Big 4 Discussion - October 10, 2018 CS Career Questions |
- Big 4 Discussion - October 10, 2018
- Daily Chat Thread - October 10, 2018
- Am I in the wrong?
- Leetcode vs CTCI
- What's the realistic career progression for the mediocre CS grad?
- Does anyone feel like they lose algorithm skills way too quickly without practice?
- Coding Bootcamp Graduates: How long did it take you to find a job in the field after graduating?
- Need advice: Not confident in my coding skills and scared of working....
- As someone who took basic a Data structure course but have no understanding of algorithm methods, is it better to go through something like EPI or an actual algorithm textbook? I want to spend the next 3 months (1-2 hours a day) studying
- College/Self-Studying Work/Life Balance?
- Variety vs. Focus
- Have any of you left the USA for Canada due to H-1B reasons? If so, what was your experience like?
- Military Veterans: Please join Operation Code
- Not the best coder
- How do I say "I haven't used that specific framework, but I can learn it in a day" without hurting my chances (or lying)?
- Does rejection ever get easier?
- What is it like to work with Machine Learning, day-to-day?
- Need Advice: What is the best way for a new grad to ensure they are employed at graduation while investing the least amount of time?
- Recent grad - Feel like I cant program my way out of a paper bag
- I have $2000 to spend on non-degree education in the next 2.5 months. What courses, conferences, or certs would you recommend? General advice also welcome.
- How to go back to a company whose offer I rejected few months ago?
- Conflicted on Career Path
- Is there a Blog or Website you go to on the Daily?
- Stanford Online MS CS
- Product versus infrastructure career
| Big 4 Discussion - October 10, 2018 Posted: 10 Oct 2018 12:06 AM PDT Please use this thread to have discussions about the Big 4 and questions related to the Big 4, such as which one offers the best doggy benefits, or how many companies are in the Big 4 really? Posts focusing solely on Big 4 created outside of this thread will probably be removed. Abide by the rules, don't be a jerk. This thread is posted each Sunday and Wednesday at midnight PST. Previous Big 4 Discussion threads can be found here. [link] [comments]  |
| Daily Chat Thread - October 10, 2018 Posted: 10 Oct 2018 12:06 AM PDT 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]  |
| Posted: 10 Oct 2018 03:35 PM PDT I was recently contacted about a program I wrote. Someone wanted to purchase the source code and so he paid and I gave him the source code (a hobby project I made that he obviously wanted to sell to other people). After I give him the code, he asks for a refund and says I will be in a lot of trouble if I don't refund the money. Am I in the wrong here to not want to refund? I spent roughly 40 hours working on this and gave it to him for $300 if that helps at all. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 10 Oct 2018 02:34 PM PDT So I've scored a few technical phone interviews from big tech companies (like NVIDIA) but struggle with the Leetcode style programming problems under pressure. I've heard CTCI is a great resource, but I'm not sure if I should sacrifice leetcode practice time on it as of now since I'm only starting interview prep -- what do y'all think? Just leetcode for now since im just starting, or a 50:50 combination, or something else? Any ideas will be much appreciated, thanks in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| What's the realistic career progression for the mediocre CS grad? Posted: 10 Oct 2018 08:02 AM PDT What do people like me, the lame ass B students with no internships and technically unimpressive side projects even do with their lives? I haven't even entered the workforce yet but I'm really afraid of stagnating or getting left in the dust. Based on what I've seen in college, I'm convinced people like me don't even exist. I know that's obviously not true, but I'm literally the only person in CS that I know who didn't either intern for two summers or published. Everyone else in my position or worse dropped out of the major. I, a 3.3 student with zero experience, am literally the least qualified person I know in college. I'm just want to start working and get completely destroyed during code review already lol. [link] [comments]  |
| Does anyone feel like they lose algorithm skills way too quickly without practice? Posted: 10 Oct 2018 06:36 PM PDT I took a 2 month break from Leetcode to work on a personal project. Before the break I could solve most Mediums in 20-40 minutes. Today I went back to Leetcode and failed several Mediums in a row. I feel like the difference between looking like a good interview candidate and a bumbling idiot is 2-3 weeks of dedicated Leetcode practice. This cycle has already happened to me several times. I would have thought at some point these problem solving skills would stay in my long term memory, but I suppose not. I feel like my memory for this is much worse than it is in other subjects, leading to insecurity and impostor syndrome. [link] [comments]  |
| Coding Bootcamp Graduates: How long did it take you to find a job in the field after graduating? Posted: 10 Oct 2018 03:27 PM PDT How long did it take you to find a job after graduating? Did you have any coding or tech experience before the bootcamp? And if you're comfortable sharing, what was your starting salary? Also, this post isn't about coding bootcamp and it being "worth it," a waste, "just learn it online," etc. Specifically wanting answers related to job placement and career opportunities for graduates. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Need advice: Not confident in my coding skills and scared of working.... Posted: 10 Oct 2018 03:50 PM PDT I recently graduated from a top cs school several months ago. I think from the start of choosing cs as my major, my confidence has dropped significantly. I chose cs without realizing how hard it it would be and the amount of work it requires. I've struggled but still graduated with an okay gpa. I've seen so many students my age who seem to have more experience than I do and better technical skills...(I know...there will always be people who are better than you/me ) I used to feel smart but not at all anymore. I haven't found a job yet because I haven't actively searched nor applied to many. I want to find a job soon and start working but at the same time I'm terrified of working. I'm more worried about the job interview process. I've been brushing up on leetcode problems and studying algorithms+data structures but not sure if I'm really absorbing the concepts well enough. Due to my fear of embarrassing myself in job interviews and not feeling good enough for the job, I can't get myself to press the "apply" button when looking at open job positions. Another thing that has been on my mind is what i would do even if I did somehow get a job. My networking/soft skills are not great. I can hold normal short conversations but technical conversations are a bit challenging for me. I'm shy and introverted so I worry about not being able to make friends at work and eating alone. I haven't accepted myself as an "adult" yet so I'm still awkward when interacting people with who are older than me. All my life I've been pessimistic so I tend to worry way too much about things before they actually happen which has held me back too many times. I wish I wasn't like this.... (I'm really hoping that I am not depressed... I haven't talked with a psychiatrist..but I don't think so?...hmmm or am i? ) My friends have constantly told me that I just need to take that first step and apply to a job...I know I should, but I keep chickening out...yikes... Overall, I do want to find a job as a software engineer tho. I don't want to give up the time I spent studying cs. I don't hate it either. I don't love it yet, but I really want to. Just not sure how to get myself to move forward....it's been a real struggle. Thanks for reading. :) [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 10 Oct 2018 01:32 PM PDT As mentioned above, if I want to prepare ahead of time for Fall2019/Summer2020 interviews, what would be the better option for me? EPI or an actual algorithm textbook. [link] [comments]  |
| College/Self-Studying Work/Life Balance? Posted: 10 Oct 2018 07:23 PM PDT How do people manage to self-study/leetcode/read programming books while juggling college work, relationships, relaxation, and health sleep schedules? Nowadays, I prioritize getting 8 hours of sleep and working out to avoid burnout, but that leaves me with only a few hours to fit all my classes, school work, projects, etc minus the self-studying. If I don't get to relax a little throughout the day I feel anxious, stressed, and a bit disoriented with the large amount and variety of work I need to complete for the day (I keep a checklist as well). Because of this, I've been prioritizing school work and projects but find it hard to do coding problems/self studying consistently. I can always do the bare minimum on my school work to learn more direct programming content, but I'm sure learning the class content thoroughly is more important (GPA). I definitely want to avoid burning out by overworking because there's no point of giving up healthy necessities if I'm going to be coding my whole life anyway. I also go to a school where the cs curriculum is fairly weak (I'm sure most graduates aren't able to compete in the job market without extra work) so learning outside seems pretty significant if I want an internship anytime soon. Any one have tips on how to approach this? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 10 Oct 2018 03:19 PM PDT Somewhat simple question: should I spend more time really honing my skills in one language(in my situation Python) and have one or two really impressive projects, or make a lot of smaller projects that utilize a variety of languages to get a general idea of what's available and show recruiters I'm adaptable? I know this is mostly opinion, but from y'all's experience what seems to get more attention from recruiters? [link] [comments]  |
| Have any of you left the USA for Canada due to H-1B reasons? If so, what was your experience like? Posted: 10 Oct 2018 03:11 PM PDT So I think many of you may already have seen the article on The Mercury News (a San Jose newspaper): H-1B: As immigration furor roils Silicon Valley, Canada smooths way for techies So I'm curious, did any of you experience similar things as the people in the article? If so, I'd like to know a couple things: 1) What was the most difficult part about the immigration/visa process in the US? 2) Why did you choose Canada? Was the immigration process easier there? 3) How are you enjoying Canada, compared to the US, whether that's in terms of the tech scene, quality of life, salary, things to do, etc etc? [link] [comments]  |
| Military Veterans: Please join Operation Code Posted: 10 Oct 2018 09:20 AM PDT Operation Code was started to help vets and active military transition to software development jobs. It has kind of expanded to other branches of Information Technology but there are still great opportunities to volunteer, mentor or even be mentored. We have a slack channel with lots of friendly people. Whether you are just starting out in a CS Career or already established, please come to check us out. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 10 Oct 2018 10:35 AM PDT How do I tackle technical interviews when my technical skills are not the best but my soft skills are a lot better and able to answer behavioral questions pretty well? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 10 Oct 2018 04:03 PM PDT /Title I often find myself running into non-technical technical recruiters that have a simple list of technologies/buzzwords they're looking for in an applicant. A lot of these are just your average framework of the week that I've never even heard of. 99.99% of the time, these are just different shades of the same color. I've done a lot of freelance work, and when I encounter this situation with a client, I just lie and say I'm an expert on it, then spend a few hours reading through the docs, and learn as I go along. Not once have I done something like that and hit a brick wall where I couldn't actually meet the requirements. Again, it's because 99.99% of these frameworks are the same shit. But as I'm trying to get a full-time job now, I feel a lot less confident lying about stuff like this. An actual technical interview would very easily show that I just started learning this framework a few days ago. All it takes is one highly specific question to show that I don't know as much as I claim to about the framework. And while a technical interviewer would probably understand that learning the new framework is easy with the experience I have, it still shows that I flat-out lied about my knowledge with the previous interviewer/recruiter. Not a good look! And sure, I could spend the time to learn the actual framework intimately, so that I actually am an expert on it. But if I did this for every single framework I've seen in job postings, I'd never apply to enough places to be effective, and I'd probably forget my own name in the process! So what do you suggest I do? I'm also disadvantaged by the fact that all of my professional experience is as a freelancer. I've heard recruiters don't like that. [link] [comments]  |
| Does rejection ever get easier? Posted: 10 Oct 2018 06:13 PM PDT So I'm pretty terrible at interviews mainly because I freeze up during whiteboarding and system design questions. Does rejections ever get easier? After my first rejection, I felt pretty good having experienced an on-site and on my second interview I found myself more at peace and able to answer/solve questions more calmly. Unfortunately, I was rejected. Recently I just went through another on-site and this time I was more stressed out than my first and draw blanks often, this one was definitely the most embarassing one. On the flight back home I felt completely shitty and now that I'm back home, I feel even worse. There's just no consistency to how I feel when I get rejected. After a certain amount of rejections do things get easier? [link] [comments]  |
| What is it like to work with Machine Learning, day-to-day? Posted: 10 Oct 2018 01:08 PM PDT TL;DR: I want to know if an interest in the algorithms and mathematics behind ML will carry over into an enjoyment of the day-to-day work of an ML Data Scientist/Analyst. I'm early in my career, I have about 3 years of experience doing mostly web dev. I'm still tying to figure out what I like. Some restructuring is happening at my company, and my manager asked me what areas I'm most interested in working on. The company is starting to use machine learning for predictive analysis, so that's an option that's open to me. My only experience with ML of any kind is an online Udacity course I took on Deep Learning (neural nets). I found it really interesting, because I love algorithms and math (my degree was in Physics - very math heavy). My concern however is that the daily tasks will have little to do with algorithms and have more to do with pruning data. (I don't really know what that entails, but it sounds kind of boring. Maybe I'm wrong?) So my question to those in the field is: What does your daily work look like? Does it involve an understanding of the algorithms? Does it scratch that itch, so to speak? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 10 Oct 2018 07:52 PM PDT Hello Reddit: I am planned to graduate in May of 2019, but I am having trouble finding a new grad position due to the fact that I work between three-quarter and half time at my internship, and I need to continue working the amount of hours I am to pay my rent/health insurance/etc, so I am finding it hard to find time to focus on applying for jobs on top of school. The issue is that my internship formally ends the end of May, and now seeing the company direction I do not think I can get a full time offer that would not include relocation to the coast as the company wants to divest from my state. I do not want to relocate at all — I wish to stay in the northern midwest. I do have two previous internships, including my current one, which is in app sec for a large enterprise; before that I was a software developer. .NET core and framework is the software stack that I am best at, I like studying the CLR and I find it interesting, and before that I did a little web dev but frankly I don't have much web dev experience, I can do tour of hero's in Angular and that's about it. I also am pretty good at managing servers and setting up CI/CD pipelines as well. For data structures and algorithms, I think I am more knowledgeable than my peers, I have went through CTCI and I feel comfortable with the problems in the book, I'm not always the quickest at modeling the problem but I love coding and feel that I am pretty good at translating a model to code while explaining it. I have never been asked to do this in an actual interview yet though, usually I just get asked super easy questions, maybe it is because it is the Midwest. I also would probably like to use F# when solving algorithm questions in interviews because I like functional programming in languages in the ML family best, but I'm unsure if this will be an issue, would it be? This is secondary to my main question though. I am open to QA, development, product owner, or anything in security as well. What companies should I be focusing on to have the least amount of hoops in the hiring process? I have liked my internship interviews because the interview has been usually a 30-60 minute conversation that ends in "you seem pretty good, when can you start?" Also when is the best time to be applying to these companies? If I can find another company that has an interview process like this, that'd be great. My goal starting salary is between 48k and 55k. 60k-70k would be absolutely amazing though. Also health insurance would be great as well. My thought is that once I graduate and am only working 40 hours full-time, I will have time to go back to working on personal projects on the weekends like I enjoy doing in my spare time, maybe start contributing to open source more, and then worry about following up with recruiters while playing the whole interviewing game if I don't like my position. I really enjoy my job and programming is my favorite hobby, I love coming home after a day of work and spending say an additional 2-4 hours programming, so I think once I'm working full-time I'll have no issues switching jobs if I find I don't like where I am at. I also don't mind working overtime, like I said, I really love computers, I am doing this because it's my hobby. Unless reddit thinks taking the first job that comes along will have long term negative affects on my career, that is, and make finding a job harder later. Tl;dr: All the advice on this subreddit is focused on the big four, and it's hard to find what advice applies when I am going for positions in the Midwest at non-tech companies.
Thank you for reading my post, I really appreciate it! I'm just so lost when trying to decide how to spend my time when I have so much else to do. [link] [comments]  |
| Recent grad - Feel like I cant program my way out of a paper bag Posted: 10 Oct 2018 02:46 PM PDT I graduated back in may and started looking for a job after some summer plans/personal situations. I do great in all my phone screens but when I get into the technical interviews I mess up big time, I understand how to approach the problems conceptually but i'm constantly making syntax mistakes. Is this normal for a recent grad? Do I need to find a company specifically searching to train someone new or an internship level opportunity? Or do I just need to continue practicing leetcode style questions until I can nail them without spending 20 minutes googling things. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 10 Oct 2018 09:02 AM PDT Hi everybody! I'm looking for some advice on courses and other non-degree education, as seen in the title. I'm currently working as a Software Quality Engineer, looking to move into a backend or full stack SWE role within the next 8-10 months. I've written a number of internal tools with Python and Go, a little bit of C#, and some minor React maintenance. I started with CS50 about a year ago, and have since been working through a rough approximation of the teachyourselfcs curriculum, supplemented with FCC for frontend and Tim Roughgarden's algos course. I have a couple small Python and Go hobby projects on GitHub, and decent Linux admin skills. Given this background, what are the best paid education options to support my development from beginner/intermediate programmer to Big-N-worthy hire? Courses aside, do you have any other advice for progressing from here? [link] [comments]  |
| How to go back to a company whose offer I rejected few months ago? Posted: 10 Oct 2018 05:15 PM PDT So company A gave me an offer a few months ago. I joined this other company B which turns out to be an abusive sweatshop. I feel I may fit company A's team, back then and now. I had a decent time rejecting the offer. the HR was very rude from the start, giving me deadlines to accept the offer but I was able to handle it fairly well, I think. How should I approach them again, to see the offer is still valid or if they are interested in me? It looks like they are growing and have a few openings. Thanks folks. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 10 Oct 2018 01:58 PM PDT Hi everyone, I've recently been having some conflict over my career path (as I'm sure many of you have felt before). Some background: I graduated with a double major in CS and Music about 3 years ago and have been working for an audio hardware company for almost 4 years (1-ish year intern, 3 years fulltime). At first it was a dream as I was learning software, firmware, DSP and some hardware. Then, they allowed me to work remotely after I decided to move to the bay area. However, I'm now realizing I haven't learned anything/grown as an engineer (probably my fault for not realizing sooner) because:
Obviously I've been looking for new jobs for the last couple months; I seem to have no problem getting some interviews (although some companies only see the "audio" part in my resume even though I downplay it and tell me career changes are hard??). However, each interview has indicated I have very little knowledge in certain basics+not good at leetcode type problems. An example of the basics is asking me Operating Systems questions (I guess due to my "experience" in firmware). None of my friends in the field+age group who work at Big N companies can answer these questions and think they are unimportant to being an engineer… but I think there is a definite merit to knowing the answers to these questions. So I've kind of hit a roadblock; I'm not sure what to do next. I'm really frustrated with my current job and most days I just want to quit. However, I'm equally frustrated that I'm not passing my interviews from other companies as I'm horrible with the leetcode interview mentality (I've gotten feedback from these interviews that I think like an engineer but my code is really weird and full of problems and I've gotten to an onsite portion at a big N company before). Sometimes I wonder if the best path is quitting my job and go full-time with practicing leetcode questions. Or the non-preferred route... going to grad school. Luckily my company is willing to pay for classes/further education so it's not the worst situation. What would you guys suggest I do next? tl;dr - Worked at a hardware/DSP company for 3 years after graduating and not growing as a software engineer; learned bad coding practices and attempts at job interviews are going poorly. Not sure what to do next (quit job, keep interviewing, or grad school?) and looking to hear some advice from other engineers on how to grow/progress from a less than stellar situation. [link] [comments]  |
| Is there a Blog or Website you go to on the Daily? Posted: 10 Oct 2018 08:22 AM PDT As a CS college student, I'm always looking to learn and keep on top of tech news and entertainment, but also wanting to better myself and my knowledge to become a great future Software Engineer! I feel like there are many resources out there I don''t know about and places I can go often to expand my mind... Do you kind people of Reddit have any favorites? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 10 Oct 2018 02:19 PM PDT Is it "worth it" to do https://scpd.stanford.edu/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=1240861? Just thought about it since employer will reimburse up to $12K apparently. I'm self-taught, did Nand2Tetris, Stanford Computer Networking course, going to Big 4 soon. Going through Tanenbaum Distributed Systems and OSTEP soon. Should I do this or just continue self-teaching? [link] [comments]  |
| Product versus infrastructure career Posted: 10 Oct 2018 02:13 PM PDT Hi all, I'm a new college grad working at a fairly big tech company. I started a month ago, and have been working on infrastructure engineering (working with infrastructure as code). My manager recently gave me the option to switch to product development. I'm really torn. I'm new to infrastructure, but I think it's really interesting and I wouldn't mind continuing with it. My hesitation really comes from future career opportunity. Ideally, I want to move to a smaller company down the road and I'm not sure if infrastructure engineering will be as valuable. Any insights on what opportunities Infrastructure engineers have vs product development? [link] [comments]  |
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