lateral move into industry. Got lucky with it being a leverageble position, so I'm sticking with the PhD and the financial support via teaching while I invest my energy into the internship. I'm also directing my dissertation towards the internship because it's hooked up in terms of networking opportunity and knowledge resources. Worst case scenario I bail with the MA.

For the record: never go to grad school unless it's paid for you. If it's not, it means they don't value you enough to invest in you, which means you're screwed.
 

mmhmm

meinmeinmein!
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Did you get a job in your field of study immediately? Did you have to take up part time work before finding a major related job. Did you take a job unrelated to your studies?

oh i had a job waiting for me.
i didn't even realize that people
looked for jobs /after/ they got
out of school. i just searched
while i was in school. (isn't that
what you're suppose to do?)

mostly because the kind of companies
i wanted to get into required applicants
to do multiple rounds of tests/cases.
so had to study for that (thank you wetfeet)

it's weird, i never really cared about
what my degrees would translate to in
terms of job prospects. i always knew
it was never the stuff on paper, but it was
the interview/facetoface that would
get me job.

i like majored in mickey mouse.
and when we landed disney account...
look who's laughing now.

i never had a part time job after college.
during school i did. in england, i used to be
a telemarketer selling wills, as in...last will
and testament. so i'd cold call all the ethnic
looking lastnames in leceister and put on an
extremely american but bubbly accent. and i'd
get paid for every solicitor i could book. easy peasy.

other than that i'd get summer internships. with stipends.
or else, what's the fucking point?

wow. makes me want to go call my mom to thank her.
for preparing my siblings and me the best she could.
 

highlander

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oh i had a job waiting for me.
i didn't even realize that people
looked for jobs /after/ they got
out of school. i just searched
while i was in school. (isn't that
what you're suppose to do?)

mostly because the kind of companies
i wanted to get into required applicants
to do multiple rounds of tests/cases.
so had to study for that (thank you wetfeet)

I interviewed for two companies. One was a practice interview. The other was the one I wanted to work at. I didn't get an offer from either of them. I assumed they would hire me (stupid, arrogant or both). It was the second semester of Senior Year and I was like "shit, what do i do now"? So, I stayed at school with my girlfriend and did a bunch of research on companies, selected 60 that I was interested in based on growth of the industry, company's position in the industry, good to work for, opportunities to learn and for advancement, etc. Then, I sent resumes out. I got a job pretty fast but it took a while for me to get started because there was a strike. I offered to do any kind of menial labor required but they weren't going for that.
 
Last edited:

Usehername

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wow. makes me want to go call my mom to thank her.
for preparing my siblings and me the best she could.

It's really amazing to consider what our lives would look like if we didn't have some kind of mentor encouraging us to take the unbeaten path. If we just believe in ourselves', we're crazy. If we have someone believing in us? We're dedicated. It's a whole different world.
 

Usehername

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wow. makes me want to go call my mom to thank her.
for preparing my siblings and me the best she could.

It's really amazing to consider what our lives would look like if we didn't have some kind of mentor encouraging us to take the unbeaten path. If we just believe in ourselves', we're crazy. If we have someone believing in us? We're dedicated. It's a whole different world.
 

FDG

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oh i had a job waiting for me.
i didn't even realize that people
looked for jobs /after/ they got
out of school. i just searched
while i was in school. (isn't that
what you're suppose to do?)

It depends on how good is the job market for graduates in whatever area you´re living. Ex. when I was in Italy, the job market was worsening each year - thus my 2005-started part-time job paid more than any entry-level position.

Anyway, I got a master´s in financial mathematics, right at the moment when one of the worst crisis hit my home country and well, almost whole Europe. Graduated in October 2011, but had a part-time job during my whole uni years which I kept afterwards (and still sometimes deal with). I got offered a shitty internship for 600-euros month, 12 hours-day (that was explicitly said during the interview!), refused. Another offer for a shitty interview afterwards, 400 euros-month for 10 hours-day. Tried for 15 days, quit, then moved to Germany with my girlfriend. After 2 months I found a job as a researcher at the uni, quite happy with it so far.

It's really amazing to consider what our lives would look like if we didn't have some kind of mentor encouraging us to take the unbeaten path.

Well, idk, depends. My parents are great, but they are really um unambitious compared to me (which is fine). I don´t think everyone requires a mentor (even though it´s always easier if you have one).
 

entropie

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In Germany school ended after 13 years when I was young, so I was already age 20 when I was done. At age 17 I started a freelance webdesign company with a school colleague, which we had for 10 more years. It was quite lucrative in that time before the .com bubble burst. So after school I did one year of civil service in a retirement home, which is mandatory around here and wasnt good for me. Since I had enough money I started to compensate the psychic stress by smoking a lot of pot and having a lot of wild parties. Wasnt too bad on retrospect ;). After the civil year I started to go to University and choosed to major in german literature studies and computer linguistics. The first two semesters tho, I hardly attended class and was bored to hell with most things I did in class. So at age 22 I started to study mechanical enginerring and finished the Bachelor at age 28. It took me quite long cause around age 23 I got into a job with my hometown administration and devoted lesser time to studies. I am working fulltime now for my hometown administration as a consulting engineer for industrial and economical development. Its no dreamjob for me but the work leaves me enough space to pursue my hobbies and earn a lot of money. At age 29 I started my Master in mechanical engineering, which is a parttime master for people who already have fulltime jobs. So I'll prolly finish that around age 32.

My dream job tho still is to run my own company.
 

Fluxkom

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I got depressed and still am.
 

Red Herring

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I graduated as an interpreter for English and Spanish. It took me about 3 months to find an internship with a big translation company, doing a little bit of everything, mostly proofreading translations though. After a few weeks the boss asked me if I wanted to run one of their one-man-offices as a project manager/girl-for-everything. It was a spontaneous offer and I accepted just as spontaneously. So I immediatley moved to where the office was and managed it for half a year. During those 6 months I took a week off to do the exams for my second degree as a translator (no extra credits needed, if you are an interpreter you simply have to pass y few exams for a double degree...I'd say that what I have - Diplom-Dolmetscherin and Diplom-Ãœbersetzerin is roughly the equivalent of a Masters degree in translation and interpreting). I am a translator, not a business person and the office didn't make enough profit, so they sacked me. At first I was absolutely panicking. But then I saw it as an opportunity to become my own boss. My former employer immediatlely became my main customer because there was no bad blood and they always respected my translating skills, just not my commercial skills. After 1 or 2 months I had enough work coming in to be able to make a living.

Other agencies pay better, but I mainly stick to them. I'm definitely not rich, but I usually have a lot of free time, am my own boss with all the liberty and responsibility that goes with it and am doing what I studied to do. Right now I am on an 8 week long mission as an accompynying interpreter for a foreign employee of a big corporation. That means good money coming in to compensate for the hard winter.

You need nerves of steel, but I love the freedom.
 

mmhmm

meinmeinmein!
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It depends on how good is the job market for graduates in whatever area you´re living.

any good position will always be competitive, and good
talent is always in demand. no matter how good/bad the
economy is. i think that it's basically up to me to get the
jobs that are available. and shit just gets more competitive,
i just have to be better. can't let things i can't control get
in my way.

under my personal circumstances, my location had no
influence on where i will work. i didn't stick around my
home country or my university's city/country to get a job.
i moved. my job was waiting for me across the atlantic.

It's really amazing to consider what our lives would look like if we didn't have some kind of mentor encouraging us to take the unbeaten path. If we just believe in ourselves', we're crazy. If we have someone believing in us? We're dedicated. It's a whole different world.

yeah, i think having someone believing in you is nice.
in terms of having that room to fail, and then being
able to dust myself off and just start again.

but i think i'm most grateful for my early years
education. i mean i grew up in a developing country,
and to my parents, the best advantage they could
give us was rearing us into multi-lingual people.
and they put us in an 'international' environment
from the get go... play groups to pre school. and
just the exposure to the different cultures and walks
that make up life. i think that has shaped me so
incredibly much.

high school, college, post grad (twice...on my third
now with a part time program).... all my own doing,
parents have never seen a report card since 5th grade.

Well, idk, depends. My parents are great, but they are really um unambitious compared to me (which is fine). I don´t think everyone requires a mentor (even though it´s always easier if you have one).

i don't think it's always easier if you have
a mentor that you didn't pick yourself. road
to hell is paved with good intentions.
 

Halla74

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Oh my. :shock:

If I told the tale of the time between when I dropped out of an undergraduate Bachelor's of science in Biology in December of 1996 (in my 4th year), through the time through the time I completed a bachelor's of science in Management Information Systems (MIS) there would be so much debauchery and ultimately reckless behavior that the potential incriminating details make me shudder.

Perhaps I'll write that book and have it released after me, and all others who I lived those days with were dead?

Hmmmmm..... :thinking:

But most likely I'll share them one at a time with those I know now as the conversations we have lean on such memories as supplementary material. :Happy:

:solidarity:

-Alex of Halla74
 

Savitri

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Worked an internship on my last year. I was still considered an intern after graduation. I was approached by the director in my department to assist with a huge pipelined project. I was going to act as assistant project coordinator for the housing development. Did well. On my third year was offered to be a project coordinator iv. Stayed in it for a year.

I got sick. Quit my job. Went home. Taking a year off to do some soul searchin'. Unfortunately in the process I denied the existence of my illness. Then I woke up. Found a plan.

Starting over to get a Dual MPA/MPH but it needs a shit ton of requirements (people think I'm crazy, but I've never felt so alive and excited about life). Looking at a phD in sociology then hopefully if I do it correctly again I'll be working as a consultant for public health in some sort of private firm/public entity/government or do research.

Somewhere in the middle or after the phD I'd like to sign up for PeaceCorps.

Yep that's everything I did after grad and everything I will do.
 
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