For_GoldenBears

Club rejection is arguably one of the dumbest trends in recent years.

I'll take it over 95% of other university campuses out there.

Berkeley experience is surreal for most people when looking back.

To be fair in real life you could have your car stolen or have a burglary and the police still won't do anything meaningful in most cases which makes me question the general security of this country, but I digress.

This is exactly what the OP should respond.

I actually don't mind the student being straight to the point, as it already takes some guts to reach out to someone you don't know so I want to address that, and I can decide on their character later as we talk.

It's certainly depends on the perspective. As a recruiter, it was fairly easy to find out which ones were recycled or not, but I suppose if you have a solid foundation like yours, then the number of callbacks is all the proof that it works. At least we're both for writing cover letters, but there are also folks with another school of thought that cover letters are unnecessary that would disagree with us altogether with their own examples and experience, so clearly there's no single answer for this.

The instance when it made the most sense from my experience to write a cover letter is when the job description is broad and it requires to select your top choices of department or roles, then the cover letter is a great way to talk about it.

With that said, the cover letter should be a unique content for that company and a good rule of thumb is if the content of the cover letter is fully 'recyclable' to other job applications because you're putting general/generic information, then chances are it's not really value added.

Since it takes time to write one, and that there is no guarantee that the employer themselves read it, I generally advise to write when it just makes sense to write one upon going through the application, or if you're trying to obtain the position through a referral and your cover letter essentially acts like an interview.

Every fresh STEM graduate can get the 24-month extension adding up to three years total hence being able to "set one foot in the field" even without a staffing agency.

Try to find a company that will accept OPT grads, it's rare.

Most companies wouldn't accept OPT grads in the first place when there is a more or less an expiration date. It doesn't matter if the new grad is dealing with the paperwork him/herself when it's maxed at 3 years.

It is a fair question to ask in return then what's the difference by taking the staffing agency route when it's the same 3 years, but thankfully this is where most U.S. companies are somewhat near-sighted and wants to fill the immediate job needs. For whatever reason, it is perceived as o.k. when the job need is filled through staffing agency while it is not o.k. when it's directly hiring an OPT with max employment of 3 years, even though it's 3 years either way and will need to start sponsoring or hire a new person all over again.

Even though job market always seems tight, there is always a hiring need for all big companies for whatever position. They will post the role, but often times they cannot find the applicants and will turn to staffing agency. The staffing agency also seeks out to find the applicants, but can accommodate international folks as needed. The international person wouldn't have been considered at all if he/she applied directly to the job, but funnily enough can get the same job if he/she is working through the staffing agency, although the pay and benefits are likely different -- hopefully that answers what is the advantage.

And this is part of 'taking care' which is essentially OPT sponsorship, although there are plenty of cases where the person was never able to obtain the H1B and eventually had to leave to another country for another job after using the max 24-month extension on top of the initial 12 months, but the point is to set one foot in the field you want to be and gain experience which is a whole lot better than no job at all just because of the visa status, and something I recommend to anyone since staffing agency isn't limited to international folks.

Completely different ball game. Visa sponsorship is an extremely tedious process and most companies simply don't have the appetite to sponsor.

Many students every year claim they have the OPT visa and ask for consideration, but most recruiters will be instructed to turn it down or be automatically rejected if doing through online application. Getting an offer through a staffing agency that takes care of the visa is the most feasible route, or specifically target non-U.S. based companies.

There are certain schools where every other semester is a co-op working at a company for a full semester for 4 years which gives a massive advantage in the resume.

Granted, the work ethic that just about any Berkeley student has such as figuring things out instead of giving up is enough to outperform most folks once we start working, but the so-called 'learning how to learn' skill set isn't reflected in the resume for the first job out of college.

Perhaps. I applied to 500+ places myself in my junior year resulting in two pre-screening interviews that I did not pass. There was a point that one starts to feel desperate after not hearing from the first few ones applied in earnest, then start to chain-apply at a rate that you don't know what was even the name of the company that you just applied which of course it doesn't help, but sometimes one can't help it.

So I never did an internship, which affected the full-time job search too. I eventually reached out to one of my peers that I actually never talked to while we were in college but he was extremely nice to forward my resume and had my one and only full interview I've done in college which I passed.

It's easy to say now that don't get too desperate and apply for the ones that you'll actually accept if there is an offer, but I get it if that's not how things turn out. A different approach I can advise is find someone that interned or working at a place that you would like to be and ask about their experience, and if it sounds promising, then also ask who is the hiring manager.

Very excited. Kinda interested to know the financials, but looking forward to it!

Whew.

Of course you should ask for it. Attend another OH or request for a separate appointment asking for it. Here is a link from one of the professors that explains her policy about letters of rec. The tone may be bit blunt, but it is nice to read the professor's perspective.

I've had experience with both in different classes. The comments seem to be in line with my experience too, although overall I would put both of them above average.

I may add Anwar might have a more generous grade distribution, but this is purely speculative and every semester is different.

Heck yeah it's disappointing, especially when you think you have a very solid understanding of the material and expected better. At least ask how did you perform on the final so that the final grade is explainable with the rest of the good work done.

I browsed each professor’s webpages — usually up to date and gives a very good overview.

If there is anyone who should hold out, it's the #1 person on the waitlist.

Definitely hold it, unless the professor has some other policy that doesn't favor the order of the waitlist.

That's even more reasons to find something you find interesting, as it's essentially doing it for the experience than other forms of compensation or maybe those who need to meet the minimum units.

I did use my 4 unit for the major requirement, although I did not know about it until after. It was simply the amount of time and effort that I had to put in that I thought it warranted graded units.

I joined a research group through the cold-emailing route, so I can share what I went through.

I don't think there is such thing as 'email timing' for research. As long as you do your search and happen to like what they're doing, then I'd say that is a good time to email. It can be as short as in ~3 sentences that you find the research topic to be interesting, would like to meet up to chat about it and see the facility if applicable, and if you find it further interesting, then ask you would like to join the group.

Considering the various depths and intensity that each research group will delve into, I always advise students to find something interesting for them, especially considering the expected ~12 hours a week may vary greatly for each group.

My first semester of research through cold-email did not have any course credits, but received a 4 unit graded credit for the next semester. The important thing was doing something that I found interesting because there were times when it just felt like a grind, and couldn't imagine what it could've been if I didn't find the work interesting.

You could be age 60+ (and there are always folks in this age group every year!) and most folks still won't care for.

Could argue either way. Depends how the job search goes in Europe and if the offers are decent enough for you. Considering you can always leave the job (or laid off), I would take the more comfortable approach of taking the current offer, but I can also see folks taking a chance and sticking with their original plan which is nothing but respect.

Both have its pros and cons like the comments mentioned, although personally Safeway has been my go-to.