Interview Discussion - January 07, 2019 CS Career Questions |
- Interview Discussion - January 07, 2019
- Daily Chat Thread - January 07, 2019
- If you are wondering whether you should send an email, just send the damn email.
- Incompetent coworker tries to sabotage my reputation, any advice for dealing with this
- Have you created immoral/illegal software?
- When do you accept that your job is actually too challenging for you?
- How do you schedule your day with all these meetings?!
- Should I quit my job? Junior dev looking for insight
- Loathe First Job After 3 Months. What's My Next Move?
- PhD Computer Science
- Is development not for me or is it just my job?
- Those of you with CS degrees who are not developers, what do you do?
- Do software co-ops exist?
- Abroad internships in Europe for North Americans?
- How to segue into the IT/CS Department
- GPA requirements
- Major in finance, what languages can I improve and learn to tie into that and maximize my earnings potential.
- Is it worth creating a personal site to list projects, previous work experience, a blog, etc.?
- Hireright background check process doubt
- On leave for 3 months (new baby). How can I keep from getting rusty?
- graduating in may 2019
- How to close in on USD$150/hour gross?
- How can I improve my portfolio?
- How much should 401k contribution level matter when picking between different offers?
- Machine Learning Course as undergrad CS student
- Internal Transfer - C1
| Interview Discussion - January 07, 2019 Posted: 06 Jan 2019 11:07 PM PST 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 - January 07, 2019 Posted: 06 Jan 2019 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]  |
| If you are wondering whether you should send an email, just send the damn email. Posted: 07 Jan 2019 01:22 PM PST This is kind of a rant so bear with me but I've seen way too many posts that ask: "haven't heard back. Should I send an email?" 99.5% of the time, there is only one answer: YES, send a follow-up email. No one is going to get mad at you for sending an email. I've sent many follow-up emails before in my life, and nobody has ever been mad. In fact, most of the times, they have been apologetic to me for not responding sooner. So don't be afraid to click the Send button. Seriously, why are you guys so afraid of sending a follow-up email? It's not brain surgery. Most people (especially those with final say on hiring) are juggling multiple different things: project deadlines, current employees, other candidates, etc. They are not gonna always remember every person to follow-up in a timely manner (surprise! sometimes life gets in the way). So if you are coming here to ask "should I follow-up?", then just send a follow-up email. There is very little downside. The worst you can hear is another silence, or a "thank u, next." [link] [comments]  |
| Incompetent coworker tries to sabotage my reputation, any advice for dealing with this Posted: 07 Jan 2019 05:43 PM PST So I started a new job recently around the same time as one of my coworkers. He is a level above me but doesn't actually know how to do anything. I'm surprised he got hired because our workplace requires an extensive programming interview to get hired, but I'm pretty sure he didn't have to do one. Anyways, this person is a big talker and tries to get people on his side. At first I thought he was nice, but not so much so anymore because he tries to present my ideas as his own and goes out of his way to call me out for even the smallest mistakes. Keep in mind, this entire time I've had to repeatedly explain the same things over and over to him but he's too lazy to actually learn anything. I have to explain simple programming concepts to him like object oriented programming, Git, and even how to read simple lines of code. Our senior dev even pointed out that I'm useful to him in front of our entire team but this other person is not. He also told me I'm doing very well personally. This person and I are put on tasks together (ones that can't be split up) so we have to pair program and he constantly interrupts me to talk about unrelated things or asks the same question multiple times. I think this issue should resolve itself in time once people start to realize he's incompetent, but I was wondering if anyone has advice for dealing with this? It's starting to stress me out because I'm constantly being interrupted. I noticed he also tries to schmooze with people instead of doing actual work, so I'm the only one between us actually moving the project forward. Sorry if there are grammar errors. [link] [comments]  |
| Have you created immoral/illegal software? Posted: 07 Jan 2019 04:45 AM PST As I read my credit card bill today, I noticed a charge from a service that I'd went through the (arduous) process of cancelling. This is something that has happened to people historically; however, in our modern age it can't be blamed on an issue with the mail service or never receiving a piece of paper asking to no longer pay/receive some service. When there is no chance for human error (outside of the engineer who wrote the code) in a billing issue so obvious as this, it makes me realize that at some point an engineer created code that scams customers. I'm not a lawyer. I don't know how legal/illegal it is to charge customers who have unsubscribed from your service. However, I'm assuming it's more profitable to scam people than to let them unsubscribe without a hassle (ie: emailing them or filing a dispute with your CC). Have any of you been instructed to create a program that does something like this? If you have, how did you react? If not, how would you react? [link] [comments]  |
| When do you accept that your job is actually too challenging for you? Posted: 07 Jan 2019 04:16 PM PST The general advice in this sub is that you should always push yourself and take on challenging jobs. But in my first position (been here one year), I think it honestly may be too challenging for me. I struggle daily with my tasks, even though I do ask for help. To put it bluntly, the tasks are just difficult. It takes me a long time to figure things out (whether it's a production investigation, implementation, etc). I try my best at work and put in over 40 hours, but it's starting to affect my mental health and personal life. I haven't received negative feedback from my manager at any of my performance reviews, which has really surprised me. I honestly don't think it's too long before negative feedback starts, because I'm very clearly not as productive as my teammates. What do I do in this situation? Should I ever accept that the job may just be beyond me? [link] [comments]  |
| How do you schedule your day with all these meetings?! Posted: 07 Jan 2019 04:21 PM PST I'm a senior software engineer at a major niche cloud company in the bay. I've got 6 years of direct software engineering experience. I've recently been having a difficult time, managing my time. My solution has been to code at night - this is not sustainable. I have anywhere between 4 - 6 hours of meetings per day. This is typically with teams that are requesting enhancements, new applications etc. We don't have PM's to facilitate the work so I tend to do the project gathering and the development. It's super difficult to manage this when I need uninterrupted and alone development time. I've been blocking off multiple hour chunks of my time during the week but this doesn't seem to help. How do you all manage having meetings that get scattered around your calendar when you really need to be performing development?? Let me know your this everyone! Thanks. [link] [comments]  |
| Should I quit my job? Junior dev looking for insight Posted: 07 Jan 2019 07:14 AM PST I am a "junior" developer at an IT company (not development heavy). I was hired straight out of school as a developer. I was promised a role in a newly started, well functioning development team with an ambition to grow to 20+ people over the coming years. The selling point was a bleeding edge application for both our clients and staff. Robust back-end that would interface with a multitude of systems. And a modern front-end in React. I was immediately given the sole responsibility of an old system we sold to a client many years ago, interfacing with ancient hardware. With that came planning meetings where I was supposed to have the technical knowledge, I managed - barely. The second week I was also given the task of maintaining a system built by an intern for our economy-department. Needless to say, I was thrilled... I had some smaller tasks on the new, exciting application, but time didn't allow for much. 4 months after I started, the Senior Developer responsible for the new, flashy project quit. The person I had previously gone to for help and hoped to follow in the footsteps of, had gone. He was "replaced" by a new hire, with approx. 7 years of experience, of a different language. Python vs C#.1 week after the Senior Developer quit - the new Developer had severe occupational burnout, gone for X months... Everything they had been working on fell onto me. With the old projects still ongoing. I am the only one with back-end experience on the team, and I feel left to the wolves. So much is expected of me and I have no-one to ask for help. Anxiety dreams are constant and I have no fun, ever. Not even in my personal life. Too tired all the time. As I am writing this it is becoming clearer to me that I should quit, and find a better position at a company that values and takes care of its juniors. But I don't want to let my current team down. That the grass is always greener is something I am scared of as well. If anyone has some insight I would love to hear it. Thank you in advance. [link] [comments]  |
| Loathe First Job After 3 Months. What's My Next Move? Posted: 07 Jan 2019 09:57 AM PST Hello all, Throwaway for obvious reasons. I'm a recent Computer Engineering B.S. grad and I took a job as a Software Engineer in a city that I relocated to. I've been here since October of 2018. During the interview, I was lead to believe that I would be doing majority embedded development under the guide of the two senior engineers who interviewed me, which I was excited for. I've since then been doing a whole slew of everything EXCEPT embedded work. I've done web-dev, which I'm terrible at and have never done before, a smidge of data science, a little sysadmin-esque work, etc. I brought up my concerns with my boss a few times and he kept promising that I would be moving to the project I was expecting this whole time come the new year. He promised me that in the new year, I would be tinkering around with a micro and breadboarding/prototyping circuits to serve as a communication bridge between some components in one our products. This was a relief to hear. I come in this morning and find out that I'm actually being moved to application level C++, which in my book is way better than webdev, but still not what I want to focus on. Outside of getting pseudo-bait-and-switched, I just don't jive well with the office culture. I've made friends with about half the team and really enjoy their presence (and vice-versa), but my mentor and manager don't really seem to care for me much. I basically dread coming into work every day and am questioning whether or not I even like the field, or if this has just been a sour first experience. What should I do in this position? I know the typical mantra spouted by dudes still in college here is "just quit bro xd find anuthur job" but that's not really an option for me. I accepted this job with a sign-on bonus that is to be paid back in full if I voluntarily terminate my employment, which at this point, is about a third of my savings. I also have a very long term partner who also just moved to this city to be with me so quitting seems silly. That being said, there are a lot of jobs in this city that focus more on embedded, albeit most are defense companies. TL;DR - New grad CompE B.S. Bait & switched at first software eng. job. Here since Oct. 2018. Hate work. Hate culture. Boss dislikes me. Consistently burning the candle at both ends and still way behind expectations. Have to pay back large sign-on bonus in full if I quit. Ride it out and see how long I can go before getting fired, or bite the bullet and start looking for other jobs now? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Jan 2019 06:36 PM PST Hey! I'm moving to Boston with my boyfriend, his post here , and while he's going to be working full time I'm planning on going to grad school. I'm currently searching for any good grad school in the area that offers a PhD in Computer Science. I'm open to any suggestions. My options at the moment are Boston University, UMass Boston, and Northeastern University. [link] [comments]  |
| Is development not for me or is it just my job? Posted: 07 Jan 2019 11:16 AM PST I'm not a "heads down, work" sort of person. I like interacting with people, being creative, am extroverted by nature, and enjoy variety in my day. I'm having a really, really hard time at work. There are days where I don't talk to anyone all day except for at lunch. Everyone has their own work to do - we grind out tickets and ask for help if we need it, and get our stuff reviewed if we need to. I don't have WFH opportunities so I'm stuck coming to this office day in day out, putting my head down, and churning out code like a monkey. The company itself is fine. It's relatively chill. I like to code. I used to do it for fun. Not anymore. I'm coming up on 8 months in to my first post-uni job and it's driving me insane. The thing is that this place is chill enough and my coworkers are cool enough that it makes me think that as far as dev jobs go, I've got it pretty good, and that I won't find something better elsewhere. That drives me to think that maybe I'm not cut out for development as a whole. If that's the case, well, god help me because this is what I studied. Does anyone know of any tricks or something I can employ to see if it's my job that isn't a good fit, or if it's development? EDIT: Thought I'd add that I try to find ways to put gaps in my day so I'm not staring blankly at the screen for 8 hours. I'll go to the washroom without actually having to go, or compulsively fill my water or something. Anything to space out the day and give me something other than code to do. [link] [comments]  |
| Those of you with CS degrees who are not developers, what do you do? Posted: 07 Jan 2019 11:33 AM PST PrefaceI am currently a "Network Engineer" and hate my life and job. I dread waking up every day to go to work. I have a degree in CS at the very least, and want to know what options I have to get out of this field while I am still somewhat recently out of school. There's tons of backstory about how I put in loads of work in high school, decided to coast in college, can't make decisions, ended up settling and stopping my job search, but I guess none of that really matters for the purpose of answering this question.
Current SituationThe facts that I can't change are that I am now 22 and a half, I work at a large networking company with the title of "Network Engineer". I graduated last May from a top 20 public school with a 3.4 GPA, a BS in "Information Science" and a BA (yes, a BA) in Computer Science. I liked the idea of this job, I had a girlfriend in the same state, the salary was solid (60k in a medium/low COL state), and it was a big-name company that I thought working for would be good for my career regardless of the role. I hoped I would do more consulting-style work but ended up getting stuck with the role of "Customer Support Engineer". However, I don't even do specialized customer support. Through some unfortunate luck, naivety, and lack of drive, I ended up on quite possibly the shittiest team at the company. Regardless of the numerous reasons why it sucks so much, the number one factor to my dread is that the work is plain monotonous, and not even remotely challenging. All I know for certain is that I don't want to be doing this for the rest of my life. While there is potential for good money in this field, I have no passion for it. I'd rather make less money doing something that actually makes me want to wake up in the morning. The problem with finding what to do, though, is that every job description I read is enamoring. Everything sounds interesting to me. That's why I wanted to major in something tech-related - because it's all so intriguing. At the end of the day, though, I was always so interested learning little bits about everything, that I never became specialized in one specific thing. What I do think I would enjoy is a role that utilizes a jack of all trades. I have small amounts of skill in a ton of different areas, but no deep skill in any one specific area. I love presenting cool ideas to people. I like working on small projects and proof-of-concepts.
Ideas:Here are some of my current ideas for what I could transition to while I still have time. I am sure there are some things I am not thinking about, or some more unique and not often mentioned roles that I am unaware of (like a "Customer Success Manager") Business AnalystBusiness ConsultantTech SalesWhat Else?What are some jobs that I am missing that someone with a CS degree would be qualified for? I'd love to be able to travel for work, be outdoors more, interact with business professionals rather than customers if I could pick.
ConcernsI struggle a lot with deciding what I want to do and going for it. I read how there are software developers who end up hating the projects or teams they end up on, get overworked, etc. Or consultants who end up on terrible projects with terrible hours. I know some business analysts who enjoy their work and some who do nothing all day. I'm sure there are network engineers who love their jobs, but I am not one. How can I cope with the fear of changing careers but hating it? I just feel like it is lost time if I put in hours of work studying case questions to become a business consultant and then I either fail or get the role but hate it. I don't know how to cope with those concerns. Another concern is that since I am a somewhat recent graduate, is it still worth it to apply for "new graduate" programs (most of these that I see now specify graduating in 2019, not 2018). As well, with any jobs I apply to, is it even worth including my current job on my resume? I'm sure it might speak something that I at least got hired, but I have absolutely nothing to show for what I've done in 6 months here. (Certification/training program for 3 months, then absolutely nothing on my team for 3 months). I don't think I have gained a single experience here that I could mention in an interview setting. All in all, I would tremendously appreciate any input with regard to what types of jobs a CS degree is good for, especially unconvential ones. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Jan 2019 01:23 PM PST Has anyone ever worked for or even heard of a software co-op? I know that in general co-ops aren't as prominent as corporations, but I've been doing some research into them and they seem virtually non-existent for software orgs, even more so than with other kinds of companies. Is there a known or otherwise obvious reason for this? Edit - in case people are wondering/confused when I say co-ops, I'm talking about democratically/worker owned cooperatives. [link] [comments]  |
| Abroad internships in Europe for North Americans? Posted: 07 Jan 2019 10:58 AM PST For context, I am currently doing my 1st year of school and I am approaching my 1st summer and wish to find an internship in Europe. I'm a Canadian and I have worked before as a Full Stack App Developer for my local university but I wish to go to abroad and think it be nice to go to Europe as I have proficiency in French, English and German. Any Americans or Canadians who have experience with finding and working in Europe for internships? This is specifically for people who are did the internships outside of school (you found the internship yourself and applied for it). I have a few questions. Are internships in Europe paid? How was the process, Visa and housing like? [link] [comments]  |
| How to segue into the IT/CS Department Posted: 07 Jan 2019 04:43 PM PST Hey guys I work at a small firm that does automation and technical work for cinemas. My job title is more so related to that of a technician and NOC operator as we have a particularly small staff, so I typically bounce around and do quite a wide variety of tasks. My issue here is I have a profound interest into programming and computer science, mostly originating from being a full-time university student, so I've always wanted to be more part of the automation programming that our IT/CS Department is in charge of. Sadly last time I brought this up to the guy in charge of the department about a year and a half ago he told me they were looking for someone with an actual computer science degree (I'm still at university) and that was that. The catch here is that development in regards to automation programming is always slow, it's a bunch of PHP scripting currently which I've had prior experience with, however I'm unsure how to showcase my skills in that regard without having some sort of introduction on what they're trying to accomplish. They've been looking for another guy to assist in the scripts for roughly two years now because the last guy was very messy with his code. Do you guys have any ideas on how I could maybe attract some attention, I don't think directly asking about it again without something to show would change a whole lot. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Jan 2019 07:58 PM PST Does anyone else feel kind of pissed about GPA requirements? I think a lot of people who have low GPAs have it from overloading and challenging themselves. I'm always afraid of taking difficult courses because of the potential effect on my GPA. Am I just being whiny? I don't want to be lazy at school, which will set me up for failure in the workforce. I also don't want to do terribly and disqualify myself from some awesome companies. I understand high GPA's are good, and companies do not have endless resources to consider everyone [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Jan 2019 07:53 PM PST Hi, junior finance major with very limited background in cs through High school classes. Familiar with python, java, C++, html but want to learn languages and develop skills that could maximize my qualities as a candidate. I know R and VBA are obvious certifications to seek out but if anyone has better advice, I'd greatly appreciate it. It's not just for earnings potential, I've also always been interested in comp sci but was strongarmed into finance out of high school. Thanks for any help! [link] [comments]  |
| Is it worth creating a personal site to list projects, previous work experience, a blog, etc.? Posted: 07 Jan 2019 04:06 PM PST I've read that it can be beneficial to have a personal site to host your resume, talk about projects, and even a little personal blog too, is it really worth it? If it is, should I code everything from the ground up, or use something like Wordpress? [link] [comments]  |
| Hireright background check process doubt Posted: 07 Jan 2019 07:38 PM PST How to 3rd party agents like HireRight do background check? Do they directly contact your previous employers or they contact them on the contact details you provide? [link] [comments]  |
| On leave for 3 months (new baby). How can I keep from getting rusty? Posted: 07 Jan 2019 01:24 PM PST I am currently 3 weeks into a 12 week paternity leave. Great benefit, but I'm concerned that I'm going to get really rusty/forget a lot of stuff, and have a real hard time when I get back to work in March. Looking for any tips to help minimize this while not neglecting my newborn. Thank you. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Jan 2019 01:20 PM PST So I realized I missed the wave of hiring spree during Fall semester for a lot of companies, and I am trying to figure out what other companies are left besides the well known companies, ex) goog, fb, msft. I am looking for companies like Expedia, Tableau, Dropbox... Do you guys have any other companies that still have University grad opening? I see most of the companies have a generic software engineering position that requires 2+ years of experience. Is it worth applying for such role? I have a combined 1 yr experience as an intern. [link] [comments]  |
| How to close in on USD$150/hour gross? Posted: 07 Jan 2019 07:18 PM PST This is a cards-on-the table post, coming from a junior dev to those more senior who have the patience to set me straight. And to be clear, I intend to ask no one about their own salary -- let's assume any stories you may have are about a friend. I am an American, Midwestern, suburban, (college-kicked-out), male in his mid-20s. Less than 2 years ago, I switched careers entirely, from customer service (see "college-kicked-out") to development/software via "fullstack bootcamp". Yes, the notorious bootcamp -- front-end focused, practical-oriented, "what's an algorithm" bootcamp. I now make north of $100k, and have a standing contract-to-hire offer of $130k (roughly $110k on hire, plus all the bells and whistles). I'm well aware that this is generally regarded as insane money given my inexperience, location, and role. I'd chalk it up to having pushed myself hard to learn some key technical skills, but in all honesty, I think much of it has to do with interviewing well, since there are many developers who have much more experience and raw talent. But I am motivated to do what I can to provide for my family's medical costs and eliminate some outstanding family debts. In pursuit of this goal, my aim is to attain $75/hour within 2 years, and attempt a leap into corp-to-corp sometime after that, aiming at $150/hour in 5 to 7 years. (Total exp. 7-9 years at that point) I have anecdotally heard of such a thing being possible, but only very removed from the people in question. Has anyone here, even if they will reply only by PM, attained this sort of income, or known someone who has? If so, what is the tech or specific sort of experience that they are bringing to the table? More than specific technologies or paths, what I am hoping to get out of this -- and what any readers can get out of this, as well -- would be a sense for what it is that these people are doing to both create and demonstrate real value to their employers/clients, such that they then are paid at this truly rare rate. The only two points I would make are 1. Yes, I know $150 corp-to-corp is not remotely $150 FTE, and 2. Management sort of roles seem like the more common way to reach this, but appeal to me less at this stage of my career - though it's possible I could be convinced otherwise sometime in the future. Thank you for taking the time to reply, even if it's a corrective reply -- that is good and informative, too! I have also checked the Salary Sharing Threads and whatnot from the sidebar. [link] [comments]  |
| How can I improve my portfolio? Posted: 07 Jan 2019 09:22 AM PST I am a Sys Admin, and I am looking to transition to a role as a Developer. I have internship experience as a Developer, but that is it. Currently my Github has a few games I've done (Minesweeper, Checkers) and some misc bash and python scripts. As it stands right now, I think my portfolio demonstrates that I can can code, but it doesn't offer anything in the way of showing what value I can bring to a company. One thing I haven't done yet which I intend to do is to get involved with some open source projects and start contributing. I think that would help demonstrate the ability to work on projects collaboratively. In addition to what I mentioned, is there anything I could potentially add to my portfolio in the way of code samples or small projects that might help me stand out more? [link] [comments]  |
| How much should 401k contribution level matter when picking between different offers? Posted: 07 Jan 2019 01:08 PM PST I have two offers on the table at the moment, one to a (relatively) smaller company with 150 people, and another to a Fortune 500 with over 5000. My preference is to work for the Fortune 500, I feel there is more diversity in the amount of projects available to work on and I prefer the area the workplace is in. The salary and most of the benefits are largely the same other than the 401k contribution amount. The smaller company offers 100% match up to 5%, and they tack on an extra 10% of salary afterward, so the total 401k contribution is 15% for your 5%. The larger company has a lower contribution, it ends up being a 5% match if you put in 7% of your salary. How much importance would you put on the extra 10%? I'm thinking I'll still work for the Fortune 500 despite having slightly lower overall compensation but I'm interested in hearing your thoughts. [link] [comments]  |
| Machine Learning Course as undergrad CS student Posted: 07 Jan 2019 06:53 PM PST Hello all :) I would like to begin by saying that I'm not very sure if this is even the right place to post this so I apologize in advance if it's not. I will be taking a graduate level Machine Learning course this coming up semester. I am wanting to do really well in this course because in the future I'd like to go to graduate school. I have taken linear algebra, Combinatorics, discrete mathematics, engineering statistics etc. as I know some of these course are a must before taking any AI/Machine Learning course. I have talked to the professor who will be teaching this course and he said that this course requires no previous knowledge of AI or Machine Learning. Do you guys have any resources/YouTube channels etc. that would help me this coming up semester? Thank you all in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Jan 2019 02:56 PM PST Hello, I was wondering what a typical internal transfer looks like at companies. For what it's worth, I have been at the company for little over a year now. 1) I am aware that interviews are performed before I can find new teams. How does the internal transfer interviews compare with the initial interviews that people usually go through? For example, is it normal to go through the entirety of technical interviews all over again? 2) If anyone can share what the process looks like at Capital One specifically that will be greatly appreciated. This would be from a software engineer position to another software engineer position. If it matters, I am not a TDP. [link] [comments]  |
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