I need some guidance

[SirBrass]

Originally Posted by trd_kid

So I'm a CompSci student about to graduate in august with a kinda poor gpa , but decent list of skills and some job experience at a local research institute doing system administration tasks. I had a talk with one of my co-workers who had a similar situation to mine where they're parents moved and put them in a bind to either find follow along, or find a new place to call home. My problem is trying to decide if I should leave Texas or explore the world seeing how I'm young , single ,no kids, have a degree in a good field and so on. If anyone could I guess help me decide where to possibly look for jobs, how to handle the stress of leaving your comfort zone(home, and friends), and stay positive it would be appreciated!


-Confused College Senior

Be willing to move. Simple. Once you have your first serious career job, then you can decide on whether to stay in that place, or move sometime later.

Don't make any serious "settling down" decisions until you're securely settled on your own.

That said, see if there's good jobs where your parents moved to. You CAN save a ton of money by living with them while you're getting your career started. A co-worker of mine did that and had enough money saved up over the course of a few years to bought a nice home and drop well over $15k over that into home improvements, and NOT be in debt, all because he was living with his parents until then. Now he's got a house of his own.

So, there's benefits if you can do that, but you don't have to. I didn't. In my case, I'm the one who moved. Grew up in Virginia, went to college in Arizona, stayed in Arizona, but moved from my college town down to Phoenix. Stayed.

In my case, I'm still an apartment dweller and don't have enough saved to put a downpayment on a house. I will eventually, but not right now, and I've been out of college for 7 years.

Either way is fine, but there's pros and cons to each. The key, OP, is to not get locked into going one way or the other. Not until you are in a position employment-wise to be on your own without parental support.

[sidswiftsteel]

Don't rule out a DoD job especially as a comp sci major. Apply directly with an agency, get the clearance then if you are willing to give up stability for more money, work for a contractor.

[King Tut]

Originally Posted by sidswiftsteel

Don't rule out a DoD job especially as a comp sci major. Apply directly with an agency, get the clearance then if you are willing to give up stability for more money, work for a contractor.

With the current budget cuts, I have not been recommending anyone to try for a DoD job.

[86-tundra]

Originally Posted by trd_kid

As far as the internship goes I wouldn't mind getting one , and I believe it helps that I have some experience with my job on campus doing IT work for one of the research institutes. I would love to travel but unfortunately funds aren't available.

On the good side I should be hearing soon about the results from my first interview with USAA , but if that doesn't continue then I need to start finding a payed internship of job...

Where did you graduate? Consider looking for jobs in Austin. Tons of cs jobs here. I graduated with a cs degree too you should have no problems finding a job... And my GPA was poor too

What cs skills do you have? I know there are a lot of managers around me with open reqs. I may be able to help. lots of us hiring right now

[86-tundra]

Originally Posted by trd_kid

My father agreed to give me $2,500 for relocation costs I haven't asked my mother yet (parents are divorced) but I figure that's going to be next to zero considering she just bought a corvette less than a year ago and will be paying for moving expenses when they leave in June. I've been looking through Monster.com or Indeed.com for jobs , but I'm just so lost when it comes to picking a company , location , meeting new friends etc.. I'm stressing myself is what I'm doing

try dice.com

and search

"entry level"

[King Tut]

Originally Posted by trevorovert

Where did you graduate? Consider looking for jobs in Austin. Tons of cs jobs here. I graduated with a cs degree too you should have no problems finding a job... And my GPA was poor too

What cs skills do you have? I know there are a lot of managers around me with open reqs. I may be able to help. lots of us hiring right now

Austin eh. Looks good. PMing skills now, haha.

[trd_kid]

Originally Posted by trevorovert

Where did you graduate? Consider looking for jobs in Austin. Tons of cs jobs here. I graduated with a cs degree too you should have no problems finding a job... And my GPA was poor too

What cs skills do you have? I know there are a lot of managers around me with open reqs. I may be able to help. lots of us hiring right now

I will graduate from Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi in August. I know some Java, C++, VMWare, Some Linux and Windows administration, played with cisco stuff in simulators for my network administration classes(geared to get us ready for the first two entry level Cisco certs), some forensic tool experience like EnCase and FTK, as well as some experience with penetration testing tools like nmap, metasploit , and so on thanks to the required classes for my specific Cyber Security and Infrastructure degree track.

[86-tundra]

Originally Posted by trd_kid

I will graduate from Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi in August. I know some Java, C++, VMWare, Some Linux and Windows administration, played with cisco stuff in simulators for my network administration classes(geared to get us ready for the first two entry level Cisco certs), some forensic tool experience like EnCase and FTK, as well as some experience with penetration testing tools like nmap, metasploit , and so on thanks to the required classes for my specific Cyber Security and Infrastructure degree track.

okay that MAY be a little harder for me to find a job for. Fortunately with CS, the degree is almost completely skill based (unlike say biology, where you come out with knowledge). A big company will likely overlook you. Avoid certifications (i.e. A+, etc.) as they are worthless.

Seriously though, look into austin. there are a TON of jobs. look up companies in austin, and go directly to their website. go to job fairs (definitely the best way to get a job) or try to get something thru alum. like I said, may be a little more difficult since you went to a smaller school, but you should still be able to get a job if you tout your skills



how extensive is your systems programming knowledge (c, posix, perl/scripting languages, grep/awk/sed)?

[SirBrass]

Also be willing to look in Arizona. Plenty of tech companies here looking for programmers either as directs or as CSWs (contract service workers), though I do know someone who moved from here to Texas b/c of the CS opportunity there.

Aerospace companies will always need software engineers, and commercial aerospace is fairly stable, and avionics makers (like Honeywell, Rockwell Collins, Thales, L3, Ratheon, etc.) will always be updating their software. Not so much a need for programmers for the airfamers, though. Their software/hardware they get from the avionics guys, so those are the companies you'd need to look at if you're interested in working in the aerospace field.

[trd_kid]

I know my school is small and usually overlooked but at least TAMUCC is a " National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education" by the NSA, so that may help.

My systems programming skills are terrible I have no interest in systems programming, I do know how to program for android and actually enjoy making apps and non system programs for Linux! My scripting skills are meh but I have played with php(will be using for my capstone project), ruby , and bash(school job). Also @SirBrass thanks for the heads up on those companies!

[SirBrass]

What do you mean by "systems programming"?

Also, small school doesn't exactly hurt either. It's really only your first job where school experience has any relevance in engineering/programming. After that, employers will ONLY care about your work experience after school.

I went to a tiny school as well (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Univerisy - Prescott, AZ campus), but the name was known in the industry. Didn't have all that great of a CGPA either (upper 2's). Know what one of the managers who was interviewing me once said about that? "A 2.76 from ERAU is pretty good." Whereas, take a larger school like ASU, where folks who graduated from there have said to me, "It's easy to get A's, but it takes work to actually learn."

Trust me, employers who regularly hire new grads will know of the good schools, even if they're small. What proves it to them is the quality of the graduates who they end up hiring.

For a new grad, flexibility and ability to learn new coding practices/languages while on the job will be something an employer likes. They have their own way of doing things and you'll be expected to have the skills and flexibility to integrate with that, to use the tools available, even if they're not the tools you're used to, or all the tools you'd LIKE to have (though that's not so hard to get around... if you really do need a certain bit of software that the company doesn't have yet, and can make a good case for it, then a good company will easily foot the bill for the license... though usually you'll find that they have something that's close to or an equivalent of, b/c someone else who came before you realized the same need).

Oh, and if it's big corporate who hires you... keep your head down. You'll find out quickly that Scott Adams comes up with Dilbert strips based upon all the stories he's had sent to him by engineers and other folks who WORK for Big Corporate companies.

As it's said in the "You know you're an engineer if...", "You know that Dilbert isn't a comic, it's a documentary."

[ramiram1984]

There's a lot of military or prior military here. I am prior. Military is not a bad gig and steady pay.

And it might make you a man as well.

[86-tundra]

Originally Posted by King Tut

Austin eh. Looks good. PMing skills now, haha.

not sure if sarcasm or

[King Tut]

Originally Posted by trevorovert

not sure if sarcasm or

Not sarcasm. I wouldn't mind moving to Austin, but I am still happy enough to stay where I am.