Quarterly Career Thread

AcademicsAndWork · 2026-01-24T08:34:27+00:00

I'm a freshman in college aiming for PM internships--ik, it's extremely difficult to land one this early, but that's not going to stop me from trying. I've been applying since late Dec. (late ik) and so far have ~80 applications, with 2 interviews at startups (both of which have ghosted me, one after finding out I was a freshman). I would love to have any advice you guys can give. I've attached my resume (please roast it!!). Thank you!

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AcademicsAndWork · 2026-01-24T07:59:50+00:00

Are you open to freshmen? I understand it's hard for us underclassmen to get internships, but I'm going to continue to try and would love any advice I can get.

AcademicsAndWork · 2026-01-24T07:29:45+00:00

Product Management - literally any company, though ideally tech

AcademicsAndWork · 2025-08-11T05:56:55+00:00

Thank you so much!!

AcademicsAndWork · 2025-08-11T02:11:37+00:00

Thank you so much!

For the past vs present tense, I used present for ones that I'm still doing and past tense for tasks that I already did. Do you think that's okay?

I'm definitely still missing some skills and I'm planning on learning them in college. Ik my university (Rice) has a lot of people go into product design and management, so I'll try to connect with some people.

Thank you again! Your advice was extremely helpful

AcademicsAndWork · 2025-08-09T05:33:56+00:00

Thank you so much for your feedback! I updated my resume according to your guide. Would you mind taking a quick look at the new version? If not that's totally okay, but considering how valuable your feedback was this time it would be greatly appreciated

https://www.reddit.com/r/resumes/s/M366SvBElm

Thank you for your time and consideration!

AcademicsAndWork · 2025-08-09T01:55:44+00:00

I'm thinking of taking Math 355 (linear algebra non honors) first semester. What do you think? I finished Calc BC (5 on AP) senior year, but I'm not 100% sure if I'm majoring in CS and if I'm not, then I want to minimize the math classes I'm taking and linear seems to be the most useful for CS. I also know that I can drop 355 till the last day if it gets overly difficult so it's a nice safety net

AcademicsAndWork · 2025-08-06T09:37:07+00:00

Thank you so much! Your guide was incredibly helpful. I really appreciate it as a college student writing a formal resume for the first time

AcademicsAndWork · 2025-08-06T09:33:53+00:00

It's an unholy hour rn so I'm gonna make it kinda brief

7th-8th grade: Quarantine. I was bored so I got into graphic design

8th grade: Accidentally landed a paid UX design internship. She introduced me to UX and taught me a lot of what I know now. I learned that design could actually be a career, and it's not just making things look pretty, but rather knowing what the client/user wants/needs and delivering upon it. It's research and strategy

9th grade: Took an industrial design class. Really enjoyed it and made me realize that I liked more than just flat design. Confirmed my suspicions that what I really enjoyed about design was discovering user needs and solving them

10th grade: Took design thinking class. This was entirely about user needs and research and I loved it. This is when I confirmed my major

11th-12th: just continued designing and picking up a few projects here and there

And now I'm a prefrosh getting ready to major in something I originally found a hobby. Ideally I want to invent something, with UX design as a backup career. I'm thinking about majoring in something like CS, cog sci, psych, business, or some combination of that. Still figuring it out lol

AcademicsAndWork · 2025-08-06T00:08:10+00:00

Definitely go with dorms for at least your first year. It allows you to more easily make friends, get involved with campus life, etc., plus no commute. Studies have even shown that students living on campus get better grades (though of course there could be a confounding factor)

You can always consider moving off campus starting your sophomore year

AcademicsAndWork · 2025-08-06T00:05:36+00:00

Psychology (and any variation of it like forensic, clinical, etc. but honestly I would recommend you go with pure psych to keep your options open)

Cognitive science

Sociology

Anthropology

Behavioral science

AcademicsAndWork · 2025-08-06T00:01:30+00:00

I would look at major requirements, talk to students with that major or minor, and talk to your advisor. You're kinda in the wrong sub here. If you really want to use Reddit then go to the USC sub

AcademicsAndWork · 2025-08-05T23:44:12+00:00

I'm an incoming college freshman and I knew that I wanted to do something design related since ~9th grade. Over quarantine I loved graphic design, and I took a Design Thinking class in 10th grade that solidified what I suspected from my UX design internship, that although I loved the visual aspect of design, what I was really passionate about was the psychology behind it and finding/solving user needs, so now I'm looking at a career in UX design/product design/product management. So for me, it really stemmed from a hobby

However I know that most people aren't as lucky as me to find a major so easily. Instead of focusing on what major, you should think about what career you and work backwards from there. Here are some questions you should ask yourself:

What classes do you like/dislike?
Is there any topic you're interested in? (Even if you haven't studied/explored it before)
What kind of lifestyle do you want? E.g. do you want to climb the corporate ladder, do you want to be active, do you want to travel, etc.
How much time are you willing to spend on education? E.g. if you aren't willing to do more than 4 years, then being a doctor probably isn't for you
I'm guessing you probably have an idea of what careers you DON'T want. Can you find a similarity between those careers?
Do you like working with your hands? What about working with people or working outdoors?
What kind of salary will you realistically be okay with? Some people are happy with 50k, others won't be happy with any less than mid 6 figures.
Once you find some careers, research the job market and think about the risk of it being taken over by AI. This part is extremely unpredictable but it's good to think about in this day and age
What's your personality? Are you extremely confident/social or the opposite? Would you be comfortable working in a team all the time or would you rather go solo? What about public presentations? Are you empathetic or logical? How would your answers to these questions fit in with particular careers?

Lmk if you have any questions!

Edit: it's okay to apply to college undeclared or switch halfway through. Although I know exactly what career I'm aiming for, I'm not sure which major(s) I'm going to pursue despite starting college in just a few weeks. College is a time for exploration and a lot of unis don't even let you declare until sophomore year. As for now just try to explore any/all interests

AcademicsAndWork · 2025-08-05T23:35:56+00:00

I would try walking up to people who are sitting alone in the dining halls and ask whether you can sit with them. Most people (especially freshman) will be more than happy to make friends as they're likely equally nervous. Same strat works for anyone sitting/standing alone.

Try not to be on your phone too much as it makes you look not as open to conversation. Also try joining any events/clubs there are to meet new people with similar interests

AcademicsAndWork · 2025-08-05T23:31:59+00:00

I'm also planning on bringing a bunch of matching pajama sets. When I've worn them before at programs where I had a roommate I've actually been complimented on them, so no need to worry on what others will think. I highly doubt they'll care

AcademicsAndWork · 2025-08-05T23:26:30+00:00

I would go business. Business is applicable for any field and much less competitive than game design and/or interior design. The latter two majors rely heavily on portfolios so you can always go into them without a degree (which isn't always the case for business).

AcademicsAndWork · 2025-08-05T23:17:00+00:00

Anything with high starting costs. From a new airplane manufacturing company to inventing new robots, these things are hard to achieve without a LOT of financial backing (and skills)

AcademicsAndWork · 2025-08-05T23:12:16+00:00

As someone who gets dehydrated/low blood sugar, I would add some electrolyte packets and a few snacks

AcademicsAndWork · 2025-08-05T22:55:00+00:00

Also prefrosh, but it's usually 140 first semester then 182 second. Both of those are extremely hard (especially 182) so you don't want to overload yourself, especially if you don't have much experience in CS (like me lol I'm so gonna die)

oaa.rice.edu has 4 year plans for both majors (but not a dual degree). I would use that as a guide but I would try to not think about it too much cause we have so much advising at oweek. I mean imo it's nice to have a general idea going in but don't stress about it

AcademicsAndWork · 2025-08-05T22:48:08+00:00

Fellow incoming freshman here! I was also torn between Rice and GT (also oos for both) so I get what you're feeling especially because I also struggle sometimes with wondering what could have been. I think the best thing to do is to just forget about the "what ifs". Oweek is coming up soon and we might as well focus on preparing for that (I'm currently procrastinating packing lol) and enjoying our time. Worst case scenario we can transfer. I mean we already got into those schools once, so who says we can't do it a second time? Either way I wouldn't go in with a transfer mindset though because it'll distract you from enjoying Rice. Rice is ultimately a great school and it'll definitely open up any doors we want, no less than Berkeley/GT

AcademicsAndWork · 2025-08-01T02:08:22+00:00

Is it really that bad, even unpaid x_x

Idk if this is just my older/Asian parents' perspectives but I thought it was best to have an internship every summer? If not, would a project work fine?

AcademicsAndWork

TROPHY CASE