[taidan]

Hey I should have found this thread a lot earlier.

I graduated three weeks ago with a CS degree, a study I very much enjoyed and can't wait to one day practice as a job. I've been very much frustrated with my status in life, and I've been struggling with determining what to make of it.

Part of it is finding a job. I've been on the lookout for one since March, and since then I've gotten just three rejections and one company that simply can't afford to hire me right now. It is very frustrating to make special arrangements for interviews, send followups, and be a good chum to these companies, only to wait a month or more after the process starts to get a "no", with absolutely no explanation because of fear of lawsuits. The business world is amazingly non confrontational, and I'm almost regretting choosing CS over MIS, because at least those folks were taught how to bullshit an interview well enough.

Part of me is upset with my CS department. Most of the profs at my college are researchers at heart, and since I never enjoyed that (and generally didn't brown nose), they really never had any good leads or advice for me. Now if I had chosen to go to grad school, the situation would be entirely different. But I don't blame them for not shoeing me into a job. What's more frustrating is looking back at their curriculum, and realizing they never had me write any serious amounts of code in my last two years of college. Now I pray that whenever I apply for a programmer position, I haven't forgotten too many things.

Going to a primarily business oriented school doesn't help either, because all the leads I got while on campus were for analyst and managerial positions, which always start the same way come interview time:

-"So you're a computer scientist. Why are you applying for this job?"

And you know replying with "your job posting mentioned an interest in my fucking degree, that's why" just isn't going to cut it.

Despite all of this, I don't like blaming others for my troubles, and I don't like being idle, which is why I'm leaving for Maryland again tomorrow and living as Bohemian as possible at my friend's apartment, looking for work and likely doing something part time while doing so. It won't answer all of my problems - I'm supposed to move into a genuine house with this guy and pay rent in two months - but it'll help me to get away from the boredom of northeast PA and maybe give me some time to see my old college friends.

Now I just have to get rid of my OCD fear that all those friends are ready to betray me. One step at a time.