As graduation approaches, many of us are surely in the thick of our job search. Some of us may be leveraging connections, some are transitioning from an internship to a full-time role, and some (most, I assume), are trolling the job boards, looking for any new and interesting jobs to apply to. If you’re like me, you may have read so many job posts that you’ve started to categorize them in your head. If not, I’ve taken the liberty to do it for you — Buzzfeed style! Here are the 5 types of job posts that can be found when scrolling through Indeed.
1. The “Training Program”
You made it through high school. You worked hard in college. You had a quarter-life crisis and realized that the degree you got wasn’t getting you anywhere. You made up for it by getting another degree. Now, after all that education, some COMPANY has the GALL to suggest that you need more training! How dare they!
These jobs usually promise a 6 month, 18 month, or even 27 month training program to get you up to speed on a specific tech stack and development style. They are usually complete with group and portfolio projects too. Honestly, it would be a refreshing change of pace to get paid to learn for once. The problem with many of these jobs is that at the end of your training program, you are not guaranteed to be accepted as a full-time employee. Some may see this as high-risk/high-reward. I’d say stay away.
2. The Irrelevant Job that Seems Super Cool
So you’re telling me that I could work in a university lab and help study neutrinos? No way! That sounds so cool! What do I know about neutrinos? Uhhhhhh…..
There are always those jobs that sound so enticing. High security clearance government contractors, super cool astrophysics lab, high tech startup. Okay, this is where my Midwest bias comes in. Here in the Midwest, high tech startup companies are rare. While all of my classmates on the west coast are spoiled with job postings about “the next Friendster” or “Uber, but for pets”, I am plagued with a lot of run-of-the-mill, boring sounding jobs.
So that makes it all the more special when I find a job that isn’t only cool to me, but would be cool to tell my friends about. The only problem is that these jobs are almost always out of your skillset, the pay is criminally low, or the barrier to entry is too high. Still, that won’t stop me from reading the full job listing and daydream about what it would be like to work there.
3. The Job That Randomly Requires a Master’s Degree for Whatever Reason
Speaking of high barrier to entry, what is with the jobs that require a master’s degree for seemingly no reason? I’ll be looking through a job that looks good. Full stack web dev? Works for me. RESTful APIs? Check; Thanks CS493! .NET experience preferred? Check. Master’s degree required? Why??
I’m sure it’s one of those things where the company says “required” but they really mean “it would be super cool if you had this”. I might as well apply. But still, it’s weird. If nothing else, now I’m going to apply to the job on the off-chance that I get an interview, just so that I can ask them why a web developer needs a master’s degree. Maybe that’s exactly what they wanted me to do!
4. The Great Job That Gets Closed Right After You Save It
Oh wow! This job seems super cool. Tech stack is right up my alley. Good pay. Great benefits. Lots of room for improvements! I could totally see myself working here. Let me just save this job to apply later —
It makes sense that good jobs get filled right away, but sometimes it feel like someone is just waiting for me to find the job before marking it as closed, just to spite me. Maybe it’s just a sign that I should just apply right away.
5. The Perfect Job for You
Once in a blue moon, the perfect job comes along. It’s basically the same job as #4, but isn’t a tease. Everything is perfect on paper, and when you check Glassdoor, people actually like working there! It’s a short commute but that doesn’t even matter because they allow fully remote if you want, with optional office time. When you go to apply, their application software actually works and is a good experience all around! The problem with these jobs is that they’re so rare. Out of 100 jobs, you might get 1 or 2 of these good ones. But all it takes is one to like you, and you’re set for the next few years!
Or so I’m told.
