Do most entry level jobs, the type a recently graduated person would be the most qualified for, usually go through recruiters? It hasn’t been that way in my industry.
I agree to get the resume checked by a prof or a savvy contact in the field. It’s his calling card. It’s possible he’s, so to say, hiding his assets behind the wrong wording- too little detail or too much, or emphasizing the wrong bullets (something that was a big deal to him, as a student, but is not key in what the employers scan for.)
And then I wonder about getting the perfected resume on LinkedIn. It’s a reiteration and one of mine found her interviewers had almost always also looked there, as a 2nd look. Just keep out the extraneous things.
excellent advice, postmodern.
My son was often asked what projects he completed on his own and ones he was currently working on in his free time.
He had to go through at least 3 interviews before he actually was seen in person and presented with different coding problems to work out.
Amazon has some CS jobs in Boston. He should check them out.
Here is another tip. When he sees a job posting on Linkedin, sometimes they will have a recruiter’s name, but with no contact information because Linkedin wants you to pay a premium fee to send messages. It is actually quite easy to get people’s email address, just google it and you will often out how companies set up their email address. It is always better to apply to the recruiter directly instead of applying through Linkedin or company website.
The recruiter is the one who initiated contact with ds, I think through Linkedin. Is it possible that the recruiter would try to get ds to agree to a certain (low) salary and then go to the company and say, “This guy is a bargain, you should hire him.”? He interviewed exactly two weeks ago, heard back from the recruiter the next day about the good feedback, and then didn’t hear anything until two days ago, when the recruiter called and asked what he’d been up to and said they’d try to get him a good offer with the company, how did $38,000 sound. When he asked what the benefits were, they sent him a copy of the health insurance plan and holiday schedule, but nothing personalized to the job or him.
His resume is game heavy, but if he were to take that info off, it would be really skimpy. It also doesn’t have our address on it, just his phone, email, and website.
Is there a chance that your son is dealing with a staffing company and he will become an employee of this company as opposed to the end client? This salary looks like an H1B rate.
Sounds like this outside rectuiter is the one lowballing. ? And that can be for the recruiter’s own interests. As in, “You should hire me as a resource.”
It can take some companies time to generate offer paperwork, run it through their channels. But did the guy actally say an offer is in the works? Part of their work, sorry to say, can be keeping the hopes alive.
Btw, if he takes housing that’s not near markets, Uber is an option.
Has he been applying for jobs in other states? If not I would have him do that. He may need to move across the country to get that first job.
“…for $40,000 (up from the $38,000 the recruiter initially told him they would ask for after ds said that was too low).”
Seems odd to me that the recruiter is setting price. Companies usually have established salary ranges, especially for the newbies. Then there’s talk, if what the hopeful asks for is out of whack for that potential hire.
Sounds like more questions need answers.
Even the bottom-end IT outsourcing companies pay H-1B visa holders better than that.
http://www.myvisajobs.com/Reports/2016-H1B-Visa-Sponsor.aspx
He has to get out there and network. You found one meeting in your area, have him contact them and ask to be addd to their list and ask them if they know of other groups in your area. What he is doing isn’t working, he may not like the NEU career services dept, but I suggest he contact them anyway, his professors, other students that are employed and alumni. He needs to humble himself and get the word out there that he needs a job. Looking for a job is hard, he needs to work at it and make it his full time job.
My UCLA-grad nephew had to go to Fargo to get his first job. But it pays well, has benefits, and is a good professional position. He really needs to expand his search to include other places, then work for a couple of years with Boston as his goal. My Seattle-area programmer neighbors are searching for more coders desperately enough that they ask me if I know anyone.
If he is hired through a headhunter, he may be forced to sign a contract to pay back the headhunter fee if he leaves before a year. I know that is what is common in my industry.
89, These are average salaries and, supposedly, all H1B talent are not entry level.
$40K may be the norm for a low-ball staffing company that specialize in H1B staffing in a lower cost location.
Obviously, a NEU graduate looking for a position in Boston should fare much better. I am surprised - what happened with all these coops, internships, career fairs that they supposedly offer to students?
My son had a lot of these opportunities at the lowly Rutgers. He had an internship that ended in an offer and he had other job leads through the internal job fairs - all through the career center. He also visited Rutgers career fair a year later when he was looking for the second job and they offered him the same opportunities as before (same companies recruit year after year).
I would start with NEU career services. I would assume that career services of a top 50 private university that actually specialize in pre-professional prep and strategically located in a desirable city should have access to entry-level job opportunities. In general, I think that a large chunk of entry-level hiring is going through the universities career services.
Currently in tech (at least in NYC) it doesn’t matter, they need to fill the jobs with the skills. Going to Craigslist or other sources gets you the bottom of the barrel and OP’s S doesn’t sound like that to me.
We do this every interview. It is the most revealing question of who loves coding and who is in it for the bucks. And thanks for the compliment on the advice.
I wondered this also. The HH we use has a “rent for hire” program, but their hourly rate would support much more than $18/hr to the employee. MUCH more. But make no mistake with HHs, the client is the important one, not the “body”. If they curry favor by finding a guy to fit a crazy low budget, they will do it.
I think the problem can be that most kids get hired through the companies that are recruiting new grads from their universities. They are specifically looking for new grads. Other CS grads get jobs through contacts or internships, and if you haven’t gotten anything that way, you are now out there competing for the non new grad positions, and they want 3-5 years of experience. Unless you’re one of these kids with a crapload of projects and apps you created, you’re in a tough spot.
Even searching for junior developer jobs, they seem to want experience. It seems best to try to search for the new or recent grad jobs. Put those words in search parameters.
My son has had some success with Workbridge recruiters sending him to interviews, but I think the best way is to go to meetups in the location you want to work, and meet people who are hiring. That’s what meetups (and hackathons) are for, they are recruiting events.
Python is a very useful language, especially for data science.
I can sympathize, kappie, with a non-driving son in the game design field. He finished his classes early but still needed to fulfill his 2 semesters of co-op experience, and managed to find a company in NYC that would hire him for the co-op and keep him on afterward. So he really had no CS work experience. He has now moved to Seattle but is still working for the company from home. I’m not sure if they are hiring but can PM you the info in case he would like to contact them.
Is this the only potential job offer he has?
I agree that someone in the field should look over his resume and help him get the right buzzwords in it so the systems that scan linked in and resumes for the preliminary skills pull his up. Many moons ago my DS added that he’d help develop a prototype, and that key word opened up lots of doors.
@Tanbiko, somewhat off topic…perhaps you can pm me…I’m curious if you found that Rutgers Career Services/Job Fairs were well represented and “good” job opportunities? My DS18 is looking into Rutgers BAIT program and would appreciate your input. Thanks!
@mamabear1234, It’s interesting to me about these non-driving young men…my DS just turned 21 and has no interest in driving! My daughter was at DMV at 8am on her 17th birthday and has been driving everyday since. He is away at college and worked/plans to work in NYC when home (which is an easy commute) but I must get on him about it this summer! 