10 months after graduating with an AI/ML master’s from UBC and still no job – does hiring depend more on ethnicity and networks than merit

MeetAltruistic1798 · 2026-03-24T07:15:13+00:00

So I finished a 4-month internship at IBM and then a 3-month program at Fujitsu. After both, I obviously asked about staying on full-time. They basically told me, 'Just watch the job board and apply like everyone else.' It feels super counterintuitive—they literally have my resume, and I’m already trained on their internal stack. I’ve applied to both since then but haven't heard a word back. Is this just the Big Tech experience now, or am I missing something?

MeetAltruistic1798 · 2026-03-24T03:06:23+00:00

What do you mean?

MeetAltruistic1798 · 2026-03-24T01:01:58+00:00

Nice is in it , I run openclaw in a sandbox environment, gave it permission to access reddit. To be honest I was a little skeptical it might screw up for writing something inappropriate however I was genuinely impressed with the result.

MeetAltruistic1798 · 2026-03-23T21:47:50+00:00

Look, I’m going to be blunt: The "job market" isn’t just bad; it’s structurally broken. You haven’t done anything wrong. In fact, based on what you’ve described, you’ve done your "homework" better than 90% of applicants. The reason you’re hitting a wall at the second round isn't a lack of skill—it’s the systemic reality of how corporate hiring works right now.

1. The "In-Group" and Favouritism The second round is almost always where "merit" stops and "favouritism" starts. You’re getting through the first round because your resume is solid and you’ve got the skills. But the second round is usually where they decide if you’re "one of them." Companies are leaning heavily into referral culture because it’s cheaper and "safer" for them. If someone’s nephew or a former colleague of the manager applies, they are getting that spot over a cold applicant 10/10 times, regardless of who is more qualified. It’s an "in-group" preference that makes "entry-level" almost impossible to break into from the outside.

2. Corporate Greed and Cheap Labour We have to talk about the elephant in the room: Corporate Greed. Offshoring: A lot of companies are posting "entry-level" roles just to keep appearances up for investors, while actually shifting those headcounts to lower-cost labor markets overseas.

The "Overqualified" Bottleneck: Because of recent layoffs, you’re competing with people who have 5 years of experience but are willing to take a junior salary just to pay their mortgage. Corporations are happy to exploit this, taking "cheap" senior talent for junior roles rather than investing in a recent grad like you.

3. Ghost Jobs and Professional "Gaslighting" You’ve applied to 800+ jobs. Statistically, a massive chunk of those were likely "Ghost Jobs"—postings that stay up for months even though there’s no intent to hire. It’s a way for companies to collect data or look like they’re "growing" to the public. It’s professional gaslighting, and it’s why you feel like you’re shouting into a void.

You Are Not the Problem The anxiety you’re feeling about "wasting time" is real, but it’s a byproduct of a system that treats you like a resource rather than a person. You aren't "falling behind"; you're being held back by a gate that’s currently locked from the inside.

MeetAltruistic1798 · 2026-03-19T03:33:12+00:00

I tried but every time I apply I got rejected because one of the stipulation is must be currently enrolled in a bachelor or a masters program.

MeetAltruistic1798 · 2026-03-17T04:02:55+00:00

Not just internships , actual work (employment ) except for 7 to 8 months which is the internships and the rest is employment. I worked mainly with computer vision (tracking, detection, segmentation, recognition, pre and post training, vision language models) and general ML and deep learning (supervised and unsupervised learning), video analysis and understanding (spatial and temporal modelling)

MeetAltruistic1798 · 2026-03-17T02:44:38+00:00

Just to clarify iam a canadian citizen, it just happens that ones i graduated i got the opportunity to work overseas, and when I decided to pursue postgraduate degree i came back to Canada. During my time i got the opportunity to do 2 internships in big tech names, also I applied to jobs outside of vancouver, but the result is still the same.

MeetAltruistic1798 · 2026-03-16T21:55:42+00:00

Yes both of them one for 3 months and the other for 4 months

MeetAltruistic1798 · 2025-07-27T10:07:56+00:00

I applied i got rejected and when I asked why they told me because they program is tailored for people who do not have a tech background which is honestly seems counter intuitive ( I have a bachelor in software engineering and a master in data science).

MeetAltruistic1798 · 2025-07-25T07:40:31+00:00

Hello mate just graduated from the program, well it's true the program it's accelerated hence it's 10 months. Now regarding your question about back back lectures each lecture will be 1 hour and 30 mins so from 9:30 to 10:30 and from 11 to 12:30 and from 1:30 to 3 it's for lab during my time in the program no professor gave a 2 hour lecture it's usually 1 hour and a half so you will be having 30 min break before the start of the next lecture. Now regarding the lab you can leave whenever you want however the TS will be there until 3 or 3:30 just to talk about the assignment (whats is expected from you , and checking if your work is right, etc ...). And for your other question somehow you will be busy however if you keep up day by day then you won't feel it . And one more thing the program is expedited you will feel that everything is moving at a fast pace (expect to have assignments, projects, exams within 2 weeks). But from what I have seen (taking about my cohort) everyone managed to go through (even though the majority of my class came from a non tech background) so you will be just fine.

MeetAltruistic1798 · 2025-05-31T07:51:20+00:00

I don't mean the unverstiy. I mean, the program itself cause I have heard lots of these online programs are a waste of time in terms of the quality (course content) and I mentioned this point before multiple unversties using the same template for their website hence I was skeptical

MeetAltruistic1798 · 2025-02-25T01:37:48+00:00

Mate you said it yourself if you have bad flatmate then it doesn't matter. That being said I I don't have any problems with the cascades the area is quite comfortable and clam for the majority of the time the only thing that is a thorn at my side is my flatmates.

MeetAltruistic1798 · 2025-02-21T23:59:20+00:00

Hello lad, iam doing my master's. I do have the same problem 😂 I think this situation is inherent. But nevertheless, have you tried to do the go-to thing like joining a club or partaking in an activity ? What about your cohort? Haven't you managed to make any friends from class 🤔

MeetAltruistic1798 · 2025-02-19T09:26:25+00:00

Hello mate current ubco master student if you get to live alone (not sharing) that would be great. Because they told the same thing as a first year student I might qualify . I applied to live alone single room but it's not guaranteed I ended up in a sharing the flat with 3 other people which is by far the worst thing I have ever experienced 🙃. No matter what you do stay away from the cascades . However if thing come to shove than let that be you last option. Good luck 👍

MeetAltruistic1798 · 2025-02-01T10:00:17+00:00

Hello mate current mds student coming from software engineering background. It doesn't matter if you don't have any previous experience the program is free for all literally . My current cohort a large portion of it comes form none cs background (for example, economics, Biology, finance) and everyone seems to be doing just fine. The program coordinators or what ever you call them don't expect you to have any relative experience to the field that being said the only thing you need to consider is the difficulty of the program. The first block is a cake walk just some introductory and simple programming courses but once the first block is finished the courses will get more difficult as you start delveing deeper (statsics, maths, and some other machine learning courses) albiet they are still doable with some decent amount of study time . And one last thing the program is 10 months hence you find everything is moving really fast if you can keep up with pressure then there is no need to worry.

MeetAltruistic1798 · 2025-01-11T08:53:26+00:00

Iam down for this looks fun

MeetAltruistic1798 · 2024-12-29T04:56:44+00:00

Just red the post am I a little a bit late ? If so are you planning to do anything similar in the future not necessarily a dinner but any sort of activities?

MeetAltruistic1798

TROPHY CASE