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Recent Grads and Experience Beyond the Desktop?

Posted by Cliff on from the college-and-preparation-for-a-real-world-job dept.

over_exposed asks: "I'm a recent college grad (B.S. in C.S.) and have been on the job hunt for about 6 months. I've been playing around with tech toys as long as I can remember, but it all focuses around the desktop environment. Desktop-grade routers, switches and wireless as well as any/all desktop PC (and some Mac) hardware is what I could get my hands on with my limited budget. After looking through hundreds if not thousands of job postings, everyone is looking for 3+ years of network admin experience or 5+ years of C++ experience even for an entry level position. How is one expected to gain that kind of experience when no one will hire you without the experience? What kind of (part-time) work can you get as a college student to gain experience (Cisco, Exchange, SQL, etc) that will be marketable in the real world? Any suggestions from the Slashdot community will be of great benefit to myself and thousands of others who will enter the 'real world' in the next few years."

5 of 574 comments (clear)

  1. Re:LUGs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait
    Yeah, because really what the world needs is more elitism and exclusivity. That's really what open source is about. Bravo.

    Worried that someone bright is going to kick you out of your coveted position of local LUG know-it-all?

  2. Lie On Your Resume by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Lie on your resume by adding extra experience. These days the companies are padding the job requirements with extra skills that their jobs don't actually need. They're doing this to weed out people exactly like you. So, screw them and their requirements. They're going to teach you everything you need to know when you start the job anyway. And as a CS graduate, you can quickly pick up anything they won't teach you. It all works out in the end!

    As for references, just put down the phone numbers of friends who'll cover for you. If these friends are also in the same predicament, then just tell them that you'll be one of their references. Just make up company names and say they went bankrupt during the economic downturn.

    The only problem with this strategy is making it through the interview. I'd suggest staying away from companies like Microsoft that grill you on tech skills during the interview process. Go for the companies that just ask you the regular BS interview questions. Then just lie your butt off!

    1. Re:Lie On Your Resume by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

      I wonder how many Indian employees working in the US have done this. Do you think companies actually check references from Bangalore University of Technical Tech? Do you think companies even check if these references exist?

      If I were working in a third-world country making $2 an hour, I'd be the first to pad my resume to get to the US and make 20 times that much. "Yes, I have a PhD in CS, an MBA, and 20 years of experience programming Java apps at Bangasoft!... Heh, heh... they're never know!"

    2. Re:Lie On Your Resume by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

      How did you know it was BS? Did the guy list 20 years of experience with Java? What exactly told you it was BS?

      Anyone with half a brain can lie on a resume and get away with it. Just don't be too obvious about it and they'll succeed. If you haven't found anyone it's because they're too good.

      As for the background check, anyone can put a company down that doesn't exist and a background check isn't going to pick it up. If it ever comes up the candidate can say it was a small company based in another state and he doesn't know any more details. Which state is the checking company going to go to? They're not likely to hit each one looking for a single company. Even if they do, it is likely they're going to find multiple businesses with the same name. If anything, the candidate can pick a company he knows is bankrupt.

      Bottom line: companies are screwing over entry level workers and have been since the recession. Companies told students years ago that if they got CS degrees, they would get jobs. But the jobs dried up and these students who are now graduates were left hanging. These companies lied, so I see no problem with candidates lying.

  3. Re:So what qualifies... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Did you miss the part of the parent's poster that complained about resumes which are full of buzzwords?