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    Home Unlabelled DEAR PROFESSIONAL COMPUTER TOUCHERS -- FRIDAY RANT THREAD FOR November 02, 2018 CS Career Questions

    DEAR PROFESSIONAL COMPUTER TOUCHERS -- FRIDAY RANT THREAD FOR November 02, 2018 CS Career Questions

    November 02, 2018

    DEAR PROFESSIONAL COMPUTER TOUCHERS -- FRIDAY RANT THREAD FOR November 02, 2018 CS Career Questions

    DEAR PROFESSIONAL COMPUTER TOUCHERS -- FRIDAY RANT THREAD FOR November 02, 2018

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 12:07 AM PDT

    AND NOW FOR SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT.

    THE BUILDS I LOVE, THE SCRIPTS I DROP, TO BE PART OF, THE APP, CAN'T STOP

    THIS IS THE RANT THREAD. IT IS FOR RANTS.

    CAPS LOCK ON, DOWNVOTES OFF, FEEL FREE TO BREAK RULE 2 IF SOMEONE LIKES SOMETHING THAT YOU DON'T BUT IF YOU POST SOME RACIST/HOMOPHOBIC/SEXIST BULLSHIT IT'LL BE GONE FASTER THAN A NEW MESSAGING APP AT GOOGLE.

    (RANTING BEGINS AT MIDNIGHT EVERY FRIDAY, BEST COAST TIME. PREVIOUS FRIDAY RANT THREADS CAN BE FOUND HERE.)

    submitted by /u/AutoModerator
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    Daily Chat Thread - November 02, 2018

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 12:07 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.

    submitted by /u/AutoModerator
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    Hate your job? Here's how to quit with nothing lined up, from my experience.

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 07:15 AM PDT

    This gets asked every now and then and I think it'd be good to have a summary of advice that pops up when someone searches for it. This is specific to our industry, so if you're not in tech, this may not apply to you!

    So first and foremost: do not quit your job unless you have reached the absolute breaking point! I reached this point when my manager put me in a surprise meeting with HR and handed me a warning for something asinine like I was a child caught in the hall without a hall pass. I already hated my job and this was way more than I could handle without my mental health further deteriorating.

    That being said, if the economy is not good, under no circumstance, bar illegal or severely unethical practices, should you quit your job. I would not have put in notice if I didn't know I could get a job within a few months. If we were in recession, I'd have just bent over and taken it. Its easier to get a job when you have a job.

    So, with that out of the way, here are my tips based off my experience:

    1. Ensure you have at least 2 - 3 months of expenses covered. Ideally you want at least 6 months. This does not include any money you have in a retirement savings account, and ideally no investments or bonds. Of course these should be liquidated in an emergency, but that should not happen if you have enough saved up to begin with. If you have a lot of money saved up, I would take the advice below on a less urgent timescale, to reduce the chances of burnout, or ending up in another crappy company.

    2. The moment you give notice, you're basically unemployed. Your income is limited. So act like it. Cut out all non-necessary expenditures.

    3. You're allowed to give more than two weeks notice (though be aware they can kick you out anytime after you give notice). As much as I wanted to leave, I wanted to have a job while applying to jobs, because it's easier. I also wanted to have a bit more financial security. So I gave a month's notice. I figured that'd be enough time to find a job, and if not, at least I have an extra month of finances. You're also allowed to quit on the spot and leave immediately. (In an at-will employment region!) Just make sure you're financially prepared for that. Know that you will have a somewhat tougher job hunt.

    4. Apply to jobs like its your job. I applied to ~50 jobs in the span of two days. My metrics we're: Above a 3 on Glassdoor, and, I had at least a passing resemblance of qualification for the role (and in NYC/NJ, where I'm based). If you don't live in a hub, be prepared to move, or lower your standards immensely. And if you don't have a wealth of money saved up, you cannot be picky. I took the first offer that came, which luckily was at a great place.

    5. If you still have your job, do not mention you already gave notice! This should be obvious, but do not tell anyone you already put in notice. That's a "later" problem. If your job ends and you're still in the process with others, tell them. At least you'll have your foot in the door already.

    6. Study like crazy. You can't really afford to fail interviews. You will! But try to reduce that chance. I didn't grind leetcode but I studied every gotcha in the book for Java and JavaScript, and knocked down all the fundamentals for any frameworks listed under "Advanced" on my resume. Essentially, I could answer most questions about any language or framework I claimed to know well, and trust me, it paid off. If you're aiming for places with more Google-like interview processes, sorry but you'll need to grind leetcode and brush up on CS101 concepts. That's just a fact. There are plenty of places that won't ask you about data structures and algorithms, or give you 'fun' riddles to solve. There are plenty that will. Also, when entering a technical or behavioral interview, make sure you study enough to at least understand everything they've put on the job listing. For example, you may not know what R is, and no, you don't need to become an expert overnight, but you should have an idea of its purpose. Companies understand candidates don't know everything, and you shouldn't pretend to, but it's better to at least say "Never used it, but I know it's for this" than "I have no clue what that is".

    7. What are they gonna do, fire you? Your full-time job is on the backburner if you still have it. Schedule those interviews during the day. Disappear for "doctor appointments" or "long lunches". You'll need your laptop and I hope you know how to enable mobile hotspot on your phone. Know the quiet rooms in your office and book them. Obviously don't completely disregard your work, unless you hate your teammates as well, then, go ahead. On my busiest days I did 1 hour of actual work, and 7 hours of interviews and phone screens, with a 15-30 min break between each. When I had an onsite, I just used my time-off. If you don't have time-off, then sadly you will need to use sick days or unpaid time-off. If you're unemployed already you'll have even more time to handle interviews. Ideally from 9pm - 6pm every weekday should have at least one interview or phone screen scheduled.

    8. Managing take-homes. Take-homes have become more common. Unfortunately it seems some companies do not realize candidates applied to more than one job. Some take-homes take an hour, others could take 12+ hours. Inform companies that you need more time if they give a deadline you can't do. If you're drowning in take-homes (I was!), take a break in applying, and schedule interviews further apart, so you have time to complete them. You aren't in a position to reject take-homes, so you'll need to find some system that works for you to handle them. If you're feeling ballsy, ask if theres an alternative to a take-home, like a round of code-pairing.

    9. Take breathers. This sounds counter-productive, but you will burn out if you don't give yourself time to relax. I nearly burned out after having back-to-back interviews and doing a take home that took three days of spare time. You need to have energy to do interviews, so burning out needs to be avoided. I also took breaks from applying, as I was already getting enough hits in my email.

    10. [EDIT!] Big tip: If you quit your job for what could be construed as constructive dismissal, or due to some form of discrimination, you can be entitled to unemployment. Just because you quit does not automatically mean you're disqualified. Look into your region's policies on applying for unemployment.

    Aside from those, I was applying to Frontend, Full-Stack, Backend, and General Software Engineer positions. Of the applications I sent, I got a phone screen from about ~40%. This would probably have been higher if I had been at my current job for longer than 6 months. It also may be higher or lower depending on your current/most current role. I secured a job in two weeks, which honestly, is shockingly fast. I would expect closer to 4-8 weeks. But you should expect to be unemployed for at least 3 months even if, realistically, you should be able to find a job in about a month.

    In the end, I would say that doing this was ultra-stressful for me. But it was also relieving because I could finally leave my hell of a job. I really stress that you should not quit your job unless you are absolutely at wits end. You > Others, but more importantly: You not in poverty > You in your hell hole job.

    That's all. If anyone else has done this, please add on to it! What was your experience like? How did it go? What else would you tell people who are thinking of leaving without another job lined up?

    submitted by /u/Nuplex
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    ML Engineer Offers from Pornhub and Xvideos. Which one should I choose?

    Posted: 01 Nov 2018 10:16 PM PDT

    Same position, similar salary.

    submitted by /u/opticalduke
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    Do Community College CS professors make over 130K per year?

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 06:44 PM PDT

    Hello, I found this website: https://transparentcalifornia.com/ and out of curiosity google my CS professor. It shows he makes around 120K in pay and over 30K in benefits (which I'm assuming is health insurance and other stuff).

    Is this true? I googled some other professors and some of them range from 90K-140K, which seems way too much for a community college professor. I'm fine with it, I'm just curious if it's true or not.

    I asked google but the results were indecisive (some said the error is around 2%, others said it's hugely exaggerated)

    thanks!

    edit: Note to mods, this isn't a salary thread! I'm NOT asking for salary of users!i want to know if anyone has experience with this site or knows if it's accurate

    submitted by /u/r4rthrowaway0780
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    What makes Airbnb better for engineers than Expedia, or other hotel/room booking company?

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 12:33 PM PDT

    I want to know what Airbnb is doing for their engineers, or what are they working on, that makes their company much better and more selective as a result. I mean, Expedia is almost doing the same thing, right? They have their own website to help customers book hotels, and they have more experience with the hotel market than Airbnb which has only recently started to expand outwards from booking private homes.

    submitted by /u/ccricers
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    Choosing between a job you love and a job that pays well

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 06:23 PM PDT

    Hey guys.

    So I'm choosing between offers right now as a new grad.

    One is from an small ecommerce company with a great culture that I will 99% not strike it rich at, but I'd definitely be happy there. Only downside is I'd be in NY, away from most of my friends who are in the SF Bay Area.

    My other offers are from medium to high tier companies that pay 20-30% better, have upward mobility, etc, and in the Bay Area.

    I'm not sure if I should prioritize being happy in my 20's, or prioritizing job mobility and preparing for the recession right now. Anyone had to make a similar choice before? How did it turn out? Is it worth slaving away at a company you don't like? Would choosing a smaller company change my future job opportunities in case I ever wanted to switch jobs?

    Thanks :)

    submitted by /u/w-a-v-e-y
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    Senior Developer discredited my work, uses it anyway as his own

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 01:40 PM PDT

    I'm currently working as a Full Stack Developer for a startup, with a development team of about 15 individuals. I'm still fairly junior, and the person I have an issue with is considered "senior". I've never had any issues with my team until today...

    Our team is split into two smaller teams, one working on project A, while the other focuses on debugging a project B. Yesterday my team finished up development on project A, and therefore were assigned with helping project B, who have been stuck for over a week on an issue, roadblocking them.

    In a few hours, I manage to find the issue and implement a fix. I notified Team B of the fix immediately, told our manager we had it solved, and left for lunch (there were people waiting, so I left before opening a pull request with the fix). I figured Team B would test the fix on their own anyway.

    When I get back from lunch, I found that the Team Lead of project B has resolved the issue. No problem, except that he leaves a message in Slack stating that my fix was in fact only a "minor fix", and that there were other major issues he needed to resolve to get the project working. I get why he did it-- hes been working on the issue for over a week and wasn't able to resolve it.

    Upon checking the commit logs, he directly applied my fix (and did it incorrectly-- it technically works but the way it was done is considered bad practice), and made some syntax changes, but nothing that would resolve any "major issues".

    I feel like I've been discredited, because not only did he say that myself and my team did NOT come up with a full solution, but he took the solution and implemented it himself, and I have the commit logs to prove it. Needless to say.. I feel pretty cheated.

    I'm wondering if you guys think this is worth taking to my manager, or should I let it slide in hopes that it wont happen again?

    submitted by /u/newbiemaster420
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    Has anyone every been at a company that is doing extremely well but salary and position was so-so?

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 06:41 AM PDT

    I'm at a company that is doing extremely well for the industry I am in. The outlook is great for the company, but my salary is sub par and 50% of my job tasks are slowly turning into a help desk/technician role. I do tackle interesting machine learning and web dev projects with the other 50%, however and am constantly learning new things.

    Company culture is great, and hours are reasonable. it's exciting to see what the company will make of itself.

    Should I jump ship for a higher paying role with more focus on harder tech or stay?

    submitted by /u/lc929
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    How to facilitate a bidding war (without looking like a dick)?

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 06:26 PM PDT

    Hi,

    I am a young student nearing the end of university/college, and I have been fortunate enough to have a couple offers that I am interested in taking.

    Company A was a place I interned at. Smaller company personnel-wise and brand-wise, but fairly valuable and definitely a steady business. I admittedly was paid pretty below market on this one when I was there, but I found the work really interesting. However, they have come back to me, and they want me to come back, but they offered to pay me "the big bucks" this time, let's say. It's about 25% higher than I am currently making at...

    Company B, where I am doing an internship right now. I am getting paid a pretty reasonable amount. Right around market value, let's say. More corporate place, it's good work wise, laid back, learn a fair amount, and I think it still has a lot of growth potential business-wise. They reached out to me today to tell me that they want me to come back; no financial terms discussed yet, but I assume I can negotiate what a deal would look like.

    For me, I haven't been struggling, but I definitely feel that I haven't made as much money as a lot of my comparable peers. I am looking to get paid, first of all. So now I have the enviable position of having two offers on the table, which is really great. How do I go about facilitating a bidding war between two companies without coming off like a dick? From knowing Company A, I know they are understanding of the view of it being "just business" and I think it's highly likely they would be willing to increase their offer a bit (they did the last time I was employed by them, by 15%). I know less about Company B, but generally people think big names are less flexible.

    Company A I have the LinkedIn of my former manager who has the offer for me, and Company B sent me an email this morning, which I haven't responded to. How do I go about this gracefully, but hoping to maximize my earnings?

    submitted by /u/wings_faith_bian
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    Which internships would you pick?

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 06:23 AM PDT

    I am not trying to brag but I'm in a very fortunate situation where I did very well in this recruiting cycle and now it's time to pick from a handful of internships. I am planning on taking a Fall semester off so I'll have spots for this Summer and next Fall. So, given this list:

    ​

    Google

    Amazon

    Uber

    Lyft

    Airbnb

    Stripe

    Bloomberg

    DropBox

    Palantir

    ​

    which two internships would you pick and why? Just trying to get more information to make sure I can make the right choice for myself.

    submitted by /u/LowWork4
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    Quantitative/software development at trading firm vs software engineering at a Silicon valley tech company?

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 09:23 AM PDT

    What are people's thoughts on quantitative/software development at a trading firm/hedge fund (e.g. Two Sigma, Jane Street, Citadel) vs software engineering at a tech company (e.g. Google, Facebook, Airbnb, Uber)?

    Specifically, what are the pros and cons in terms of:

    1. Professional development and career growth
    2. Learning opportunities
    3. Work-life balance
    4. Reputation
    submitted by /u/ShynobiPwnz
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    Jump Trading vs. IMC vs. Airbnb vs. Bloomberg

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 01:25 PM PDT

    Hi everyone! I'm currently considering a few internship options for software development, namely Jump Trading, IMC, Airbnb and Bloomberg. Jump Trading and IMC aren't as well known in tech, but they are trading firms and are offering 10k a month + housing in Chicago. How would each company compare in terms of the type of work, work environment and compensation for full time? How would each compare in terms of how they would look on my resume? I'm pretty torn on my decision, since this would also be my last internship before going on to full time. I'm personally trying to do more systems oriented work and end up in New York or possibly California.

    ​

    Thanks.

    submitted by /u/0x534f53
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    Reminder: Don't cheat on Hackerrank.

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 11:23 AM PDT

    Just had someone submit a Hackerrank test and get a 100%, but I know for certain that they cheated on the final problem. I would have definitely brought them on site if they had just missed the single problem. But it's an automatic fail if you cheat.

    Employers aren't looking for perfect candidate with the perfect answers. I don't expect you to have the most optimized solution on every single problem. I'm trying to determine how you think and how you attack problems. I'm not interested in reading someone else's solution.

    Don't cheat.

    EDIT: As to how I know they cheated: Copy/pasted the answer from a blog. Their submissions went from one line of code to perfect answer. They spent less than 3 minutes on the problem (average person to get it right has spent 20+). Their answer has the same weird capitalization/indentation as the blog. It's a complex problem and having everything match character for character in that short of timeframe is on the verge of impossible.

    submitted by /u/iMATTUi
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    Tech at Statefarm???

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 07:57 PM PDT

    How is the tech stack Statefarm? Do they new/hot technologies? How is culture/learning/growth?

    submitted by /u/ffdsav
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    Recruiter contacted me about a dream job that I probably wouldn't take. How do I respond?

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 04:42 PM PDT

    I am a support engineer at a large software company. I have been focusing on increasing my developer skills and transitioning to a developer role. I just finished a Udacity Front-End Nanodegree and polished up my portfolio/LinkedIn profile.

    A recruiter from a recruiting firm messaged me today on LinkedIn asking if I'm in the job market and interested in a front-end developer position in my area at Google. (that's all the info he gave. no job description details)

    Now I would love to get a developer job today. And I would love to work for Google. But I have stock vesting at my current company that will basically add $40,000 to my salary for each of the next 2 years, and I also have the potential to get a developer position here.

    So they are very unlikely to give me an offer that will get me to leave my current job, but I am curious about the position. How should I respond? Should I be honest about the information above and say not interested? Is there value in saying yes anyway and getting interview practice?

    submitted by /u/LISTEN_TO_THIS_SHIT
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    I'm teaching myself programming, and studying CS about 60-70 hours a week. At what point should I apply to jobs as a developer?

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 06:52 PM PDT

    I guess my concern is that I don't know which jobs to apply for, or even what I absolutely have to know before going in. I'm worried about possibly getting a job and being so far behind everyone else that I end up dragging the team down.

    What must I know before I even attempt to apply for a junior developer role? How can I know that I'll be able to do the job?

    submitted by /u/Laika_Come_Home
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    How many firings is a red flag for a company?

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 06:52 PM PDT

    I've been working in HFT for 6 months and it seems like people get fired a lot. Maybe 10% of the developers have been fired since I joined. Should I be concerned about this, from a culture perspective? It seems unhealthy.

    submitted by /u/TradingGuy456
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    How important is an internship after junior year?

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 06:15 PM PDT

    Hey guys. Currently, I am a sophomore at a top 50 CS school. After doing a research internship following freshman year, I have managed to land a position at American Express as a SWE intern for this upcoming summer. I am very thankful for this opportunity and believe it has put me in a good position for attaining a big N internship next summer if all goes well (although I could be wrong). With that said, I have always wanted to study abroad. If I were to study abroad next year in the fall of my junior year, how screwed would I be in attaining a job at a company like big G? I am conflicted because I doubt any company would offer me an internship without an onsite and I can't really complete them from Europe, but not studying abroad is something I feel like I'd regret. My parents keep telling me to just travel after I graduate before starting full time but I have no idea what to do. If I were to study abroad, I would probably take BS classes and just travel + study CS in my free time to practice for after I return. If I were to stay at my current school, I'd probably study CS and take a semester off to do a co-op since I am a semester ahead. Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance.

    submitted by /u/sahand775
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    Companies that have a good amount of remote workers?

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 03:44 PM PDT

    I know of a couple: Duckduckgo, Atlassian, Mozilla(?), Digitalocean.

    Anyone know of some other companies with a fairly robust remote employee culture?

    submitted by /u/qspec02
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    How do I change my name to be more "American"?

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 12:51 PM PDT

    Hi, I have a very Asian-sounding name, so I'm thinking of changing it based on what I read in a similar post.

    How do I go about doing this? Do I just change it on my resume and LinkedIn? Do I need to make a new Github account (my username is my name) ?

    submitted by /u/Bersque
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    MongoDB vs Bloomberg vs Capital One

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 02:45 PM PDT

    Hi Everyone,

    I'm trying to decide what to do for an internship this summer. I currently have a return offer from Bloomberg and an offer from capital one, and I just finished my final round with mongodb. I'd like the idea of trying something new but am worried about not getting a fulltime offer at bloomberg if i went somewhere else. I've also seen some people saying negative things about mongodb on here so I'm trying to decide how it compares to Bloomberg.

    Thanks!

    submitted by /u/theasocialmatzah
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    How should I know when to start applying to other jobs?

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 04:33 PM PDT

    On mobile sorry about formatting.

    I am currently a software Engineer.

    I work for a relatively well known company that has fallen on turbulent times. While nothing indicates the company will fold, it's looking like there may be layoffs in the near future.

    Now, the section of the company I'm in is currently doing well and even has a couple of open positions. I've been with the company for 2 years now but in my current position for less than 6 months (Internal transfer).

    Am I being paranoid given how well my section of business is doing or should I start applying on a semi serious basis.

    Given that I've been in my current position for less than 6 months what would I tell prospective employers?

    submitted by /u/hardkillz
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    Is programming a stressful job?

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 05:04 AM PDT

    I see some people that say they get to work from home half the time, make their own hours, and that it's great. I see others say they are stressed about potential crashes, being in a linear mindset all day, etc. - they often reference tech companies high turnover rates.

    What has your experiences been? I am considering going into web development or some other branch of programming

    submitted by /u/JustOfferingValue
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    GPA and potential salary

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 08:07 PM PDT

    Hello, I am in my junior year of school, and my gpa is slipping. I am trying in the classes but it is very disheartening when I don't get the test scores or quiz scores that I would like to see. I do spend a lot of time on a side project that I am working on, however that's because I usually work on that project for stress relief or whenever I take breaks from studying for these classes. My GPA now is around like a 3.2/3.3 and my question is, does my gpa prohibit me from getting the starting salary of someone who has a 3.7+? My big goal from when I started college was to get a job with a 90-100k starting salary and I just want to know if that is something attainable with my GPA. I want to know if there are many occurrences of people with a 3.3 or below that get a 6 figure starting salary or close to it. P.S. about me, I had a pretty nice internship this past summer, but when I applied I did show I was capable in the interviews and my gpa was pretty high ~3.8 (I applied fall sophomore year so this was my freshmen year grades)

    submitted by /u/LongjumpingReality
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    Need Advice, please help

    Posted: 02 Nov 2018 07:58 PM PDT

    Quick backstory:

    Took a break from school due my parents going thru a divorce (i currently live at home due to it being to expensive being on my own while working and going to college). Couldn't balance work and college so i decided to take a break. It's been two and half semesters since I've attended class. Im majoring in computer science and I want to have a career in that field. Due to the divorce, I have became extremely depressed with crippling anxiety. I have bald spots due to stress because my parents are constantly fighting and throwing me (23 M) in the middle of it. My two closest friends have graduated college and have degrees. Friend 1 graduated with a Bachelors in Computer Science and works in that field while friend 2 graduated with a degree in biology but also attended a Computer Science bootcamp (hack reactor) and got a job instantly in computer science after the 12 week course. Which brings me to this question.

    Question:

    Should I just attend the 12 week Computer Science bootcamp and get a job in that field? ~90% of people who attend the computer science bootcamp instantly get a job in the field after an interview during the 12th week of the program. Or should I finish school (i have about 2 years left) and get a degree? Time is of the essence due to my parents selling the house once the divorce is finalized. Please, I'm just looking for serious advice as this is a dark time in my life. Thank you

    submitted by /u/The_Belt29
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