[SGVLUG] discussion: jobs for graduating students

[matti]

Hi,

I wanted to quickly get this one out, as I know of a number of CIT students whom 
will be looking for employment as they graduate.

I have not seen a lot of jobs for new grads, however that maybe because
of the sites I have been looking at.

The big challenge is getting the experience to get you the job which
requires experience AND imho figuring out what you may want to do.

My advice ( Please feel free to ask questions, add comments, etc.. ):
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1) Go to the Caltech-MIT enterprise forums. 
IT is FREE to attend for Caltech students.
( non-Caltech students iirc cost $10 )

Printout cards with your info, and a note on it saying you are 
looking for work. Feel free to ask the forum organizers
if you can put a couple of flyers on the table inside. Meet 
people and make connections.

2) Caltech Has a Career fair.. looks like it is only 2x a year,
if you missed it, see if you can contact the organizers and
get contact info of those who setup booths.
( Just by being at CIT they are showing they have
openings for CIT students. )
http://www.career.caltech.edu/employers/careerfair
( facebook is one of the companies there often, and
has been hiring a lot.. )

3) There are a LOT of startups around now... if you can live
on a tight budget, it's a really good time to find an interesting
start up to work for which is well enough funded ( hopefully
to pay you enough to cover your rent and expenses )
Side note on this, you'll probably want to give yourself
a time limit on how long you'll work at any given start up.
( Definitely leave if you are no longer learning anything.. )

4) Summer internship programs - if you can, get in one.
( Google, Apple, and many others have some great 
internships,.. remember checkout Dan Kegel's
internship.. )

5) Checkout local companies and drop them a line to see
if they have any unlisted internships or jobs for recent grads.
Hint, Idealabs

6) Attend groups like SGVLUG and network, and try to
introduce yourself to the group "Hi may name is.. and
I'll be looking for a job after I graduate.. " or something
along those lines.
( hint there are a lot of great group meetings out there,
many maybe near Santa Monica as there seems to be
a movement to make "Silicon Beach" happen.. )

7) ( This advice from the Geek Hunter, whom we've had
present at SGVLUG a couple of times. )
Join an open source project and help it on your
time, this will give you valued experience.
( lots of open source projects need help,
from programming to documentation.. 
I recommend picking one which would
be more relevant to finding work )

8) If you are so inclined and can afford to, I would 
encourage you to even make your own start up with 
your friends. NOW is a great time to do it.
Honestly, you will gain a lot of experience, and
the cost to creating a start up is a lot less than it used
to be.

9) Consider joining one of the large consulting companies.
Honestly you will get some good experience from these
jobs, just remember you'll need to come to terms with
being able to "look the part" ( i.e. I think most of them
still like to see people in suits and ties.. )

..

Any more suggestions? Ideas?

thanks
matti
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