B.S. Graduate, Great Job Opportunity, Going to Grad Sc.

[Jarvis323]

Sorry for the confusing and ambiguous title. I had a hard time describing the topic in so few words.

I am graduating, in a few weeks, with a B.S. in Computer Science and will be off to pursue a Masters degree. Recently, multiple companies have asked me to submit a resume and come in for an interview. I'm not going to drop the Masters program, but I am wondering what my response should be.

Should I go for the interviews anyways, and send my resume, but explain that I will not be able to start work for a few years? Should I just send a message explaining that I won't be out of school for another few years. Would submitting a resume now be worthwhile? Or will I be better off just waiting until I am soon to get out of grad school?

Now that I am typing this out, the answer seams obvious, but I would appreciate any useful advice you can give me regarding the situation.

 

[DEvens]

Whatever you do with a potential employer, be open and honest. Before you accept the interviews tell them that you fully intend to continue with your masters degree. Do not go to interviews that have zero possibility of you accepting a job offer without telling them this important fact.

Employers have long memories. When you are done your degree you will probably want a job, maybe from one of these companies. Your name will be on a piece of paper in a filing cabinet. Make sure what is written on that paper is going to put you in a good light. And even if you go into academia, a good relationship with a company is a good thing. It can produce all kinds of lateral benefits. For example, if you have students yourself one day, they may want jobs. Or you may get contracts with that company that pay for your research as a prof, and so on.

Also, employers often have long term plans. If you fit their business plan now you likely still fit their business plan in 2 or 3 years (or however long a masters takes). You will find that they respond well to honest explanation of your plans. They may be disappointed but they will still be pleased with you and happy to contact you in the future.

But if you mess them around the bad taste will linger for a long time. We had a guy apply to the company. We offered him the job. We made plans assuming he would be there. Then we found out he had accepted a place in grad school and had already paid his tuition when he applied for the job with us. His name is now in our "do not hire" list, and we have given him several "no thank you" letters since he graduated.

That being said, there are lots of options. These options need to be checked with your university before proceeding. For example, you might be able to work part time with one of these companies. If it is work that matches your degree work you might be able to combine the two and get some credit at your university for the company work. Maybe you could expand it into a thesis, or possibly there are journal articles to be written. Having a work situation that produces academic credit and interest is a brilliant thing. Getting paid cash to do interesting work is a wonderful experience.

Basically what I am saying is, keep good relations all around. And don't close doors that do not need to be closed.

 

[SteamKing]

Sorry for the confusing and ambiguous title. I had a hard time describing the topic in so few words.

I am graduating, in a few weeks, with a B.S. in Computer Science and will be off to pursue a Masters degree. Recently, multiple companies have asked me to submit a resume and come in for an interview. I'm not going to drop the Masters program, but I am wondering what my response should be.

Should I go for the interviews anyways, and send my resume, but explain that I will not be able to start work for a few years? Should I just send a message explaining that I won't be out of school for another few years. Would submitting a resume now be worthwhile? Or will I be better off just waiting until I am soon to get out of grad school?

Now that I am typing this out, the answer seams obvious, but I would appreciate any useful advice you can give me regarding the situation.

Are the job offers and the grad school in different cities? If they're not, you might get a chance to do both, which is why you should be honest with potential employers. Once, long ago in the dark ages, employers actually encouraged and helped their employees get advanced degrees while remaining on the job. IDK how it is now, which is something you'll have to inquire about.