I'm 23. About a month ago I was the first person in my family to graduate college. I graduated with a degree in Applied Mathematics and no idea what I wanted to do with it. The degree cost me roughly $33,000, $5,000 of which I owe to my friends parents who generously loaned me the money so I could start college in the first place. On top of that, during my time at college I racked up around $4,800 in credit card debt that I have just been making minimum payments on (I had a lot of car troubles, and ended up selling the car for less than I paid for parts). So all in all, I have a lot of debt that I would like to pay off, or at least just the credit card portion right now.
My gf's parents are letting me stay at their place rent and expense-free until my gf and I get our own place. She makes pretty good money as a civil engineer, but not enough to support both of us in an apartment. I've been looking and applying for what I would call "real jobs" since February, but I haven't even managed to get a call for an interview. Since I do have a fair bit of programming experience, I thought it would be appropriate to apply for entry-level software engineering, data science, data analytics, IT, and Systems Engineering jobs, but haven't received a single call (only just rejection emails for about 10% of them, nothing from the rest). I figure that someone with a CS degree/background will always get a position over me, so as a backup plan, I have applied to most of the grocery stores near me, as I have quite a bit of grocery experience (it's how I paid for my living expenses in college). I haven't heard much from them, even though I have called the store multiple times.
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I really just don't know how to get my life on track. I want to become a software engineer, but I don't have a degree in CS which would allow me to do so. If I continue along this path, then it might take me a while (a few years maybe) to build up a respectable github account or to contribute to open-source projects in a way that would show potential employers that I am capable. Short-term, I just want to get a job and pay off my credit card debt to get that weight off my shoulders, but $4800 is a fuckton of money when you're only making ~$10.00/hr (which is what I realistically think I would get at some shitty McJob), with bills and expenses to pay on top of that. Not to mention that I'll have to start paying student loan payments in around 5 months.
tl;dr: How do I stop being an unemployable piece of shit who is broke as a joke, pay my debts off, and get a career in the field I want?
Easiest way is to join the military as an officer. They have a loan forgiveness program and you'll be making some decent tax-free money, on top of free housing, healthcare, and food. But you have a girlfriend and the military may not be for you.
A CS degree is at its core a boiled-down applied maths degree, so the degree you have isn't really an issue. Did you do any software-related internships in college? Don't you have some leads from friends or family to get into an entry-level dev job somewhere? Your degree and resume will get you the interview, your portfolio, skills and personality will get you the job.
Fuck working at a grocery store, dude. At least go for some kind of help desk work or something.
>>17227395
Yeah I considered joining the military as an officer. Either Navy or Air Force. Just don't think it's for me.
I didn't do any internships at all in college. I applied to many, but because my degree said "Applied Mathematics" on it instead of "Computer Science," I was not chosen for interviews. My dad's side of the family is either dirt poor, in law enforcement, lives out of state, or just don't work in a field that needs me. Mom's side of the family doesn't work at all, they all just married people who were rich and then left them and took half their money.
The problem is I haven't gotten a single interview. All I have gotten are rejection letters from a few employers, and nothing from all the other ones. I keep thinking my resume is just not up to par, but everyone I show it to says it is near-perfect for an entry level position in what I'm looking for.
Yeah, grocery store sucks, but it's money that I desperately need. I have an interview tomorrow for a produce clerk position but it's about an hour bus ride (and $5 each direction) to and from the store. I'll look into IT help desk stuff as well.
>>17227484
What kind of companies are you applying to, big ones? Small ones? I'd think with the smaller ones there would be less HR bullshit about your degree. There are people with history degrees making 100k/year as devs, I see no reason why someone wouldn't hire you for an entry level job with a pretty good major such as yours, especially since you seem smart.
Get a shitty entry level job from a temp agency. You become 10x more hireable when you're already working. Stop holding out for the big one - just start working and continue your search. Some income is better than none at all
>>17227569
I'm applying to a combination of both, but mostly large. The large ones take a century to review applications, so I'm not really holding out for them. The issue with the smaller companies is that there are less entry-level opportunities available, as they seem to be looking for people with at least 2-3 years of experience.
>>17227584
I've looked into a few temp agencies, and the only places that are really hiring are areas outside of the field I want. I mean like, janitor jobs, or assembly jobs.
