Open Source and Working For Free?

[Firebird 8118]

It's been over a year now since I graduated from college with my Bachelor's in Computer Science - and the only job I had lasted less than 4 months (I was fired back in April after making one mistake too many during my usual Android phone app testing). Then towards the beginning of May, I was given an opportunity by the celebrity husband of a distant cousin of mine to come with my sister to India, where I could get some informal training for free in Java/.NET. Of course, that also didn't work out so well, with my parents bringing me back after realizing I would be bound by a contract if I decided to pursue the opportunity.

Now back here in the U.S., I'm still looking for work, still struggling to pay off my loans every month (at this point I'll have to contact my loan service provider to see if I can defer payment for some time), still considering the possibility of grad school (even though I graduated with a crappy GPA, which is why I'm currently studying for the GRE exam that I'll be taking in a few weeks), and still frustrated at not having enough experience that employers are looking for.

Does anyone know of any good open-source projects I can latch onto while continuing my job search? And/or is there a way I can work for free for a certain period of time, just until I gain enough experience to go for a paying job?

 

[JAVO]

Sorry to hear about those recent challenges.

I can't answer your specific question, but I work in the software field. I'm sure you'll be able to find something fairly quickly in the that field though, especially if you look at jobs in other cities too. One potentially rewarding strategy (it worked for me anyway ) is to only search for jobs in one or two areas which interest you or which you're passionate about. Employers really want to hire someone who really wants to work there rather than just earn a paycheck, so that works well for both sides.

Feel free to discuss your interests here or in a pm if you think it would be useful. I can try to brainstorm some options to try.

 

[á´…eparted]

If your GPA is 3.0 or higher (below that and nearly every program will reject you), grad school will be viable if you get very solid letters of recommendation, and did well in the courses which would be your focus of grad school work. Some undergrad research experience would help. GRE scores won't do much either way. I would not even mention your job on applications as it will only hurt you.

Fair warning though; grad school is quite difficult and is not an "exit" or "pause button" in the way people like to think it is. Further, if your heart isn't in it, you won't last long.

 

[Avocado]

It's been over a year now since I graduated from college with my Bachelor's in Computer Science - and the only job I had lasted less than 4 months (I was fired back in April after making one mistake too many during my usual Android phone app testing). Then towards the beginning of May, I was given an opportunity by the celebrity husband of a distant cousin of mine to come with my sister to India, where I could get some informal training for free in Java/.NET. Of course, that also didn't work out so well, with my parents bringing me back after realizing I would be bound by a contract if I decided to pursue the opportunity.

Now back here in the U.S., I'm still looking for work, still struggling to pay off my loans every month (at this point I'll have to contact my loan service provider to see if I can defer payment for some time), still considering the possibility of grad school (even though I graduated with a crappy GPA, which is why I'm currently studying for the GRE exam that I'll be taking in a few weeks), and still frustrated at not having enough experience that employers are looking for.

Does anyone know of any good open-source projects I can latch onto while continuing my job search? And/or is there a way I can work for free for a certain period of time, just until I gain enough experience to go for a paying job?

I cannot help you. I'm sorry.

 

[SiegfriedSchtauffen]

You are the best person to tell what is interesting for you. It's better if you find your interests for yourself instead of letting others to force something upon you.

 

[Freesia]

Hm, this may not be of much help, but maybe if you approach several employers and ask to shadow for a few months for free they would take you on. I'm going through a similar process (though in a completely different area of employment) and this advice was passed on to me my several people who are successful in the industry.

 

[Firebird 8118]

Hm, this may not be of much help, but maybe if you approach several employers and ask to shadow for a few months for free they would take you on. I'm going through a similar process (though in a completely different area of employment) and this advice was passed on to me my several people who are successful in the industry.

Thanks Freesia I'll be sure to think about that as an option.

 

[Firebird 8118]

Sorry to hear about those recent challenges.

I can't answer your specific question, but I work in the software field. I'm sure you'll be able to find something fairly quickly in the that field though, especially if you look at jobs in other cities too. One potentially rewarding strategy (it worked for me anyway ) is to only search for jobs in one or two areas which interest you or which you're passionate about. Employers really want to hire someone who really wants to work there rather than just earn a paycheck, so that works well for both sides.

Feel free to discuss your interests here or in a pm if you think it would be useful. I can try to brainstorm some options to try.

Hmm - well, I honestly don't have much experience, but I'm considering starting off with software programming or mobile app development, and then moving on to cryptography (which I'm most interested in but have almost zero knowledge about).

 

[Firebird 8118]

If your GPA is 3.0 or higher (below that and nearly every program will reject you), grad school will be viable if you get very solid letters of recommendation, and did well in the courses which would be your focus of grad school work. Some undergrad research experience would help. GRE scores won't do much either way. I would not even mention your job on applications as it will only hurt you.

Fair warning though; grad school is quite difficult and is not an "exit" or "pause button" in the way people like to think it is. Further, if your heart isn't in it, you won't last long.

Yeah, I figured grad school would be a difficult path in my case I mean, I still have the GRE exam to prepare for and all, but if that doesn't help a whole lot, it's not the end of the world I guess. Thanks

 

[nonsequitur]

If your GPA is 3.0 or higher (below that and nearly every program will reject you), grad school will be viable if you get very solid letters of recommendation, and did well in the courses which would be your focus of grad school work. Some undergrad research experience would help. GRE scores won't do much either way. I would not even mention your job on applications as it will only hurt you.

Fair warning though; grad school is quite difficult and is not an "exit" or "pause button" in the way people like to think it is. Further, if your heart isn't in it, you won't last long.

This. Another thing: depending on what you do graduate studies in, it might narrow employment options even further. Generally I don't recommend it as a path unless 1) you're absolutely sure about what you want to use the degree for, (i.e. you already know that it will lead to good job opportunities, not just something your mom's best friend's son's classmate did and got rich from) AND 2) you have a large proportion of tuition/expenses covered by scholarships. Otherwise you'll be stuck in more debt (that you're already struggling to pay off) and might have even fewer career prospects.

Personally I would not have done graduate school if I hadn't had a free ride for it. And post-graduation, it wasn't easy for me to find a job either but I didn't have the added pressure of student loans.

 

[PeaceBaby]

Do you have an account on GitHub?

 

[Poki]

We just hired on an intern in the programming java field. He was an intern for about a year and when he do graduated we hired him. Try looking for an internship.

 

[Firebird 8118]

Sorry all for the late response! Haven't been online for a while, in fact (besides mindless browsing on Facebook, that is).

[MENTION=5076]nonsequitur[/MENTION] Yeah, I figured it might not work out as well (partly due to the extra amount of loans I'd have to pay off, and partly because of what you mentioned about having my options in the workplace limited even further). Thanks for the advice on this, in any case

[MENTION=5999]PeaceBaby[/MENTION] Hmm, if I remember correctly I did have a GitHub account, under my college email. I'll have to check that - if it's still there, I'll see if I can use that once again. Thanks!

[MENTION=12103]Poki[/MENTION] Yeah, I've been searching for both a job and an internship (can't afford to be picky in that regard!). For some reason though, it's been harder for me to find the latter than the former or maybe I'm not looking in the right places?

 

[Firebird 8118]

UPDATE: I got high scores in the math and reading comprehension sections of the GRE (I'll still have to wait for about 2 more weeks until I get my writing score in the mail)

So I'm considering applying for graduate school after all - I have nothing to lose at this point, and I'll still be looking for jobs on the side.

 

[Jaq]

UPDATE: I got high scores in the math and reading comprehension sections of the GRE (I'll still have to wait for about 2 more weeks until I get my writing score in the mail)

So I'm considering applying for graduate school after all - I have nothing to lose at this point, and I'll still be looking for jobs on the side.

Best of luck to you!

 

[Firebird 8118]

Best of luck to you!

Thanks!