<p>Graduated this May from Boston University with a degree in International Relations. Currently interning at an IT company in Seoul while applying for (US) jobs. I would really like to land on a job soon but that’s just wishful thinking. But don’t lose hope and keep applying!</p>
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<p>That’s the attitude that I expect here: never give up!</p>
<p>How many have been able to move beyond the basement in the past year? How many are still there? Time to update CCers on your progress.</p>
<p>CCers - give us an update on whether you’ve moved beyond the basement. </p>
<p>Given the good news recently on jobs, has this helped recent grads or are grads from prior years being left behind?</p>
<p>We don’t have basements in FL, but I’m what you’d call a “basement dweller.” I graduated last summer and had to move back into my parents house for financial reasons (I wanted to save before I moved out). I graduated with a BS in Psychology (from a FL public school) and starting looking for a job fall of my senior year. I secured a position about a month before I graduated with a well-known bank. I worked as a collections agent for 3 months, hoping to get my foot in the door. It was clearly not a good fit and I started feeling suicidal. I quit that job for my health and started serving again (which was my full time job in undergrad). I still can’t find anything full-time and recently visited a temp agency because I’m literally desperate at this point. I completed one internship and have two years of research experience. I also worked full time as a server all 4 years of undergrad. I want to go to grad school but my loans are too out of control to even consider it.</p>
<p>I paid for my entire education on my own, worked full-time and went to school full-time and lived on my own until my final year of college, when I moved in with my fianc</p>
<p>My D ( she was never a cc’er) is pretty unhappy, but I hope it doesn’t seem like life is not worth living. So sorry, gnomechomsky. Anyway, she is going to start Americorp in July.</p>
<p>gnomechomsky - sorry to hear about your difficult experience. Although it might not help, you are not alone in your circumstance. Many students were mislead, either overtly or covertly, into taking on more debt than made sense. </p>
<p>You may have already done this but if you are interested in a CRA career, try some informational interviews with people in those jobs. Check your career office for alums that are in the field - they’ll likely be happy to talk about how they broke into the field. Sometimes a few steps are needed to get from where you are to the career you would like longer term.</p>
<p>Hang in there and best of luck.</p>
<p>Thank you LakeClouds, that is a great suggestion. I have definitely tried to get in touch with some alumni but have been unsuccessful. My sister has Crohn’s and I was able to do an informational interview with the research coordinator of the study she is on. It was helpful to talk to someone in the field. I just wish there was a way for me to gain some experience. I would volunteer but I’m so financially strapped that would not be feasible. I found a temporary, one month job with an educational staffing company. Hopefully it works out. I really wish I could find something long-term and substantial.</p>
<p>gnomechomsky, don’t know where in Florida you are but I am regular peruser of the craigslist. If you search under the main category of jobs and put in psychology, you may find ads like these below that you could apply for. Good luck!</p>
<p>[Advocate[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Behavioral Specialist/Tutor (Valdosta)
<a href=“http://valdosta.craigslist.org/edu/3762445496.html[/url]”>http://valdosta.craigslist.org/edu/3762445496.html](<a href=“http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/npo/3797033271.html]Advocate[/url”>http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/npo/3797033271.html)</a></p>
<p>Case Manager (Jacksonville, FL)
<a href=“http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/hea/3735223947.html[/url]”>http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/hea/3735223947.html</a></p>
<p>Recent WSJ article on kids moving back home: </p>
<p>[When</a> Your Grown Children Move Back Home - WSJ.com](<a href=“When Your Grown Children Move Back Home - WSJ”>When Your Grown Children Move Back Home - WSJ)</p>
<p>How common is moving home for CCers?</p>
<p>D moved back home after graduation, May 2012, MechE degree, interviewing since Fall of 2011, she is fed up, what lessens it a bit is all her college friends are all in the same boat. Very few are working, those that are, maybe 1/3 working are not in their chosen field of study. Basically returned to their high school days after school jobs, ice cream shops/retail. All part timers and minimum wage jobs. A few engineer friends tossed in the towel trying to obtain engineering jobs and have returned to get a SECOND BS as Physician Assistants, which doesn’t match up with many engineering courses, so requires 3+ more years of school.
THe hiring practices in todays job market is insane, she has had 3 interviews since December. All 3 are still in the hiring process, it is dragged out, week in week out. These jobs are not rocket scientist security type clearance jobs. What is the need for 4-5 hour interview sessions spanning 5 months?</p>
<p>@samiamy - I say this on every single thread, but how much does your daughter use LinkedIn? How many recruiters/headhunters is she in contact with? If she truly wants to get a professional job, she should be emailing/calling hundreds of headhunters and recruiters every single week. I find “applying for job openings posted online” to be a rather large waste of time.</p>
<p>The companies that are dragging it on… screw them. They’re not worth her time. There’s absolutely a company out there that wants your daughter right now, she just needs to find that company. And recruiters / headhunters have far more inside info on that than anyone else. Also, especially at this stage, taking a temp job is perfectly fine; if she does well, there’s a great chance that it’ll turn into a perm job. </p>
<p>Feel free to private message me if you want more info on how to effectively use LinkedIn. My current (amazing for a 26yo) job, I got through contacting a random recruiter on LinkedIn.</p>
<p>@samiamy - it’s a real travesty that we continue to allow foreign engineers into this country when young engineers are not being given opportunities. Now the Congress is working on a new law to DOUBLE the number of foreign engineers/CS folks allowed in every year.</p>
<p>[Senators</a> Considering Plan to Double Visas for High-Tech Workers - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/senators-considering-plan-to-double-visas-for-high-tech-workers/]Senators”>Senators Considering Plan to Double Visas for High-Tech Workers - The New York Times)</p>
<p>@LakeClouds: do you own/buy any foreign-made products? If so, you’re allowing foreign workers to “steal” American jobs. </p>
<p>If I start my own business, and I know of a friend in India or China that is an amazing engineer, and I want to bring him to the US to work for me, why should the government decide if I can do that?</p>
<p>And as I’ve posted a lot before, I think that most young engineers (and most recent college grads) that “aren’t getting an opportunity” are just awful at job searching. Just because you applied to a bunch of job openings online and had a few interviews doesn’t mean that you’re job-searching well.</p>
<p>"@samiamy - it’s a real travesty that we continue to allow foreign engineers into this country when young engineers are not being given opportunities. Now the Congress is working on a new law to DOUBLE the number of foreign engineers/CS folks allowed in every year."</p>
<p>if a foreign engineer gets a software engineering job over a young engineer in the private sector, it’s because he/she is a better candidate. Any experience you could possibly need can be learned on your own computer and by reading books</p>
<p>To add to what gr33kbo1 said… for what it’s worth, hiring a foreign person to work in the United States, especially in an entry-level or nearly entry-level position, is not done to cut costs… companies will be sponsoring visas and citizenship applications that cost tens of thousands of dollars, so unless they’re paying the foreign person $10k less a year than a comparable US citizen, it is financially beneficial to hire an American over a foreigner. In other words, if the foreigner isn’t clearly superior to Americans applying, there’s no reason the foreigner would get a job over an American.</p>
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<p>Wrong. It is cheaper because while they are on the H-1B they are practically slaves. They can’t change jobs and if they’re fired they are out of the country. Pretty good for the employer. </p>
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<p>Also wrong. Companies post job descriptions with very arcane and specific job criteria in their required “job ads” as part of the H-1B process. If any American is dumb enough to apply, they will not be qualified. It’s a scam.</p>
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<p>And on what basis do you make this disparaging claim?</p>
<p>H1-B visa holders can change jobs. You may have less options because smaller companies often do not want to hire H1-B visa holders due to the cost associated with the visa transfer etc. But then again the cost benefit of locking down a “foreign slave” vs paying visa fees is debatable. Can’t say for other industries but I have never heard of H1-B visa holder being discriminated on in pay or have trouble jumping ship if they are qualified in the software industry (at least in the companies I am familiar with which are pretty much all the big names in tech and finance).</p>
<p>Anyway I wouldn’t be so fast to pass judgement on others regarding employment but it is infinitely better to look at yourself first before blaming external factors that you have no influence over.</p>
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<p>Are you sure that it’s cheaper? The law states that salary must be comparable to the salaries of similar employees (and if salaries of similar employees in the specific geographic location are higher than the national average, the employer must pay the higher amount). Costs range from $3,500 to $5,000 just for the visa. If the employer fires the employee for any reason or for no reason at all, it is required to pay for transportation back to your country of origin - that could be $2,000 right there, and that seems like a decent reason for a company to try not to fire a foreign national.</p>
<p>Standard visa length is three years, and in my experience, those employees who are approaching the three year mark on the H-1B attempt to remain in the United States legally and permanently. The process of getting a green card (and eventually citizenship) is expensive, and many companies sponsor their employees’ application.</p>
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<p>Are you sure it’s a scam? Because I could swear that I work for a reputable company that hires Americans and foreign nationals (in US offices and in foreign offices); sometimes foreigners are hired directly in the United States (requiring a work visa), and sometimes they are brought here after working overseas for a few years. Not seeing the scam here… just seeing a company with the ability to hire anyone it chooses, with an advantage going to Americans simply because it costs a heck of a lot to hire a foreigner.</p>