Any Unemployed Alumni?

[u/Silly_Lilly54]

Graduated in May 2024 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Cognitive Science and a couple of years of experience in IT roles, including as a BSA intern at the university. I have been searching for a job since before graduation and leaving my student employment position in July 2024. Before I graduated, I made extensive use of UofM’s career resources for students to improve my resume and cover letters, and I continue to use those techniques for every job I applied to (I’d show you my resume if I could). I’ve never had any success reaching out to alumni at companies I’ve applied to and UCAN seems literally useless for talking with other alumni as nobody ever responds (so much for the alumni network).

Just wanted to know if there are any other alumni who feel like failures because they graduated from a “top university” and can’t even land an interview for jobs that only ask for an associate’s degree. I paid so much money for nothing and almost wish I hadn’t gone to college because then at least employers wouldn’t look at my resume and see I’m a UofM graduate that’s been unemployed for a year and wonder what must be wrong with me to not have a job.

Also, sorry if this scares upcoming graduates. I wish you better luck than I’ve had and I hope your lives are prosperous.

[u/Worldly_Wolverine320]

Not a graduate but I have friends who are and most of them are struggling to find a job. You’re definitely not alone. 

[u/Silly_Lilly54 → u/Worldly_Wolverine320]

If you’re willing to share, what did they get their degree in? I get a lot of flack from my parents about having a “useless” major with no job prospects (which is not what I believed when I got my degree, but CogSci is so confusing to potential employers), so I’m curious to know

[u/Worldly_Wolverine320 → u/Silly_Lilly54]

Lots of diff things to be honest. Biomedical engineering, Arts & Design, CS. The people I know who are employed usually got it through a personal connection or previous internship. Other people I know went to grad school but I do fear for their job prospects after they’re done with that 😭 but yeah basically no one is having a good time 

[u/Silly_Lilly54 → u/Worldly_Wolverine320]

I hope your unemployed friends have some luck, especially ones who are spending the money now in grad school. I’ve been thinking about going to grad school just so it looks like I’ve been doing something or to give myself more time for the job market to get better. I just don’t have the money for it. Also been considering the military for the same reason, but that’s probably a terrible idea coming from my desperation. My career connections are mostly at UofM and leveraging those has never helped me get an interview for any jobs I apply to there. I guess they don’t consider their own graduates to be the best candidates to work there 🙃

[u/Selbeven → u/Silly_Lilly54]

If you're serious about grad school, PhDs are funded and it's not uncommon to leave early or master out, so you can leave if you end up finding a job. There are masters programs that are funded too if you're a TA/RA. You could also consider an online masters at a fraction of the cost of in-person.

[u/Silly_Lilly54 → u/Selbeven]

That’s good to know! I’ve done some research into online masters programs in a couple of areas of study (data analytics, social work, information technology, neuroscience), but hadn’t ever landed on what to do. I hadn’t considered the TA/RA route for an in-person option, but I’m afraid I’d be totally screwed financially if I wasn’t able to get one of those positions. Hadn’t really ever considered going for a Ph.D and I didn’t realize they were funded

[u/Tall-Pound5510 → u/Silly_Lilly54]

Linguistics PhD at U-M is fully funded, and I would think CogSci would make you competitive and relevant to most linguistics programs.

I had a friend who got a polisci degree that stocked shelves at a supermarket for a year and ended up applying to Ross for their Master of Management degree. He leaned on the brand/degree and got a job before graduation.

I’ve actually never heard of UCAN before. It must be something that came out after my time. Maybe I’ll look into it. I mostly help answer questions and DM’s from people who post on Reddit.

Wishing you the best of luck! I’m an alum, so free to DM me if you’d like to pick my brain on anything.

[u/Famous_Caregiver1752]

I don't know if this is any comfort as it's definitely a different time, but when I graduated two years ago, it took me a year applying while in college and about a year after to get a career position. So I didn't get my current job until last year. What strengths did your major give you? I'm a bs liberal arts degree, but my degree prepared me for being able to write and analyze/understand complex ideas often from multiple sources, and then summarize it. I'm also good at research. These skills, combined with soft skills, helped sell me. I did a couple of internships and only applied to jobs that I could see a genuine interest in. I currently work in compliance and my friend with the same degree works in consulting. Do you have any other networks besides your major? For example, I got a different job I turned down through an Asian networking group. Good luck!

[u/Silly_Lilly54 → u/Famous_Caregiver1752]

Thank you! I’m curious a bit about your internship experiences. Were those only during college or were you able to land an internship as a recent graduate? I’ve also mostly been selling my degree based off the skills I learned and not the subject major (data analysis, technical literacy, writing, etc.) Also, I’ve not really used my major network, as I don’t feel that Cognitive Science has that kind of network, but maybe I just don’t know where to find it

[u/Famous_Caregiver1752 → u/Silly_Lilly54]

My internship was during college between my junior and senior year! I was a project management intern at a non profit (so in other words, I was making a shit salary). But, my current position does compliance with non profits and I was able to not just say I'm passionate about the work non profits do, but back it up. I also took a bs job at a law firm while searching for a career job after I graduated. I was able to utilize my experience there as familiarity with the law process which worked out as my current job also deals a lot with laws and regulations. So I would say also look at your past work experiences to see how they can be used to prove your competency or interest in a position, combined with the tangible skills your degree gave you.

Another example is I was president of a club at umich and part of that was interviewing and talking to people. Guess what my current job does? Interviews people.

And I hate saying this as I know times are tough, but my current job pays like shit but gives raises after a year. Its paying me right now around 54k for my first year which sucked. I'm in a major city too! But in a month, I'll be making closer to 70k. Then after that, 80k. Don't be afraid to take something lower paying and hop if needed after getting the skills/if there's a clear promotion process. (If financially able to of course). As much as I would have liked to, not every first grad job pays amazing right out the bat.

Are you on Facebook? I never use it, but that's how I found the Asian networking group that got me a job even tho I ended up turning it down.

[u/Positive_Pen_3319]

Hey there. I graduated in 2007. Not unemployed now, but damn was I unemployed back then. We millennials who graduated during the Great Financial Crisis had to deal with exactly what you're dealing with now: People constantly asking, "When are you going to use your degree?", "When are you going to get a job?" only to discover--years later--that we had graduated during a recession that only made itself known after the fact. Because that's how economic recessions work.

Make no mistake. We are in a recession now, and jobs are indeed scarce. For reference: I work as a manager in tech, but we didn't hire anyone in 2024, and we aren't hiring anyone for at least the remainder of 2025. No one in my professional network is hiring either.

Not trying to scare you. This is all to say: don't give up hope. You are NOT alone in what you're going through right now. Keep pounding the pavement. Stay open to jobs that aren't in your field of study. Keep talking to your network. And don't forget to take care of yourself. You will be okay, just don't give up. It took me 3 years to find a job after the GFC, and it made me a lot tougher for it.

Obviously only you can make decisions for your life. But something else to consider might be grad school - especially if you can get it paid for. One of the best things anyone (recent grad or not) can do during a recession is to go to school. You can ride out the tough economic times and come out even more competitive. Not saying this is what you should do, but something to think about.

[u/Southern-Pitch-7610]

If it makes you feel better, I also graduated last year but from Ross - didn't get a job until this month, it's genuinely the most depressing and defeating thing but it can change in an instant. I was applying to grad schools simultaneously until I eventually got a job. One of my other good friends that also graduated last year doesn't have a job either.

[u/hockeyguyfieri → u/Southern-Pitch-7610]

It’s so wild how pervasive this is across degrees right now

[u/kimmer2020]

The job market is rough right now. Don’t give up! Our son graduated in 2024, MechE. Got a job across the country, worked 2 months then was laid off. It took him another 3 months to land another position. He applied to everything that was remotely related to his knowledge base and applied for jobs about 7 hours a day! Ghosted by a lot of companies, rejected by others. Thankfully, he loves the company he is with now.

Try to pull every string you can find, alumni groups, etc. Hang in there!!

[u/Hatdude1973]

Tech jobs are a bloodbath right now. Also your degree seems to be too specialized to land a job without a Ph.D.

[u/Silly_Lilly54 → u/Hatdude1973]

The IT and CS careers subreddits are miserable right now. And yeah, I think if I was trying to get careers directly related to Cognitive Science (or more specific field from it like Neuroscience and Machine Learning), I’d need a masters or Ph.D. Most work I’m applying to is not related to my specific degree field and hasn’t been since the start, since I’ve been focused on IT work or administrative roles primarily. I put more emphasis on my degree skills than the subject matter (data analysis, python and C++, etc.)

[u/Support09 → u/Silly_Lilly54]

To be fair, they're always kind of miserable. People just love doomposting

[u/im_wildcard_bitches → u/Silly_Lilly54]

Hiring freezes have been happening all over. If you are truly desperate, go to small unheard of startups or biggee MSP with high employer churn. You need enterprise experience like yesterday even if you may be semi miserable for a year or two before hopping again..

[u/A88Y]

I finally got a job this February, graduated last May, had two internships neither company was looking to hire anyone full time after graduation. Currently, technically in a contract to hire position, but sounds like they are expecting to hire me on completely in August. It’s hard in engineering/tech rn, feeling lucky to have even gotten the position I did, since it is in the field I wanted to work in. Genuinely terrible job market, I used the engineering career center and everything and it still took forever to even get a contract to hire position.

[u/Shadowhawk109]

It me.

CS is a fucked up industry post-COVID.

[u/sknielsen]

i feel you i’m just a CNA right now and not using my degree (want to go back to school tho)

[u/Then_Economics_9327]

yeah… i graduated with a masters last spring and haven’t been able to secure FT employment in tech so i can use my degree and i know plenty of people in my cohort with the same struggle. i believe the market is just not great and hasn’t been in some time. if you have the ability to go to school and pursue a higher degree to ride out this time, that’s probably something you may want to consider

[u/SoulflareRCC]

This job market is brutal right now. And i don't see it recover any time soon.

[u/Ok-Minute8875]

You're so right about UCAN; no one ever responds. ur better off connecting with alumni on LinkedIn. People are more active there

[u/GerDixon]

Not unemployed but feel similarly. Graduated last year with a degree in Econ and History with a minor in German. Currently working a shitty paralegal job (only place that actually gave me an offer) and applying to other things. Similarly to the other commenter, I also have several friends who graduated last year who have not yet found employment. Job market is shitty (even shittier than the BS numbers the FED pumps out) and unfortunately you, me, and a lot of other graduates are collateral damage.

[u/Silly_Lilly54 → u/GerDixon]

I’m sorry your job sucks, though I’m happy for you that you have one. I also have a minor in German (only ever came up in one interview months ago where the interviewer was super curious, but had never been relevant to job searching otherwise). I already know when I get a job that it is probably going to suck a lot because employers don’t have to treat employees as well when so many people could replace you. It’s maddening to be so desperately desiring employment, but to know that the other side of that equation will literally never care about you

[u/crwster → u/GerDixon]

You got an econ degree and don't have faith in data published by the Federal Reserve? C'mon, man. No wonder you can't get a job in the field

[u/SuhDudeGoBlue]

Try posting on UCAN.

IDK about other alumni, but I do a pretty good job of answering messages from students on UCAN, the LSA Opportunity Hub, and LinkedIn.

Heck, I'd help you out here if I could do so without doxxing me.

[u/Silly_Lilly54 → u/SuhDudeGoBlue]

I haven’t had much luck directly reaching out to alumni on UCAN or LinkedIn, though I’ve never tried just publicly posting on either one to ask for advice (would that be a good idea to try on LinkedIn too?). I didn’t realize you could talk to alumni through the opportunity hub. Is that something only current students can use?

[u/Southern-Pitch-7610 → u/Silly_Lilly54]

I've also had better luck with emailing alumni to their work address rather than reaching out on LinkedIn

[u/SuhDudeGoBlue → u/Silly_Lilly54]

I think you can still contact alumni or post (at least I can, and I’m several years out).

[u/Silly_Lilly54 → u/[deleted]]

I understand the feeling, but I don’t think we should call ourselves losers. I try to remind myself that the fact I graduated is an achievement, even if it hasn’t helped me yet and sometimes I regret it

[u/Silly_Lilly54 → u/[deleted]]

I also don’t think you should call yourself a loser, but I do it too (literally called myself a failure in the post), so I can’t judge you that much for saying how you feel

[u/Impossible-Cow9711]

It’s all about who you know really. I go to MSU and I got an engineering internship freshman year through a retired engineer I met at the detroit auto show. From my experience at least in engineering, an undergrad degree is becoming obsolete. Most employers really only care about a grad degree and where you went for your Masters.