<p>I was looking for Carnegie Mellon MS in Software Engineering, the director of Admissions said the undergraduate degree does not have to be in CS, as long as a student has taken enough courses in hard sciences for undergraduate.</p>
<p>The situation is very tight for specific jobs. Our DS with BS in ME and HCI from CMU and a MS HCI from Toronto (college of CS) is having difficulty finding a fulltime position. Even with internships and work experience with well known people in his field, there is a hiring freeze. He’s making wage, again in a short-term position but nowhere his potential. </p>
<p>^C_S. DS still has not taken a programming course either as an undergrad or grad. He however knows enough and knows how to learn enough to get the job done. </p>
<p>In the 70’s, it was said that college grads who had writing skills did better in CS/programming than science majors.</p>
<p>Law degree. He could continue school and get a JD and use his already technical background and interest to apply a legal focus on technology and intellectual property.</p>
<p>OR</p>
<p>He can use his existing Journalism degree and work for the US Department of State as a foreign service officer. They provide additional training (6 months) and highly value journalism and english majors since communication is a key component for working in the government. They have various career tracks that you can check out here [U.S</a>. Department of State Careers - Foreign Service Officer](<a href=“http://careers.state.gov/officer/index.html]U.S”>Foreign Service Officer - Careers)</p>
<p>I am in the same shoes as him. High gpa, journalism background (although majored in communication) and having a rough time seeking a job. I am in the middle of law school applications and would consider working for the government after I receive my JD.</p>
<p>Hope this helps</p>
<p>OP,</p>
<p>I have PM-ed you. Hope it gives you some encouragement. :)</p>
<p>-pink</p>
<p>This thread should be drilled into every high school senior in the country.</p>
<p>It’s hard for it to have relevance for high school seniors whose main concern at that time in theri lives is to get into colleges. Just like I tried to interest my college touring kids’ younger brothers in colleges while we were looking at schools. It just doesn’t stick.</p>
<p>I was meaning in terms of major selection (I don’t know, are you referring to that as well?). Major selection is arguably more important college selection in how it affects later life. Sadly, we spend far more time at work than virtually any other activity.</p>
<p>“I was meaning in terms of major selection (I don’t know, are you referring to that as well?). **Major selection is arguably more important college selection in how it affects later life. **Sadly, we spend far more time at work than virtually any other activity.”</p>
<p>That had always been our view and we guided our children accordingly. They are still in college so I don’t know if we were right or wrong.</p>
<p>If major selection is the determing factor, then why do 90% of people end up working in jobs unrelated to their major?</p>
<p>I’m a freshman in college majoring in lib arts (Economics) and this thread has done little to change my mind about anything. I plan to actually have work experience/internships though. I always heard your undergrad degree doesn’t make a huge difference, unless you major in something like, I don’t know, communications? although that could be useful too.</p>
<p>^I wonder how the above statistic (90%) is derived. I have no problem with people studying whatever one wishes to in college. My son is studying something we advised against but which is his dream. One of my daughter’s majors is economics. </p>
<p>However I still agree with “Major selection is arguably more important college selection in how it affects later life”.</p>
<p>I think two other posters have mentioned tech writing, and I’m going to add my voice to that. I know a bunch of tech writers, and it is a solid career.</p>
<p>You don’t have to have a CS degree to go onto a CS grad program, but you do need to have some amount of math and CS background. Some schools have post-bac programs in CS, which are designed to prep non-CS majors who have graduated for grad school in CS, to get them up to speed. I am in such a program right now, and if you PM me I am happy to talk about this.</p>
<p>Also, with a multimedia background, he might be interested in a grad program in human factors or HCI. They’ll take all sorts of backgrounds.</p>
<p>I have a DS in similar position re: job hunting and am hoping he does not end up depressed. He is 25 years old, graduated June 2006 from highly ranked liberal arts university with major in film production. He had trimester LA internship and two summer internships in NYC. After graduation, he did SAT tutoring to earn $. Then was in China teaching for 1 1/2 years. He is back now and looking for tv/film/ad production or post-production work in NYC at entry level or even short term internship. He has been looking for about two months and has had some interviews but either didn’t like people or was not made an offer. DH & I have some suggestions re: job hunting but he wants to be independent and do it “on his own” – grrrr…</p>
<p>I’m not sure how the statistic is derived, but I’ve heard it several times. For all I know, it could be made up though, so please don’t trust me on that one. </p>
<p>Is major choice really more important than college choice? I would think someone with a B.A in Economics from Harvard wouldn’t end up a pauper compared to someone with a CS degree from an unheard of crappy school. </p>
<p>What does DS stand for? I’m guessing it means “Son” but why the “D”? And why not just type “son” instead of S or even DS? it’s an extra letter lol.</p>
<p>^DS= Dear Son ? :)</p>
<p>ahhh, gotcha. I thought first maybe it was daughter/son, referring to both kids, but that doesn’t fit in the context. </p>
<p>Son = 3 letters
DS = 2
I don’t get the need for so many abbrevations, but whatever, lol. It must be a parent thing!</p>
<p>Picking up on the poster that works for PBS, I would second the idea of trying to find work with online media. One idea that comes to mind is Josh Marshall’s TPM - Talking Points Memo is a political blog that hires interns and staff and regularly advertises on the site for positions. My son applied for an unpaid internship with them and was offered a position but turned it down because of the cost of living. He was living at home at the time and in the process of applying to law and grad school so it just wasn’t a wise move for him, but for someone looking for full time work in journalism it would be a great opportunity. I know that the person my son talked to said that often times the TPM internships leads to a paid position, so it might be worth finding a high profile internship even if it means forgoing income and working at Starbucks part time. PBS had plenty of internships as well but the best ones were all unpaid.</p>