Job Prospects for ‘24, ‘25 Grads and beyond?

As I said, point understood. No need to keep posting it. This will be my final reply on the subject.

IMO this is the reality. In a perfect world, everyone could get internships but it’s super difficult to get past the screening, especially for freshmen or sophmores.

And the internship after your junior year is the big one because that’s the one you hope to get the permanant offer. But those may be harder if you dont have internships from previous years.

The tighter the job market, the connections/network become even more important.

Congratulations.

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That this student persevered will help them through the trial and travails of life - because it’s not just finding your first job but many have to find jobs later too after layoffs or taking a buy out, etc.

I think the student will look back on the challenge with fondness years down the road. Everything needn’t be so easy all the time.

lol - “everything needn’t be easy “? Are we on the same thread?

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Someone just posted in our Nextdoor group that their student’s internship was abruptly cancelled two weeks prior to the start date because the company can no longer afford their internship program :frowning:

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Which is why repeatedly I say that kids (and, maybe more importantly, those who place pressure on kids about these sorts of things) need to be very skeptical of any “A degree in X is a guaranteed job!” narratives they run across.

We’ve seen it in cycles over the past several decades, and every time it ends the same.

Colleges need professors, get a PhD! Job market crash.

There’s a shortage of teachers, get a teaching degree! Job market crash.

We’ll always need nurses, get a nursing degree! Job market crash.

Coding is the future, get a comp sci degree! Job market crash.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

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My point is - everyone is like - I applied and applied and got nothing. No one gave me a job.

Sales 101 - and my dating life - every no is one step closer to a Yes!

Everyone is in sales…even the Classics major….gotta sell yourself.

I assume, hope, this student busted tail, ran into a wall, persevered and won - that’s good stuff to help you handle pressure and stress in the future.

Some like me think it’s a #s game - the more you apply, the more likely you are to get a gig. Others say that’s a waste and to network, etc.

Whatever one does - just don’t give up. That’s the point. If a door closes, dust yourself off and open the next one.

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This investopedia article (fwiw) popped into my news feed, given this discussion…

https://www.investopedia.com/top-bachelor-s-degrees-that-lead-to-strong-job-opportunities-after-college-11951220

The problem with jobs is that every NO increases the length of time one is unemployed, and some employers view longer lengths of unemployment as a negative aspect of an applicant.

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My friend - if you’re not working, you’re not working - and yes, if it’s a year and you’re not working, next year’s class will be in better position.

But if you’re not working and you give up, well you are most assuredly going to be unemployed.

The phrase is meant to help people deal with rejection and keep trying. Of course a Yes is preferable to a No.

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Engineering and CS/Data etc are often limited in the seats they have for new students. This is due to special facilites and labs needed for both. They also are very expensive to expand as both faculty and facilities cost a premium over say expanding a sociology major. Some schools are adding more openings while others just require impossible gpas.
Wisconsin for one is expanding the right way on both fronts. Morgridges' latest gift drives UW-Madison engineering building forward - College of Engineering - University of Wisconsin-Madison https://cai.wisc.edu/ Morgridge Hall - School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences

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Yes, some schools charge variable rates to students, to better reflect their variable costs. In addition to engineering, majors that have labs or higher average salary faculty also tend to have higher cost to university. For example, UIUC charges the following tuition rates for non-residents:

  • Default – $33k
  • Media School / Kineseology – $34k
  • Fine Arts / Agriculture - $35k
  • Economics / Food Sciences / Animal Sciences – $36k
  • Astrophysics – $38k
  • Information Sciences / Business / Life Sciences / Chemistry – $39k
  • Engineering School – $41k

CS and to a lesser extent engineering can also face limitations to due to demand increasing faster than available resources. As previously noted, at highly selective private colleges with open major enrollment, CS enrollment often quintupled over a relatively small number of years, increasing from an unpopular major to the most popular major. Most schools cannot immediately accommodate this degree of growth, including rapidly changing faculty hiring to reflect changes in popularity among students, such as rapidly hiring new CS faculty and rapidly letting humanities faculty go, then reversing decisions if major enrollment trends change a few years later. Universities may prefer to have controlled expansion via limited enrollment, rather than uncontrolled expansion. This is particularly common at public flagships.

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Just one average (just kidding) man’s perspective on what to study in the Age of AI

https://www.inc.com/leila-sheridan/jensen-huang-engineering-jobs-ai/91337609

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I just wanted to share our experience in the job market this season. My son goes to Rutgers for CS/Math. He had one offer from a finance company in the Midwest/south for a finance job, and one offer from a NY based finance firm for a tech job. There was a lot of ghosting, I think because he went to Rutgers, relative to other kids I know with comparable resumes at better regarded schools. He sent over a 1000 resumes this season. So it’s a numbers game, with a healthy dose of luck, and fit considerations.

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Counterpoint: Anyone who says with a straight face “Engineering teaches you to start from first principles” should be ignored unless it is to mock them.

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I also want to add that cases where past record would have suggested that a company’s final round interviews have yielded some 30% full time offers , have resulted in only 10% full time offers this year. So there are jobs if your interviews/resume/profile are near perfect. This spans various industries we have had experience with this season.

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What you are seeing is what I’ve heard from my 2 kiddos - it’s tough out there. Glad to see your son got some offers - wishing him success as he starts out in life.

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Thank you

:100: ^^

School reputation is a huge variable in the market today and I think that “luck” is an even more potent factor. Initiative and persistence are critical and once they’ve gone through the gauntlet the graduating kids will have built up a mass of resilience that will help them all their life.

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