Boy do I know that feeling. That's what drove me to accept the offer from Raytheon in my senior year at Mudd (not to say that it was a bad offer - just not my ideal job), and that's what made my Seattle-area job hunt initially so scary and depressing. It was a complete surprise to me to not only get one offer, but two from really good companies right off the bat. That sounds like I'm bragging, but I absolutely don't mean it that way - I know I was lucky, but I also know my fear of rejection was out of proportion to reality.
I've also become a lot more aware of the fact that applying for a job, while not a crap shoot, is definitely something affected by luck. It's entirely possible for a good candidate to get turned down. I don't find telling people that is especially useful - at least, I would tell myself that to prepare for rejection, and could never make myself actually believe it - but I've been on the interviewing side, and it's definitely true.
What if I don't like it?
I heard so often people complaining about "code-monkey" jobs, and how everyone gets burned out within a few years. It made me worry that I'd wind up hating my job, but fortunately I was wrong. Even at Raytheon, where there were a number of not so great aspects to my job, I found I still enjoyed parts of my job. I also sometimes wonder if I made the wrong choice by going into CS rather than pursuing accounting or actuarial science (this comes up especially when I'm messing with our finances and having a blast). Fortunately, it doesn't take much to remind me that, while I probably could have enjoyed a different avenue, the one I'm on is fun, too. If it ever stops being fun, there's nothing stopping me from making a career switch. Well, nothing that wouldn't be worth overcoming, anyway.
Don't know if that helps... my brain's taken a leave of absence, so there's a good chance that just came out as an incoherent ramble. Anyway, I have faith in you. You have a way of making the best of any situation.
Boy do I know that feeling. That's what drove me to accept the offer from Raytheon in my senior year at Mudd (not to say that it was a bad offer - just not my ideal job), and that's what made my Seattle-area job hunt initially so scary and depressing. It was a complete surprise to me to not only get one offer, but two from really good companies right off the bat. That sounds like I'm bragging, but I absolutely don't mean it that way - I know I was lucky, but I also know my fear of rejection was out of proportion to reality.
I've also become a lot more aware of the fact that applying for a job, while not a crap shoot, is definitely something affected by luck. It's entirely possible for a good candidate to get turned down. I don't find telling people that is especially useful - at least, I would tell myself that to prepare for rejection, and could never make myself actually believe it - but I've been on the interviewing side, and it's definitely true.
What if I don't like it?
I heard so often people complaining about "code-monkey" jobs, and how everyone gets burned out within a few years. It made me worry that I'd wind up hating my job, but fortunately I was wrong. Even at Raytheon, where there were a number of not so great aspects to my job, I found I still enjoyed parts of my job. I also sometimes wonder if I made the wrong choice by going into CS rather than pursuing accounting or actuarial science (this comes up especially when I'm messing with our finances and having a blast). Fortunately, it doesn't take much to remind me that, while I probably could have enjoyed a different avenue, the one I'm on is fun, too. If it ever stops being fun, there's nothing stopping me from making a career switch. Well, nothing that wouldn't be worth overcoming, anyway.
Don't know if that helps... my brain's taken a leave of absence, so there's a good chance that just came out as an incoherent ramble. Anyway, I have faith in you. You have a way of making the best of any situation.
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