Job Search

So I’ve been really busy this past month with school ever since I got back. Classes are great and I’m doing fairly well in all of them. There have been a few rocky days but hopefully everything will average out in the end.

I’ve had some trouble with tuition this year. I’ve been to the financial aid department a few times. You have to watch those people with your money and keep them in check because they won’t let you know anything is wrong or that you need to take action on anything. I canceled my budget tuition plan today because if I didn’t they wouldn’t give me my refund for my loans and I do believe they still would have debited my checking account. Stupid things like that. I just can’t wait to get a job so I can get rid of all these loans.

I applied for two jobs initially. One was based in Detroit working for Ford’s HCI department, and another was in Balitmore doing web-based HCI work. I haven’t heard back from either one yet. One told me not to call and the other never got back to an e-mail I sent them a few weeks ago.

There was a job fair this past Monday. The few companies that I was interested in are based in the Corporate Research Center (CRC) here in Blacksburg. I would love to stay in Blacksburg for a while. If the company and job is great, it would be really nice to stay here. I’m still thinking about grad school so maybe in a few years I can get my masters in CS for Human Computer Interaction (HCI). The companies I’m interested in now have some work working in testing and developing interfaces and the like, but I wouldn’t mind doing some pure software engineering too if I can have some input on the design and other aspects of the projects I am working on. With the CRC companies, they are small so it is very likely I will be able to give plenty of input.

I’m looking for other jobs in the Baltimore area including northern Virginia as well. I’m not sure where I want to live, but this area seems like a great place to start. I’m not sure what the compensation for any of these jobs are (besides the Detroit one which was $70k) but it really doesn’t matter as long as it’s what I want to do. Of course I do expect a decent salary for the skills I possess and I’ve worked so hard to refine, but it will be the last question I ask when doing my job search. Either I’ve been extremely lucky, or something, but every boss I’ve ever had has always liked me and I’ve enjoyed working for them. Wal-Mart was a little less personal, but that is ancient history.

My GPA isn’t the greatest, but when you’re working two jobs, involved with several organizations, leading one of those, and still finding time to have a life, if a company is going to eliminate me from their prospects because they can’t see beyond a GPA, then I don’t want to work for them anyway. GPA is only a small part of the equation. What my GPA says is that I work a lot and do things other than school but as long as I’m passionate about something, I give it my all. We’ll see who the lucky company is that can look beyond all of that and give me a chance.

So, a great job is sure to be on the horizon. I’ll keep you posted.