| I can't speak to the current system because I have stepped out of it temporarily, but if you haven't done so; please tell your daughter that she is not her job nor is she the labels she places upon herself. It's tragic that she's placed so much weight on her job if she still has you supporting her. None of the things you listed are signs of merit, they are signs of pedigree. If people recommended them here, they did so in error. There's certainly a difference between universities, but the most important differentiators are connections (has she exhausted these) and prestige. If those aren't working for her, the only thing left is personal projects. That is the true indicator of merit in the software space. As for specific advice, your daughter is in a similar situation to me. I graduated thinking I had did all of the right things, and that my degree (mechanical engineering) was some sort of magic ticket. I was unemployed and then underemployed for a year or two. I eventually went to a job fair and got a job as a data analyst then, finally, moved into data engineering. Reality has shown her that there isn't always a direct path to a goal. Are there other skills she has that she could use to get meaningful or interesting work? Tell her to explore alternate jobs outside of her field or preferred industry, build up a portfolio of projects on the side to keep her skills sharp, and keep applying to her preferred role, but now at a much slower and deliberate pace. |