Finding your first full-time job?

[Randall W. Lott]

I've been having a very difficult time finding work in the Boston, MA area.  I'm 25 years old and I have my Associate Degree in Electronic Engineering Technology, but I have yet to finish my Bachelors degree.  My experiences and skills are beyond most of the peers that I had in my Junior year, though.

I don't want to finish school at the moment, mostly due to the fact I have students loans that I want to take care of and I want to work at the moment to cultivate my skills.  I'm very motivated and creative, but my grades didn't reflect that due to some life challenges that I've faced.  Unfortunately, grades are just numbers, without a story behind them.  I'm very intelligent and driven, despite what records show.

I almost got hired for a dream job a few weeks ago, but it fell through.  I had a 4 hour interview, a tour of the private projects, and they asked all of my resources for written statements.  They even put the effort in to make a custom job title due to my educational background.  I brought in my personal projects to share and I followed all of the advices of Dave's videos.  The engineering managers said that they wanted me, but HR made the final decision to keep searching for someone.  It sounds like an upper management issue of funding, even though their company has virtually unlimited funds.

Does anyone have any advice?  I've applied to hundreds of jobs since July.  I'm having a hard time paying rent and I have the potential to be a valuable asset to many places, if I can get a chance.  I'm even applying to shitty, hourly jobs that young kids work at.  Times are tough.

Thank you!

[nctnico]

Maybe try closer to Silicon Valley? The climate is much nicer there too. Did you try to NOT include your list with grades? I don't think any employer ever asked me about my diploma or grades. I might as well have lied about having a diploma.

[dr.diesel]

We never checked or asked about grades either, for any of the places I hired for.  But we also wouldn't hire anyone without a BS degree, even entry level positions.

OP, I know you're in a bad spot, but you really need that BS degree if you wanting in EE, or an electronics spot.

[Tinkerer]

Indeed, they give out student loans like candy today. So as bad as it is to take on more, with the experience it sounds like you have, you should have no problem finding a job if you have a degree plus all that experience.