Ask HN: I'm an MIT senior and still unemployed – and so are most of my friends

[MITthrow123]

I'm a senior at MIT studying Course 6 (EECS), and I'm graduating soon with no job lined up. I've applied to tons of places, done interviews, built side projects, but nothing has landed—and it's not just me. A lot of my classmates, some of the smartest and hardest-working people I know, are also unemployed or under incredible stress trying to figure things out.

It's honestly demoralizing. I came to MIT hoping to build a better life—not just for myself, but for my family. Now I’m facing the very real possibility of moving back home to an unstable and abusive environment while continuing to job hunt. The thought alone is crushing. I’ve even considered staying for an MEng just to avoid going home, but I’m completely burnt out and have no thesis direction. MIT gave me freedom, food security, friends, a bed of my own for the first time. It changed everything. But now that graduation’s here, it feels like it’s all slipping away.

If you've been through something similar—late job search success, unexpected turns that worked out, or just any advice—I’d really appreciate it. What helped you push through when it felt like the system failed you?

Thanks for reading.

[dang]

This user is a fabulistic serial spammer, so most probably none of this is true.

[Aurornis]

Truly sorry you feel this way. For what it’s worth, this was common for people graduating into the 2008 financial crisis, too. It’s actually unusual that we went for so long without another period of contraction.

From last time around: The people who kept pushing and took any job, anywhere turned out okay. This translated to a lot of people taking jobs below what they expected to get or having to move when they didn’t want to, but it was ultimately temporary.

The people I knew who turned cynical, let negativity take the wheel, and checked out of the job market struggled much harder to get back in.

You’re early in your career. This current period of turmoil doesn’t mean that much, even though it feels like everything right now. Keep at it, work a little harder than your competition, and put a little more care into your applications and it will work out. Stay away from the doom spirals on Reddit or Blind. Uninstall those apps (and others) if they’re making you worse.

[hysan]

Anecdata to try and level expectations. As someone who *eventually* came out of that era fine, it wasn’t without hardship. Expect to graduate without a job. Expect to continue the grind for many many months. Expect to get rejected not for not meeting the bar, but for not exceeding everyone else who also passed that bar. Expect to very likely settle for a job that doesn’t meet the expectations that college (and the previous 10+ years of history) sold you on. Expect that financially, you will end up years behind the curve and that many life plans (ex: home ownership if that’s one of your goals) will be delayed. Expect that you will meet many people younger than you who will be at your financial level because they graduated post-recovery.

If you can accept that you just happen to be born at the wrong time, you will be in a better place mentally than where I was at for a long time. I won’t say it’s easy; it will suck. But it is possible to make it out ok. I luckily had some financial and emotional support from my family to keep me going. I don’t know your situation but hopefully you are able to find support too. I wish you the best of luck.

[hn_throwaway_99]

> From last time around: The people who kept pushing and took any job, anywhere turned out okay. This translated to a lot of people taking jobs below what they expected to get or having to move when they didn’t want to, but it was ultimately temporary.

I'm going to challenge this as you didn't give specific data to back it up. I read an article recently that did have data, and it made the argument that first jobs, and first salaries, tend to be remarkably "sticky". That is, if you are desperate for a job out of college so take one that causes you to be underemployed and underpaid, that doesn't just stick with you for your first job, but data showed that people were underemployed and underpaid for at least a decade after college.

The advice in this article was to hold out as long as possible for a desirable job, which meant a ton of networking, taking internships if possible, and also possibly additional schooling.

Apologies for not having the article on hand, but here's another one I found in 30 seconds of googling that makes the same argument, with research:

https://www.highereddive.com/news/half-of-graduates-end-up-u...

[freedomben]

Indeed. I found myself unemployed and having a very hard time finding work after the '08 crash. My newly minted degree turned out to be worthless in that environment. It worked out for the best as I took a low paying job as a technician that at least let me make enough money to pay the rent and buy food while I continued building up skills. It's a raw deal and it's not fair, but the only thing you can control is yourself. Try to keep a positive attitude and understand that it won't be this way forever.

[qazxcvbnmlp]

+1 to this. If I go look at social media the job market is ending. But if I look at the signals around me there's plenty of opportunities.

Also consider taking something below (or even much below) expectations. It's much easier to work your way up with connections than it is to get in the door with no references.

[giraffe_lady]

> You’re early in your career. This current period of turmoil doesn’t mean that much

Is that true? I seem to remember data showing that the 2008-2010 graduate cohorts never overall caught up to the ones that came immediately before or after them.

Like sure sure OP has an engineering degree from MIT they're more like the ones that did catch up. But I'll bet there are a lot more people reading this who are about to graduate with degrees from perfectly adequate state schools and I'm not sure this unalloyed optimism is exactly correct for them. I don't think it turned out to be for their 2008 predecessors.

[giantg2]

This was true even a few years after 08/09. I applied to about 250 positions and lowballed my salary. I did get a job after 5 or so months of looking. I will say, that lowball salary is still impacting me today. If you do lowball yourself, you have to do a bit of job hopping when the market gets good to boost it.

[tmaly]

It was the same for me in the 2001 dotcom crash. It was incredibly hard to find work.

[carabiner]

I don't think it was that bad. I graduated 12/2008 in aerospace engineering from a big state school. Not MIT. We all had at least 1 offer from big companies, even the middling students. I had 2 offers, and probably could have swung a third. It felt like the recession mostly affected the housing market and older career folks, but for us new grads things were mostly normal. This feels like a permanent shift due to AI in part, and interest rates going back up since pandemic.

[foobahify]

Same in 2001. Took 8 months to get my first job. I started the hunt after graduation to avoid job interviews interfering with study (an 1 hr interview would be a 1 day affair with commuting).

Had I got a job before I graduated that company may well have gone bust or laid people off anyway.

Had some bad interviews including being beaten by a other candidate on a job writing access databases for a 1 person business, and a job where they said they interview girls to see what they look like (not a girl but was disgusted... I carried on the process anyway because need $)

[devwastaken]

its different this time. the work isnt coming back because the market is now saturated by an oligopoly. IP law and anti competitive practices have effectively stopped upstarts. thats why old tech corps like IBM, Oracle gave trump money and align with their politics.

[jaylaal]

Also keep talking to people, since you never know when and where opportunities will come from.

This environment reminds me of the one I faced graduating into the 2001-2003 post-Dotcom Bust market.

[revskill]

I kept hearing about 2008 crisis. It is overrated. Just a market up and down ?

[Rooster61]

It's hard to face this when fresh out of school, but one piece of advice I can offer is to network as much as you can. Talk to folks you know that graduated before you and have a job. Talk to professors who might have industry ties in their history. Talk to folks in the career center. Try to be as visible as you can. Yes, I know that seems trivial considering you don't have job experience, but even building relationships at school can pay off.

Those types of connections are CRITICAL in the age of scorched-earth AI centric hiring. I spent 9 months recently jobless after getting laid off, and its damned near impossible to get a job through the usual resume farm (LinkedIn job board and the like).

Also, look for jobs local to wherever you are that don't look all that glamorous. RTO is a big thing now, and smaller organizations struggle to hire locally without the brand recognition of the big guys. That might be your in for your first job.

And the biggest thing, keep your head up. Keep pushing. You just got a degree from an extremely difficult program, and you can hang your hat on that. The factors affecting the job market are not within your control, and your skills will outlast them.

[atrettel]

I second networking as the thing to do in this job market.

The vast majority of the recent interviews that I have gotten have been through networking. Sometimes just asking the right people works, but obviously you have to know who to ask, when to ask it, and how to ask it to make it work. There are also more passive methods like the HN monthly job threads, but you should do active networking as your primary networking method in this job market.

Even if I apply via a job board to positions that I am supremely qualified for, there is a good chance I'll be auto-rejected within a day. It has happened multiple times to me and I shrug it off at this point.

I know networking is hard, especially when you are just starting out, but I just wanted to write a post saying that it does work if you stick to it.

(That said, I would also prepare to be unemployed for an extended period. Even if you are actively interviewing, it can take months to get a job offer. For my current position, it took 5 months to get an offer and I started 4 months later due to a housing storage where the job was located.)

[lkrubner]

I agree with the emphasis on networking. At the risk of sounding like I am doing an advertisement, last month I gave away 5 free tickets to graduates of Fullstack Academy to come to my event, and one of those people found a part-time connection to a startup via the event. I'll do the same again, if you're in New York City, I offer 5 free tickets. Reach me at [email protected]. Mention this Hacker News post. We will have entrepreneurs at this month's event who are hiring. Come join us. Details:

https://respectfulleadership.substack.com/p/april-28-the-inf...

[kkylin]

Agree with everything here, with one minor addition: talk not just to professors who might have industry ties, but everyone in your orbit with whom you have reason to think might help -- even those professors (or research scientists or postdocs or grad students or what have you) who entered MIT as a freshman and never left will have had many contacts (e.g., former students or classmates) who are in industry, and in many cases people do keep in touch.

[peterldowns]

Agreed with this — don't give up, start asking around. It's fairly well studied at this point so if you'd rather believe a sociologist, read Granovetter https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2023/07/strength-weak-ties

[Clubber]

I second this. I haven't had to do the typical recruiter channel since 1998. I have plenty of people I've worked with in previous jobs whose companies were looking for good people. This only works if you work hard enough to make a good impression.

I would suggest for your first job, take whatever you can get, as long as it is in your field, and deal with it for the first two years to get your foot in the industry. My first job was notoriously horrible, but after two years, I got a really good job with a company you've heard of through a recommendation.

Also, I would suggest looking outside the typical mega tech companies. There are plenty of other industries that need good people.

[fluidwizard]

Networking is the most OP "soft skill" one can learn in the long run, takes time to properly have enough people who trust you (and that you trust as well), but its definitely worth it specially in bad times (like the ones we're having right now).

You can also "start small" and network via FOSS communities, I met one of my best friends while contributing to niche projects and we ended up working together because of it.

[FilosofumRex]

This is just old school fatherly advice, which doesn't represent today's reality at anywhere, let alone at MIT.

Most profs these days, went to grad school right out of college and never stepped foot in the industry. If they've had any contact within industry it's through some R&D grant with other PhDs. A few are in start-ups which means they only hire interns for $20/hr, and fresh off the boat indians and asians grad students.

Small or local companies don't want and can't pay salary of MIT grads; they've plenty of salt-of-the-earth local engineering school grads to chose from.

[peterldowns]

Send me an email — I'm an '18 and if you're telling the truth about side projects, interview skills, graduating, etc. then I should be able to help you find a job very quickly, either in my own org or with someone I know who is hiring.

> I’m facing the very real possibility of moving back home to an unstable and abusive environment while continuing to job hunt

You don't have to do this. You can do anything you want you're a free person with your own agency and plenty of skills. There are a million ways you can work around this.

> What helped you push through when it felt like the system failed you?

Realizing that I am owed nothing, and focusing on ways to get what I want. With your background and skills I am certain you can achieve anything you set your mind to as long as you don't put yourself in a subordinate, dependent, position.

[laidoffamazon]

> Realizing that I am owed nothing, and focusing on ways to get what I want.

I don't think the system _ever_ fails people with "merit" like MIT grads. It fails people like me that can't get into top schools that went to 50% accept rate public schools.

I graduated in 2018 too - I guarantee people like you consider me and my career accomplishments in the intervening years to be failure worthy. I genuinely think a typical MIT Course 6 grad from 2018 would be clinically depressed if they were in my shoes.

[toomuchtodo]

https://www.reddit.com/r/hiringcafe | https://hiring.cafe/ (not mine, but I've chatted with folks its worked for)

Know when to rest, not to quit. Take whatever job you can now while continuing to look for your next role.

> What helped you push through when it felt like the system failed you?

Grit and nihilism. No one is coming to save us.

[Pet_Ant]

> Grit and nihilism. No one is coming to save us.

What I'll say won't help you now, but: this will help you later.

Don't assume you'll always be able to find a job. Work towards financial independence early. Avoid debt. Don't get some fancy car as a "treat" to yourself, counting on your future income to make payments... that income might not come.

Sorry it sucks right now. Don't give up, don't let your skills dull. Keep grinding and take any programming job just to start getting that 2-3 experience that locks out so many of the labour market.

[johnobrien1010]

> Take whatever job you can now while continuing to look for your next role.

This. And by any job I mean any job. McDonalds, book store, what have you. A good friend of mine dropped out of Harvard sophomore year. She found work at the COOP, then CVS, etc. It was definitely better than going back to an unstable and abusive environment while continuing to job hunt.

[cashsterling]

I graduated in ChemE in southern California in 1999 when there was a major downturn in the job market. One or two big chemical engineering design firms closed their SoCal offices flooding the market with qualified chemE's, aerospace companies were consolidating, etc.

Some of my school colleagues got good jobs at refineries and whatnot... but they were the fortunate ones. It took me 12 months to land my first "I made it" engineering job with a good salary. In the interim, I worked hourly jobs making between 13-18 USD an hour.

Don't let the current job market deflate you. You are young, intelligent, and you have a degree from MIT... you are going to be fine.

[nosmokewhereiam]

Service industry (waiting tables is my go to) doesn't pay well but it does pay...

I worked at Stinkies Fish Camp as a dishwasher fwiw after my 6 years as a Cyber Threat Operator in the AF (2012 government sequestration did wonders to clearance renewals). It sucked, but I lived. Well, survived.

Best of luck, always keep a candle of hope to a wildcard interview!

[FilosofumRex]

lol, you sound like honest & decent fellow, assuming everyone else is like you - but you've no clue who you're advising.

[martin_corredor]

I graduated 3 years ago in a similar situation and this helped me

Hunter S. Thompson’s Letter on Finding Your Purpose and Living a Meaningful Life https://fs.blog/hunter-s-thompson-to-hume-logan/

[derwiki]

Totally off topic, but this is the second time today I’ve seen HST referenced on HN, and it makes me happy

[ndstephens]

I can't thank you enough for providing that link and bringing it to my attention.

[arrosenberg]

I graduated in June 2009 from a UC just after the crash. It took me until September 2010 to find a job in the field I wanted and get my career going. I got super lucky and found that job off a Craigslist ad. Just remember the system isn't set up to support you, so you are going to have to be proactive, creative, try and network and be uncomfortable asking for what you want until you get it. These are core life skills. Grit 'n' Grind.

[johnnyanmac]

Yeah I'm sorry for your troubles. I have 8 or so years in the industry and some decent names on my resume, and nothing is really sticking for me either. It was bad in 2023, horrible in 2024, and maybe outright catastropic in 2025. You may indeed be way way smarter than I am, but if are this stiff with their senior market, the entry level market must be absolutely dead.

I wish I had better advice. I really only have some decent part time work from a blind linkedIn message. Luck really is opportunity + preparation. And these days, you REALLY gotta get lucky. Keep every channel up to advertise yourself, talk around to everyone in your community, and keep bolstering your portfolio. Grab any sort of job possible if you don't decide to move back. If you're willing t relocae for any role, all the better. Just be keenly aware of CoL, because it may slip under your fingers in these times.

I was sent out to an okay enough market that was still looking for people. You were sent out into a wasteland. Just remember that absolutely none of this was your fault. But unfortunately your goal right now is to survive and ride the storm out.

Best of luck.

[drsreeram123]

I was in a similar or worse state in 2017. I was on my OPT (International student). I was hugely successful in my job, then my company was taken private and I was laid off. Without job for a year and no visa either. Mounting debt too. Took a low level job that promised my h1b and slowly worked my was up through multiple legal (visa) issues, layoffs, abusive environments, and financial ruin. Now a senior director at a mid level company and going steady. Took me 6 years. Sometimes all you can do is just hold on to any strand of hay that you can get to stay afloat to survive, then you can crawl, sprint and thrive. At this time you only need one -'Yes'. It could be your next attempt or your 100th. Just keep going and you will be alright. I know it. What you feel is normal, I used to feel like that. Sometimes I wake up in the feeling that way, even if there are no threats. It happens.But you will be alright - just keep trying, and keep moving

[cdata]

I entered the workforce in 08/09. At that time things seemed really dire. It felt to me like the whole house of cards was coming down, and I told myself that I would take any job that I could get.

I ultimately landed a job with an odd startup, eccentric founders, working out of an attic. In hindsight I couldn't have asked for a better start to my career. But, my expectations were rock bottom at the time.

Anyway, keep your mind open to all possibilities. You never know where an unlikely choice may take you. And, good luck!

[rankam]

To me, it sounds like you need professional experience on your resume so that should be your goal. However, professional experience != a full time software engineer role. Can you find something really small that pays from a freelance site? Maybe it's just a python script that takes 4 hours and pays $10 - but with that you are a professional software engineer. Do you anyone who owns a website for a business? Ask them if you can do some really basic work for $1 - because if you do that, you're a professional software engineer.

Once you have some professional experience on your resume, it should get a little easier - it's still going to take some time and grit, but it should work out.

[cucubeleza]

Yeah, the world is a illusion, it tells you "study here or there and you'll have an amazing job and will win a lot of money!" but a lot of times, that never happen. You ended up felting like "was all for nothing?". I see my dad now working with his 60+ years old and I can't say to him "You can rest now, I'll pay your bills", at least was something that I was dreaming for a long time and now I know that will never be possible. I can't give you advice since you and I are on the same boat (I'm not an MIT senior but you get it, right?) but try not to lose hope and don't be harsh with yourself

[butterlettuce]

> What helped you push through when it felt like the system failed you?

The feeling of inadequacy is an absolute self-esteem wrecker such that it distracts you from reality. You and your friends got into MIT, that's a big accomplishment. You're like a Tony Stark or whatever. Be proud of that attribute.

But I'll give you some reality: accept that you probably won't find a job in your field any time soon. It may take years. Once you accept that you don't have the cards, your mind starts thinking up more possibilities.

There is no shame in serving happy meals for awhile, but start aiming for a trade, perhaps some city/state work.

[ElevenLathe]

Many student loans can be put on basically indefinite hold via income based repayment (if you make little enough, your minimum payment is zero, but the interest keeps accruing). This gives you some flexibility to take any job you can find, even something that doesn't require a degree.

You might also look into trades, depending on your engineering specialty. A machinist with a MechEng degree from MIT or a millwright with something related to manufacturing will be extremely valuable, especially if you're willing to move where the work is.

[laidoffamazon]

MIT students almost definitely don't have student loans. The degree is free to cheap.

[giardini]

There's some evidence that your career success depends heavily on the timing of your entry into the job market. That is, if you start working during an economic slump your career will suffer but if you wait and enter during a peak economic period you will always "ride the wave". I've seen this happen to individuals.

So I suggest that you stay in school, take a Masters degree and try to enter the market at a better time!

Don't go any further than a Master's. Here's why:

Philip Greenspun has provided the following graph at the URL titled "Career Guide for Engineers and Computer Scientists" at https://philip.greenspun.com/careers/

THIS IS YOUR EDUCATION, THIS IS YOUR SALARY

     !
 $50K!
     !                                          **
     !                                        **  *
 $40K!                                      **     *    Any Questions?
     !                                    **        *
     !                               *****           *
 $30K!                           ****                 *
     !                       ****                      *
     !                  *****                           *
 $20K!             *****                                 *
     !        *****                                       *
     !     ***                                             *
 $10K!  ***                                                 *
     !**                                                     *
     !                                                        *
   0
   +--------+----------+-----------+------------+---------+--*--------->

     no       high       some        Bachelor's   Master's  Doctor
     high     school     college     Degree       Degree    of
     school   diploma                                       Philosophy
     diploma

[aorist]

I think this (jokingly) assumes that PhDs become academics, which is not always true. Also, PhDs are generally free and if you leave early you get a Master's anyway. Terminal Master's you have to pay for.

[bcye]

I think the context of it being titled: "Not So Very Serious Stuff" is missing

[preordained]

Is there no pipeline--or a job fair? A way to get a moment with prospective employers? It seems tragically stupid if MIT offers no such thing. Applying into the void seems like a fool's errand.

[jdalt]

I graduated in 2009 in the middle of the Great Recession. I lived in a basement after graduation and did odd jobs for 9 months while learning how to build web apps. Then I took a job teaching English in South Korea.

After I got back from Korea 2 years later I faced a similar situation. Be flexible, take odd jobs, don't be afraid to work in the trades and use your free time to build durable economic skills for a job that you really want. Conditions will change (and they do so unevenly throughout the economy).

Get by and get ready. They can't repossess your brain. If you're from a financially unstable background - live cheap and be creative until you've built the stability you want.

[tylersuard]

For other students reading this, here is how you can work as a software developer with no experience: start your own company (just make a website for it) and work as a freelancer on freelancer.com or fiverr.com. Take on clients but charge them lower rates so they will be patient with your mistakes.