Getting Employment with Low-ish College GPA?

[nicksaiz65]

The jobs I've had over the years haven't been too demanding about after work events.

Most companies have a holiday party after working hours in December. I've been to those. I would prefer not to go to those. One company where I work for a while had their holiday party as a party during working hours so that you were free to go by 5 PM. I appreciated that.

Sometimes companies will have after works drinks events. I would go to those. They'd usually end by 7 PM so they weren't a big deal. They were also rare. I haven't had one of those since the pandemic started.

I remember at one company randomly going out to dinner with a few co-workers after work one night. That was unusual.

Sounds like your company had more of a dinners and drinks culture.

I try to go to the events whenever I can, at my company. Oftentimes I have schedule conflicts tho

 

[nicksaiz65]

That's actually not a good idea...almost universally advised that you never accept an offer that is matched because they are likely going to start looking for a cheaper replacement as soon as they give you that money and now they know you have shown your hand.

If you ever start looking for a job and accept an offer, never agree to accept your current employees counter-offer. Lots of research shows that people who do that typically are there under 6 months before they are either fired, replaced or end up getting a different job.

I had no clue this was a thing. They have whole studies on this?

 

[BackInTheGame78]

I had no clue this was a thing. They have whole studies on this?

Yes, look them up, there is a lot of info out on this.

"In my experience counteroffers don’t work 95% of the time,” says Jenny McCauley, who is currently senior vice president of Administration at Southwestern Energy and has worked in HR at, among other companies, JPMorgan Chase and Hilton Hotels. “And when they do work it’s usually only for the short term — someone who wanted to leave is eventually going to leave anyway.”

If You’re About to Take a New Job, Should You Consider Your Boss’s Counteroffer?

You finally decide to start looking for a new job. You go through a lengthy search process, you’re presented with an enticing career opportunity, and get an offer you’re fully prepared to accept. But when you tell your current employer you’re planning to leave, they surprise you with a...

hbr.org

 

[BackInTheGame78]

Sounds like your company had more of a dinners and drinks culture.

I try to go to the events whenever I can, at my company. Oftentimes I have schedule conflicts tho

It's perfectly acceptable to simply tell them this. Most people will be pretty understanding as you likely aren't the only one.

 

[DEEZEDBRAH]

Making yourself irreplaceable is absolutely the way to do it.

I didn't word it as well as I could have.

My buddy's in the biz district line up opportunities for sport. Think like you approach. Do your handful of sets daily. Similarly, approach work the same way. Line up offers. Request raise + perks. Input your letter of resignation effective immediately.

One of the few RP guys I like is Clarey who suggests paying for a recruiter. Give them a ball park figure and let them do the leg work.

 

[DEEZEDBRAH]

That's actually not a good idea...almost universally advised that you never accept an offer that is matched because they are likely going to start looking for a cheaper replacement as soon as they give you that money and now they know you have shown your hand.

If you ever start looking for a job and accept an offer, never agree to accept your current employees counter-offer. Lots of research shows that people who do that typically are there under 6 months before they are either fired, replaced or end up getting a different job.

I didn't word it as well as I would have liked. I suspect it was late or something.

What I mean was to always be sourcing be it pickup and getting girls or employment. Source job offers or freelance clients.

If anything has been evident the past couple years, **** **** can pop off and having options as well as a FU fund is a must. I used to think 3-6 months. Now I think minimum 1 year emergency fund.

So, you request a raise but you already got multiple offers that pay higher than you got presently. It's win win.

Your come up is fascinating having by passed traditional education system. Bad ass.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

I didn't word it as well as I would have liked. I suspect it was late or something.

What I mean was to always be sourcing be it pickup and getting girls or employment. Source job offers or freelance clients.

If anything has been evident the past couple years, **** **** can pop off and having options as well as a FU fund is a must. I used to think 3-6 months. Now I think minimum 1 year emergency fund.

So, you request a raise but you already got multiple offers that pay higher than you got presently. It's win win.

Your come up is fascinating having by passed traditional education system. Bad ass.

Got it...that makes sense and I agree...always have things in the pipeline and have your name out there...IT recruiters are key in the industry, get in with as many as you can and take the time to talk with them and build relationships with them. If they have events go to them. If they call you up and want to talk, shoot the breeze with them a little bit.

They are basically doing all the work for you by sending you jobs they have. The more they know you and like you, the more jobs you'll get sent to you by them.

Well, to be fair I did go back to school after hired and get my CS degree while I was working...2.5 years of working full time and going to school full time was pretty rough but it paid off in the end.

But I got my foot in the door and got my first job at age 40 with no CS degree and no industry experience, which IT recruiters told me was a pipe dream.

But it goes back to what I have talked about prior...I have an unwavering confidence in myself that I can do whatever I want to do if I work hard enough at it, and so far that has never failed me throughout my life.

 

[DEEZEDBRAH]

Got it...that makes sense and I agree...always have things in the pipeline and have your name out there...IT recruiters are key in the industry, get in with as many as you can and take the time to talk with them and build relationships with them. If they have events go to them. If they call you up and want to talk, shoot the breeze with them a little bit.

They are basically doing all the work for you by sending you jobs they have. The more they know you and like you, the more jobs you'll get sent to you by them.

Well, to be fair I did go back to school after hired and get my CS degree while I was working...2.5 years of working full time and going to school full time was pretty rough but it paid off in the end.

But I got my foot in the door and got my first job at age 40 with no CS degree and no industry experience, which IT recruiters told me was a pipe dream.

But it goes back to what I have talked about prior...I have an unwavering confidence in myself that I can do whatever I want to do if I work hard enough at it, and so far that has never failed me throughout my life.

Not my industry but good to know. I like the kid putting in the work so I try to drop gems wherever I can.

A mentor of mine recommended the same thing.

Interesting. A buddy of mine worked a retry level midnight tech analyst role. It was on contract. He bounced after 6months and got in on a much larger company with more pay. He landed a tech sales gig at a smaller startup which has blown up. It's no longer a startup anymore and his thrived in ways no possible (for him) at the larger company. More remote work vs HR boomer Karen wanting degree/masters. It's one of the few cases I seen this executed. I don't think he could pull it off anymore. It's far too competitive now.

Congrats. That's solid. Tbh I thought you were younger. Awesome you made the move. I know some people get caught up in the mundanity of everyday life. You see the deadening in the eyes. Lost souls. The walking dead.

 

[nicksaiz65]

I guess I should bump this nearly year old thread haha. I’m now working as a full time software engineer, have been nearly working a year. You guys were right on the money.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

I guess I should bump this nearly year old thread haha. I’m now working as a full time software engineer, have been nearly working a year. You guys were right on the money.

Nice! What's your tech stack look like?

 

[Stephen89]

You have done well for yourself.

Good luck

 

[nicksaiz65]

Nice! What's your tech stack look like?

Yo man! I mainly work in JavaScript/React, Java/Spring Boot, and some Python for AWS Lambda stuff.

Living the dream. I enjoy Java much more than I did in college as well lol.

 

[nicksaiz65]

You have done well for yourself.

Good luck

Thank you man it makes me really happy to hear that.

 

[nicksaiz65]

As for progressing my career, I plan to start getting multiple certifications other than my Security+. My company will pay for it. I plan to start studying for my AWS Developer Cert in very early April. I’m working hard on my side hustle so I won’t really have time to study as needed until then.

 

[nicksaiz65]

I agree with you on sticking with the CS. Whenever I ask people in the "real world" they say the same thing, that I should focus on CS. Music is also my passion and I'll always continue to do it: but I think being a great programmer, combined with being a virtuoso violinist and composer is a deadly combo. I can even have my base CS salary, which will be very good, and supplement it with my music salary.

"The other stuff, while fun, isn't profitable or sustainable financially." I totally agree. I know some musicians and they're living off like $10,000-$20,000 a year. I don't want to be a broke ass musician for the rest of my life lol.

Like it's been said before, I should just do both, so I can have both purposes/passions.

This is a good place to bump this. After I was fired, the band completely fell apart 6 months later. Their last show is this upcoming weekend. Had I went full time into music, I would’ve had no savings, been unable to pay rent, and would’ve had to move back in with my parents.

I never stopped music as a hobby even after I was fired. I am currently in the process of applying for a job in a symphony to do in tandem with my engineering, just like I said all these years ago. It’s just so crazy that it happened exactly the way you all said it.

So again, I really appreciate y’all’s mentorship and bailing me out of the fire.

 

[2Rocky]

 

[eli77]

This year, I told myself that I would fix everything that I've done wrong in my life. One major thing that I need to do is graduate college, have that degree with my name on it. I want to show the world that Computer Science is indeed for me, and I CAN have a career in that field. I was struggling with college a lot, but I'm getting things turned around and getting my life together. My GPA by the time I graduate college will be around a 2.8. No lower than that for sure. Pretty decent GPA, nothing amazing though.

I was wondering, will this GPA screw me out of getting work? I do have internship experience as well. And I'm aware that you just need to get one job: after that you can erase your GPA off your resume forever.

I found this quote on College Confidential while I was doing some research:

"
I posted this a long time ago, I'll post it again:

To the extent that finding a job is a function of GPA (and it is a function of much, much more), for schools ranked roughly in the 10-50 range:

3.50+: Can work anywhere, and will be actively pursued for the best jobs out there
3.20-3.49: Can work anywhere, but will need to work to get the best jobs
3.00-3.19: Can work anywhere, but will generally be shut out of the best jobs
2.80-2.99: Will struggle to find work at large companies, can generally find work at smaller employers
2.50-2.79: Will struggle to find professional work, and such work will generally be low-paying and/or unpleasant, with limited prospects for advancement
2.00-2.49: Probably will not find professional employment in engineering
"

So the ideal strat for me would to be to work at a smaller programming company, erase my GPA, become a wizard programmer, keep paying off my debts, and then work my way into whatever companies I desire from there.

Have any of you all found this to be true? Just wanted to get some more opinions from the guys around here.

B******* you can find work in canada and united states doesn't matter where you get a degree in or how I would go online

This year, I told myself that I would fix everything that I've done wrong in my life. One major thing that I need to do is graduate college, have that degree with my name on it. I want to show the world that Computer Science is indeed for me, and I CAN have a career in that field. I was struggling with college a lot, but I'm getting things turned around and getting my life together. My GPA by the time I graduate college will be around a 2.8. No lower than that for sure. Pretty decent GPA, nothing amazing though.

I was wondering, will this GPA screw me out of getting work? I do have internship experience as well. And I'm aware that you just need to get one job: after that you can erase your GPA off your resume forever.

I found this quote on College Confidential while I was doing some research:

"
I posted this a long time ago, I'll post it again:

To the extent that finding a job is a function of GPA (and it is a function of much, much more), for schools ranked roughly in the 10-50 range:

3.50+: Can work anywhere, and will be actively pursued for the best jobs out there
3.20-3.49: Can work anywhere, but will need to work to get the best jobs
3.00-3.19: Can work anywhere, but will generally be shut out of the best jobs
2.80-2.99: Will struggle to find work at large companies, can generally find work at smaller employers
2.50-2.79: Will struggle to find professional work, and such work will generally be low-paying and/or unpleasant, with limited prospects for advancement
2.00-2.49: Probably will not find professional employment in engineering
"

So the ideal strat for me would to be to work at a smaller programming company, erase my GPA, become a wizard programmer, keep paying off my debts, and then work my way into whatever companies I desire from there.

Have any of you all found this to be true? Just wanted to get some more opinions from the guys around here.

B******* computer science major sweet money anywhere and everywhere canada and us