Interview Discussion - January 17, 2019 CS Career Questions |
- Interview Discussion - January 17, 2019
- Daily Chat Thread - January 17, 2019
- Some figures from my summer 2019 internship search
- Bachelors in EE. Worked 5 years at Silicon Valley tech giant as embedded test engineer coding in C and Assembly. Then 2 years as SDET in medical device company coding in C#. I want out of test and to become a developer. Should I apply for entry level developer jobs to get a good understanding of CS?
- How do people manage to pick the best job for them?
- How to deal with a coworker that continually over engineers?
- In your experience, do hiring managers give preference to candidates who live close by?
- Constantly stressed by codebase and data at multiple employers. What do I do?
- What kind of questions do you get for Rails jobs?
- Career in Mainframe relevant in this day and age?
- How to Handle Multiple Job Offers?
- Wolverine Trading
- How can I be a better candidate for Embedded Positions?
- Are there any 'Seasonal' jobs for Front End Developers? Or is it all full time/contract work?
- Apply for a position using a different language?
- How to find Start-up companies with good internships (northern virginia)
- Would you refer someone from your school whom you don't know?
- Web Development vs. Mobile Development better for 2019?
- Option trader
- How far does your team go to fulfill customer requests?
- I'm organizing a training document for my team - what high level concepts should be on there?
- Leaving a job that I've grown to love
- Suddenly being asked to do support role
- Promotions/Going to other companies?
- Graduated in June with a BA in Philosophy. Don't want to be a businessman. Debt free. Considering second bachelor's in CS, and I'm looking for input on people in the industry (i.e. not current students) on the merit of taking this second degree which I can afford vs. just learning to code
- Just received a document for a job offer. It doesn't mention compensation. Is this normal
| Interview Discussion - January 17, 2019 Posted: 16 Jan 2019 11:05 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 17, 2019 Posted: 16 Jan 2019 11:06 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]  |
| Some figures from my summer 2019 internship search Posted: 17 Jan 2019 12:31 PM PST CS majors, if you're still looking for an internship next summer, I thought I'd give you some numbers from my experience. I'm too lazy to make a cool infographic like everyone else, but here are some numbers from my summer 2019 CS internship search, which I began in November:
Edit: Since I left out a lot of helpful information (oops!):
Some approximate interview numbers:
Finally, about the internship:
Edit 2: [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 17 Jan 2019 05:58 PM PST I feel like having an EE degree instead of CS and having SDET/test development related jobs has made me not fully understand CS concepts that would make me a good developer. I want to switch over but I don't think I'm good enough to apply for jobs that require 5+ years of experience (which I have but only in testing hardware and software). Should I be applying for new college grad and entry level jobs? I graduated college 8 years ago so it would be a hit to my ego but I wanna learn the basics of software development in a less pressured role and with the help of more senior engineers. And I'm pretty sure the pay would be similar for an entry level developer compared to an experienced SDET. What do you guys think? Or should I just watch some videos on YouTube to learn subjects I feel I'm weak in? I guess what I'm saying is I'm not 100% confident in my skills to switch over to an experienced developer position and rather learn as an entry level developer first. Kinda like going to the D league when joining a different NBA team with the goal of being promoted back to the NBA level while transitioning from a PF position to a PG. [link] [comments]  |
| How do people manage to pick the best job for them? Posted: 17 Jan 2019 09:09 AM PST How do people go about hopping jobs/internships for their best offer? It seems odd to ask for an extension, unless you're expecting a potential offer within a few weeks. But with my experience it takes so long for employers to get back to you. I feel like this forces you to just unconditionally accept the first offer, and just have the balls to leave as soon as a significantly better offer comes around (even if it's only been a month). Does anybody here have any experience accepting a mediocre internship (or job), having a much more competitive company giving you a superior offer, and just bailing for that one? Has an even BETTER offer come along and you've abandoned two companies within a short time span? Whats the accepted ethic on this? Just inform your employer of your new offer and apologize for the inconvenience? On one hand it sucks to have to do that to somebody, but on the other you could be making massive progress in your career/to your resume with little to no work in such a small amount of time. It would seem foolish to deny yourself that progress. Can doing this backfire at all? [link] [comments]  |
| How to deal with a coworker that continually over engineers? Posted: 17 Jan 2019 09:03 AM PST tldr; I'm working on a new project with another junior dev who has been with the company longer than I have. I'm trying to take a structured approach to this project while he is trying to hack together an overengineered and prematurely optimized solution. We've already missed requirements and had to backtrack, and it's putting me in a bad light with our lead and other devs. How can I get home to properly focus on what really matters? My process for this project was to understand the requirements, constraints, and potential dependencies and then think through our major milestones. The other junior dev, who is incredibly smart and has been with the company longer than me, started hacking code right away and made several unreadable premature optimizations right off the bat. Because he was moving so fast, we abandoned my plan and went with his. A month or two later and we figured out there was a requirement we missed and have to scrap about 40% of our work. Moreover, when I'm trying to brainstorm ideas for this new requirement, the other dev is still thinking of micro-optimizations that we wouldn't be able to consider for another month or so. Even when I try to steer the conversation back to what we should be focusing on, he'll just keep going back to brainstorming his overengineered solution. One of the senior devs overheard us talking about it and stated pretty bluntly, 'this is not worth our time, focus on finishing the prototype before doing things like this.' And at that moment I got pretty fed up with the whole thing. Should I be more assertive with this other junior dev? He's incredibly smart and I don't like the idea of telling him to stop being innovative. But we have deadlines to hit and now his mentality is affecting my performance and putting me in a bad light. [link] [comments]  |
| In your experience, do hiring managers give preference to candidates who live close by? Posted: 17 Jan 2019 12:36 PM PST I live near one major city, but I go to college near another a few hours away. I've noticed that many people I know are more successful when applying to nearby places (although I haven't had any success either way). Thoughts? [link] [comments]  |
| Constantly stressed by codebase and data at multiple employers. What do I do? Posted: 17 Jan 2019 05:34 PM PST Throw-away. Sorry for the long post. Hoping for some advice, even if that advice is "you shouldn't be a developer." TL/DR: Other people's code and data models stress me out. Am I just not cut out for development? My resume already looks job-hoppy, and I don't know where to go from here. A little background: I started my career in IT operations and support, mostly within state government. I worked my way up from help desk to field tech to network systems analyst. I did a lot of PowerShell scripting, then ad-hoc .NET development (WPF and Windows services). This is what made me want to be a developer. I had a total of 9 years in IT operations when I made the switch to an actual dev role in 2015. Fast-forward to now, and I've been in 4 different dev positions (full-stack .NET). I've learned enough to know that the code I write today will look like crap to future-me 6 months from now. But I feel like I'm at a point where writing maintainable, SOLID code is pretty natural. Each job hop was for more money or better perks. But each job also had something going on that was making me miserable, so I was also kind of fleeing. The first job was terrible due to pair programming 90% of the time in a conference room. In the three jobs following that, the codebases and data is driving me to stressed-out exhaustion. Two jobs were in private sector, one was in government. All of them mainly focused on a single product. Examples of stressors:
All the above adds up to make me really unhappy and stressed out with work. Bringing it up to my lead or manager hasn't helped in the past. They were either offended or had a "give it some time" response. Sometimes I wish I could go back to IT ops/support, but I have a family and kids, and we're now reliant on my current income. I'm afraid to continue looking for other jobs since my resume is already screaming "job hopper." Question 1 Does anyone else feel this way? Is this just how software development usually is, and I'm just not cut out for it? Or have I just gotten unlucky? Question 2 I've made a lot of open source stuff for exposure and experience. My favorite to build are things that IT pros would use. For example, I made a remote control solution similar to TeamViewer. I've tried to narrow my job search to these kinds of jobs, but they don't seem to be very abundant. Any suggestions on finding jobs that make IT-related tools? Question 3 Are there any other fields that might be good for someone with both IT support and development experience? I've considered DevOps, but it really just seems like setting up CI/CD and deploying containers. Maybe I'm missing something. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| What kind of questions do you get for Rails jobs? Posted: 17 Jan 2019 06:39 PM PST I feel like it's hard to prepare for them. Most of rails feels like copy pasting code into the framework and dealing with speed issues and memory leaks. What are some questions that are solely applicable to rails? I feel like it's almost a niched domain right now since everyone in my city veered back off to .NET, Python and JAVA EE. But the ones that still require rails often stay empty for long and pay handsomely. [link] [comments]  |
| Career in Mainframe relevant in this day and age? Posted: 17 Jan 2019 10:25 AM PST A bit of background. I'm a BSc IT graduate (majoring in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics) and I have yet to really get my career off the ground. I have some experience in Desktop Support (bad career move) and I'm currently about to complete my BSc Honours in Computing via distance learning. My majors have been Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing and Software Development just to name a few with a view on starting a career in Data Science. I've just joined a new company which is a business partner to big blue and they have recruited me to focus on being a z/OS System Admin. I'm currently undergoing training but I am a bit confused about the career path. I'm enjoying the new environment and the work but I'm scared going away from creating solutions which are relevant and could be of use. I'm from South Africa by the way and I have ambitions of working abroad so any career advice on the post will be appreciated (Related to mainframe or not) . [link] [comments]  |
| How to Handle Multiple Job Offers? Posted: 17 Jan 2019 11:28 AM PST Guys I'm just an Engineer, I'm not politically crafty. I have received 3 job offers. Two of them are places that I *really* *really* want to work. The third is an agency where the doods looked kind of depressed and had three-days stubble and I could tell that they are a bit of a "software sweat shop" as they say. What can I do here in my negotiations? I am really shy and kind of a pushover when it comes to these things. I could use some advice from people who have experience negotiating cs positions. Edit: So here's my update. I have asked the two that I really want for some time to decide. So I have a few days of leeway. I'll read through that guide again and keep you all updated. The software sweatshop has already assigned me some work even though I haven't accepted any offer from them (lol, something tells me it's not going to get done, I feel kind of bad for them.) [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 17 Jan 2019 03:47 PM PST Hello, I am fortunate enough to have an offer for trading, but can't find a lot of info on the shop. I have seen mixed reviews ranging from very good shop to somewhere to avoid, and would appreciate any additional insight. Feel free to PM me as well, thank you for the help! [link] [comments]  |
| How can I be a better candidate for Embedded Positions? Posted: 17 Jan 2019 05:20 PM PST So I started out as a full-stack java whatever, and I just really find those problems to be a bit boring. Fast forward a bit, I go back to school for Physics (complete waste of time + now in debt), but I did manage to get deeply interested in OS memory management, instruction sets, compilers etc when I had time between school years, and I might be a little bit better at math as well now. I did manage to get a Junior/Mid-Level Embedded position fairly easily after school (replied to a craigslist ad lolol) but after a year it's just not working for me and I'm exploring different options - mostly my salary is less than what I was making as a Full-Stack and they didn't adjust for inflation after a year of working, I also have no colleagues to talk to here it's very isolating. Every recruiter wants to put me into a full-stack position because I do have the most experience in it (but it was also over 5 years ago). I've talked to a few hiring managers for embedded positions, wrote up a few code challenges (longest string in a dict, packet validation fairly easy stuff), one never got back and I got a rejection from the other. I'm trying it all resume spam, cold-messaging LinkedIn people, I just get ghosts or 'we're sorry your skills suck'. Lately I've been doing LeetCode stuff to just prepare for the interviews I'll seemingly never get, but when I'm less stressed I try to work on a tiny embedded OS I'm building, I already completed the Microcorruption series, and I'm working my way through Pwnable, some hardware hacking. My best option might just be to stick at my company for more embedded experience (I have 1 year now) but I'm deeply unhappy here and really want to GTFO as well. My job also asked me to build an OpenGL thing, modern OpenGL is awesome and I'd love a low-level graphics position as well. [link] [comments]  |
| Are there any 'Seasonal' jobs for Front End Developers? Or is it all full time/contract work? Posted: 17 Jan 2019 06:56 PM PST My 'dream' work structure is to work my arse off for 6 months of the year then have the next 6 months off working charities/travelling/learning etc. I'm currently a Front end dev and trying to find what industry I could find 'seasonal' work like this wherein my contract gets renewed each year around the same time. Does such a thing exist for Front End? Or would I need to think about it differently? Muchly appreciated x [link] [comments]  |
| Apply for a position using a different language? Posted: 17 Jan 2019 04:33 PM PST Hey all, I've been employeed as a full stack web applications developer for the laat 6 years. We primarily use PHP as our backend. I was invited for a position that I'm extremely interested in, however, their backend of choice is Java. I was taught Java in school, but never applied it in a professional setting. I meet all of their requirements other than that, but that seems like a pretty massive mismatch. Would this instantly disquality me or is my experience in web enough to carry my application? Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| How to find Start-up companies with good internships (northern virginia) Posted: 17 Jan 2019 04:24 PM PST Yoooo So I live in northern virginia area and I'm an IT major at nova (transfer to GMU in spring). I have been learning java and Spring for the last 3 months and really just want to get my foot in the door so I can learn on a full-time basis I have been thinking about internships morning to night for so long now and just want to get my foot in the door, i dont have valuable projects yet but was seeing where I could go as far as internships. (feel like startups are easier idk) Ask questions if needed [link] [comments]  |
| Would you refer someone from your school whom you don't know? Posted: 17 Jan 2019 04:20 PM PST As an alumni who graduated 6 months ago, would you you refer new grads to your company? I have 3-4 polite messages in my Linkedin asking for referrals and I honestly don't know what to do?🤔 [link] [comments]  |
| Web Development vs. Mobile Development better for 2019? Posted: 17 Jan 2019 04:12 PM PST Does anyone have any thoughts on opinions on which career path is better in 2019: Web vs. Mobile Development? For instance, will being a Full-Stack Engineer make you more money than being a native iOS/Android Engineer at the SAME SWE career level? Thoughts and opinions? Thanks. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 17 Jan 2019 07:55 PM PST |
| How far does your team go to fulfill customer requests? Posted: 17 Jan 2019 07:54 PM PST I am working on a B2B product for my first job. Basically any customer request we get from another company is something we MUST (or are heavily pushed to) do if possible. Only if the change is impossible will we usually tell the customer we refuse to make the change. It is driving me crazy. There are vast swaths of code that are dedicated to specific niche features that a single customer wanted. Band-Aids are plastered everywhere for small changes. I've even seen one company ask for a change related to a change another company requested... Is it usually like this in B2B products? This is my first experience working with one and it's irritating. There are other issues with the team but this seems to be one of the root causes of all the other problems. [link] [comments]  |
| I'm organizing a training document for my team - what high level concepts should be on there? Posted: 17 Jan 2019 01:51 PM PST My company can sometimes be too relaxed and no part of this is more clear than the new hire onboarding process. Is there any general advice about things I should do to organize some semblance of a training program? [link] [comments]  |
| Leaving a job that I've grown to love Posted: 17 Jan 2019 07:20 PM PST I work at a startup where I've been bummed that I make half of what the market rate is. I've dreamt about moving somewhere else and making it big. California? Surfing in the summers and snowboarding in the winters? What not! I think I really wanted to do it. This job was not easy. I got fired from my previous job due to a hacking incident and ended up here. I had no idea what to do but was grateful to be able to buy food. Determined to not repeat the previous incident, I worked my ass off; days, nights and weekends, learning our stack and getting good at it. I still do and I got really good at this. I work with a CTO who mentored me to become a really good engineer. I now have the confidence that I may not know how to do something but will definitely figure it out. I just deployed a feature today that the team loves. Being a startup, I get to work from systems administration to the frontend and constantly push my boundaries. I have teammates who I practically consider my friends. But I've been disappointed not having been given a raise after working so hard. I get paid less than most CS graduates' starting salaries regardless of area. And I think that it's not that the founders don't want to give me the raise, I just don't think they can. So I casually applied for jobs and ended up with a job that pays 3 times what I make now. I'm technically not even qualified for this job, not my stack or domain, and I've been honest about it but they're confident that they can train me. So that brings me to now. I'm going to put in my 2 weeks soon and that makes me sad. Ignoring the salary aspect of the job, they've been really great to me. If money were no issue I would have definitely stayed with them but the new job will allow me to take care of my parents and sibling, which is really why I was desperate to make more money. The moment I told my parents about this, they were over the moon, and have already planned for things that I want them to experience. I really owe them that. I'm not even sure what I'm asking here because I know I have to take the new job. It just sucks. Thoughts? Experience? Advice? [link] [comments]  |
| Suddenly being asked to do support role Posted: 17 Jan 2019 07:16 PM PST I'm a junior SWE that's been at my current big company for a year now doing development work. I've been telling my boss that I'd like to move into a specific area of development, she agreed, but today she suddenly said that for the new release cycle, I've been chosen to do support/bug fixes/documentation/dev ops. My guess is because I'm the least experience on my team and the next release is crucial that they hit target. She also mentioned that she doesn't expect this support role to be permanent, will only last 2 quarters-ish then I'll be back into development. My teammates get to do the same development work. Honestly, I am disappointed. Is this normal...? [link] [comments]  |
| Promotions/Going to other companies? Posted: 17 Jan 2019 03:23 PM PST Would anyone be willing to share how they've been promoted/transferred in their work experience. Basically where did you start working and how much were you being paid, were you promoted and if so by how much, did you leave for another company and if so how much did they offer you. If you could also give locations that would be amazing. I feel as though I'm always hearing randoms numbers without knowing the story so I would really appreciate people sharing their experiences:) [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 17 Jan 2019 01:07 PM PST What the title says. Took a math minor, so proofs shouldn't be an issue (though I focused on continuous math, not discrete). Strong problem solving skills. Pretty decent with abstraction and "larger picture" thinking and processes. Strong writer. Strong general education. I feel like becoming a software engineer will be both more interesting and more rewarding than sales or marketing, the prospect of which I find to be depressing, just pawning other people's creations. Just looking for any and all advice and input. So much of what I find online is biased advice, and I'm having difficulty really getting good, solid information to make this decision. I think I'd enjoy automation the most, if that factors in at all. Edit: forgot to say thanks in advance for your time and replies! Edit 2: Of course I forgot the most relevant information in my post... Took two terms of Java and got A's in both with minimal effort while many of my peers struggled. Taught myself some html/javascript/css in grade school out of interest, and dabbled with some dos commands and writing batch files for getting around computer restrictions and etc. Done some Python, which just looks to be easy Java. Haven't done C, but know the difference between what C and Java does. Have always been really into computers and tech. [link] [comments]  |
| Just received a document for a job offer. It doesn't mention compensation. Is this normal Posted: 17 Jan 2019 03:18 PM PST So, I just got a semi-formal document outlining the nature of the work and my responsibilities. There's a section that mentions the terms proposed as a contractor. In these proposed terms it does not mention salary, only stock options and a revenue share plan. Is this normal? When I receive a formal document is it going to mention a salary or do they intend to pay me after the startup generates revenue? Note: The CEO is a well established individual with years of experience with startups. I have no doubt this startup will succeed. TL;DR: Received semi-formal document that mentions stock and revenue share plan. No mention of salary. Is that normal? [link] [comments]  |
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