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Lockback
Sep 3, 2006

All days are nights to see till I see thee; and nights bright days when dreams do show me thee.
My advice would be try to make it work while stringing them along. Don't worry about leaving "at a good time", you don't need to put a companies interest above yours, they didn't do that with you or your coworkers. I can't say much about your Holiday plans, but I think most people would be more inconvenienced by 2+ months of not being employed vs projects over the holidays. If you quit you won't get unemployment, so its up to you on your risk tolerance. Seems like a job where you work from home and don't have much to do is basically ideal while job hunting.

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Something Offal
Jan 12, 2018

by FactsAreUseless
The crappiness of the job search process is exponentially increased when you're not currently employed. How long have you been at your job?

Xguard86
Nov 22, 2004

"You don't understand his pain. Everywhere he goes he sees women working, wearing pants, speaking in gatherings, voting. Surely they will burn in the white hot flames of Hell"
If your job is not demanding right now, you're in a perfect spot to hunt. Your prospects are much better to actually land a position and you're not racing a clock.

Gut it out and focus on the future.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

Lockback posted:

My advice would be try to make it work while stringing them along. Don't worry about leaving "at a good time", you don't need to put a companies interest above yours, they didn't do that with you or your coworkers. I can't say much about your Holiday plans, but I think most people would be more inconvenienced by 2+ months of not being employed vs projects over the holidays. If you quit you won't get unemployment, so its up to you on your risk tolerance. Seems like a job where you work from home and don't have much to do is basically ideal while job hunting.

Financially I'm not too worried, my wife makes good money and we have a good amount of savings. Mainly I'm concerned about having to explain an employment gap of a few months in case something doesn't come along. And also having to answer the question "why are you leaving" with "I already did."

I FEEL like I should be able to find something by end of January. But at the same time, I also feel like I should have found something by now.

A lot of it really is to try and keep my sanity... so here's some E/N poo poo, but honestly I used to assume that the office was going to get shut down any day, and it came pretty close a few times. But in the last year I was finally starting to think that as the company grew, they would be expanding this office to support business in this region. With this growth, I'd be able to have a bigger team (I'm currently a team lead with 1 direct report), and maybe in 5-8 years I'd be in line for another promotion. Then out of nowhere they shut it down... not going to lie, that hurt a lot.

And when I say out of nowhere... the IT manager showed up around 9:00am, but he had just been there a few weeks prior working on a few things, so we assumed this was a continuation. The fact that he was actually wearing business casual instead of jeans and a hoodie should have tipped us off... at around 10:30 the engineering director showed up. He calls an all-office meeting for 11:30. Rumors start flying in our tiny office... but I thought they were just poo poo-canning someone. We all sit down, and then in walks the CEO, HR manager, and 2 other people (who later claimed they worked in HR, but we suspect were hired security guards). Instantly I knew what was going on. The CEO makes his spiel (to his credit, visibly nervous, obviously not comfortable with firing a pile of people all at once), and then HR handed out paperwork and told everyone to leave and come back at a designated time later in the week to collect personal belongings.

The company has gone through some growing pains since I've been here, and I stuck around through some rough patches... many frankly worse than where the company was a few months ago. Would have quit a long time ago if things hadn't been improving, and even so the pace of change is glacial so I would get the idea to quit every now and again. But what's always kept me around is that they do a lot of interesting work that very few companies do, and they have a bright future so long as they keep improving, so I was really hoping I could make a career at this place.

Now I'm just a remote employee with no real future here, so every day it's more and more difficult to muster the motivation I need to get work done.

The other part of it is my job involves travel. Not a ton, but often enough to be a nuisance, and I have a few trips coming up that I'd prefer to avoid. I have a family now and I'd like to dial that back, especially around holidays.

And yes, it is pretty convenient to be able to job hunt without anyone looking over my shoulder. But I know it's going to catch up with me, especially if things slow down even more. But to be sure, I intend to continue being professional (minus job hunting...). My boss had nothing to do with this, and I would like to make the transition as easy as possible for him.

Something Offal posted:

The crappiness of the job search process is exponentially increased when you're not currently employed. How long have you been at your job?

Yup, that's main reason I've held on this long. As much as I hate this situation, I KNOW it's better than being unemployed... but like I said, it's getting harder and harder to stay motivated, and it's starting to take a toll on me.

I've been here a couple weeks shy of 5 years. That's one of the other reasons I didn't quit sooner... if I hold on a bit longer I'll get the next 20% of my vesting :toot:.

Dik Hz
Feb 22, 2004

Fun with Science

DaveSauce posted:

Yup, that's main reason I've held on this long. As much as I hate this situation, I KNOW it's better than being unemployed... but like I said, it's getting harder and harder to stay motivated, and it's starting to take a toll on me.

I've been here a couple weeks shy of 5 years. That's one of the other reasons I didn't quit sooner... if I hold on a bit longer I'll get the next 20% of my vesting :toot:.
Just phone it in. Keep showing up, but take it easy on yourself. Take your pride and ego out of the job. Given what you've put here, nobody reasonable is going to judge you negatively. If they do lay you off, you're in the exact same situation as if you had quit, except you get unemployment.

And it's always easier to find a job when you have a job. You got this.

Lockback
Sep 3, 2006

All days are nights to see till I see thee; and nights bright days when dreams do show me thee.
If it's actively hurting your mental health, a small gap because you wanted out isn't TOO big of a deal, but it'll be easier if you had a job honestly. Job market is also usually slowest right around this time and gets much better in January as new fiscal year/quarter money becomes available.

I'd suggest taking Dik Hz's advice if possible, but ultimately you know what's best for you.

Dik Hz
Feb 22, 2004

Fun with Science

Lockback posted:

If it's actively hurting your mental health, a small gap because you wanted out isn't TOO big of a deal, but it'll be easier if you had a job honestly. Job market is also usually slowest right around this time and gets much better in January as new fiscal year/quarter money becomes available.

I'd suggest taking Dik Hz's advice if possible, but ultimately you know what's best for you.
Agreed. However, sometimes if you give yourself permission to quit, you'll find the job suddenly becomes bearable again. Some of the other advice I've heard is to treat it like you're a sociologist researching a dysfunctional alien civilization.

Lockback
Sep 3, 2006

All days are nights to see till I see thee; and nights bright days when dreams do show me thee.

Dik Hz posted:

Agreed. However, sometimes if you give yourself permission to quit, you'll find the job suddenly becomes bearable again. Some of the other advice I've heard is to treat it like you're a sociologist researching a dysfunctional alien civilization.

Post-capitalism-society.txt

But I agree.

White Light
Dec 19, 2012

I'm not sure if I fit the right criteria for this thread, but I thought i'd make an effort post here rather than start a new thread since I don't know the layout of the land here so here goes.

I've been trying to get a jump in the career field on-and-off for the past 3, maybe 4 years now. Been trying to crack a number of industries after graduating with my Associate's degree, including:

- Web Design/Development
- Graphic Design
- Digital Design
- User Interface design/development
- User Experience Design

I also have experience using wordpress but I tend to lump that with the Web Design/Dev aspect of the above mentioned. After trying for three solid years to crack that barrier when it comes to Web Design/Dev I finally decided to try the other career routes mentioned (I had been applying for these previously but now switched to focusing on them full force). A few months ago I broke down and threw down some cheddar on an AIMS career aptitude test; found out through the results that, oh hey, turns out I have an extremely low skillset in Analytical Reasoning and Computational Skills, both things that are vital for that particular career field. Not to be outdone, I also have an issue with my brain's processing speed, causing me to have a really tough time learning any new material, and since coding/programming has new techniques and languages coming out all the time, this makes my ability to keep up with the trends next to impossible. Had I known this before I decided to pursue Web Development I probably wouldn't have pursued it, but at the time it was one of the only job options I had down here in Texas so I had to try and make it work.

Right now i'm a little bit perplexed as to what I can/should do regarding my career path. I'm about to move in with my folks for the third time in about a week to the Houston area, and last time I checked there wasn't a ton of opportunities out there that wasn't related to the Oil and Gas industry or a 'Hard Hat/Steel-Toe-Boot' kind of work. It's made landing even a simple interview a huge pain, and I am wondering if maybe I should just look for work that doesn't utilize my degree at all. I've tried landing junior level roles but always get passed up cause I 'don't have enough experience', but will also get passed up on any Entry Level openings because the company wants someone who's currently in college now, not graduated. Based on the AIMS test I took I know that my best option would be to pursue User Experience/UI Design since I have a strong diagnostic ability, but outside of that i'm pretty much out of options. I've applied to jobs in Houston, Dallas, Ft Worth, San Antonio, and Austin, all with next to no luck. I've used a number of agencies to apply to a wealth of openings, and if they don't get back to me then they'll respond with no real follow-through. The ones that do manage to land interviews for me usually do a terrible job of representing the actual job duties; not a whole lot of fun to expect to interview for a UXer, UI or Graphic Designer position only to discover in the interview they're actually looking for a Full Stack Developer (this has happend a LOT). I've even used two different employment specialists from the Texas Workforce Agency (one in Houston, one in Dallas), and they can't find anything for me either.

I guess i'm just tired of having to jump through so many hoops and hurdles just to get any sort of traction somewhere. Am I doing something wrong here? Am I trapped in the job culture of my state? All of my other friends managed to get their positions without having to do anything more than a single interview, much less having to take a skills assessment or a personality test.

Could use some insight, anything helps out.

Lockback
Sep 3, 2006

All days are nights to see till I see thee; and nights bright days when dreams do show me thee.
What is your associates in? Not having a bachelor's is going to be one strike against you. Not a death knell, but with other things it might be a problem. Thoughts going somewhere (cheap) to finish off a bachelors?

Have you done any coding/webdev/UX bootcamps anywhere? I have mixed feelings about them, but it might help with your situation of not getting a foot in anywhere. A musician friend of mine went from basically your situation to a front-end team lead in like 2 years via a bootcamp, so they can help certain people.

Do you have anything you can demonstrate with your skills? Webpages, projects, etc? That is probably what anyone looking to hire junior wants to see. Saying you can do something or even having a piece of paper is not the same thing as being able to actually show a thing.

Thoughts on branching out? I've done software support along with engineering roles and the support roles can be better fits for "misfits" and still be lucrative/rewarding/etc. Desktop support can suck balls, but enterprise or SaaS support can be pretty decent. You may still need more technical chops (Java, even light experience, has been a requirement for most roles I've hired in the last few years).

White Light
Dec 19, 2012

Lockback posted:

What is your associates in? Not having a bachelor's is going to be one strike against you. Not a death knell, but with other things it might be a problem. Thoughts going somewhere (cheap) to finish off a bachelors?

I have an Associate's Degree in a program called Digital Media Arts that I got in Toronto, ON. Long story short, it covered a variety of fields in the digital media industry; things like VFX, Project Management, Digital/Graphic Design, Print Media, Web Design, User Experience/UI, etc. Basically it let you dip your toe in the water long enough to decide if that was a potential career choice for you without committing to a full four year diploma plan. There is an option to round it out to a full Bachelor's Degree built upon the plan, however the only places you can go to do this are at the school I went to (Seneca@York University) or a joint program for a university in New York in Buffalo.

At the time, I was actually planning on becoming a Permanent Resident in Canada, and was going to use my post-graduate to get work in the Toronto area. Unfortunately for me, the Canadian immigration is a colossal piece of poo poo and screwed me over royally by simply losing my application with no way to keep track of it despite calling/following up on everything that I was supposed to do in order to get it to work out. The only option I had would be to reapply again with a non-refundable fee, ALSO with no way to track it. It was really disheartening and had honestly caused me a lot of strife looking for work down here with no real job connections whatsoever. So I can get a Bachelor's degree, but it would only be in those two cities and it would cost a lot of money that I cannot take out any type of student loans for.

That being said, very rarely has not having a Bachelor's Degree really stopped me from landing a job down here; the only time it came up was when I was looking for my very first position, and once I got even some contract work then the subject would hardly come up, if ever, so I think I may have lucked out!

Lockback posted:

Have you done any coding/webdev/UX bootcamps anywhere? I have mixed feelings about them, but it might help with your situation of not getting a foot in anywhere. A musician friend of mine went from basically your situation to a front-end team lead in like 2 years via a bootcamp, so they can help certain people.

Yes actually, i've done a few of them; I took some web development courses on a website called Thinkful, i've used Lynda.com and followed there various Web Design/Development plans, i've purchased and completed different exercises from all sorts of computer magazines to help beef up my portfolio. The problem i've found with these is that they don't really teach you how to problem solve when it comes to programming, only to 'parrot' the projects they have enclosed. I have a decent enough portfolio online. Other video lectures i've combed through meticulously cover a lot of theory that don't illustrate the rhyme or reason behind just why you're learning this. Not to be outdone, since I don't have an actual person with me to walk me through the extremely literal mindset that comes from my processing issues, I can get walled very easily when it comes to building projects from things not properly embellished in online tutorials or video lectures, and this can waste a lot of time and money on my end when I can't complete a project simply because the author of said articles/videos forgot to mention to, say, surround a function or line of programming with an important quote bracket or something else trivial.

My issue is that I can't 'cram' new concepts fast enough; nothing is worse than when i've done two phone screenings, two or three in-person interviews that I knock right out of the park, only to get destroyed by some last minute Skills Assessment that focuses on concepts that was hardly mentioned in the job description and is now the pillar of whatever challenge they send my way. This has happened a lot to me and it really wears you down, especially when I know the actual day-to-day job duties are nowhere near as complex as what they want me to put together in an afternoon's time, usually after I just got back from a 7-hour round trip drive from the interview.

I feel that i'm just not good at this work, bottom line. Not to be understated, just the pursuit of this career role has really been toxic to my own mental well being, cause constantly studying with no payoff while working side jobs like delivering pizzas/working parking garages/stocking grocery shelves can murder your self-esteem and motivation.

Lockback posted:

Do you have anything you can demonstrate with your skills? Webpages, projects, etc? That is probably what anyone looking to hire junior wants to see. Saying you can do something or even having a piece of paper is not the same thing as being able to actually show a thing.

I do have a portfolio of some projects i've built, they can be found below:

http://www.parrotink.net/portfolio.html

As for company work, this is the best website example i've built and designed from scratch utilizing Responsive Design methods for all smart devices:

http://luminbariatric.com/

Here's an example of my User Experience abilities:

https://parrotink.myportfolio.com/user-experience

And then just general graphic design work portfolio:

https://parrotink.myportfolio.com/projects

Lockback posted:

Thoughts on branching out? I've done software support along with engineering roles and the support roles can be better fits for "misfits" and still be lucrative/rewarding/etc. Desktop support can suck balls, but enterprise or SaaS support can be pretty decent. You may still need more technical chops (Java, even light experience, has been a requirement for most roles I've hired in the last few years).

I've looked into doing other things, but honestly I can't seem to find any openings and have zero training in software engineering. At this point if there's a company out there that's willing to teach me from the ground up i'd give it a shot, but I do have to factor in my mental/coding processing speed, i'd hate to spend all of my job and free time just struggling to keep up with the others. The problem i've noticed is that a lot of companies don't have a whole lot of patience when it comes to these things, they usually want someone who can hit the ground running. Texas seems to have a case of poor management when it comes to this industry; my best reference source who's done work down here for 30+ years told me that a lot of companies will auto-promote their sole programmers to management roles once they get more income for hiring, and once that happens those programmers stop programming overnight, causing their coding skillset to weather and decay from a lack of practice. Because of this they HATE getting asked any sort of programming questions from the employees they now manage (even though that is part of their job duties) so will usually pick the person with the highest tenure since they are the 'safest' pick, even for entry or junior level positions. It feels like a career lockout and is part of the reason why I decided to pursue a different career path that isn't going to hit me with five interviews before they make a decision months down the line.

I hope this helps out. Maybe i'm just in the wrong state? I have a grand total of $150 in my bank account so I wouldn't be able to move anywhere for quite some time. I will say that i'd rather have something set up for me before I pick up and relocate to a new state with no connections or even a basic job layed out.

JIZZ DENOUEMENT
Oct 3, 2012

STRIKE!
Web Graphics guy.

Look at positions called Public Information Officers (or similar) at local governments. Not a lot of communications people apply to those jobs because typically they are about technical stuff in a specific niche of government. But the governments themselves typically prefer communications people that don’t actually know a lot about the field because they want someone who translate the technical jargon into stuff actual people will understand.

buglord
Jul 31, 2010

Cheating at a raffle? I sentence you to 1 year in jail! No! Two years! Three! Four! Five years! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!

Buglord
Is job shadowing a thing you can ask companies to do for you? I applied for a place, I'm 99% sure I wont get in, but even when I wont, I still want to see what people in this particular business do. Is this something I should have asked about before applying?

Lockback
Sep 3, 2006

All days are nights to see till I see thee; and nights bright days when dreams do show me thee.

buglord posted:

Is job shadowing a thing you can ask companies to do for you? I applied for a place, I'm 99% sure I wont get in, but even when I wont, I still want to see what people in this particular business do. Is this something I should have asked about before applying?

Don't offer to work for free before applying, no.

Some companies offer internship-like things to people not in school, but its pretty rare and I've really only heard of it in San Francisco and a FinTech company in New York. I'm not sure that's exactly job shadowing.

Dik Hz
Feb 22, 2004

Fun with Science

buglord posted:

Is job shadowing a thing you can ask companies to do for you? I applied for a place, I'm 99% sure I wont get in, but even when I wont, I still want to see what people in this particular business do. Is this something I should have asked about before applying?
No. Any company that would say yes is shady as gently caress.

If you're serious, you can ping people on LinkedIn or contacts in your network for an informational interview. Basically you ask them about their job and what it entails. Don't do this to try to get a job offer, though, because that's really annoying.

Bastard Tetris
Apr 27, 2005

L-Shaped


Nap Ghost
This may be a better question for the negotiation thread, but does anyone have any advice for breaking the six-figure barrier? I’m right on the hairy edge with base salary, but places I’m interviewing at look at me like I asked them to eat a dick asking for $105k/yr, when the role’s a significant jump in responsibility/seniority from my current base at $98k. I feel like it’s some sort of wage stickiness from hiring managers. Salary ranges for my level/role go up into the $140s on Glassdoor, etc.

KillHour
Oct 28, 2007


I had the same thing. The way I got there was getting a job offer from a much higher COL area and using that to force my company to give me a raise. They obviously didn't match it, but it got me over the hump (Offer was 155, counter was 120).

Not sure how much that helps, but $100k is definitely a mental barrier for employers and being over it already increases their willingness to offer you more.

FrozenVent
May 1, 2009

The Boeing 737-200QC is the undisputed workhorse of the skies.
Unless you’re interviewing for internal roles, how does the interviewer know your salary?

Play “oh I’m flexible” until they name a number, that’s how I got over 100k.

Lockback
Sep 3, 2006

All days are nights to see till I see thee; and nights bright days when dreams do show me thee.
Yeah, I'd just goose the number. Or say "I make 100k after bonus and incentives, so for this role I'd want a base salary at 110k to offset the risk of a move like this."

FrozenVent
May 1, 2009

The Boeing 737-200QC is the undisputed workhorse of the skies.
I wouldn’t even give them a number.

That being said I was interviewing recently and the interviewee blurred out her current salary. HR still offered her 15k above that because... HR.

KillHour
Oct 28, 2007


Companies use asymmetrical knowledge to their advantage so you want to try to do the same thing. I only give my current salary if I know that I can use that as leverage to negotiate up. For instance, I'm interviewing with a company that I know typically offers less than I make but has employees at that level making more than I do. I can use my current salary to basically say "Hey, you need to offer me something that is going to entice me to leave, and based on what I know about your salaries, that's going to be around x."

Bastard Tetris
Apr 27, 2005

L-Shaped


Nap Ghost
I’m in CA so I don’t have to tell them a drat thing in regards to current salary. Woo!

SingleUseOnly
Nov 14, 2018
I hope this is the right thread:

-29 UK
-Currently NEET and on the dole since last month since I quit my night-shift shelf-stacking job which was loving with my mental health and sleep patterns
-Only 5 years of working in supermarkets and nothing else
-2.2 in Maths from 8 years ago of which I remember nothing
-Around £2k in savings
-Still living with my parents so at least rent and food is not a concern just yet

I keep getting emails from reed about cyber security courses and how there's a shortfall in the number of people working in it, but I can't figure out a definite pathway into or which certs to get. Or even any position in IT. Even entry-level helpdesk requires prior experience.

How the hell do I get my foot in the door to anything IT-related?

simplefish
Mar 28, 2011

So long, and thanks for all the fish gallbladdΣrs!


If you want to get into it, start doing it.

I moved from one field to another that I was only tangentially qualified for (and didn't fit with any of my previous work history) by setting myself up and hustling for clients 3 years ago.

I know there are a lot of teach-yourself coding websites out there, I did one out of personal interest for javascript and played around with Arduino. I think for anything creative like coding, get a portfolio together, so keep track of your learning projects. It'll show you can do the sort of work in lieu of professional experience.

Before these sorts of websites became commonplace, someone I know taught himself coding by forcing himself to solve the logic puzzles published in New Scientist (they're deliberately complex, but a programme can of course solve them in the blink of an eye - if you coded it properly). Basically set yourself a task and code your way to the end. Off the top of my head, if you are looking for inspiration try FizzBuzz or Einstein's fish riddle.

Even if you don't know a particular language, think about how you'd write a flow chart of what steps to do in what

I know you might not be going for coding, and may need a professional certification. I'd say look into it - I spent my savings and a month getting a professional certification (before I abandoned the field and set myself up on the new path) and earned more than the training costs back the first month of my new job.

Also I'm not an expert in anything IT, so this might be crap advice. Hopefully someone in the field can respond better.

e: actually on thinking I have a relative who got a 2:2 (or maybe even a 3rd) in maths and then years later became an IT adminsitrator for a local school, if that's something you'd consider? Schools shouldn't have anything too complex beyond blocking porn and getting rid of viruses, between mass-installing updates.

simplefish fucked around with this message at 06:06 on Jan 22, 2019

SingleUseOnly
Nov 14, 2018

simplefish posted:

If you want to get into it, start doing it.

I moved from one field to another that I was only tangentially qualified for (and didn't fit with any of my previous work history) by setting myself up and hustling for clients 3 years ago.

quote:

I know you might not be going for coding, and may need a professional certification. I'd say look into it - I spent my savings and a month getting a professional certification (before I abandoned the field and set myself up on the new path) and earned more than the training costs back the first month of my new job.

Care to expand?

quote:

I know there are a lot of teach-yourself coding websites out there, I did one out of personal interest for javascript and played around with Arduino. I think for anything creative like coding, get a portfolio together, so keep track of your learning projects. It'll show you can do the sort of work in lieu of professional experience.

Before these sorts of websites became commonplace, someone I know taught himself coding by forcing himself to solve the logic puzzles published in New Scientist (they're deliberately complex, but a programme can of course solve them in the blink of an eye - if you coded it properly). Basically set yourself a task and code your way to the end. Off the top of my head, if you are looking for inspiration try FizzBuzz or Einstein's fish riddle.

Even if you don't know a particular language, think about how you'd write a flow chart of what steps to do in what

I did a bit of self-teaching java last year but kinda stopped cos of unrelated problems and while I was making decent progress but having to have a portfolio of non-trivial projects was daunting in addition to not being able to find any entry-level positions that didn't require experience including plethora of other things.

simplefish
Mar 28, 2011

So long, and thanks for all the fish gallbladdΣrs!


Don't be put off by experience requirements. Apply for poo poo anyway - it only costs you the time of a CV tweak and a cover letter. You never know, you might be the only candidate who's seen the job posting. And even if you think your portfolio is poo poo, try it anyway - it may help you find out more about the sort of things they want to see, or what spin on stuff goes across well and what doesn't land. Interviews are all about storytelling.

By start doing it I meant you won't get a job coding if you don't know how to code.
I was perhaps in a slightly different position. I had the knowledge and skills to shift path, but nobody hiring would take me seriously - they saw me in a box of my previous work (a teacher) and so I just said gently caress it and started up my own business on the new path. Clients just care whether you can deliver - and if you can deliver, it can get you the years of experience needed to stop being a contractor and find a regular job. That's the stage I'm at now.

If you can't code yet, then teach yourself or find a training course, and keep a portfolio of your projects. File itand organise it well and think about what story it could tell a hiring manager when you talk them through it. Don't delete it all because "thank gently caress that's over" and "it was just basic coursework anyway"

simplefish fucked around with this message at 17:40 on Jan 22, 2019

Hemingway To Go!
Nov 10, 2008

im stupider then dog shit, i dont give a shit, and i dont give a fuck, and i will never shut the fuck up, and i'll always Respect my enemys.
- ernest hemingway
I have a question:
I've been working on a phd in mathematics and have had the masters for a long time now.
But there's been a lot of difficulty.
I can't get a software engineer job, but there's jobs like project management and in flavors of data science that are possible if I switched to industry. However, ones I've looked at seem either require just a bachelor's in something, or require a PHD in statistics or computer science. Not just mathematics.
Is there a way to look up exactly what kind of job opportunities would be gained by finishing the PhD vs not? Some kind of concrete info instead of just impressions?

KillHour
Oct 28, 2007


Don't get a PhD in math unless you want to teach math (or want to create a dwarven fantasy simulator that will become sentient and enslave us all - but that's pretty niche). If you want a career in data science, start building a portfolio of relevant projects. You need something concrete that shows you can code and that you understand the tools. Spend the time on building a github.

simplefish
Mar 28, 2011

So long, and thanks for all the fish gallbladdΣrs!


Apply anyway.

A PhD carries a lot of weight, and bear in mind that job descriptions are written to be inclusive. Being beyond the "bachelors in something" isn't a harm to your application.

In terms of your area of study, are there any threads you can draw out to make it more relevant? I regularly spin my MA off topic, by "highlighting" the few aspects of the course/thesis that apply. So from maths to stats, have you done anything that could be called stats?

I don't think you'll find explicit things saying "PhD in Maths Generally, but if you specialised in stats please gently caress off"

It's all about the story you tell and how you spin it.

I can't advise you on ditching the PhD or not: but bear in mind if you have some years of PhD without completion you need to clearly address that in your story so it doesn't come off as "couldn't hack it" or "doesn't care" or "lack of motivation for the field in general"

e: by the way I'm an arts graduate, please listen to more qualified people over me

Xyven
Jun 4, 2005

Check to induce a ban

Hemingway To Go! posted:

I have a question:
I've been working on a phd in mathematics and have had the masters for a long time now.
But there's been a lot of difficulty.
I can't get a software engineer job, but there's jobs like project management and in flavors of data science that are possible if I switched to industry. However, ones I've looked at seem either require just a bachelor's in something, or require a PHD in statistics or computer science. Not just mathematics.
Is there a way to look up exactly what kind of job opportunities would be gained by finishing the PhD vs not? Some kind of concrete info instead of just impressions?

At least in my industry (quant trading), we hire both new bachelor and PhD degrees for similar roles. The PhD is prob worth 50-100k for your total comp in the first year. There are also some places that will only hire new grads from PhD programs, not bachelors

Edit: I should make clear that working in the industry for 6 years with a bachelors is way better than getting a PhD, but if you're close to finishing it can give you a big bump in starting comp as well as making it easier to get interviews

Xyven fucked around with this message at 19:38 on Feb 1, 2019

ultrafilter
Aug 23, 2007

It's okay if you have any questions.


Hemingway To Go! posted:

I have a question:
I've been working on a phd in mathematics and have had the masters for a long time now.
But there's been a lot of difficulty.
I can't get a software engineer job, but there's jobs like project management and in flavors of data science that are possible if I switched to industry. However, ones I've looked at seem either require just a bachelor's in something, or require a PHD in statistics or computer science. Not just mathematics.
Is there a way to look up exactly what kind of job opportunities would be gained by finishing the PhD vs not? Some kind of concrete info instead of just impressions?

You might consider asking in the data science thread. You'll get the attention of some relevant people there who might not be watching this thread.

White Light
Dec 19, 2012

KillHour posted:

Don't get a PhD in math unless you want to teach math (or want to create a dwarven fantasy simulator that will become sentient and enslave us all - but that's pretty niche). If you want a career in data science, start building a portfolio of relevant projects. You need something concrete that shows you can code and that you understand the tools. Spend the time on building a github.

Listen to this man, he knows what he's talking about here

SA Forums Poster
Oct 13, 2018

You have to PAY to post on that forum?!?
Ok, need some career advise.

Background:
I'm in my mid-30's, I have my BA, worked many different types of jobs, have management/supervisory experience, but no real career.
I've been working in the back office of banks for 6 years, worked my way up from teller.

A year ago, I applied and received a transfer to the compliance department at the bank where I currently work. Became a compliance analyst. Finally a good career I can focus on. I've been reading and soaking up all of the knowledge I can get my hands on for compliance.
Compliance officer/manager really likes me, told me how she can see me as becoming a compliance officer when she retires. Wants to put me in charge of the bank's compliance data analyst program.

She hires a deputy, second in command, weeks later my manger's boss retires and the replacement is someone she can't stand. My boss retires years early.

New deputy is promoted to officer/manager, but doesn't know about any previous plans. I feel like I made a bad first impression on my new boss with my work.

How do I go about talking to the new manager about what the last boss's plans? Or do I just keep my head down, get more experience and apply to other banks?

SA Forums Poster fucked around with this message at 04:19 on Feb 8, 2019

ultrafilter
Aug 23, 2007

It's okay if you have any questions.


Is there any harm in asking?

SA Forums Poster
Oct 13, 2018

You have to PAY to post on that forum?!?

ultrafilter posted:

Is there any harm in asking?

I was looking for some help on how I approach the new boss and how to phrase. I can't just go up and say "the old boss promised me a promotion and raise, and a million dollar bonus, give it to me now."

Lockback
Sep 3, 2006

All days are nights to see till I see thee; and nights bright days when dreams do show me thee.

SA Forums Poster posted:

I was looking for some help on how I approach the new boss and how to phrase. I can't just go up and say "the old boss promised me a promotion and raise, and a million dollar bonus, give it to me now."

Honestly, if I were in that new bosses shoes the promise of someone who left wouldn't mean anything. If you were being groomed, I'd want to see what skills you had and some of the things you've done to prove you can take that position. With the old boss leaving, priorities might be different and a promotion may not make business sense anymore.

I'd have a talk with new guy but be focused on the future. You can mention the development plan your old boss had, but don't be stuck on it. That's gone and now you need to build a new plan on your current foundation. I either just stay quiet though, you'll probably not be given any thought I'd you do, but realize that you have to start over conniving this new guy.

Dik Hz
Feb 22, 2004

Fun with Science

SA Forums Poster posted:

Ok, need some career advise.

Background:
I'm in my mid-30's, I have my BA, worked many different types of jobs, have management/supervisory experience, but no real career.
I've been working in the back office of banks for 6 years, worked my way up from teller.

A year ago, I applied and received a transfer to the compliance department at the bank where I currently work. Became a compliance analyst. Finally a good career I can focus on. I've been reading and soaking up all of the knowledge I can get my hands on for compliance.
Compliance officer/manager really likes me, told me how she can see me as becoming a compliance officer when she retires. Wants to put me in charge of the bank's compliance data analyst program.

She hires a deputy, second in command, weeks later my manger's boss retires and the replacement is someone she can't stand. My boss retires years early.

New deputy is promoted to officer/manager, but doesn't know about any previous plans. I feel like I made a bad first impression on my new boss with my work.

How do I go about talking to the new manager about what the last boss's plans? Or do I just keep my head down, get more experience and apply to other banks?
Invite your old boss out to lunch and ask her how to handle the situation. She knows the situation better than we do, and she apparently likes you and thinks you're good at your job. She may also have connections that could get you a new job for more money.

TheMightyHandful
Dec 8, 2008

Dik Hz posted:

Invite your old boss out to lunch and ask her how to handle the situation. She knows the situation better than we do, and she apparently likes you and thinks you're good at your job. She may also have connections that could get you a new job for more money.

Do this, it’s good advice OP

Aginor
Aug 1, 2005

by Fluffdaddy
I'm hoping to get out of hospitality, an industry I've been in all my life, and try a new career path which is more 9-5 Monday to Friday. Been in the management side for quite a few years. Problem is I do not know what I want to do and what I could do. Think I've been in hospitality too long.

Anyone got any advice on what I can potentially move into and what I need to do to try and get a few interviews? I've attached my CV.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/p3za463x0w9e8rq/Redacted%203.pdf?dl=0

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

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kedo
Nov 27, 2007

I have a loved one in exactly the same boat – I'd be curious to hear opinions about that as well.

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