Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Akhier the Dragon hearted]

   I live in Michigan between Traverse City and Cadillac and have been going to college for the last few years but that is about to be done with for now. I could continue on with more education as I will only have my associates degree but I would rather get a job what with the world somewhat needing money to get by in. I have checked around my college and probably just missed it but I couldn't find any help with finding a job (there wasn't even help getting my internship so I ended up having to take it at the college itself because of time running out). That is the setup for my current problems and the kicker is I am not good at doing this sort of stuff.
   So then I remembered that there was a life advice area of Bay12 and with my previous times looking around this area should be alright here. Anyway I am starting at square one, in fact probably zero. I don't know how to look for a job. Because of some help I received I have a couple "job experiences" under my belt. As for doing interviews I have nice button up shirts, a few different ties, new black pants, a good belt, and dress shoes with socks so I can dress up just fine. With the few interviews I have done I have been well received (though since they where "mock" interviews where I was going to get the previously mentioned job experiences I don't know how accurate their feedback was).  But in all this prep they put me through to get a job no one taught me how to look for a job.
   I have googled a bit but I don't know what to even trust. I really wish at this point I could just be put on a project and program without having to worry about any of this mess. So yeah, can you guys help me with this? I am going to be finishing my internship the last day of July and while I am not in too much of a rush to get a job this instant but there is only so much time I can wait.
   Okay at this point I was starting to repeat myself so I know I am just worried about posting this. Why am I able to upload my voice over game play onto YouTube for anyone to see so easily yet just some text on the page makes me nervous? But this is just my mind trying to get me to back out of posting this so yeah time to press the post button.

[gimlet]

Hmm, my first recommendation would be to double and triple check with the college, they really should have *something* and it's a lot more convenient.  They should know employers who are familiar with the school and have hired grads with your kind of degree.  Search the college website, call the switchboard and ask for stuff like "placement office" or even "student counselor", one would hope the counselors are familiar with the resources of the school.  You said you did mock interviews?   I'd get in touch with whoever did those, they should be connected to the placement office.

Part of the problem may be summer session, I remember that lots of stuff in my school was minimal in summer, or at least not very motivated.

After that, ehh, the next easiest way is to look for job fairs.  Read up on how to do them best, print up a stack of resumes and go at it.  Then try the bigger companies around, then the smaller ones.  Look on meetup.com for get-togethers where other tech workers are likely to show up, quiz them for where they work and whether they know of openings.  Go on LOTS of interviews if for nothing else than practice, follow up, ask for feedback on how you did and what you could do better.

You might be stuck if you're in a rural area, there just might not BE many companies hiring entry level tech workers nearby, be prepared to travel farther to larger cities and/or think about moving somewhere.

[Levi]

One thing to think about is that programming jobs aren't just from programming companies.  A lot of different industries need programmers.  I posted my resume on craigslist and mentioned that I was interested in learning about bioinformatics and I ended up getting a job at a hospital lab writing software and dong database work. 

Also, if you have any friends in the industry, its always helpful to let them know you are looking for work, they might put in a good word for you.

[Akhier the Dragon hearted]

@gimlet
Thank, I had forgotten about job fairs. I will have to see if there is anything happening soon in my area. Also, I will try again to see what my college has available. They really should have something.

@Levi
Huh, I never even considered something like craigslist. I will have to keep that in mind for later. Anyway I will try and remember to keep an open mind on where might be needing a programmer.

[nenjin]

To give an example of Levi's point, my company is a software company, with ~4ish actual developers, a web developer and a sysadmin/web developer. But our actual business is Heavy Duty truck parts inventory management, scanning software on the iPhone for use in the same, a website for selling said truck parts, some browser-based software for running live auctions, software for tracking sampling data from food processing lines and a metric fuck ton of data. I think we may do some other shit too.

So approaching it just from the "Programming!" angle is all well and good, but you need to start thinking about an industry as well. And maybe that industry is "Programs, web 2.0, something something." But just about every large business and/or industry has a need for programmers, sometimes in surprising places. If there's a business that's large enough to need some kind of software to do their jobs, and they don't just pay a shitload of money to use someone else's software, then there's a job there programming. In fact, the largest company we work with actually has its own development staff and its own inventory management system in the works.

[LordBucket]

can you guys help me with this?

I suggest contacting a technical recruiting agency. Many years ago I used get work through teksystems. They appear to have a Michigan office. Kimco also has a technical division. There are probably others. There's no upfront cost to you, as they bill the company they place you at, and your paycheck comes from them, not the company you're actually working at. Basically the process is: either call or just show up and ask for a recruiter, then talk to them. Give them a resume. Tell them what your expectations are. Then keep calling them 2-3 times a week until they place you at a company as a temp. Often, after some number of months you'll receive an offer for permanent employment, which you're free to accept or decline as you please. If an assignment is temporary, call the recruiter the week before it ends and ask them to line something up for you.

Also:

where should I look for a entry level programming job

You're not looking for an "entry level" programming job. You're looking for a programming job. If you specify entry level they're more likely to give you an entry level position. If you don't specify, they might be more likely to give you something better. There's no particular reason to go out of your way to start at the bottom. Sometimes positions open up in the middle and if you're in the right place at the right time with the right skillsket...or even if the interviewer just likes you...sometime you can end up with something better than you expected. I recommend against setting your heart on it, but there's no point in aiming for the bottom.

[Tellemurius]

I can suggest Amazon but then you will slave away for days. Teksystems is a great recruiter (though my rep never called me back.....)

[Akhier the Dragon hearted]

Okay that is some good advice LB. I guess I was just expecting to not be able to get anything besides a job at the bottom.

[MorleyDev]

So I had an interview a couple of days ago for a 'Software Developer' job. I got this interview by going to a Tech Meet-Up and talking to people there. It helped I knew the man hosting it (someone I worked with on my work placement), but such things are useful not only when looking for work but also when working. They let you keep an ear to the ground for opportunities, keep an awareness of what's going on in your local tech scene, and shows that you actually enjoy what you do and want to learn more.

If you can find any within reasonable travelling distance, they're pretty good networking opportunities. I know people who heard of job opportunities and got 'fast-tracked' to an interview because of who they met at such meet-ups (one company basically suffered a mass exodus of it's developers, and my aforementioned colleague helped set it up so many of them could get interviewed at where he worked, where a fair percentage of those who left them now work). I've gotten cards and places to send my CV before, very useful.

But this is speaking from a UK perspective, I'm not sure how similar things would work over the pond...

[nenjin]

So I had an interview a couple of days ago for a 'Software Developer' job. I got this interview by going to a Tech Meet-Up and talking to people there. It helped I knew the man hosting it (someone I worked with on my work placement), but such things are useful not only when looking for work but also when working. They let you keep an ear to the ground for opportunities, keep an awareness of what's going on in your local tech scene, and shows that you actually enjoy what you do and want to learn more.

If you can find any within reasonable travelling distance, they're pretty good networking opportunities. I know people who heard of job opportunities and got 'fast-tracked' to an interview because of who they met at such meet-ups (one company basically suffered a mass exodus of it's developers, and my aforementioned colleague helped set it up so many of them could get interviewed at where he worked, where a fair percentage of those who left them now work). I've gotten cards and places to send my CV before, very useful.

But this is speaking from a UK perspective, I'm not sure how similar things would work over the pond...

My building (which is a coop of different businesses) actually has several events/clubs they host around town for this sort of stuff. Some of it is through the university, some in partnerships with other businesses. There's Beer 'n Code, The Maker's Fair, First Fridays, and stuff that isn't necessarily in tech but puts the same people in the same place often (like the Crawfish Boil.) So I'd sniff around for stuff like that. You're looking for entrepreneurs and start-ups and co-ops. Those places are usually fertile ground for programming opportunities, because start ups are often dealing in the web since it doesn't require a lot of infrastructure like other businesses.

[Ghills]

Also try online job boards specifically focused on programmers. StackExchange has one, I think.  Look in local newspapers for ads.  Ask friends in the area - this is how I found half of my jobs.

[Akhier the Dragon hearted]

Thank you for the tip Ghills. I tried StackExchange but nothing remotely close barring one job way out of skill range is posted there right now.

Is there any other such places people know of? Because as it is the job search isn't going that well. Most programming jobs in the area (under a hundred miles) where I live seem to be for Java and while I wouldn't mind learning it but I don't have any experience with it right now.

MorleyDev, the suggestion of going to some meetup or another is a good one, those of you looking here for tips should use it. When it comes to me though there doesn't seem to much of anything. There is one group within a hundred miles (Some national thing, netsquared) on meetup.com. I actually looked into this type of thing in the past just because I thought it would be cool to just be around people who also liked programming/tech.

The feeling I am getting is that the 100 miles around Buckley Michigan is relatively poor place to be looking for a programming job at the moment if you just got out of college and only know a couple 'c' languages. It probably doesn't help that I moved up here from PA (not exactly recently but I was never good at connecting with people).

[nenjin]

Learning unfamiliar languages and getting thrown into the deep end is often what programming is about. The more languages you can at least interpret, the more attractive of a hire you're going to be. Spend some of your time checking out Java, diddle around, and see if they'll take someone who willing to learn more.

[Akhier the Dragon hearted]

   As I stated I would love to learn Java, in fact if any of you know a good place to start learning it that would be cool. The thing is that at the moment I don't how to and the jobs are not for entry level stuff (as in only a couple years experience, not specifically "entry" level) but things asking for a good bit of experience and I can't rightly claim it.

[nenjin]

   As I stated I would love to learn Java, in fact if any of you know a good place to start learning it that would be cool. The thing is that at the moment I don't how to and the jobs are not for entry level stuff (as in only a couple years experience, not specifically "entry" level) but things asking for a good bit of experience and I can't rightly claim it.

http://www.codecademy.com/en/tracks/javascript

It's probably not quite at your level (it's written for people with zero programming experience) but it should get you started.