Re: Cant get on the career ladder
pyaari , i understand your situation. I am in a diff city from where I went to school in, just ended up here by chance ande ended up staying so the uni network and all was not of much help.
I know what company you work for, we have spoken about it before and worked on your resume too. but you are going about it the wrong way, lady in HR is not teh right approach, for groups you want to go to, find out the people and talk to them directly, not just for a job btiu express interest in their group and ask to meet up to find out more about the group and what they do. will it work, mayeb mayeb not but keep trying.
AMA can be good if leveraged properly, my oen experience with AMA a few years ago was that it had too many junior ppl, but in your case that may work because you are starting out as well. I think BMA is better investigate them a well, just search online find the website and look for a local chapter of AMA.
also try to take a class or two at a local established uni,
as far as the company, a couple of points to note, if after doing all this you still can not move within the company then leave and find a different place
lastly, for career purposes, if your profs can help u get in a good role in a diff state, why dont you pursue it? even if it is to get started?