<p>Yes, I did join – no connections yet of course, haha. 
Gotta start somewhere, though!</p>
<p>Max, all the education in the world isn’t going to get you a job if you can’t get off your couch and interact with people. You have to put yourself out there. Jobs are NOT generally found in this economy (or even when the economy is better) via resumes sent to human resources! They are found through alumni, friends and acquaintances from college (or even high school), people you worked with in the past, etc. Networking is obviously easier for people who make friends more easily, but you really have to make yourself get out and do this. One thing to remember is that everybody had to find their first job, so people are sympathetic to that.</p>
<p>Why no connections on LinkedIn yet? Don’t wait for people to come to you. Don’t you know anyone from Wharton who is out in the working world now? Some of them might belong. Go search for every friend AND ACQUAINTANCE you can think of. Send them an invite to connect. And once they accept, look through who THEY are linked to. If you know any of them, send them an invitation. Note: this is not like Facebook. You are not inviting yourself to be their friend, you are merely establishing a contact for business purposes. I have many connections on LinkedIn that I do not consider “friends” - - some I don’t know very well, some I don’t even like 
But they are professional connections. I would be hesitant to “friend” many of these people (would feel presumptous). But professional networks are different, less personal.</p>
<p>One more note. Don’t hesitate to ask people who are older than you are to link on LinkedIn. Again, on Facebook it would feel strange to friend your friend’s mom or someone older you worked with. But it is not odd on LinkedIn. </p>
<p>Another thing - - when you have a conversation with someone about a job or possibilities within their company, ask if they are on LinkedIn. If so, ask if you can link with them. It is a little odd to invite people you have never had any contact with at all, but if you do it right after an e-mail exchange or conversation with them, then they will probably say yes. Even if they didn’t have any job openings, they might remember you later. And if they move to a different company later where you might want a future job, you can track where they have gone. </p>
<p>If you update your Linked in status with some frequency (you can say you are looking for a job, join some professional organizations, you can post when you find a job, etc.) they can see those updates and will remember that you exist.</p>
<p>Ok, if you are on LinkedIn now it is time to grow the network as mentioned above. Request to connect to anyone you can find in the search. Also join groups. I did a quick search on Wharton and found 10 groups. Not all may be appropriate for you but that was just one search. I then did finance in the search and found too many so it would need another qualifier. Join as many groups as you can find appropriate. Look at the jobs posted in each of those groups in addition to the jobs section. Do this while you are also emailing the Wharton alum lists. When you find an alum name, search them on LinkedIn and connect with them. Keep going. This takes work but you need to get yourself out there where a connection can work for you.</p>
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<p>That’s the truth. </p>
<p>Max you have been given a plethora of advice for right at 10 pages of this thread. </p>
<p>You have to use that analytical mind of yours to figure something out by now. </p>
<p>You have T Minus how many days with your relative in Austin, again? </p>
<p>Come on now!</p>
<p>The holiday season is sometimes very hard for folks and in light of your situation this holiday season is going to be hard for you. Please try to be proactive by now before you are SOL. Please. No one can “virtually” house and feed you through this thread. </p>
<p>I am trying to give you a wake up call. I am by no means trying to be mean. There is a difference.</p>
<p>Max, I’m going to talk to you as I would my own son.</p>
<p>If you are clinically depressed (which would be understandable if your family situation is as bad as you make it sound), then you need to get some appropriate help. I can pm you some resources in Austin. If you are just frustrated, down, and feeling helpless because of your immediate circumstances, then look yourself in the mirror, acknowledge that the situation stinks; acknowledge that you were dealt some crummy cards; acknowledge that YOU didn’t play the hand you were dealt as well as you could have. Also acknowledge that you have more tools than most people to deal with this difficult situation (intelligence, excellent education, outstanding OCR/alumni network). You simply MUST lose the victim mentality and whiny voice that comes across in your posts! You need to tap into the considerable intelligence & intestinal fortitude that got you into and through Wharton.</p>
<p>I just checked Orbitz. You can fly to Philly for $200. Greyhound’s $175. Really, if you can’t figure out a way to get 200 bucks in your pocket in a week, I’m not sure I’d want to hire you. My 12 year old could raise 200 bucks if he were sufficiently motivated, and he has no transportation either!</p>
<p>Housing’s an issue? Can’t find a friend to stay with over winter break? Go to a shelter. I’ve worked at shelters for years. I know they’re not much fun, but I also know that a shelter with day services can not only provide food & a bed, but can also help with things like bus passes, mail handling, etc. And trust me, nothing will motivate you to get your act together better than sleeping with a hundred homeless guys for a few weeks.</p>
<p>MoWC has offered to help you get to Philly. I’ll help you, too, if you can convince me that you’re ready to do what it takes to get yourself moving again. For me, that would mean a phone call in which you:
- Convince me that you’ve exhausted the possibilities of help from your family, particularly your mother
- Convince me that you’re someone I’d consider hiring (the elevator pitch, as someone described it)
- Give me an action plan for the period from 11/27 - 3/31, including specific networking plans, meetings scheduled with OCR, rational list of application targets (i.e. not just shooting resumes all over the country), where you’re going to stay & how you’re going to eat until you land a permanent job, etc.
- Never mention your SAT scores, high school GPA, or college acceptances again! All are irrelevant. You are now a college grad with a not-horrible/not-great GPA which will also become irrelevant once you’ve added value in some adult context–whether in a corporate setting, as an independent consultant, teaching–whatever. </p>
<p>I’m serious about helping you. As someone else said, it’s not charity, it’s paying it forward. I know what it’s like to have zero family support and no financial resources. But I survived and thrived, and so can you. PM me if you want to pursue my offer.</p>
<p>A 3.0 from Wharton is a very acceptable GPA- just not in this market. I know a bunch of Penn wrestlers who are Wharton grads (or seniors) who have a lot lower GPA than that and have been “helped” through athletic networking with finding great jobs. Unfortunately, this year (as I said earlier) it is the 3.8 kids who are getting the jobs this fall. Spring recruiting has a different slate and many more kids will find positions.<br>
The thing to do is go for the jobs in cities where the top Wharton kids wouldn’t be as inclined to go- Charlotte, Nashville, Dallas. You aren’t going to land the jobs in NYC against the 3.8 seniors. There are plenty of companies interviewing at state schools and other privates if you can just get access to that information. It isn’t “cheating”. It’s a way to find out which companies have college recruiting programs and get the name of the interviewer.</p>
<p>Yes, MOWC, I too think a 3.0 from Wharton is very acceptable. It won’t land the plum job at Goldman in this economy, but I just meant to suggest that GPA is probably not what’s keeping Max from finding some kind of work.</p>
<p>I agree with MOWC, too, that the top Wharton kids wouldn’t be as inclined to go to the cities she named. But if I remember some of your other posts, MOWC, you used to live in Dallas. Do you think the Wharton label is as big a plus here as it would be in some other cities? I thought of suggesting Dallas as better than Austin in Max’s circumstances, but I also thought that in Dallas he might be facing a job market that would tend to favor the solid UT/A&M grad right now (absent a Penn alumni connection, and all other things being equal). So maybe it’s still better for him to hie himself to Philly asap.</p>
<p>Go where you have the most contacts…if that’s Philly…then Philly it is.
Really, I think you should spend the next few weeks making some money and them making a plan to find a place to stay in Philly. Raking leaves, tutoring, whatever…you should be able to make at least $50 - 100 per day, save it and then use it for a trip to Philly. Maybe you can rent a room at a local YMCA. Or house sit as someone suggested. IMO, you are wasting your time with sending out online resumes. It just doesn’t work…especially in this economy.
Also, Linked In is a great way to reach out to folks you don’t know well or haven’t seen in a while. Make sure you personalize your message.</p>
<p>Once you get in Philly, there are rooms available for about $125 per week - check out Craig’s List. It should be pretty easy to get a basic job in the Philly area…perhaps work at night so you could free up your days for a job search. Public trans is decent.</p>
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</p>
<p>In almost any city, it will DEFINITELY be cheaper with roommates, especially since you won’t have to pay the initial deposit that most places require when you first rent an apartment. (Although some will have very low deposits, so singles are still a possibility if you find a cheap one.)</p>
<p>Here’s another thought: maybe there are people looking to hire a housesitter over the holidays as they travel to the Caribbean or home to visit their parents or whatever. Or maybe people who need a pet sitter, or want to hire a dog-walker.</p>
<p>Post by lonestarmom:
"MoWC has offered to help you get to Philly. I’ll help you, too, if you can convince me that you’re ready to do what it takes to get yourself moving again. For me, that would mean a phone call in which you:
- Convince me that you’ve exhausted the possibilities of help from your family, particularly your mother
- Convince me that you’re someone I’d consider hiring (the elevator pitch, as someone described it)
- Give me an action plan for the period from 11/27 - 3/31, including specific networking plans, meetings scheduled with OCR, rational list of application targets (i.e. not just shooting resumes all over the country), where you’re going to stay & how you’re going to eat until you land a permanent job, etc.
- Never mention your SAT scores, high school GPA, or college acceptances again! All are irrelevant. You are now a college grad with a not-horrible/not-great GPA which will also become irrelevant once you’ve added value in some adult context–whether in a corporate setting, as an independent consultant, teaching–whatever. </p>
<p>I’m serious about helping you. As someone else said, it’s not charity, it’s paying it forward. I know what it’s like to have zero family support and no financial resources. But I survived and thrived, and so can you. PM me if you want to pursue my offer."</p>
<p>Max, what a gift these kind people have offered you. I wish you the best and hope that you accept their offer of help and support.</p>
<p>I know someone has probably mentioned this before…but have you tried hooking up with the alumni affairs office to see if they can connect you with a room mate or some cheap temporary housing (perhaps a hostel)? Explain your situation…don’t be shy. I’ll bet they’ll help…there are lots of students off campus so the holiday situation might be OK.</p>
<p>lonestarmom: Yes, but I don’t have time for the “appropriate help” right now. There’s nothing “appropriate help” could explain to me on a psychological level that I don’t either already understand or couldn’t deduce. The problem is that a lot of my depression issues stem from a lot of traumatic events and high-stress obstacles that have occurred in the past years, and the only way I’m ever going to get on a road to a healthy mindset is to achieve a self-sustaining stability. I’m aware that my posts probably have a large sense of victim-mentality and “whininess,” but in all honesty, I feel like it isn’t unreasonable given my past. Of course, rationally speaking, the events of the past can be diluted as long as I can be rational, look to the margin, and focus on today moving forward. Complaining about the past can do nothing but hinder, and so I’d like to focus on what lies ahead.</p>
<p>The problem isn’t so much the actual trip to Philly, but rather the housing/shipping. My relative is moving soon and he isn’t going to be able to take my stuff – I’ve got to find a place I can move to. My friend back at Penn told me he can help out with shipping costs (and I agreed I could pay him back), which leaves housing as the main issue. </p>
<p>Regarding your four points:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Probably something best explained in private.</p></li>
<li><p>Again, probably something to explain in private, but there’s no doubt in my mind that I’m a good hire.</p></li>
<li><p>This is my plan: I just called back one of the Philly firms that had gotten back to me from OCR but had rejected me because I couldn’t show up in person for an interview. I asked if I could still interview if I were able to make it to Philly. I was told that on Wed, Thurs, or Fri of next week (Dec 2, 3, 4) I could squeeze something in if I were present. So if I were to go to Philly, that would definitely be on the list. As for housing and food, I don’t know yet. Finances make that an issue. I’ve got a call scheduled with career services on the 1st. I think to find part-time work in the interim of things I would have to seek out places on campus that might want to hire someone for the holiday duration (maybe places like Gia Pronto, the Gallery, etc) or try to contact old Penn employers I’ve worked for in the past. It’s a bit tricky because of the Holiday issue, which is low-activity/low-business/low-everything.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>My other plan is to try to venture to San Francisco instead – housing’s slightly more expensive there and I think I could probably find someone living there that wouldn’t mind splitting down the rent (I could also pursue temp work there in the meantime and reach out to Wharton alum). My rationale is that San Fran is a hub for tech/casual game development/finance, all of which I have experience with (anyone looking at my resume probably can’t tell if I’m a finance guy or a tech guy because I’ve got both). San Fran is my eventual end-destination, but maybe I’m reaching too far out. It was a dream of mine that I wanted to pursue by going to Wharton in the first place – but anyone I contact there would be a graduate not confined to holiday issues. The problem is that I don’t know anyone personally living off-campus in Philly – most of my friends in Philly are on-campus upperclassmen, which is an issue with the holiday.</p>
<p>4.</p>
<p>toneranger: I think I’d probably call Penn’s housing services and see if I can’t spin something – see if I can’t tack on an additional mini-loan or something. Paying money up-front right now is a huge primary issue.</p>
<p>As far as applying for campus jobs: most college campuses do slow down activity that is student-related, like housing, food, library services. However, all other campus departments usually continue to function normally, even when students are gone. The only time that is different is between Christmas and New Year’s, since so many people take vacation time then. I don’t know if it’s different at Penn.</p>
<p>Have you tried creating two different resumes, one that emphasizes tech, the other finance? I think your tech skills are more in demand right now than the finance ones.</p>
<p>Yeah, I have a resume that’s more techheavy. I could probably try to seek out a prof on campus willing to hire a grad temporarily if I go back to Philly.</p>
<p>Right now, I vote for Philly. San Francisco unemployment is crazy high, and there’s lots of other good tech people with 15 years experience and contacts looking for jobs. Start where you can get a good start, and have contacts, then build up your resources and move when you can afford it.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think I’ve decided I am going to pursue Philly. The travel access, business access, university access, alum network etc is probably the best bet.</p>
<p>So maybe you could stay with a friend on campus until the holiday period. Then, maybe a hostel for a couple of weeks? (presumably, you will find some minimum wage work in the next couple of weeks and be able to pay a $40 per night room fee during the holiday period). Here’s a link with info about local hostels…</p>
<p>[Temporary</a> Housing - Off-Campus Services at Penn](<a href=“Penn Off-Campus Services”>Penn Off-Campus Services)</p>
<p>Max, think of your past this way: sunk cost. A Wharton grad ought to be able to understand that. You have to take a measure of where you are NOW and move forward. Stop thinking about past slights/hurts/disadvantages/obstacles. Like you said, focus on what lies ahead. </p>
<p>I do think there is a tendancy for many students to be so focused on getting a degree that they don’t realize or forget that it is only the first step (and really a baby step) to building a successful career. It is a let down to realize that a degree is not Willie Wonka’s golden ticket. Often a degree is only something that keeps your resume in the pile and keeps it from getting tossed out, not something that puts you at the top of the pile. And for many students, the job search is one of the first “unstructured” problems they ever have to solve.</p>
<p>You are starting to get some focus on a plan, keep rolling with it! I still think you shouldn’t ship much stuff at this time. Do you know anyone else in Austin who could keep some boxes (ready to ship) for you? Or will your relative move stuff if it is boxed and ready for shipping when you are ready? And… if you could find a way to get a laptop and ditch that desktop/monitor, you would be more mobile Probably easier said than done, though. You might need to borrow from that friend for most basic stuff (food…), I’d keep my “line of credit” intact for true essentials if possible.</p>