How Can I Improve My Job Prospects After a Poor Undergraduate Experience?

[twofish-quant]

You really think just having a positive attitude would magically make all of my woes about my job prospects disappear?

It will help a lot.

1) The type of job you get depends largely on how often you swing at the ball. If you keep swinging you will hit something, and part of getting what you want involves persistence.

2) A lot of what employers are looking for is emotional control. Think about it this way. You are at a bank and the teller says "Have a nice day!" In fact, he or she problem is having a rotten day, but the fact that he or she can fake happy is part of the job description. The world of business is like that. When you go into the interview, you want to emit positive vibes and make the interviewer feel good.

It's not necessarily a positive attitude that helps but an active attitude. I might be feeling crappy, but I can put on the suit, put on the show, and keep swinging at the ball until I get something.

 

[twofish-quant]

A positive attitude does help in interviews. It is the interviewer's job to read people and make judgements. They want to see that you are enthusiastic about the job and that you are self-confident

This is where reading about acting comes in useful. When you are in an interview, you are putting on a show. Part of the dynamics of the situation is that the interviewer might be in a crappy mood because they are worried about *their* job. If you make people around you feel better, they'll be more likely to hire you.

A lot of jobs involves emotional control. You might be at a meeting, mad as hell, scared to death, or whatever but the goal is to control the emotion while you are at work so that you can be a nice economically productive cog to be exploited by the power elite.

Emotional control is really important because there will be moments when you stare at a piece of paper and think to yourself "we are about to get a ton of crap dumped on us." At that point, what the military-industrial complex wants you to do is to take a deep breath, and think "O.K. Let's get out the umbrellas and shovels and find some manure salesman."

 

[turin]

... employers only look at your most recent degree, if you perform decently in master program it will 'erase' your bad undergrad record.

The Austin Community College system asked for my entire life history when I applied. They wanted my transcripts from every college that I ever attended, and they wanted to know about every BS odd job that I ever held. Actually, now that I'm posting this, I have just reminded myself that I forgot to get my transcripts sent. Whoops, I'd better do that tonight!

 

[turin]

... usually get called for all the jobs that I apply.

I call BS on that (unless you only apply for jobs where you already have some sort of connection).

 

[twofish-quant]

non-physics companies might not look at GPA, but certainly if I want to have a career in physics or continue my education physics , my GPA will certainly be a factor.

Yes it will make your life harder, but remember that it doesn't matter if a thousand people say no. All you need is one person to say yes, and what everyone else thinks doesn't matter. But it's really, really hard to convince someone to being in you, if you don't believe in you.

The other thing is that in business, you will *always* be working from a less than ideal situation. The thing that really matters is how you deal with less than ideal situations.

 

[twofish-quant]

Do you get called to interviews without first sending a copy of your diploma? If not then this doesn't say squat since they already know your grades.

Among all of the several dozen jobs interviews that I've had in my life, there is only one company that really cared about my grades. Most employers don't think highly of grades, because a lot of the skills that you learn in the classroom are pretty useless in business.

You can pass tests. Big deal.

 

[twofish-quant]

I have a relative who took an engineering degree with quite bad grades. He graduated during the last low business cycle and he had to wait several years till the business cycle got better before he got a proper job.

But if you graduate that the wrong time, then you are going to have difficulty getting a job no matter what your grades and qualifications are. If people aren't hiring, then it doesn't matter if you have a Nobel prize and a 4.0 from Harvard, you still have to pound pavement.

 

[noblegas]

Among all of the several dozen jobs interviews that I've had in my life, there is only one company that really cared about my grades. Most employers don't think highly of grades, because a lot of the skills that you learn in the classroom are pretty useless in business.

You can pass tests. Big deal.

Thanks for your feedback. I think its has been useful. What kind of skills did you have to learnat the jobs that hired you that were not concerned about grades

 

[elect_eng]

Thanks for your feedback. I think its has been useful. What kind of skills did you have to learnat the jobs that hired you that were not concerned about grades

See, already you are showing a better attitude. This response portray's you in a much better light than some of your previous ones. Trust us, it makes a huge difference!

 

[mal4mac]

The head of research at Microsoft UK has a BA in physics. It was at Oxford, though, and it didn't stop him taking a PhD with Higgs... So don't tell anyone a BA is worth less than a BSc (even if it is!)...