Question for college grads

GregN

GregN

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Did you work in a major-related job while you were going for your undergrad degree?

I didn't really. I worked in the school's food service, factories. I did work in a cell phone place one summer though.

Do you think it matters if you work in a job (even if it's vaguely related) to your major?
 
fake

fake

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I worked unpaid in my field. I could have gotten internship credits, but I didn't need them. It's good to have experience in your field right out the gate, but it's not exactly necessary. Though, these days, I'm sure people will hire people who either have more experience than other applicants or people who will work for free / little pay.
 
GregN

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soilwork said:
You're a college grad?
Click to expand...

You seem surprised?

I like how everybody on this site assumes they know everything about me. Especially after 10 years.

There's plenty of things you'd all be surprised to know about me that you all believe you don't know.

If it's any consolation, I'm not surprised you're not a college grad.
 
Blue Steel

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I don't even know who the fuck anyone is on here anymore. The only clues I have are the sigs and ranks.
 
jro

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No, I don't really know how that would be possible, unless you scored some low-level internship that was unpaying.

I did the same thing you did, Greg, worked in service ind until I graduated.

I didn't go into the field I got my degree in, anyway.
 
SonGohan

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Harriet Tubman said:
You seem surprised?

I like how everybody on this site assumes they know everything about me. Especially after 10 years.

There's plenty of things you'd all be surprised to know about me that you all believe you don't know.

If it's any consolation, I'm not surprised you're not a college grad.
Click to expand...

I'm surprised you're a college grad. I'm not surprised you've proceeded to do nothing with it. Nobody is pretending to know everything about you, either. All anybody can do on this site is go by what you present yourself to be, and that's a guy in his mid 30s still living at home with the life experience of a 13 year old.
 
cannonball

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I worked in my field all through undergrad and I think it definitely made a difference. Any experience you can get will really help you after you finish up school. Especially these days. I graduated back in 2003 and it was even hard then for a lot of people I knew in the same field (computer science). I got lucky.
 
GregN

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soilwork said:
I'm surprised you're a college grad. I'm not surprised you've proceeded to do nothing with it. Nobody is pretending to know everything about you, either. All anybody can do on this site is go by what you present yourself to be, and that's a guy in his mid 30s still living at home with the life experience of a 13 year old.
Click to expand...

No, I've done stuff with it. I worked at Qwest for a brief while, and one other telecom company. I just didn't care for working in that field. The job I have now is more suited to my 2YR degree.

You think just because I live with my parents you assume I have a slacker/retail job or something? I'm only part time right now.

You really leap to conclusions man.
 
norton9478

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When I was in college, I worked 3 jobs.

Food Service (Winter Break)
Manufacturing (Summer Break)
Clerical and Service (School Year)

So I got the full gamut of everything.

All three have helped me greatly in life.

The food service taught me a lot of cooking.
The Manufacturing experience gives me a fallback, especially after I graduated.
And I now work int the same sector as my desk job.
 
fake

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Also I think it depends on your major. For example, I had a small portfolio of work to show potential employees. If you have something like that, I think it's less important to have relevant experience.
 
OrochiEddie

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Undergrad? Not so much, but grad school yes. I worked in a counseling center and it may have given me a minor edge, but honestly I didn't get any practical experience.
 
aria

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Classic liberal arts degrees were never meant to be vocational degrees --that's what joining a trade was for. They were meant to teach young men and women how to think and analyze like adults.

Mine was more practical (international relations was way less theoretical than poli sci), but I opted not to pursue diplomacy as a career (I had friends that did, getting analyst jobs or joining the foreign service). Now my law degree, that was just a fancy, intellectualized vocational degree (just like other "professional degrees" such as medicine/dentistry/etc). Before a little over 100 years ago, it was appropriate for a young (well, man) to apprentice under another lawyer just like a future tradesman.
 
norton9478

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ATL said:
Before a little over 100 years ago, it was appropriate for a young (well, man) to apprentice under another lawyer just like a future tradesman.
Click to expand...

The Bars should create realistic reader accreditations.

Fuck Law School.
 
SonGohan

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Harriet Tubman said:
You think just because I live with my parents you assume I have a slacker/retail job or something? I'm only part time right now.
Click to expand...

No, I assume you're a slacker because you've admitted yourself that you live at home and for the longest time were unemployed. You have a part time job now, so give yourself a pat on the back, I guess. It's not much of a conclusion to jump to if that's all you ever reveal of yourself on these forums. Combine that with being kind of dumb (although Lonesage seems to believe you're self-aware, I'm not so sure yet), how on earth would anybody believe you were able to somehow trudge your way through college?
 
OMFG

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Harriet Tubman said:
No, I've done stuff with it. I worked at Qwest for a brief while, and one other telecom company. I just didn't care for working in that field. The job I have now is more suited to my 2YR degree.
Click to expand...

What did you do at both positions?
 
Murray

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I had a job as a computer tech before and during college (CS degree, so it fits). It worked out nicely where I even got a few credits for it. It also made getting my first "real" job much easier because I already had lots of real-world experience.
 
ookitarepanda

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My undergrad degree in Math (Statistics/Probability) didn't do much for me, since the degree didn't mean as much as the actuarial exams. Since then, I've backed away from actuarial work, which is why I'm in a Master's degree program.
 
Circa2113

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Harriet Tubman said:
Did you work in a major-related job while you were going for your undergrad degree?

I didn't really. I worked in the school's food service, factories. I did work in a cell phone place one summer though.

Do you think it matters if you work in a job (even if it's vaguely related) to your major?
Click to expand...

I don't think it's necessary, but it certainely helps to work in your field during your studies.

Personally, I'm an agricultural engineering major and work two jobs loosely related to my major. (one at a university forage research center and another at a crop and soil lab) It has certainly helped me grasp certain concepts quicker than my peers with little or no hands on experience.
 
NeoSneth

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For my field, it would have been a huuuuge help.

I think it's probably important for all students to try to do this. It's damn near impossible to get a job without any experience. There are next to no entry level jobs. Grad work, lab work, grunt work, and coffee maker can all be used to show experience in the workplace.
 
GregN

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soilwork said:
how on earth would anybody believe you were able to somehow trudge your way through college?
Click to expand...

Unless you're a physics, math, programming, or engineering major, let's face it - college isn't really that hard. I had some of those classes, but it wasn't as hardcore as those.

There are many people on this site and otherwise who would disagree with you. You're posts aren't exactly to the level of wizkid genius, either. That fact that it seems like an issue to you and you point it out and that it even weighs on your mind tells me that you're the ignorant oaf.
 
Nesagwa

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When you only go for an AA it isn't really that hard either.
 
OrochiEddie

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Very few degrees are actually hard to get.
Music majors are fucked.
my Psych degree didn't involve much effort.
 
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