Resume Advice Thread - February 20, 2018 CS Career Questions |
- Resume Advice Thread - February 20, 2018
- Daily Chat Thread - February 20, 2018
- Does CS mentorship really exist?
- Non-Americans who moved to the Bay Area, please share your experiences.
- I've made many, many mistakes. I cannot finish my BS (no more funding). What do I do now?
- What's your experience with unusual work hours (Remote, 4-10, on-call, as-long-as-everything-works)?
- When is a good time to start the process again after joining your first job?
- What was it like to move to Seattle far from friends and family?
- Should I take algorithms if its not required by my major?
- Where should I take "Intro to Programming" and "Data Structure course" in Boston?
- For internships, is it better to work for a new, but equal company, or stay at the same company with a return offer?
- How do you weigh company reviews on Glassdoor?
- Let's talk code reviews!
- Is this ok for the "In 150 characters, describe how you are unique" question for a job application?
- Really anxious when looking at any form of code, what do I do?
- Feel like crap after getting rejected repeatedly for many internship positions. Any help would be superb
- CS grads who didn't become developers, what is your title?
- Does "Number of years of experience" include non-professional (unemployed side projects') years?
- Going back and getting CS degree at 30 worth the time/cost?
- Early misstep on a job offer - advice?
- Considering leaving my current position due to consistent boredom - can I spin this decision as a positive in my next application process?
- Has the Spring hiring cycle started?
- Starting career as splunk developer
- First Job Out of College, Feel Like I'm Going Down the Wrong Path. What do I do Now?
- Does working remotely affect productivity in the IT sector?
- Good paying job vs Masters
- AIG Technology Superday Any Advice?
| Resume Advice Thread - February 20, 2018 Posted: 19 Feb 2018 11:07 PM PST Please use this thread to ask for resume advice and critiques. You should read our Resume FAQ and implement any changes from that before you ask for more advice. Abide by the rules, don't be a jerk. Note on anonomyizing your resume: If you'd like your resume to remain anonymous, make sure you blank out or change all personally identifying information. Also be careful of using your own Google Docs account or DropBox account which can lead back to your personally identifying information. To make absolutely sure you're anonymous, we suggest posting on sites/accounts with no ties to you after thoroughly checking the contents of your resume. This thread is posted each Tuesday and Saturday at midnight PST. Previous Resume Advice Threads can be found here. [link] [comments]  |
| Daily Chat Thread - February 20, 2018 Posted: 19 Feb 2018 11:07 PM PST Please use this thread to chat, have casual discussions, and ask casual questions. Moderation will be light, but don't be a jerk. This thread is posted every day at midnight PST. Previous Daily Chat Threads can be found here. [link] [comments]  |
| Does CS mentorship really exist? Posted: 20 Feb 2018 08:40 AM PST I've been a dev for 25 years (yikes!) and I never had a mentor. A few (like 2) people over my career told me that I mentored them but it was mainly because they proactively came to my desk to discuss tech stuff. It wasn't very active on my part. I never had a mentor because all my jobs had very poorly written code, hacked by engineers who didn't understand the tech. Even at my Big 4 job a very long time ago, all the projects misused the tech and even the architect didn't seem to know any different way and obviously not the right way, So, I always learned from reading, studying and personal projects. Almost all devs that I know never did this, they worked long hours but never cared or did much outside work, it was just a job for them and never cared to figure out anything but what was right in front of them. Does mentorship (tech mentorship, not career/political mentorship, I mean) really exist? I find it odd that I've never seen much of it or much evidence of it in my long career. [link] [comments]  |
| Non-Americans who moved to the Bay Area, please share your experiences. Posted: 20 Feb 2018 12:18 PM PST I'm Aussie and I've been wanting to move to the Bay Area for a while, this year I've decided I want to give it a go. Just wanting to hear the experiences with visas, differences in office culture/interviews, quality of life compared to where you moved from etc. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| I've made many, many mistakes. I cannot finish my BS (no more funding). What do I do now? Posted: 20 Feb 2018 09:32 AM PST I was thinking about using a throwaway. I'm not, because I need to own up to who I am and how I've thrown a decade of my life down the pooper. I need to accept it, learn from it, and move on from it. I already know the gravity of my situation and where I am in life. If anyone is willing to offer advice, I'd greatly appreciate it. I have been trying to get my undergraduate degree for ten years. I started at a two year college. I have a general associate's degree, but can't complete my undergrad. It's a really long story, but because of mental health complications along with being low-income my whole life, I had many distractions and interruptions in my priorities. I tried to finish, couldn't after 3 years. I took a couple of years off and tried again. Still couldn't, but I've since run out of funding and can't afford to pay out of pocket anymore. When I don't have to work I do well, but unfortunately not working is not, and has never really been, an option. So, I'm now at a spot where I'm just going to be working and paying back student loans. I have an internship at the moment that ends in May. I have 2 previous years of professional experience writing software. I'm at the point now where I just want to have a family. I'm very tired of being a student and being "entry-level". When it comes to being a developer, I'm interested, capable, dependable, and can write code. I spend a lot of my free time learning and growing. It's not that I'm not truly interested. I'm just not good with the structure that university demands. I think if classes were just 40 hrs a week of lab/workshops then I would have done better as I do very well in an office environment. I don't know where to go from here. I have a few options that I can think of off of the top of my head:
If anyone's been in my position before and got out of it, I'd appreciate if you could share your story. I understand that, in the end, hard work is what's needed. But I'm unsure of where to direct my focus. Thanks for your time! [link] [comments]  |
| What's your experience with unusual work hours (Remote, 4-10, on-call, as-long-as-everything-works)? Posted: 20 Feb 2018 05:23 AM PST Or private offices, or other things I'm forgetting to mention [link] [comments]  |
| When is a good time to start the process again after joining your first job? Posted: 20 Feb 2018 11:45 AM PST I joined my company about six months ago, and it is a tech company but not on the level of a big search engine or social network company, and it is my first job. When I was still in school, I interviewed at a few big N type companies and made it to the final rounds for several, but didn't get any offers. To follow up, recently, recruiters have reached out to me asking if I'm interested in opportunities again at these companies, but I've declined saying that I had only been at my current company for 3 months, 6 months, etc. so I wasn't interested at the time, but would be in the future. Recruiters seemed to give the vibe that was fine as well, and I would probably be guaranteed interviews later on too (especially since they were reaching out now). I haven't actually applied again anywhere. Was it wrong of me to have done that? I feel like it would be one, bad to leave a company so soon after joining when it's not like work is terrible or anything (I know on this sub people have recommended jumping ship if the company was bad, but I like my job and I learn more each day), and two--I don't think I could even pass interviews at [search engine] company right now as I would be being evaluated at a non 'right out of school entry level developer' level, and I don't even have a year of experience at my current company. At the same time, I doubt I would be any better in a few months versus now at 'data-structures/algorithms' type questions, but I assume that when you are not right out of school, they will also ask you things about your current job, or more experienced questions? Also, perhaps if I wait a few months more, the interview process will be EVEN harder because then you have a few more months under your belt, and you might be expected to know even more... Another thing that worries me is too long at a company that is not as 'prestigious' as other companies might lessen your chance at getting interviews in the future if you decline them now -- right now I'm still riding off the fact that I graduated recently, had interviewed in the past, etc. Does anyone have any advice in this scenario? When is a "good time" to apply for companies that typically have 'harder' interviews and higher salaries than your current company. [link] [comments]  |
| What was it like to move to Seattle far from friends and family? Posted: 20 Feb 2018 01:25 PM PST I'm about to make this move and would be curious. It honestly was not my first choice city, and I prefer to be close to family, but my girlfriend was accepted to a UW graduate program and I will relocate for work. The only thing giving me cold feet is the fact that it is so far from everything we know, but there really isn't any other choice. I keep telling myself this is also better for my career, but it will be an adjustment to be 2-3 time zones away from family. Would love to hear input. [link] [comments]  |
| Should I take algorithms if its not required by my major? Posted: 20 Feb 2018 04:00 PM PST So I'm a 4th year with one more quarter left after this winter and I was wondering if I should take algos even though it's not required for my degree. I switched from CS to Informatics last year for various reasons (wasn't pursuing soft eng at that time) but now that I'm mostly looking for dev roles, I was wondering if its worth taking the course. It would fulfill my elective requirement so I will be taking the minimum amount of units but is it worth the difficulty? [link] [comments]  |
| Where should I take "Intro to Programming" and "Data Structure course" in Boston? Posted: 20 Feb 2018 08:07 AM PST Hi guys, I am accepted to JHU as a provisional student for MS in bioinformatics. In order to update my status, they ask me to complete and get grades above B for both Intro to Programming and Data Structure. I am also admitted to other schools like NEU, Georgetown University and U of Chicago, Gramham school. However, my first opinion is Boston University, because I really want to stay in Boston. Otherwise, I might choose between JHU and NEU. So, I need to at least get certifications from these two courses. Coursera or other MOOCs are not accepted by JHU, so they are probably ruled out (will they boost my application for BU if I take MOOCs courses?). Lastly, I would like to take less than $400/course. So, here is my question, where should I take those two courses, "Intro to Programming (R or Python)" and Data Structure in Boston area or online? Can anyone having the experience or information about this please advise me? I really appreciate it!!!!!!!!!! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 20 Feb 2018 08:37 AM PST I had a good time at my last internship and wouldn't mind working there again, but I'm being encouraged to take another offer with another company that's about as equal as the one I had before (sorry for not stating any company names, a lot of my friends browse this sub). The other company is definitely more corporate and 'serious' whereas the company I interned last summer was more laidback and friendly, which is why my return offer looks so enticing. Now, I'm not making this post to get you to choose which company I should work for, but in a general sense, is it better to take a return offer if I know I will enjoy it or be willing to try something new, even if you know it might go badly? Like, which path looks better? I'm a junior graduating next year. [link] [comments]  |
| How do you weigh company reviews on Glassdoor? Posted: 20 Feb 2018 03:18 PM PST I assume that all the good reviews are planted by CEO and HR asking employees to write good reviews. I worked for a startup that did this and many bad reviews for different companies say that this happens. I still read good review but I take them all with a grain of salt. Companies claim that bad reviews are from disgruntled employees but even bad reviews often bend over backwards to explain and justify their bad review. And, really, what motivation is there for an employee to write that a company has low pay, has bad code or basically sucks if it isn't true? So, I am skeptical of good reviews and I believe nearly every word of bad reviews. What about you? Do you believe good reviews? Do you believe bad reviews? Some trick to read between the lines? Do you have some other strategy, maybe ignoring reviews and looking at salaries or interviews? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 20 Feb 2018 02:26 PM PST I've never done or been a part of a code review before, so I'm interested in hearing how they usually go or what you're experience with them is. (And the different ways they're approached by different teams/companies.)
(Feel free to add anything else.) [link] [comments]  |
| Is this ok for the "In 150 characters, describe how you are unique" question for a job application? Posted: 20 Feb 2018 06:37 AM PST I have no idea what to put for this question on a part-time job application at a tech startup. I'd basically just be getting supplies, directing guests, and setting up stuff. Basically just their errand girl of some sorts. I don't have any relevant experience in terms of the company's actual work, I just need another part-time job and this one seems manageable. So my degree is in American Culture and History, not even close to tech at all, really. The company is dealing with an innovative technology, so I figured it'd be 'unique' to use this as my answer: "I have studied history, you seem to be making history. I would love to be a part of that. At least this is how I can say my degree will be relevant." Is that too sarcastic/unprofessional/orwhateveritseemstobe for a job application? I just don't want to put the "I am this, I did this, I can be helpful by...." but I'm stumped on what else to put. Any and all help is appreciated, thanks! Edit: Thanks for the quick responses! And I appreciate the thoughts. I guess that last bit was a little too much. I might just keep the first sentence and then resort to a more serious answer after. Again. much appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Really anxious when looking at any form of code, what do I do? Posted: 20 Feb 2018 04:22 PM PST I put pressure on myself a bit too much to the point where whenever I see some kind of Text Editor / IDE / Code, my heart starts beating fast and I cannot focus anymore. I think I really need a time off but I also only have a year until graduation which does not help at all. I have no internships and I'm just really worried I won't be able to support myself in the future. Did anyone go through any kind of emotion like this? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 20 Feb 2018 01:29 PM PST I have been applying to internships since last semester now and I haven't had a single internship acceptance till now. I have given maybe 20-30 interviews so far and got through to the final rounds of 3 companies but they all turned out to be rejections. What's funny is, today I was in my math class and suddenly I got a call from Chicago, and from California at the same time! Naive me, thought that's a good sign! Turned out it was Groupon and LinkedIn just calling at the same time to let me know that my candidacy wasn't being considered anymore. I didn't break down but my elation took a blow and I know this too shall pass but Idk where I am going wrong. I try to do leetcode regularly but have other questions show up in most interviews - what makes this worse is, I had a good internship (with goldman schs) last summer which I acquired in the Fall of Sophomore year and I still can't find one during Spring of Junior year. Feels like I have fallen and fallen badly. I know this sounds soft and I generally have a positive outlook on life but with almost everyone at my school (uiuc) acquire good internships, it does make me feel like an outcast. Any way to recover? [link] [comments]  |
| CS grads who didn't become developers, what is your title? Posted: 20 Feb 2018 07:05 PM PST Got a CS degree and now I work as a Cloud Engineer, curious to hear from others. [link] [comments]  |
| Does "Number of years of experience" include non-professional (unemployed side projects') years? Posted: 20 Feb 2018 04:46 PM PST I've been developing iOS apps using Swift since it released in 2014. So I started almost 4 years ago, but if I had to be more accurate, then I'd say that I probably have about 2-3 years of practical experience making apps and learning more about iOS development in general. Professionally, I only have 3 months of experience as an iOS intern. So if a job listing says they're looking for someone with X years of experience, or if I'm asked how many years of experience I have with iOS, how exactly should I be answering this? I should also note that some applications literally just use dropdown menus with options [0 years, 1 years, 2 years, ...]; I can't add a note anywhere to explain my experience. I feel that saying that I have less than one year of experience isn't accurate with my skillset, even though it's technically true in terms of professional experience. On the other hand, I feel that my 3 years of practical experience isn't going to be equivalent to that of someone who spent 3 years working at an actual company on not just their own projects (I'm sure they'd have learned a lot more than me). [link] [comments]  |
| Going back and getting CS degree at 30 worth the time/cost? Posted: 20 Feb 2018 06:13 PM PST Hey everyone! Looking for some advice career wise. I am currently 30 years old and trying to weigh the ROI of going back to school and getting more student loan debt to get a CS related degree. My current job I make roughly 60k/year and have around 20k in student loans already. I work as a QA Engineer working on SaaS related products. My employer is willing to train me to learn writing automation tests, which overtime could net me ~75-80k/year for my area after a couple of years. Knowing all of this, would accruing around 10-15k more in debt be worth it for the degree or just keep gaining hands on experience? [link] [comments]  |
| Early misstep on a job offer - advice? Posted: 20 Feb 2018 08:40 AM PST Hi everybody. First time posting here. Last week I was offered a job over the phone from a large tech company. This would be my first job out of graduate school (PhD in the social sciences) so I have very little experience dealing with recruiters. (clearly) On the phone, the recruiter asked what I expected to earn. I made the noob mistake not only of naming a number, but naming a number based on what somebody had told me he'd earned when he first started working there. It turns out that he started working before getting his degree, and his role actually has a different title from mine. I've since learned from somebody with a degree from the very same program as me, who didn't name a number to his recruiter, that he was initially offered $25-30k higher than the range I named over the phone! My hope is that it's not too late to somehow undo or retract what I said over the phone, but I'd love to get your advice on how to approach this. The recruiter and I agreed that she could wait to send me a written offer because I would need a few weeks to finish final interviews for an academic job. Because I don't have the written offer, I don't have any indication what kind of salary I'll actually be offered, but maybe this buys me time to undo my mistake. I was thinking of either calling the recruiter back to discuss this, or possibly bringing it up with the manager who interviewed me for the position (but we've never discussed money before). I'm inclined to be honest and admit my mistake. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 20 Feb 2018 09:06 AM PST Hey Reddit, I'm getting really exhausted with how little I have to do. It's been four months and I've been given about 10 hours of actual work a week, sometime much less. I've asked my manager for constructive ways to spend my down time and haven't received any feedback. I've also asked for a pluralsite login and been ignored several times. So I want to do something else. But I worry that jumping ship this early, especially at my first CS job (though not my first tech job) will be seen as a negative. I would like to be honest with my next potential employer about the fact I just want something more challenging, or at least more occupying, but I worry the initial observation about my short tenure here would cause me to be dismissed out the gate. Any advice/experience? [link] [comments]  |
| Has the Spring hiring cycle started? Posted: 20 Feb 2018 07:13 AM PST I've been applying like crazy over the past month and haven't been getting any responses, not even rejections. Has the Spring hiring cycle for summer internships started? [link] [comments]  |
| Starting career as splunk developer Posted: 20 Feb 2018 04:48 AM PST Hi. I'm graduating in May with a CS from a mid-tier US school with a 4.0 in major 3.7 overall gpa. Where I live there aren't many CS jobs and I don't want to move. I'm ok with Travel so consulting seems to be fine. Finding a good paying job has been difficult. A friend who graduated 2 years ago has been doing splunk consulting at client sites and says he can get me a Travel job but the job is in configuring things with splunk. My focus has been on compilers so I really don't "get" how splunk is used in companies. More importantly what people pay for this stuff. Is it viable? Anyone have any experience? [link] [comments]  |
| First Job Out of College, Feel Like I'm Going Down the Wrong Path. What do I do Now? Posted: 20 Feb 2018 07:55 PM PST Long story short I've been mainly working on something I'm not very interested in (big data management and flow control tech) using a proprietary language at a firm in the financial industry. I've been here for almost a year and am still learning a good deal but I feel like my career trajectory is headed in the wrong direction. I would like to work with more industry standard tech, on a more consumer facing product that is more tangible and perhaps incorporates different parts of the tech stack (looking for something more full stack or at least more front and mid). I've discussed with my manager and she says it's not really the focus of our team and there don't seem to be many opportunities within our team to work on projects using non proprietary tech. There is another opportunity within the company that is definitely an improvement but I'm unsure whether to pursue that or try and land a job elsewhere. The potential role would involve working with Java and React to build applications that interface with a larger application used internally. This would at least get me working on something that seems a bit more tangible and working with industry standard tech. The process of changing roles may be formal or informal, not entirely sure if I would have to go through a technical interview process as it varies case by case. Location, compensation/benefits, and likely hours would be the same, all of which I'm happy with. On the other hand I can start prepping for interviews, while remaining in my current position for a few months and try to land a job elsewhere hopefully working on something I would be interested in. The only downside I see to this is having to deal with the prep and technical interview processes, and the chance that even with getting an offer that it may not be much better in terms of work. Any advice or thoughts here? Much appreciated [link] [comments]  |
| Does working remotely affect productivity in the IT sector? Posted: 20 Feb 2018 07:47 PM PST Does anyone here work remotely and would admit it has made them lazy? Or am I wrong? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 20 Feb 2018 07:14 AM PST Background: I'm in my final semester as a CS undergraduate student in India. I have a job offer from Amazon India(SDE) which pays excellently, the highest package offered at my University and in the top ~2% of Indian tech salaries(but obviously nowhere comparable to Silicon Valley numbers). If you want the numbers it's about $30,000 plus bonuses, and taking into the consideration the low living costs of India that would conservatively give me about 15-20k in disposable salary after taxes and savings. Now, most people who can afford it(and have the GRE/Toefl scores) go do their Masters if, like me, they want to leave India for the higher standard of living and income - because a degree at a recognised international institution helps greatly for most jobs if you're from outside the country. That's probably the reason why the current CEOs of Google and Microsoft did their masters in the US as well(as opposed to the more common intention of preparing for a PhD). I do have good GRE, TOEFL, grades, LORs etc. and can probably get into an above average but not top-notch university this year(like Boston University in the US or Simon Fraser in Canada) So the questions that I have are basically this: 1)Would working at Amazon for a year and having that on my resumé significantly improve the jobs I can get post-Masters, assuming I go for a masters next year instead of this? 2)Would working at Amazon and being transferred to Seattle or their new HQ(happens to lot of the workers over here once they've been at Amazon a few months) then allow me much better job opportunities in the US/Canada at lower stress companies than a masters degree without the Amazon experience? Essentially, which opens up more doors for a non-American in the US/Canada: Software Engineer at Amazon(India) working on Echo/AWS for a year or two, OR Masters in CS from a US/Canadian University which is 20-50 in the rankings? [link] [comments]  |
| AIG Technology Superday Any Advice? Posted: 20 Feb 2018 07:41 PM PST Hello, I just got invited to AIG Technology superday consisting of 3 - 30 min interviews. If anyone has any advice or has gone through it before what was it like and any advice would be great! [link] [comments]  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from CS Career Questions. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
No comments:
Post a Comment