How long does it take to get a job after graduating?
It can take well over a year of nationwide applying with absolutely no responses, even for applicants with computer science degrees and internship experience. Despite having resumes that baffle industry veterans, graduates are unable to secure entry-level roles, leaving them unemployed, in debt, or working low-wage food service jobs.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
How long does it take to get a job after graduating?
- 1Pursuing a professional certification to become more employableDid this help you?
- 2Taking a survival or part-time job to pay bills while studying for certificationsDid this help you?
- 3Working low-wage service jobs outside of their field to surviveDid this help you?
- 4Expanding job searches to smaller firms in lower cost-of-living areasDid this help you?
- 5Seeking referrals and networking instead of submitting cold applicationsDid this help you?
- 6Joining the military as a fallback for stable income and benefitsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I spent four wasted years on a computer science bachelor's and internships, and subsequently a year working a $16/hour food service job in a VHCOL city... I'm homeless and unemployed and in student loan debt now.”source ↗
“Yes I was applying nation wide for not only my senior year - well, a couple months before - but a year after graduating. Nationally. I got absolutely no bites. I've asked people in the field with a decade or two of experience to look at my resume, and they're baffled I couldn't get any responses”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 19Why do accountants take the first job offer after unemployment?
- 24Why are job boards full of impossible roles and ghost listings?
- 6Why can't I get a job as a generalist?
- 3Applying for jobs before you graduate
- 7Feeling completely unprepared after starting a new professional job
- 2Why am I not getting any entry-level job interviews?