[vladinecko]

i know this is completely random but can you please let me know if you work, or know someone who works for UCSD, preferably in IT or related field?

thanks a bunch!

[rchanou]

What is this about?

[vladinecko]

i need a referral, bad. as i said, this is completely random but i really, really, really need it.

[Squawks]

UCSD, and other public posititions usually pay quite poorly compared to the industry. Also, tough luck finding a UCSD referral because even if somebody here knows someone, that person would be quite skeptical about 'putting in the good word' for somebody they don't know. People here are quite chary about being references because if the newcomer proves to be a slacker, the reference will feel a little guilty and may even have his/her reputation tarnished a bit.

[vladinecko]

understood, but i found a job that would be a perfect fit for me and i want really bad so after i called there they asked me if i have a referral because that would help a lot.

thanks anyway.

[huchung]

Have you tried contacting your Senior project sponsor? They usually offer a recommendation letter when you finish their project...(Im still hunting my guy down for a recommendation) Its a pain in the ass to get a referral unless you know the professor personally. I had a friend whose dad was the professor's close friend; Im sure he got the referral without a problem. If my memory serves me right, there is an EE professor who will write a referral if you got an A in his class (Trung Nguyen?).

[vladinecko]

the problem is, i went to college in pittsburgh so i know no one at UCSD. i can have plenty of my good teachers write me a referral but since they don't know anyone, i would be good for nothing

[txusa03]

I know i am not helping but what is it at UCSD that makes you leave your current situtation in Pitt and move to Cali? What about your house, gf, family,etc...

I am sure it not the money because education institution does not pay as high as private corp.

[vladinecko]

well, i've mentioned it a few times in the forums, i despise living in pittsburgh, and i mean just that. i could go into details one by one what i hate about this shithole with a terrible job market and negative population growth but that would be a whole new topic...

i've been wanting to move to CA for a few years now but just can't find THE job. since the computer science and IT markets have the largest supply of applicants in CA, it is very hard to find a good job there when you're out of state because it's easier and more convenient for them to hire someone locally. and since they already have 100+ people applying for one job, there is no reason for them to fly over 101st person half across the country.

other things you mentioned, like family, wife, house don't concern me as i only have a girlfriend (and she wants to move too) and live in an apartment which is based on a month-to-month contract. so basically, i could leave tomorrow and wouldn't look back.

i know a university wouldn't pay as much as private sector, but there is just something about working in academia. i like it. plus, i wanna get a higher degree.

[txusa03]

I hear ya. I remembered now, you are the guy that seems to attract lots of hit and run on your bmws. I don't blame ya for wanting to move and try a little different scenery. I have been to San Francisco and Los and I would love to live there but property is just too high. I have not been to SD. Good luck.

[vladinecko]

thanks man!

[Squawks]

Hey, vlad - worst comes to worst just get anybody who you previously worked with as your reference.

If you can afford it, why not just move out here in CA, and live here while looking for a job? Rent may cost quite a bit, but I'm sure you can land a multitude of 'starter' temp jobs just to maintain a cashflow while looking for *the* job at the same time. You tried joblink.ucsd.edu already? You must have. All look for jobs at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the Salk Institute. Not a true undergraduate institution as UCSD (they're more catered to the graduation domain) but nonetheless they're situated in the heart of La Jolla, the premium place to be in San Diego. I wouldn't advise living anywhere else, maybe I'd recommend Carlsbad, Del Mar, and Encinitas. Other places are too far inland and once you go just a few miles inland, the weather changes dramatically - it gets a lot hotter during the days and a lot colder during the nights (nothing to whine about compared to you East coasters, however).

If you're not restricted to just San Diego (or UCSD for that matter) there is literally a horde of jobs waiting for you - no kidding. Just move out here first, then look for a job. Unless you're a slacker you should be able to land a job within a month, easily. Rent will be more expensive - depending on where you live, you can live in a moderately nice part of San Diego in an apartment paying only about $1.0-1.2k a month for a one bedroom.

The rules of supply and demand remain the same and thus, it's not hard to find a job - albeit 'starter' jobs. If you keep waiting for 'the' job - like I said, that's going to be tough and plus, not many institutions/companies pay for travel accomodations for interviewees. You may end up waiting until you're walking with a cane.

EDIT: Having a local address on your resume helps.

[vladinecko]

thanks Squawks. that's what i thought too, move and then get a job. but i'm too big of a pussy to just move somewhere without any sense of job security in hand. i wouldn't even care if it would be THE job at first. as long as it would pay enough to maintain my current standard of living and would be in my area of expertise (computer science), i wouldn't care what it would be.

yeah, SD is definitely where i wanna be. i had the privilege to see and visit 43 states in the past 4-5 years. that gave me a very good picture of what's out there and made my decision of where i want to live very easy. i've been to San Diego about 3 times (also visited El Cajon). but after being there only once, that was it.

i use the joblink on UCSD's website quite often, actually. my resume always gets "referred" then i wait for about 3 months only to find out the positions i applied for have already been filled. there is no one to contact personally nor is there a place to send a cover letter or something more distinctive. oh well...

[Squawks]

Hey, vlad - there are lots of IT job opps here at UCSD. Since San Diego is your destination, specifically UCSD, you would want to stay farther up north like in the La Jolla, Mira Mesa, and Sorrento areas (5-15 minutes away, with traffic), . All of which are rather close to UCSD - El Cajon is quite far south (expect 30-45 minutes driving each morning and about an hour every afternoon) and in my opinion is quite ghetto compared to the northern parts of San Diego (and if you thought El Cajon was nice then damn, Pittsburgh must really be that bad!).

Stop being a pussy and move out here - your g/f can look for a job too whatever field she may be in. You can easily land a starter IT job such as a simple network tech who fixes common/stupid problems freshmen on campus have in connecting to their networks. Hell, those jobs are currently employed by 1st - 2nd year students and they get paid about $15/hour - not much money but enough to maintain rent/food until you land a real job.

It's nice you picked SD - in my opinion SD is the best place to be, as well - closely followed by the Bay Area (Berkeley, San Francisco, San Jose, etc.).

Honestly, however, not a lot of people move permanently from the east to the west. Only a small fraction actually stay here permanently - the others probably got sick of no-snow, lack of rain, etc. People also get scared away from SD after some time because SD is quite barren - sparse trees around, tons of dirt/barren land surrounding the freeways, etc.

Move out here, man. You too, Sharp - get out of shitty PA.

[vladinecko]

ha ha, Sharp has still lots of people to bury before he moves anywhere jk...

that's funny what you said about El Cajon. i did think it was nice so yeah, pittsburgh (or shitzburgh as i like to call it) is really that bad. but i was just saying that that was as far as i went from the "beachy" area of SD. of course i would like to live closer to the areas you mentioned.

san francisco is the shit, i agree. i love it there! however, unlike those east coast people that want to come back after a few years of being on the west, i am so sick of sudden changes of weather, of snow, of rain, constant clouds and all that shit. i'm done with crap like "enjoying beautiful autumn leaves" or watching spring flowers bloom. that lasts like 5 minutes and then turns into never-ending, gray, rainy season of depression and increased suicidal rate. so SF is really cool and the silicon valley is right there, but i just want hot, sun, and beach.

now, with UCSD, i don't know if you know how it works there. you can only apply via the joblink and your resume is then reviewed by some intermediate person who decides to pass it or not pass it down to the actual department that posted the job. once it is there, they have like 4 million of resumes to go through, so it's more like playing slots in Vegas, if yours gets picked among first 10 - 20, you win a phone screening. after they call you (they only called me so far, last year) and find out you're from out of state, you will never hear from them again. that is why they told me it would be very beneficial to know someone in the department so that they can pick your resume first and give it at least some attention.

i'll keep trying, but man, it's killing me!!

[rchanou]

I myself graduated from UCSD last year but do not know anyone in the IT department. La Jolla is a nice place but a bit too conservative for my taste. I would rather hang out at Pacific Beach. North County is definitely the place to live though, Del Mar is beautiful.

Have you tried applying for jobs at Qualcomm, Nokia, NCR, Lockheed, BAE Systems, Northrop, Broadcom, Motorola? There are a good amount of communication and defense companies in San Diego always looking for programmers and big companies are more than willing to offer relocation packages.

[vladinecko]

no, i haven't looked at those companies at all. that's a good idea. thanks for the tip!

[Squawks]

Big companies usually fly you out for interviews for free - travel, hotel, and food usually accomodated for. On top of what rchan listed, there's more, including SBC and Texas Instruments (going huge with HDTV/DLP). You should definitely look into Qualcomm - one of the biggest employers in San Diego (UCSD is #1) - Qualcomm is so ginormous, in fact, it spans multiple blocks, owns multiple streets, and they aren't just utilizing little peppy buildings - I'm talking skyscrapers here. On top of this, they're *still* building more Qualcomm skyscrapers next to their conglomerate of existing buildings. I'm sure they'll compensate you very, very well.

Also, vlad, joblink.ucsd.edu isn't the only way to apply for jobs. Some people don't even go through the hassle and if you actually venture on campus, may even see postings with direct contact and contact # who you submit your resume to directly.

My g/f went through the whole joblink.ucsd.edu thing and I understand your pain in the 'referred' and other status crap. The job she currently holds, her status was on 'referred/deferred' for over a month and a half before she actually got a phone call/screen.

Again, man - if you move down here I wouldn't be too worried about not getting a job - you *will* land one but whether it's a job that would completely satisfy your expectations is something I can't say. However, it's absurd to think you won't land a job unless your standards are higher than Paris Hilton on crack.

EDIT: If you're still considering the private sector, here's a hearty list of companies in the SD area to fulfill your IT pleasures:

http://www.sdsic.org/mem2.htm

[BellasBmw]

Def dont move to el cajon. Its like 20 degrees hotter in summer and 20 degress colder in winter. The area i live in is perfect. Its about 10 mins from UCSD, 10 mins from the beach, 10 mins to the airport.. its great. I live in basically in the middle of three neighborhoods. So check out Mission Bay/Bay Park/Clairemont.

SD is the best, i hate to leave, but just like you.. i need to get out there and try something new. Plus for what i want to major in, SD doesnt offer much.

[Squawks]

Originally Posted by BellasBmw

The area i live in is perfect.

No it's not - La Jolla is the place to be! I kid, I kid.

One of the best things about living in La Jolla is that the number of teeny boppers is incredibly small. That means several things: safer roads, less garbage you have to hear, less garbage you have to see, and simply no kids around.

[rchanou]

^^ what an old timer.

[Squawks]

Originally Posted by rchanou

^^ what an old timer.

Hahah! Back in the days when I was a junior/senior at UCSD, me and my buddies were looking into housing and we looked at this nice house in Mira Mesa but as it was closely situated near Mira Mesa High, TONS of teeny boppers all over the place!

I hate teeny boppers. Damn kids - they're just too obnoxious!