Has Your University degree helped you finding a job??

Karlisbad

* Yes

* NO

For those that have gone to University or Polytechniques..my question is if this has been helpful for you when trying to find a job..since Physicsforums include people from different countries, i would like to hear everyone's opinion..

Unfortunately my case has been NO, i earn 800 €€ (euro) per month.. as my best job ever had, although i have a degree in Physics.. before this i worked in Pizza Hut and cleaning with even worse salaries, then what's your opinion about having a degree from an university and finding a job?..thanks

EDIT: if possible, could you say what country are you from??..(if you don't mind) thanks

Astronuc

Certainly. However, one needs at least a MS or PhD these days. I completed the MS, but left university to take a job. I was one of about 12 students in the country who had experience with a particular code, and a company made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I worked there for nearly 10 years.

I now work at a different company with several other colleagues from the same university program. We all did research in similar areas to support the development of analytical software which was developed by the company where I now work. We provide services to various organizations in US, Europe and Asia.

arunbg

Well, I'm from India and a 1st year Computer science engineering studet and in my college, we have job placement in campus itself, so you're assured of a job, and usually with one of the major MNCs if you're reasonably good at what you do. Life's easy.

However, the ironic part is that people who major in one of the science streams are having a tough time finding a job these days, even if they may be more intellectually capable than many engineers.

Astronuc, you've got me curious. What sort of code was it that only you and 11 others in the US had experience in ?

J77

Yes.

BSc -> MSc -> PhD -> research.

UK.

josh_einsle

By having a degree you at least get a look at by many high tech companies... years ago this may not have been the case, but a friend of mine who had over 15 yrs experence was unable to get a decent job after being laid off due to lack of a degree. That said I am afraid that in order to get good jobs in the industry these days you need at least a masters; which makes me a bit on the underqualified side of things... part of what is driving me to go back to school and get a phd.

Anttech

In which field did this happen? Because I have never seen anything like this before in IT. Unless that person has specialised in some legacy technology and never diversified.

Anyway A degree helps, but its not the be all and end all. Asking a question like this on a Physics Board, is going to give you a skewed poll. Regardless of that, of course it is helpful, BUT I dont think it is the most important.

In my experience in highly technical Jobs within Information technology Experience & Knowledge is king. Degree get outdated so quickly that the raw information you learn is outdated very quickly. Sometimes the Methodologies and processes learned can be valuable.

BobG

If you have no job experience, then of course having a degree will help you. In fact, it's about the only asset you have going for you.

Experience and a decent network of folks you've worked with before is more helpful, but, obviously, that requires a person to get a decent job in the first place and to hold on to it.

As to Anttech never seeing anything like a laid off worker with 15 years experience having trouble finding a job ....... If a person with 15 years experience is laid off, then it means either there's mass layoffs and all of your IT folks are having trouble finding a job or the company felt that particular person was very expendable. I've seen both happen.

The IT industry in Colorado seems to have its booms and busts. Workers that stick it out can almost always get rehired when things improve, but quite a few get frustrated about the second or third time they go through these layoffs and decide to try something new, or at least try a different location (that makes the boom times good for new college graduates).

A job requiring a college degree usually means workers don't belong to a union. There is no requirement to lay off employees based just upon seniority. If a person with 15 years experience is laid off in normal economic times, it raises a red flag with prospective employers. They start asking themselves why his old company found a person with so much experience expendable.

On the other hand, hanging on to your job even through upheaval is a big plus. It's almost better than a personal reference from an ex-boss since so many companies are weary to say anything bad about an ex-employee.

HR folks always preach how important past employment references are - that they always contact each and every one of them. The same HR folks will also tell you the only thing they're allowed to say about past employees is the dates the employee worked there. It's tough to get good info on prospective employees, hence the importance of a good network of former coworkers. Everyone likes to hire someone they at least know something about, even if second hand.

Jimmy Snyder

My degree is in mathematics but my career is in software engineering. My degree hadn't helped me until my latest position where people without degrees simply are not hired. My education however has been invaluable to me. When I started working in the early eighties, small companies would hire anyone willing to say that they were a programmer. When it turned out that the applicant was lying, the company was faced with two choices:

1. Fire the bum.

2. Train the bum while its body was still warm.

Often option 2 was taken. I don't think it's still that way.

brewnog

There's no chance I'd have even got a first interview for my job without my degree. Having said that, I selected my course and university based partly on the post-graduate employability prospects.

chroot

I'd say a degree is essentially a necessity for any kind of technical profession. You may be able to get away without a degree for business administration, finance, etc. -- but, for example, you're going to have a very hard time getting any kind of engineering job without a degree.

- Warren

brewnog

The only professional engineers I know who don't hold engineering degrees are those who are time served. There really is no other way to do it.

Ivan Seeking

That is probably true if you wish to do research, but a BS in physics is very marketable. Before graduating I moved to the middle of Oregon about ten miles from a small timber town. There was one local company that had tech jobs, but at the time they were offering less than what I made before going back to school. However, in the end I have managed to make a good living with a BS in physics. In fact, on good days I make as much as a consulting Ph.D.

Karlisbad, I suggest that you take a resume writing class. Also, be bold. When I graduated and started looking for a real job, there was not one ad for a physicist at any degree level to be found in the entire state! But there were two things that made all the difference in the world. First, I took a class and learned how to write a killer resume. THIS IS IMPERATIVE!!! Next, I started mass mailings. My thinking was that surely there are companies who would want me but I don't know who they are, so I got a list of all high-tech companies in Oregon and mailed out five-hundred resumes in a couple of weeks [I specifically set the goal of mailing out five-hundred]. The next thing I knew, I not only had job offers, some companies were paying me to come for interviews. I ended up taking a job in an industry that I never would have even considered. I had no idea that I could find such a good match. It was just a matter of finding the right place.

It worked out so well that before long I went out on my own. It has been an adventure ever since!

Edit: There is one more very important point here. There are many companies who would hire physics grads but who need to be educated as to what physicists study. Instead of listing "physics" and assuming that everyone knows what that means, you need to explain what you have learned. Plenty of people [including some engineers] are clueless as to what a physics grad can bring to the table.

Evo

A college degree in anything is almost a must have for any decent job in the US. I know when I helped out with hiring at my old company, we had so many replies to a job add that we tossed any resumes that didn't list a college degree, we had to have some starting point, there were just too many to read.

Ivan Seeking

One rule of thumb that I learned is that you have five to fifteen seconds to get someone's attention with a resume. I believe that five seconds is more like it.

The resume gets the interview
The interview gets the job.

Don't try to get hired with your resume. The goal is to create interest.

Evo

Excellent advice. Also, don't try to get attention by using colored paper, fancy fonts, or flowery borders. Those also get tossed without a look. (well, unless you're applying for a job in some "artsy" position")

One of my clients is a large advertising agency and the floor for the "creative" people is a trip into Never, Never Land. It's wild.

brewnog

I think there's a lot of truth in that. I worked for a while recruiting new graduates. I wouldn't have even considered inviting a physics graduate for an interview unless they had highlighed what they could actually do for us, rather than what they had studied or what they knew.

Ivan Seeking

Re Evo: I used what was recommended in the class - a heavy white page with a slight texture and a watermark.

Use one page only and references available upon request. Don't waist your five seconds with names and phone numbers.