Quote: Original post by way2lazy2care

Quote: Original post by Tom Sloper
Sure. Take your time. You have lots of it -- 8 months to be exact.

8 months only seems like a long time when you've got 8 months until something :-p

You're having a baby?! Congratulations!

Seriously though, companies don't look at applications 9 months out. They look at the time they have a need.

When we need somebody there is already a stack of unsolicited applications ready to go. We will ask around internally, post the job to a few sites, read through the current (unsolicited) applications and those that arrive in the week following the posting, and interview the best of them. Then we hire the best fit of those.

The entire process is a matter of 2-4 weeks, sometimes less. As Tom said, the time to send it out is about a month before you are available, and only when you are ready to work should you be making contacts and job inquires.

Quote: Original post by frob
Seriously though, companies don't look at applications 9 months out. They look at the time they have a need.

I disagree. While things might have changed somewhat with the recession, back when I graduated in 2008 probably half of my classmates had their graduation jobs (for May-June) lined up by October. Things might not be as hot now, but many companies hire entry level employees early in their senior year. If you wait till April to start looking any positions that once may have been available will have been long filled.

Maybe at small companies they only start looking for specific positions when they need one, but I'd bet at EA they go out long in advance and just pick up the 100 best graduates they can for 'entry level' positions. They may not have any idea what they will need them for now, but they always need fresh employees for entry level jobs.

Quote: Original post by karwosts

Quote: Original post by frob
Seriously though, companies don't look at applications 9 months out. They look at the time they have a need.

Maybe at small companies they only start looking for specific positions when they need one, but I'd bet at EA they go out long in advance and just pick up the 100 best graduates they can for 'entry level' positions. They may not have any idea what they will need them for now, but they always need fresh employees for entry level jobs.

I work at EA, so I can hopefully clear that up.

Yes, the company has college recruiters. They are at a few specific schools. The best students are found by hunting at the schools for those individuals, by discussions with the professors and students about the top students, discussions with SIGDA and ACM groups, and observation of those who participate in events and competitions. Yes, they pick up some of the best graduates that they can.

But...

Those top students are not found through regular job application channels, or by unsolicited resumes. Submitting a resume or application means that you are not one of those specially recruited individuals.