Getting a job/graduate school

Graduate School
1

<p>I go to Cal Poly Pomona and hopefully will be graduating this spring. I had my resume cleaned up by going to career services and I also had a family friend take a personal interest in helping me get a job. He sends me job openings for where he currently works and his boss said that they would find a position for me if I was still looking for a job since they like math majors. It's a software development job (it seems like a majority of math majors go into software development after graduation.... ).Well, my degree will be in Applied Mathematics & Statistics. I briefly considered Biostatistics, but I can't stand statistics I've come to find out. All of my stats classes I've basically skipped class the majority of the time, studied a day or two, and got an A in the courses. I am taking a statistics course in Random Processes next quarter because I like the professor and that's his main area of focus (he's teaching the Complex Analysis course I'm in now). It seems like most of the "applied math" jobs are in the engineering industry. I've kind of tailored my degree towards engineering (nonlinear dynamics, PDE's, physics courses), so that's why I'm applying for master's programs at Cal Poly SLO (Mechanical), here at Cal Poly Pomona (Mechanical), Cal State Long Beach (Aero), and University of Louisville (Mechanical). </p>

<p>Since we're not allowed to take engineering courses here really since they're closed off to other majors, I'm going to have to do some makeup courses when I go wherever. I think pretty heavy loads for one year. My concern is that I'm going to be 24 when I graduate and 27 when I have a master's. I don't think it would make sense for me to be working for the first year. Does it look somewhat strange to employers to be 25 without any job experience? Basically, being in applied math has been too broad for me. I tried economics, but I found it boring. I tried statistics (boring but good at it), finance (did an internship and did well, but I didn't like it), computer science (it's not terrible, but I don't like sitting at a computer all day every day. good at programming.), physics (I really enjoyed, but I don't think there's very many jobs), and I tried tutoring to see if I might want to be a teacher, but I didn't enjoy that and they didn't either.</p>

<p>There's a spring career fair that I'm going to. I know Northrop Grumman is looking for math majors, so I hope I can snag a job with them. Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Long Beach are relatively close. University of Louisville is across the country, but that's where the software development job is. Cal Poly SLO is up north, but I could definitely use a change of scenery. My dad works for a major aerospace company, my good friend's dad runs his own engineering firm, my best friend is in mechanical who could put in a good word for me, I go to an engineering school, every single friend I have that is not a woman is an engineering major/engineer, etc. It just seems like my connections are with engineering companies, so it makes sense for me to go into engineering. I also am taking a majority of my theory classes this year and I don't really think I can pitch the usefulness of any of them to be honest. While I've enjoyed what I learned in Abstract Algebra, Real Analysis, Complex Analysis, etc. most of it is not going to be important in industry, I feel like. </p>

<p>So basically, is it going to look bad if I just go straight into getting a master's and go through it? Graduate with a master's with no job experience? There was someone from UC Riverside that said if we're going to do a master's, he'd advise that we do it immediately after getting a bachelor's since getting a master's would open up more interesting projects to you. He was like "You'll enjoy your job and money for a while, but it will get dull after a while with just a bachelor's". I'm not really quite sure what kind of job I'd be able to get after I finished my first year. I would like a job and think I could swing it for the other two years. Do engineering firms take into account that you might not hold a degree in engineering yet, but you're going for a master's and would be willing to take you on? </p>

2

<p>I am just a mom with a rising college freshman, but I am wondering if you have been able to do any internships anywhere to bulk up the resume while at Cal Poly Pomona?</p>

3

<p>It should not be a negative if you decide you really need a Masters to pursue the career that you want. If you can find a job in the engineering field without the Masters, then waiting for a bit would be an option.</p>

4

<p>@liveonboca: I mentioned in my original post that I did a financial internship. It lasted about three months. Although I came into the field with my interests aligned, I did not like it after experiencing the amount of stress that goes into being a trader. This quarter is almost over and I have one quarter left (this spring) so I should be graduating in June. I think just about everyone I know that is an engineering major is an intern somewhere. I am taking heavy loads my last two quarters to graduate, but it’s kind of silly I think for me to look for an internship at this point since I should be looking for a job now. </p>

<p>Hopefully I can get my foot in the door without the degree. I am not really sure what the attitude is of engineering firms towards non-engineering majors.</p>

5

<p>@caldud thank you for responding. I was just wondering if CPP helped you in finding opportunities to intern or offer opportunities to learn about internships during your years there. I understand that it is a personal decision to intern or not. </p>

<p>It seems that having done a financial internship, you would be candidate WITH some working experience and that should benefit you with grad school or entering the workplace. </p>

6

<p>You should really google some of your potential employers and see what benefits they offer. Most of my contemporaries earned masters degrees while working. My employer paid 2/3 of the tuition (public sector job) and a friend’s tuition was 100% paid for by a large utility. </p>

7

<p>25 isn’t that old. Have you been in college since age 18? I don’t think they’ll be super concerned about your age, just the general lack of experience regardless of your age. Also, how would an employer know how old you are when they were hiring you unless you tell them? They’ll assume that you’re around 22 or 23 if you are just gradiating, unless the years of attendance for college instruct them otherwise.</p>

<p>I don’t think it will look <em>bad</em> per se if you go straight to an MS program, but given that you’re unsure what you really want to do, I think you should find a job first. That sounds counterintuitive, but before you spend thousands on a master’s degree you need to be sure that that field is what you really want. You may decide that you want to be a business person; you may decide that you want to be a bioinformaticist or epidemiologist; you may even decide that you want to go into nonprofit management. You never know, and the best way to find out is to work.</p>

<p>Also, master’s degree holders are far more valuable when they have some work experience.</p>

<p>Also, the majority of people do not have master’s degrees. Graduate programs are trying to recruit students, so of course they are going to tell you whatever they need to tell you to get you to go. I think you should find out for yourself. If you do get bored, graduate school will always be right there - so you can go back whenever you want.</p>

<p>Firms are concerned about skills and potential. If you have skills that are attractive to an engineering firm, and they believe you have the potential, they’ll hire you. Now will they hire you as an engineer, just because you say that you’re planning to get an engineering degree? Not unless you have the skills an engineer needs.</p>

8

<p>I don’t think you should go into Engineering degree just because you know people who work in engineering. You also know someone who works in software development. I also think that you should work for one to two years and decide. Try for the engineering firms but even if it is the software firm you can see if you like it. Then you will have some work experience too. Perhaps you will get your Master’s paid for.</p>