Hi fellow Mustachians,
I feel the need to drop in for some life advice. I graduate in December, and am currently on a job hunt. My degree will be a Master's in Computer Science (a complete turnaround from my undergrad in Biology), and I've focused all of my energy on learning machine learning and data mining techniques/languages, placed in a worldwide competition for the stuff, even though I just learned to code last summer. I truly enjoy the field. I've gone to a couple job fairs in town (Indianapolis), but most companies are looking for software engineers. I have an interview tomorrow for one of those types of positions.
My main problem: the types of jobs I'm looking for seem to all be out of town. And since I can't move out of town until March (out of my control) and I'd like to get started working as soon as possible, the software-type jobs here seem attractive. I'm also afraid of the double whammy of both missing a chance to be employed and simply never finding a job doing what I love because it's harder to secure a job out of town. Finally, I would like to leave to meet like-minded people elsewhere, but my financial situation is better here than it would be anywhere else.
Any advice would be appreciated. I'm pretty sure the decision I make here will alter my entire life trajectory. Of note is that I can live job-free for about a year at this point in my current situation without dipping into investments or going into debt.
Hi fellow Mustachians,
I feel the need to drop in for some life advice. I graduate in December, and am currently on a job hunt. My degree will be a Master's in Computer Science (a complete turnaround from my undergrad in Biology), and I've focused all of my energy on learning machine learning and data mining techniques/languages, placed in a worldwide competition for the stuff, even though I just learned to code last summer. I truly enjoy the field. I've gone to a couple job fairs in town (Indianapolis), but most companies are looking for software engineers. I have an interview tomorrow for one of those types of positions.
My main problem: the types of jobs I'm looking for seem to all be out of town. And since I can't move out of town until March (out of my control) and I'd like to get started working as soon as possible, the software-type jobs here seem attractive. I'm also afraid of the double whammy of both missing a chance to be employed and simply never finding a job doing what I love because it's harder to secure a job out of town. Finally, I would like to leave to meet like-minded people elsewhere, but my financial situation is better here than it would be anywhere else.
Any advice would be appreciated. I'm pretty sure the decision I make here will alter my entire life trajectory. Of note is that I can live job-free for about a year at this point in my current situation without dipping into investments or going into debt.
Are you applying to out-of town jobs?
Apply to everything! Apply to out-of-town jobs, apply to in-town jobs. Get whatever you can. Just be clear when applying to out-of-town jobs that you can't start until March due to a personal situation. Most should understand.
IMO your most important task right now is to get a job - period. From there you can transition into a field more to your skills.
Hi fellow Mustachians,
I feel the need to drop in for some life advice. I graduate in December, and am currently on a job hunt. My degree will be a Master's in Computer Science (a complete turnaround from my undergrad in Biology), and I've focused all of my energy on learning machine learning and data mining techniques/languages, placed in a worldwide competition for the stuff, even though I just learned to code last summer. I truly enjoy the field. I've gone to a couple job fairs in town (Indianapolis), but most companies are looking for software engineers. I have an interview tomorrow for one of those types of positions.
My main problem: the types of jobs I'm looking for seem to all be out of town. And since I can't move out of town until March (out of my control) and I'd like to get started working as soon as possible, the software-type jobs here seem attractive. I'm also afraid of the double whammy of both missing a chance to be employed and simply never finding a job doing what I love because it's harder to secure a job out of town. Finally, I would like to leave to meet like-minded people elsewhere, but my financial situation is better here than it would be anywhere else.
Any advice would be appreciated. I'm pretty sure the decision I make here will alter my entire life trajectory. Of note is that I can live job-free for about a year at this point in my current situation without dipping into investments or going into debt.
Are you applying to out-of town jobs?
Apply to everything! Apply to out-of-town jobs, apply to in-town jobs. Get whatever you can. Just be clear when applying to out-of-town jobs that you can't start until March due to a personal situation. Most should understand.
IMO your most important task right now is to get a job - period. From there you can transition into a field more to your skills.
Makes perfect sense. I haven't been as aggressive as I should be with applying out of town, mostly due to my initial experience out of college where the only response I ever received to an application was one in-town from my future supervisor. It could be different this time.
A lot of the big companies (google, apple, etc.) that employ data scientists will be recruiting at job fairs this fall for starting in June/July. Many of these companies know that the 'best' get offers quickly so they start recruiting early (they are looking for students who are still in their last year). Go to your school's job fairs! Go to any large company info session on campus! Worst case scenario, they tell you it's not going to work out.
Are you able to travel? What language(s) do you code in?