What have you achieved from your education?

[Samafal]

perhaps the subject matter is not clear. Ok. you Spent alot of efforts and hardship in getting your certificate after being in University or College for three long years or more for some. What can you say you have achieved then? Did you fulfill you dreams? or you are still lacking the opportunity of putting in to practice what you studied. Ok. you may be wondering what is my case? Oh well... I am still strugling with my studies and let me put this way.. i am not expected to graduate untill one year or more. The reason why i wanted to post this topic is to hear from my nomads who were there and learn from them and put into practice if Allah ever grants me the opportunity.

 

There you go nomads, your full participation will be appreciated.

 

thanks

[Baashi]

Yacqoub,

I graduated from UMN with Engineering degree. I thought with that little piece of paper and high GPA will be the key of the employement..wrong! I find that out the hard way. True u need to have that certified skills and what not..but what u need is more than that unless there is shortage of ur area of expertise in the market...u have to learn how to cut corners to get ur foot in the door.

 

This is what I find out...it helps if u have community work, if u boost ur communication skills (accent is ok..but better have good written and verbal skills), if u can legitimetly claim some leadership experience, if u provide when asked good refrerences expecially those with credentials e.g former managers/supervisors, professors, community leaders..generally those pple who know u pretty well to describe ur abilities with some degree of credency in their talk. Multible resumes comes handy too..targeted resume as they are called. Seek to get involved campus activities e.g do little voluntering job if u get the chance. One thing that u ought to have is some kind of internship or Co-op experience...that really helps big time. Finally learn how to do networking...enroll profesional assoc., one way of doing that is to get involved in mentorship programs if ur school offers that. Finally read interview books..it helped me.

 

In recession things get tough and no matter what u do u bound to fail but not always...persistence pays..above all u have to know ur major to knock them off in this 3-hour second round interviews...unlike HR pple..these dudes know what they do for living and can get u if are not prepared.

 

Good luck Yacqoub

[Samafal]

Thanks Baashi...That was very good input

[Hanna]

ok here is my kind of topic lol

 

anyhow I graduated from cscc with AAS in computer programming tech and certificate in Object Oriented programming.....thinking that i will finaly skip csr jobs but no the whole summer I looked for a job and every door slammed in my face...so i decided to go back to school to get my Bs in CIS now I have about two trimester till I graduate in the summer....and if next summer turns out to be the summer of 01 i don't know what i will do with all that loan....but who knows I might be in school forever till somebody hires me....why do they expect me to have experience when I am fresh out of school...

 

anyone that have useful advice on how to land that perfect job please don't hesitate to share

[Loyan]

Hanna… what you will find in your field is that you have to be learning all the time on the job and if you do not keep your skills up to date you will never move up in a company. You will have to expect that technology jobs are mostly on short term bases which means you will change jobs every year or two. Take entry level position, look for coop programs, or anything that can get your foot in the door.

 

Yacquub ... I think you shouldn't be concerned yourself with the achievements of others. Your most important achievement will be your degree.

 

Well, I will share with you guys couple of tips I learned by experience. Those I didn't learn from books or people...

 

1. the best time to look for a work is the beginning of a new year. Departments get their budgets; companies introduce new lines of products; people move to other positions; some even quit due to new year resolution or pursue other opportunities. Because of these reasons there are lots of new positions companies want to fill in January and February.

2. The worst time to look for a work is the end of the year. The job market is so tight employers will refuse to give people overtime. It has to do with finances and year end reports, employees bonuses, holidays etc. Don’t ever quit on September.

3. If you leave a company make sure to ask for reference letters. This is extremely important if you are relocating because of work.

4. Tailor resumes and cover letters to each position you apply and be careful about how you present yourself. In Canada you could be over qualified and still get hired for a position, while the Americans will reject you even if you are willing to take a lower pay. Once I lost interview for a high paying job for being over qualified. For that pay I could sweep the floor and she said "Oh you will get bored!"

5. Buy a good job hunting book. I recommend the “Drop Dead …” series. You can find a lot of great tips.

6. Dress conservatively and start using proper English. Ebonics and those trendy clothes from GAP or Banana Republic are useless in the job market.

7. Be confident.

8. Be persistence and call HR often. You may hate being rejected, but you have to take a deep breath and keep calling and applying.

9. Use the library. There are many reference books there and free internet.

10. Network. Tell everyone you know that you are looking for a work. Collect as much contacts as you can in your field and use them to get a job.

 

The bottom line of getting a job is knowing what you can do for an employer rather than your need for employment. I hope this helped.

[Samafal]

Hana and Loyan thanks for sharing your experieces... For sure those are very useful enlightments.

 

Loyan bro. it is not i am concerned about others...it is just hearing from experienced guys like you.

 

thanks

[Thinkerman]

Salams Yacquub. Hope all is wel with you and that your revising hard.

 

To be honest with you, so far i havent managed to enjoyed the fruits of my labour. I have managed to go through Primary, Secondary education then College, and now i find myself in my Last year (Inshallah) @ uni. All this years spent studying certainly has put me in good enviroments, where i have met people from diverse backgrounds so from that point of view i have browndern my mind through the various interactions i have had over the years, and the friendships that have been made.

 

I certainlly dont think i would have been able to have developed my level of awarness and thinking in the same way had i stoped studying let say directly after finishing secondary school.

 

But the real purpose of enduring so many years of studying, along wthi the stress's of exams is so that you will perhaps enjoy a better future.

So although i havent managed achieve anything tangiable so to speak YET, hopefully i will, very soon Inshalllah

[Rahima]

I'm only half way through my studies, doing neuroscience part-time at one university and midwifery full time at another univeristy, but jazaakum Allahu Khayran to you all, especially Baashi and Loyan, i just might beging to employ some of your advice.

[Yaabka-Yaabkiis]

WHAT HAVE U ACHIEVED FROM UR EDUCATION?

[Miss Magoo]

That I know very little...

[Coloow]

Alot! A stimulating job , an intellectual capacity to analyse issues and financial independency to name but a few things that I have achieved "from my education".

 

Education does pay in way or another. The claim that the best education can be achieved on Joe street is a cliche

[Sophist]

The inexplicable abality to convince people without convicing myself- in a word a sophistry!.

[Conspiracy]

Oh god , I get to play pool , videos games and foosball most of the time; Its all about how much you want it! If you could believe it you could do it, I know it sounds like a cliche but trust me it works.

 

My field web development is flooded with competition but in my second year i started doing a lot of freelance so maybe its a good time now to explore like one of the nomads told you community work.

 

before i handed my final year project I sent by then over 150 emails to job ads with hardly any relevant experience in my c.v. to any of the jobs I was applying too but after all one paid out and I ended with a job before I even graduated so hey be hard headed and determined , good luck

[Khayr]

Originally posted by Sophist:

The inexplicable abality to convince people without convicing myself- in a word a sophistry!.

That is what a good salesman does, saxib. Heck, a good crack dealer, never smokes cracks!

 

You can only do that for so long though, until the current catches you.

[Abwaan]

Confidence...calafna waa halkiisii, dedaalna waa nala faray!