"My daughter followed the playbook everyone here recommends. MIT. Programming olympiads. Strong internships. No shortcuts."
I never had any of this and I managed to find work in tech in 2000, 2008, and even now (during the worst down markets in my lifetime), when everyone says that 'nobody is hiring', I had 5 interviews (I only applied to 10 or so jobs) and an offer in less than a month.
Education has never guaranteed you a job. The key is to be able to stay positive, even with rejections. I've never had the luxury of having an internship or network at a well-known university.
Getting a job is all about getting yourself in reduced in a smaller pool of candidates that the company will choose from. Education, experience, being personable can all do this.
The economy is rough right now. You also have do things that can set yourself apart from the rest. I got my latest offer by calling the person that posted the job directly and had a second interview by the end of the week.
"She spends most days in her room applying, "
Mass applying will almost never get you the job. She should be focused on customizing her resume and trying to get in touch with the person posting the job and getting face time.
"It’s Christmas and we aren’t celebrating. No decorations. No pretending things are okay. I’m completely shattered as a parent, mostly because I don’t have answers. I told her for years that merit would protect her. It didn’t."
This is an odd response from a parent. Why are you wallowing in her sorrow? You should be showing her that life can still be good and she will eventually find work again.
This isn’t about you, someone with years of experience. I also found a job within a month a year ago. Why? My experience.
My brother in law is experiencing the same thing as his daughter. He graduated with a 4.0 in computer science but couldn’t find a job to save his life. Why? It’s hard to customize your resume when you have no relevant experience. What’s he doing now? Getting his master’s. Piling on more debt. Hoping. Working on random projects, just like everyone else. Getting the occasional interview where they ask questions he has no idea how to answer because he’s never been in the situation to learn or develop a way to formulate an answer. Unprepared, despite preparing every single day. Why? Because teams have lost people due to layoffs, offshoring, etc., and now expect more from potential junior positions.
Reaching out to recruiters, hiring managers, people who work in the company/department isn’t some new thing. It’s just not working like it used to.
I never had any of this and I managed to find work in tech in 2000, 2008, and even now (during the worst down markets in my lifetime), when everyone says that 'nobody is hiring', I had 5 interviews (I only applied to 10 or so jobs) and an offer in less than a month.
Education has never guaranteed you a job. The key is to be able to stay positive, even with rejections. I've never had the luxury of having an internship or network at a well-known university.
Getting a job is all about getting yourself in reduced in a smaller pool of candidates that the company will choose from. Education, experience, being personable can all do this.
The economy is rough right now. You also have do things that can set yourself apart from the rest. I got my latest offer by calling the person that posted the job directly and had a second interview by the end of the week.
"She spends most days in her room applying, "
Mass applying will almost never get you the job. She should be focused on customizing her resume and trying to get in touch with the person posting the job and getting face time.
"It’s Christmas and we aren’t celebrating. No decorations. No pretending things are okay. I’m completely shattered as a parent, mostly because I don’t have answers. I told her for years that merit would protect her. It didn’t."
This is an odd response from a parent. Why are you wallowing in her sorrow? You should be showing her that life can still be good and she will eventually find work again.