<p>Due to financial reasons, I'm suddenly graduating early from school in the fall with a degree in Econ & Math. I plan to go to graduate school, but the programs I'm interested in only admit people for the fall. I'm also only taking two classes in this coming fall.</p>
<p>I'm concerned that it's unfair to employers to take a full-time job, expecting that I'd leave in 8 months (or less) for graduate school. I'm thinking about trying to find a good part-time job (in the city of my university) to start this summer and continue until starting graduate school a total. Does this seem reasonable? What are some other thoughts or suggestions?</p>
<p>I think it depends on the full time job you’re looking at and the graduate program you’re doing. Are you going to a grad program in Econ and/or Math? Is it a master’s program or a PhD program? Forget about fairness to employers - employment is a contract that the parties involved find mutually beneficial, and since work is generally at-will (i.e. you could quit or be fired for any reason or for no reason at all), it just kind of is what it is.</p>
<p>The difficulty I think you may find is that getting a full time job is, itself, a full time job, so it may not be worthwhile for you to spend months of time and dozens of hours of effort to secure a job that you would leave after only eight months. That said, if you are up front with the companies you interview with, they may be thrilled to get someone on board who is going to get an advanced degree - they could take a few months to train you, let you get your degree, and then be able to hire someone essentially for free (you wouldn’t be deadweight since you would already be trained, and they would need to go through no recruiting hassle to fill your slot). </p>
<p>Again, this is all conjecture and dependent upon the type of advanced degree you’re getting, the jobs you would want, etc. Give some more detail and people will be able to give better advice.</p>
<p>I’m applying to some PhD programs in sociology (I’m also in graduate courses in sociology right now, so this is less random than it might appear) with the intent of an academic career, if possible. I’m also applying to some master’s programs in econ as a back up.</p>
<p>Oh it doesn’t seem random at all to make a switch from economics to sociology… they are both in the social sciences realm, and the overlap is extensive, so it makes perfect sense that your interests would shift in this way. Now, based on what you are going to do, it really doesn’t make too much sense to seek out a full time job - it takes a lot of time and effort, and it won’t really do much for your CV.</p>
<p>So let’s think about some options. Obviously you have the choice to do a campus job, which would keep you on campus and let you enjoy senior year without any responsibility. I did this for a few months, and it was amazing. You can also try to get involved in research… I’m sure there are some research opportunities in one of the social science departments. Try asking around: some friends who do research may be able to help get your foot in the door, and some old professors may be able to do the same. If you find the right professor, research can pay pretty well (I made $15 an hour).</p>
<p>If you are thinking about doing something random before focusing exclusively on academia, that is completely understandable. Since you are going to go into academia, I would think that a think tank of some sort may be a good option for you. You could try finding internships; while they do not always pay (and even though I am a hawk about paying interns, it’s different for non-profits), you may be able to swing a stipend from either your undergraduate institution or your graduate institution, and that could help pay for living expenses to get you through until you start your PhD program.</p>
<p>You seem to have things well in hand, especially since you’ve got a good bit of time to think all of this over before you actually graduate.</p>
<p>What kinds of jobs might you be interested in?</p>
<p>I’m thinking about trying to find a part-time job at a college/university in the area (or other nonprofit) and just stay in the Atlanta area until graduate school.</p>