Interview Discussion - October 29, 2018 CS Career Questions |
- Interview Discussion - October 29, 2018
- Daily Chat Thread - October 29, 2018
- I have finally done it
- Anyone else kind of hate HackerRank?
- Is anyone at Red Hat now trying to get out?
- I feel like I have no future
- LeetCode Questions Obscurity
- Advancing My Career: Another Master's?
- What are some interesting niche/not well known fields you have worked in
- Dev at Quant Hedgefund vs Quant at HFT
- How do companies determine how much to offer an Entry-Level employee?
- Stuck behind the fresh grad wall
- Blackstone vs Capital One vs JP Morgan Chase
- Are unpaid internships ever worth it?
- Salesforce SWE Internship Status
- Looking for guidance on finding internships and side projects
- Applied to a company and they sent me a pattern recognition and personality test? Thoughts?
- Does anyone have any advice or resources?
- I imagine people who left or are thinking about leaving cs career paths aren't on this sub, but I could still use some feedback
- How do you pretend that you've never seen the question before?
- Lockheed Martin IT college tech intern
- Applying to grad school but haven't gotten in yet: how can I make it clear in my applications to internships that I plan on returning to school after the internship is over?
- When switching jobs, the actual income (base + bonus + stock) or the base salary?
- Freaking out about Goldman Sachs Hackerrank test
- I'm in a tough spot; do I accept the internship offer?
- Was Computer Science your dream job? Could you make it as a Computer Scientist if you don't absolutely love it?
- AmEx vs. Deloitte
| Interview Discussion - October 29, 2018 Posted: 29 Oct 2018 12:08 AM PDT Please use this thread to have discussions about interviews, interviewing, and interview prep. Posts focusing solely on interviews created outside of this thread will probably be removed. Abide by the rules, don't be a jerk. This thread is posted each Monday and Thursday at midnight PST. Previous Interview Discussion threads can be found here. [link] [comments]  |
| Daily Chat Thread - October 29, 2018 Posted: 29 Oct 2018 12:08 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: 29 Oct 2018 08:17 AM PDT Hello all, I just wanted to say thanks. I've been following this sub for a while, about 2 years now. I've always wanted to be a swe, and after dropping out of community college, attending a boot camp, and networking, I'm at my dream job. I'm at a fintech startup making 80k in Philly, where I have a lax WFH policy and ample opportunity to learn. I love my job! I went from 35k warehouse worker to 80k full stack developer in less than a single year! Keep working hard, believe in yourself, and network! [link] [comments]  |
| Anyone else kind of hate HackerRank? Posted: 29 Oct 2018 03:25 PM PDT So I just did a hacker rank quiz for a job, and I felt like a moron. Keep in mind, I'm not a recent grad. I've been actually working in the industry for a few years now, I'm just looking to move on to another job. But this test was insane. I don't care about the problems, they weren't exceptional. But I found that some of their test cases passed, and others didn't. And there was no way to find out why the others weren't passing. They would even hide all the output, so I couldn't print any debugging statements. This is absolutely not an accurate assessment of how the software development process actually works. In reality, I would either step through the code using a debugger or use println() statements to write stuff to the console. I build actual applications, and I do a damn good job of it. This site is hardly a valid test of the actual process of building an application. [link] [comments]  |
| Is anyone at Red Hat now trying to get out? Posted: 29 Oct 2018 04:00 PM PDT I keep hearing, "RIP Red Hat." Like IBM will screw up Red Hat into oblivion, even though Red Hat will still be a standalone business unit (or perhaps this is cause for snickering). Are these claims accurate and if so, why does Red Hat agree to such a thing if it's just going to bleed employees and die now? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 29 Oct 2018 08:27 AM PDT First the background of me. I am 30 years old, live just outside Denver, Colorado. My degree is from ITT Tech in 2008 in "Software, Applications and Programming". I have skills for days in Microsoft stuff (C#, T-SQL, VB6 and .NET, soforth), autism and feel like I have no future. I hit job boards every day but feel like I'm getting nowhere. My mind has gone to some dark and uncomfortable places as of late. I love software engineering. I love just about everything about a structured "can do" environment. I love making things. I love fixing things. I love the look on people's faces when stuff goes their way. I just love it and wouldn't trade it for the world. But being unemployed so much of my adult life is taking a hard toll. Problem 1: Degree isn't worth anything. Well this should be a given. Worse, I'm still paying for it. As the school system did not close until 2016 (way past the 120-day limit), I am not eligible to have it discharged. I had a pretty great 3.74 GPA for it (Calculus I got a C+ in, that's the lowest grade I had). Problem 2: Job history looks really sketchy. To make a long story short, the last time I left a position where it was specifically my fault was 2014 (quit to take a new job offered in Colorado for way more than I was making at the time). Since then my jobs have been: Layoff (sole unit of one entire business section that wasn't making money because sales wasn't getting enough people into my pipeline), Layoff (contract firm was not renewed), Layoff (outsourcing firm lost contract), Layoff (over-hiring) and Questionably Legal Termination (told of disability, fired twenty minutes later). All of these jobs didn't last more than a year. Its extremely discouraging to feel like I've got some life momentum in a job only for it to be gone because of something I have no control over. Problem 3: No references. Let's be honest, with my work history references are in short supply. After being told I would be given references on request the people who say that just don't provide. Problem 4: I can't interview worth my life. Code interviews, technical white boarding and even just explaining the problems I've had with my history I just can't seem to do very well. I am about as tense as a rope with infinite force applied to both ends. I have put together an interviewing cheat sheet but that only covers so much. What do I do? Solution A: Stay the course. I don't want to continue like this. I feel like I'm wasting my life when I could be doing something with it. Solution B: Go back to school. With my ITT Degree meaning less than the paper it is on, I feel like I should go back to school. However, I can't really afford it and would feel really odd at 30 hanging around a bunch of teens. Are there even grants or financial aid for somebody in my position? What if I get a job while in school? On that note, if I get a job, can I really do an 80-hour week again (had a full-time job while going to ITT) and feel like I have even less for myself? Solution C: Take a course. See above for most of the issues. Solution D: Move. Can't afford it and have no idea where to go. Solution E: Networking. I have no idea where to begin. I'm a member of Denver Devs, but have been told multiple times my job history makes people uneasy. Solution F: Resume help. I dunno. You got any ideas? I've had this be my go to since it's got everything good and is presented nice. But its lengthy. Solution G: Take an unskilled labor job. Who would take me with a resume like the one I have and the lingering prospect of "he will leave the moment something good comes along." Solution H: Go on disability. I…don't know. Conclusion: I feel stuck and pressured from all sides with nowhere to go. I'm tired of dealing with recruitment firms promising the world only to stop returning my calls when I ask about those promises. I'm sick of interviewing thinking it went bombastic only to be offhandedly told they're not interested, double so if it was something they knew ahead of time like my degree status. I'm discouraged when positions are open for months that I've applied for but I won't get called. I feel hopeless. Advice? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 29 Oct 2018 01:08 PM PDT From Leet-Code grinding online and my own experience I have found that leetcode questions asked by companies come in the following forms;
I think its probably better to get a well known leetcode hard (i.e. Merge K sorted arrays, LRU Cache, Median of two arrays) than a really obscure medium. Obscurity of a problem can vary from;
TLDR; What percentage of questions at Big N companies are completely obscure and not variants of the problems in C.T.C.I, EPI & Leetcode? Do companies ever ask hard & obscure problems? [link] [comments]  |
| Advancing My Career: Another Master's? Posted: 29 Oct 2018 02:20 PM PDT Greetings! I'm not officially part of the Computer Science world but I was hoping that you all might be able to provide some insight/opinion on my ambitions towards another Master's degree, particularly in CIS. I'm a Corporate Security Director (physical); I am a Corporate Facility Security Officer (CFSO/FSO). I am the guy who manages/oversees safeguards relating to classified matters, including security clearances. I have both a DoD Top Secret as well as a DOE Q. Anyway, I am looking to enhance my current role as the FSO. The industry is changing and it appears that shift is, obviously, involving technology disciplines. I have a great deal of personal experience (hobby) with network pentesting, Linux, no programming, etc.; however, I have no certifications. I'm not specifically looking for these certs in particular. If it's even relevant I've been on research teams for the development of well-known security flaws (WiFi). I have:
Boston University offers this (fully online): http://www.bu.edu/academics/programs/computer-information-systems/ My question to you all is if this is something that you all feel that, given my position and your knowledge would be beneficial to someone in my position? I feel like it would but perhaps I'm not looking at the full picture. Obviously at the end of the day it's my choice but is it really worth it? I would appreciate any input. [link] [comments]  |
| What are some interesting niche/not well known fields you have worked in Posted: 29 Oct 2018 08:25 AM PDT There are a lot of interesting fields in CS, but it seems most attention goes to a pretty small selection of those fields (web dev, machine learning, etc...). I work in graphics driver development, which has been really interesting and challenging. I really enjoy my job and it pays great, but i never thought to seek out position in driver development. Its also an interesting field because it requires compiler developers for shader compilers. Anyone else have some hidden gem CS fields they have worked in? [link] [comments]  |
| Dev at Quant Hedgefund vs Quant at HFT Posted: 29 Oct 2018 07:14 PM PDT I'm in a pretty tough position trying to choose between two companies for an internship. I interned at big 4 (FB/G) previously and enjoyed it, but decided that I didn't really love the work I was doing in pure tech. I wanted to do more stats/math as I have a background in that, so decided to go into the financial world. I managed to get offers for a dev internship at a quant hedge-fund (DEShaw, TS) and also a top tier, though much smaller and less well known, HFT firm. The main difference though is that at the HFT I got an offer as a quant, which is definitely more what I was aiming for. The offers are pretty similar and I liked the culture of the companies similarly. Both seem to have good work-life balance (from talking to various employees) though the HFT is probably slightly more (maybe averaging 45-50 hours vs 40-45). I'm less sure I'd be able to perform at the HFT firm (as I just don't have as much experience with the work). However, if I am able to perform, I think there's a much higher ceiling for growth and a much higher total comp. I also do think I'll enjoy the work more. I think I'd be more comfortable at the quant hedge fund (in the sense that I'm confident in myself as a dev) and it is objectively more well known. However, I'd surely be making less money and I'm less sure I'll enjoy the work I'm doing. Would appreciate any advice. [link] [comments]  |
| How do companies determine how much to offer an Entry-Level employee? Posted: 29 Oct 2018 04:26 PM PDT Received two offers in the same industry with similar cost of living and they offered the same base salary. Seems like those factors come into play a lot. Maybe someone can give me a more in depth overview. [link] [comments]  |
| Stuck behind the fresh grad wall Posted: 29 Oct 2018 01:16 PM PDT I'm a recent grad from a top-2 program in my country, and am pretty astonished at how hard finding a job is. I'm located in Toronto and am mostly applying here, and have been applying for about 4 months. I'm guessing around 700 apps but that's really rough. I did an AI-specialized undergrad (taking mostly grad courses in my fourth year), so thought I could find something entry-level in data science or AI-engineering but eventually realized that wasn't happening. I started applying to software eng at medium-sized start-ups to big companies...still nothing. I'm now applying to junior positions or more generalized positions at super early stage start-ups that I'm guessing are finding it a bit harder to attract top talent...still nothing. I've had a bunch of interviews, exclusively with start-ups, and they seem to go well. I usually have good chemistry with the interviewer, and have had mixed results on technicals but have failed to make the cut even when (it seems like) I performed well. The only consistency I can find here is that they have candidates with more experience who they would rather go with. I didn't intern and I know that has to be doing some damage right now. Any advice or encouraging words here? I'm currently balancing time between Hacker Rank, a personal ML project, applications and my part-time job. I'm wondering if there are certain kinds of positions I should be targeting (my long-term plan is to be a data scientist), or whether I should do something drastic like offer to work for free/reduced-pay. [link] [comments]  |
| Blackstone vs Capital One vs JP Morgan Chase Posted: 29 Oct 2018 08:54 AM PDT Is anyone familiar with the summer SWE internships at these 3 companies and how they compare? In particular I'm curious to know how Blackstone compares with other financial companies when it comes to tech. Anything would be helpful! [link] [comments]  |
| Are unpaid internships ever worth it? Posted: 29 Oct 2018 05:59 PM PDT I have the opportunity to intern at a small startup during the school year and summer, and it is unclear to me at this point whether it is a paid position or not. If it is unpaid, I've been told I shouldn't take it. One CTO told me to never accept an unpaid internship, and that those who offered them were trying to take advantage of me. He said computer science students were in too high of demand to take unpaid work. However, I am a freshman in his fall semester. I don't I will be able to get a paid internship in software. I have almost no CS education to speak of, so I would be taking the job to learn from their existing engineering team, not the pay. I've been told it would be better to just work on portfolio projects, but I have a hard time believing whatever I am able to produce at this stage would be more beneficial than what I could learn at the startup. TL;DR: Is there any scenario in which an unpaid internship is worth it? If not, what is the minimum pay you would accept (given my lack of experience)? [link] [comments]  |
| Salesforce SWE Internship Status Posted: 29 Oct 2018 05:10 PM PDT Does anyone else see "Screen" for their application status in the Workday candidate portal? I haven't gotten any emails or calls, so should I expect anything? I applied over a month ago and the status finally changed from Review a few days ago, but still no word from Salesforce. [link] [comments]  |
| Looking for guidance on finding internships and side projects Posted: 29 Oct 2018 08:07 PM PDT Hi, I'm currently a second year CS major and to be honest looking at a lot of the posts on here are kind of freaking me out. I'm a second year but I'll probably be graduating early (next spring) but I currently I have no experience in side projects or anything of the sort, and certainly no internships yet. I was wondering if someone here could point me in the right direction? I'm graduating early out of necessity (college is way too expensive) but I'm super worried that I'll end up unemployed due to a lack of internships and experience out of college. Any sort of tips or reassurances would be highly appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| Applied to a company and they sent me a pattern recognition and personality test? Thoughts? Posted: 29 Oct 2018 04:19 PM PDT Applied to this company, they sent me an automated assessment test on www.ondemandassessment.com which consists of two tests, first one looks similar to an IQ test: pattern recognition questions and algebra ones (they tell you that you can't use a calculator for the algebra ones). And then a 50 question questionnaire on personality traits which u answer in a scale from agree to disagree, they ask stuff like "did you keep up with your classmates during school" and other questions relating to what I saw as self-image, self-confidence, self-esteem. Would take like an hour and a half to two hours to answer all of it. What are your thoughts on this kind of practice? Is it common? Would you answer it if it meant an interview? [link] [comments]  |
| Does anyone have any advice or resources? Posted: 29 Oct 2018 07:42 PM PDT Hi r/cscareerquestions subreddit. I have been really struggling with technical interviews. I have dedicated the last few months to interview prep and I am in desperate need of advice because I have started losing motivation to continue practicing. Last year when I was applying to internships I had very little success in getting interviews, but with a lot of persistence and a bit of luck, I was able to get an internship. I claim I was partly lucky because throughout that whole process I did not put any emphasis towards technical interview prep. Now that I have relevant internship experience I have had a lot more success in getting interviews. Which has encouraged me to place more emphasis on technical interview prep. I have gone through most of CTCI and am now completing leetcode questions. Now my problem is that when I encounter a completely new question during an interview I have a hard time: talking to the interviewer while coming up with a solution to a problem. Whenever I hear a new or confusing problem my mind starts to race. I begin trying to understand and solving the solution, all while trying to explain my thoughts. Oftentimes I will run into a dead end and have to retrace my steps. My mind and mouth fall completely out of sync, which results in me losing track of the original problem. By the time I understand the problem I have run out of time to come up with a solution or write actual code. This has become a recurring issue in most, if not all, of my interviews. TLDR; I am struggling to come up with solutions while articulating my thoughts and it has drained my motivation. How have some of you overcome this issue and is there any advice you can offer? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 29 Oct 2018 07:39 PM PDT Basically, i've been unemployed for a few months now after getting laid off. I was already thinking about leaving the company I was at...to do something, but the plans were vague to non-existent. and now that i'm going through the recruiting process all over again, I realize just how much I hate having to explain software I worked on. or having to write code at all. its like I didn't even realize how exhausted I was by the whole field until I had this extended time away from it. I've met loads of people with huge passion for the work they do in tech, and thats just not me any more. i don't follow latest conventions or get excited about new standards. I just don't want to be here any more, but as far as I know, I'm not qualified for anything else. My degree is a bs in cs, and all my work experience is software engineering. I don't even know what I would do instead, or what to go back to school for. I feel passionate about nothing. My hobbies aren't anything marketable (i make models and play video games), and I often feel like i'm doing them just for something waste time on and I don't really care much about them either. The other day my niece straight up broke a model I've been working on for the past two weeks, and I wasn't even annoyed. There was a time when someone even glanced at them too aggressively I got uber defensive, and now nothing. On a deeper level, I just kind of feel like this whole life thing has been greatly overrated, and i wish I could just drift away into the ether Anyone here ever felt like this for a time, and did you leave the field for something? Did you ever come back to it later? How did you go about finding your passions? [link] [comments]  |
| How do you pretend that you've never seen the question before? Posted: 29 Oct 2018 07:36 PM PDT I was asked "Highest Frequency Element In An Array" at a recent interview. I knew the O(n) solution which I solved on my own a year ago. How would you pretend to make the key observations in the interview? Should I just pause for a few seconds after giving brute force/non-best solution and then say the key observation like it just popped into my mind. Should I have just said: "Hmm here is the nlogn sorting solution, but I wonder if I can do better.... pause.... Oh, I realize that all frequencies are between [1, n] where n is the size of the array. That should make sorting less costly." During the interview I felt like doing this would cast some suspicion, so I regret not doing it. Sorry if this sounds extreme or weird, but from my experience its not worth telling the interviewer that you saw the question if you can provide the best possible solution. My successful friends just lie, but I am not really good at that and I need an internship. Can anyone with more experience conducting interviews please help me out here? I have done over 420 leetcode questions, I've seen it all. [link] [comments]  |
| Lockheed Martin IT college tech intern Posted: 28 Oct 2018 11:31 PM PDT Hello, so I got an offer from Lockheed for an internship over the summer but it says that my hours will be as required for i.e. not necessarily 40hrs per week. Has anyone here interned for Lockheed as an it intern? If so what were the hours like? Thanks. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 29 Oct 2018 07:13 PM PDT Is it reasonable to put a graduate education section with predicted dates even if I haven't been accepted anywhere? I wont hear back until late spring most likely. I don't want to keep applying to full-time jobs knowing good and well I won't be accepting them... Especially since the interview process is way longer... [link] [comments]  |
| When switching jobs, the actual income (base + bonus + stock) or the base salary? Posted: 29 Oct 2018 07:01 PM PDT I've heard from time to time that recruiters would somewhat make an offer based on your previous income. How does that really work? Do they base more on the certain factors (i.e. base salary), or base more on the other more uncertain factors (bonus + stock)? For example, let's say we are in either of the following two positions with the following income: Position 1:
Position 2:
Assuming all other conditions are the same, which one is more likely to lead to a better offer? [link] [comments]  |
| Freaking out about Goldman Sachs Hackerrank test Posted: 29 Oct 2018 06:51 PM PDT I am a mechanical engineering major who reluctantly applied for GS New analyst intern position. I have a decent background in programming but I was never heavily into DS and Algo. My background is in automating CAD work and iterative methods. Idk what to expect from the online test. Any help will be appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| I'm in a tough spot; do I accept the internship offer? Posted: 29 Oct 2018 03:03 PM PDT So I have a return internship offer to FB for next summer, I loved it and enjoyed my work/the environment. However, I've been working on a startup at school that's pretty serious now and will launch in 1-2 months, with funding and a high pre-launch valuation. We have around 10 people on it and I have a large stake. Of course, if this doesn't go well, I wouldn't have FB for the summer (decision is due in 2 wks) and my career "projectile" would be negatively impacted. I don't think they'll extend because this is a school imposed deadline. As much as I loved FB, I definitely prefer working on a product I created that I have a higher stake in, and even though the product is almost ready, I'm still wary of the risk. If I do accept the return, I have to sign the paperwork online which I believe legally forces me to work there, so if the startup were to do super well, I think I'd still have to work there - also, it's probably a bad look to go back on the offer, right? They were nothing but nice to me, so I feel super conflicted and would appreciate the community's input. If additional context is needed: If it matters, I'm currently a sophomore in my undergrad (CS/CE). My GPA is ~3.4 because I'm working full time with full courseload, but I've been told by recruiters that my side projects/work I did that led to startup was pretty impressive (I think that's how I got FB last summer). I did not apply elsewhere because I'm super busy with the classes/work so this is my only offer. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 29 Oct 2018 06:42 PM PDT I'm currently faced with the difficulty of choosing a major. I've boiled my options down to two choices (or just a double major). I'm at a divide between deciding to pursue my passion vs. something that makes money (computer science). Is it better to pursue what I love and struggle a lot financially or to pursue what makes money and not really enjoy my job/wish to do it forever? I can't see myself doing Computer Science forever. I have however coded a few things myself growing up -- so I know what coding is like. It's not bad -- it's pretty simple -- it's just not what I absolutely LOVE doing. So my question is, for those of you that currently work in a computer science related field, do you absolutely love what you do? Is computer science your passion? If money was no object, would you be doing what you're doing right now? And lastly, is it better to major in something like computer science with many job prospects and pretty damn good pay and that you don't really love doing or in something you love doing (if you can get a job) with little pay and very few job prospects? Advice appreciated. Cheers! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 29 Oct 2018 06:36 PM PDT I recently got offers from American Express and Deloitte for a summer internship in software development and business technology (respectively). I have also interviewed with Google for a SWE internship and should hear back this week regarding any potential next steps. I am interested in consulting, though I sense American Express will involve more programming than Deloitte. I am also unsure of how to navigate the waiting process with regard to Google. I have roughly a week left (after extension) for AmEx and about two for Deloitte. I would definitely take Google over either of the others. Any thoughts on either of the two companies and how to balance these current offers with the extra time required for Google to reach a decision is appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
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