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return0 posted:I'm doing a masters part time now while working full time as a software engineer (so it doesn't really cost me anything) and you're all freaking me out that it might actively go against me in the future! I wouldn't worry about it. You're also getting real-world job experience; people are going to be more interested in that than your degree. Plus at some places it's a pay hike. I would always recommend getting a job over staying in school for a masters, but if you have a job anyways I don't see a problem other than the impact on your free time. In my limited experience, a fresh college hire with a masters is no more or less likely to flame out than one with a bachelors. tk fucked around with this message at 17:46 on Aug 9, 2013 |
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Aug 9, 2013 17:42
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tk posted:I wouldn't worry about it. You're also getting real-world job experience; people are going to be more interested in that than your degree. Plus at some places it's a pay hike. I would always recommend getting a job over staying in school for a masters, but if you have a job anyways I don't see a problem other than the impact on your free time. Yeah I've had a job as a programmer for about 7 years, I'm more doing it for kicks and because my CS undergrad was at a no-name school.
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Aug 9, 2013 17:54
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UnfurledSails posted:I'm taking an introductory algorithms course right now , and the book we are using "Algorithm Design" by Kleinberg & Tardos. It's pretty good and teaches you the fundamentals (graph algorithms, divide and conquer, randomized, greedy, DP etc.). Kleinberg & Tardos is great. The standard text is the CLRS Algorithm Book which is also great (and very math-heavy so you don't really need a strong CS Background). Then there's also Knuth's Art of Computer Programming. I think they're all great options.
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Aug 9, 2013 18:50
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WeezerToon posted:Are there any books about computer science algorithms that any of you could recommend for someone coming into programming without any formal CS qualification? This has a pretty comprehensive list from 2 years ago. There are some free courses on iTunes and Coursera. http://samsnyder.com/2011/05/18/algorithms-and-data-structures/ https://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/cs-61b-spring-2006-data-structures/id461113613 Good Will Hrunting posted:I've been looking to learn some Python myself. Beginner things are too easy, so I came across this. Not sure if it's good but worth a look: Probably bad to recommend CLRS to learn algorithms. CLRS is a 1000+ page tome that is more a reference book than anything.
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Aug 9, 2013 18:55
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return0 posted:I'm doing a masters part time now while working full time as a software engineer (so it doesn't really cost me anything) and you're all freaking me out that it might actively go against me in the future!
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Aug 9, 2013 18:58
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Yeah, listing it would be a good filter against places that apply arbitrary, unhelpful filters to potential future colleagues I suppose.
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Aug 9, 2013 18:59
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The other thing with masters degrees is that a lot of foreigners (particularly from India and China) get a bachelors CS degree in their native country, then get a masters at a US university, before searching for a job. I'm sure this affects the impression of masters for some recruiters, for better or worse.
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Aug 9, 2013 19:08
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Strong Sauce posted:Probably bad to recommend CLRS to learn algorithms. CLRS is a 1000+ page tome that is more a reference book than anything. I guess since both of my Algos courses used it, I just default there, but you're probably right.
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Aug 9, 2013 19:52
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Any goons work / interview with EMC? That jerk from Cali never got back to me  Just got contacted by EMC about a tech support job, which normally I'd say NOPE but it's a company I genuinely like so I'm open to it.
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Aug 9, 2013 20:05
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Don't get a tech support job if you are a developer.
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Aug 9, 2013 20:07
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Cool, thanks for the tips goons! I've already thought of my first open-source project to make when I'm fluent enoughin python! I wish I'd done this at uni.
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Aug 9, 2013 20:15
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Sab669 posted:Any goons work / interview with EMC? That jerk from Cali never got back to me If the job they offered you was in the mail room, would you take it because you like the company? If you want to code, tech support is a dead end.
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Aug 9, 2013 20:23
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Che Delilas posted:If the job they offered you was in the mail room, would you take it because you like the company? Hey that segues nicely into a dilemma I have! A company I interviewed at (which went quite well) is asking me for references and I'm pretty sure there's a good chance they'll be sending me a job offer eventually. The problem is that the job seems like it will be doing some documentation and providing some support for this internally developed app they have, at least for the next few months when the one other guy doing this project (from what I gathered) finishes implementing the next version of this app. The app itself is a web app and it doesn't seem to be some horrible beast made out of Fortran or anything, it's using recent technologies and a decent framework, and the company itself seems like a really nice place to work. I'm getting kinda nervous over my job prospects, this would be my first real full time job out of school (I'm in Toronto and not looking to relocate or at the big big firms like Amazon yet) but it doesn't seem like I would learn much from it nor does it seem like it would help me get a development job in the future. Does it just seem like a bad idea to everyone? piratepilates fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Aug 9, 2013 |
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Aug 9, 2013 20:34
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Che Delilas posted:If the job they offered you was in the mail room, would you take it because you like the company? I really don't know where I want to end up  I don't know if I dislike coding, or if I just dislike where I work. I sort of thought tech support is a stepping stone to actual development with some larger companies?
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Aug 9, 2013 20:41
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Don Mega posted:Don't get a tech support job if you are a developer. Che Delilas posted:If you want to code, tech support is a dead end.
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Aug 9, 2013 20:41
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piratepilates posted:Hey that segues nicely into a dilemma I have! I would say it depends on what "providing support" means. Some companies have essentially two cadres of developers; one for new development, and one for "maintenance" development where they do bug fixes and poo poo. The question you have to ask is: Will you be working on the application's code, at all, in any capacity? If you're actually touching the code and fixing bugs, that is development that will help you move forward. If you're just answering phones, opening support tickets and talking to the programmers about issues you can't fix in the program's current state, that's tech support. And when I say you have to ask the question, I mean actually ask the people you'd be working with. Find out before you accept the offer. "Will I be writing any code for this program?" And no, altering configuration files doesn't count as writing code. Sab669 posted:I really don't know where I want to end up I'm sure that some companies have this kind of promotion path, but it's not because there's any logical connection between development and tech support. It's sort of like, have you ever had someone ask you to fix their Mac when you've used nothing but Windows for your entire life, just because "you're a computer guy, right?" Just because they're both computers doesn't mean you can do much better than fumbling around on the Mac. The bosses may think it's a valid promotion path because "it's computers" and the difference in salaries but really, you're going to be starting at the beginner's level.
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Aug 9, 2013 21:58
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Fair enough. I just kind of figured it was a, "You need to know how our poo poo works and what it does before you can work on it" sort of deal. I think I'm just considering it for 2 big reasons 1) Frankly, I'm not a good programmer. I know it, and I try to re-learn what I was sort of taught at my lovely choice of college but I'm getting seriously burnt out after 'failing' interview after interview. 2) There is absolutely 0 growth where I am, my boss just gave us all raises (First time the company has in a few years). Know what it was? An increase to the company's contribution to our IRA's. I'm already underpaid as is, and this job would be a 25% salary increase along with much better benefits. Tied in with #1.... 
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Aug 9, 2013 22:03
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Sab669 posted:Fair enough. I just kind of figured it was a, "You need to know how our poo poo works and what it does before you can work on it" sort of deal. Most people handle that with junior developers by giving them all the minor bugs to fix. It forces you to hunt and peck around the codebase, slowly learning and getting used to how things are done. Sab669 posted:2) There is absolutely 0 growth where I am, my boss just gave us all raises (First time the company has in a few years). Know what it was? An increase to the company's contribution to our IRA's. I'm already underpaid as is, and this job would be a 25% salary increase along with much better benefits. Tied in with #1.... If you don't mind my asking, where do you live? Bognar fucked around with this message at 22:07 on Aug 9, 2013 |
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Aug 9, 2013 22:05
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I'm in Providence RI, and completely open to relocation. I've interviewed in Boston with at least 10 different companies by now, mostly through staffing agencies, trying to get in touch with some companies in Buffalo NY (friends & family there), NYC and California to little luck.
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Aug 9, 2013 22:18
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I wouldn't rely on staffing agencies too much. Try to find out the companies that are hiring and send their HR a cover letter describing yourself with no resume attached. Depending on the size of the company, they may just tell you to go apply online, but it's a good, memorable way of getting your name in front of somebody. Also, check Craigslist for job postings in the cities you're looking at.
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Aug 9, 2013 22:37
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http://careers.stackoverflow.com
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Aug 9, 2013 22:37
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I know how to look for jobs, but thanks  I regular check (usually twice per week) Monster, Indeed, Craigslist, and Glassdoor. I do admittedly forget about StackOverflow's site.
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Aug 9, 2013 22:59
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Sab669 posted:I really don't know where I want to end up Maybe it's different in the USA, but where I live, a guy out of university applies directly for a developer position, perhaps at a smaller company or for a "junior" / fresh grad position, and starts being productive and learning right away. A great start is to get a student worker position while studying, then getting full time employment after your degree at the same company. It's really neat I think, as it makes the entry to the job market low, and the pay high right from the beginning. Personally I haven't heard of having dedicated "support/bugfix developers" at a company, it sounds like a crappy role. Perhaps on really huge projects where the maintenance and security bugfixing of previous versions needs to go on for years, like with Microsoft products, I can see it work, where you want the big talent moving on to new projects. Must be nice to *ever* actually pass on responsibility for some projects instead of just piling on and on.... 
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Aug 9, 2013 23:17
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At my company we have "support engineers" but as far as I can tell it's basically high end helpdesk.
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Aug 9, 2013 23:24
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Pilsner posted:Personally I haven't heard of having dedicated "support/bugfix developers" at a company, it sounds like a crappy role. Perhaps on really huge projects where the maintenance and security bugfixing of previous versions needs to go on for years, like with Microsoft products, I can see it work, where you want the big talent moving on to new projects. In my experience it's something that just sort of happens over time. I worked with a guy who wasn't competent enough to write good software, but was too good at office politics to outright fire. He was sort of railroaded into maintaining a legacy application where he couldn't do too much damage, which made everyone happy. Until he hosed up something so badly that he was shitcanned anyway.
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Aug 9, 2013 23:25
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We have the distinction between new code and support roles at my current workplace. The support role works for some coders because they've made it clear they're way more comfortable supporting and lightly extending an established product vs. trailblazing new development.
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Aug 10, 2013 14:14
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Cheif Justice Dogg posted:Hello everybody. I have some questions about pursuing a degree in computer science. It depends. The major CC where I grew up, Nassau CC, was known for having a far superior maths program than Columbia University, so maths credits from Nassau CC easily transferred to most nearby universities who knew Nassau CC well. The quality of instruction, depth of material covered, class sizes, etc. all beat Columbia, which is an Ivy League school. Its arguably a better education than Stony Brook University as well, which has a very strong Computer Science program. If you are a junior now, going into your senior HS year, try to research the quality of the CCs.
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Aug 11, 2013 14:17
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I'm about to enter my junior year of college, and it's almost that time of year to look for summer internships for 2014. I have a couple questions I was hoping you all could help with. All the resumes in the OP look like they're for people who have finished university and have a couple years' work experience. Does someone have a good example of a resume for someone who's still in school, but who has some relevant work/internship/extracurricular experience? Corollary: What's a good way to anonymize my resume so you can provide advice? What are some good places to apply for computer science internships in the Northeast US? And a more specific question: My current summer internship (with IBM) invited me to continue part-time in the fall. I've accepted, since it's good experience and the pay is much better than my on-campus tech support job. If all goes well, it's not impossible that they'll want me back in the spring, and so on. Am I pigeonholing myself if I continue to accept? I enjoyed my summer there, but people who've worked there for a while say it's not what it used to be, and some of the newer hires have told me it's currently not a good place to be for longer than a few years. Thanks!
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Aug 11, 2013 16:03
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tetracontakaidigon posted:And a more specific question: Some people think that having internships at different places is a bonus since you have more diverse experience, but multiple years interning at IBM is still a great resume booster.
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Aug 11, 2013 16:12
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tetracontakaidigon posted:
If I was looking at your resume, this would tell me that IBM took you for a test drive and liked you. That's a good thing.
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Aug 11, 2013 20:17
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tetracontakaidigon posted:I'm about to enter my junior year of college, and it's almost that time of year to look for summer internships for 2014. I have a couple questions I was hoping you all could help with. I interned with a large software company between my sophomore and junior years and then moved to a smaller company the next summer. It was the right decision in my case and I gained a better sense of what software engineering generally entails. That said, I didn't really feel that I'd connected with my first team in a professional capacity (despite getting a return offer and otherwise enjoying the experience) and you might feel totally different. In my opinion the goal of internships is to gain as much valuable real-world experience as possible, so it comes down to whether you think you'll learn more working at IBM or working somewhere else. I think either choice would look fine on a resume.
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Aug 12, 2013 05:16
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On a scale of 1 to 13 how important would you rate a person's understanding of/ability to do linear algebra with regards to getting a programming job?
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Aug 12, 2013 21:04
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Sitting Bull posted:On a scale of 1 to 13 how important would you rate a person's understanding of/ability to do linear algebra with regards to getting a programming job?
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Aug 12, 2013 21:07
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For 3D graphics I'd say 13, it really depends.
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Aug 12, 2013 21:51
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I'm just trying to follow along with the free MIT linear algebra videos on recommendation from somebody who has been 'mentoring' me, and I'm feeling incredibly mentally inadequate. I have zero desire to get a job doing 3D graphics, so maybe I won't get too bent out of shape about it. I don't even really know what kind of job I want, I just want ANY job that will pay me a decent amount, since it will be my first out of school.
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Aug 12, 2013 22:32
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Sitting Bull posted:I'm just trying to follow along with the free MIT linear algebra videos on recommendation from somebody who has been 'mentoring' me, and I'm feeling incredibly mentally inadequate. I have zero desire to get a job doing 3D graphics, so maybe I won't get too bent out of shape about it. I don't even really know what kind of job I want, I just want ANY job that will pay me a decent amount, since it will be my first out of school. I got a D in linear algebra, and it was a pity D. I haven't had to use anything I learned in linear algebra at any point in my career so far, although I did learn the word "orthogonal" which has come in handy a few times. Your mileage may vary. I wouldn't sweat it too much. I was always terrible at math, although I kind of want to take another stab at studying everything from trigonometry onward now that I'm in my 30s... I still have my old calculus textbook from college, and I somehow think I'd be better at it now than I was when I was 19. I don't think it will help my career, though.
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Aug 12, 2013 22:50
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I did two semesters of linear algebra and dropped out introduction to abstract algebra. Only time I have needed anything remotely resembling either is for hobby game programming, and even then it's only been really simple vector math for things like scaling and translation and such. If your goal is just to get a job writing code in some capacity then there are probably much more important things to learn.
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Aug 12, 2013 23:14
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It's in game/3D programming, but its not too advanced imo. Just basic transforms, and for anything you're likely to want to do in that area you can usually find a million blog posts/guides how to do it. I've been doing a lot more scientific programming at a university of late and it's in basically everything from what I have seen. Apart from that I have never used it.
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Aug 12, 2013 23:38
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Sitting Bull posted:and I'm feeling incredibly mentally inadequate. Linear algebra can be really hard. The concepts are straightforward enough, but many school treat it as the transition class into higher-level mathematics. For me, LA was the first math class where I was expected to know how to write proofs and expected to solve problems in a general sense. In calculus, your teacher would show you the "idea" behind a concept such as the disk method, but never require you to formally show why it works. It's different in LA, as you will probably required to show that a solution holds true for an entire subspace. Like Ithaqua, I managed to squeak by with a pity D by coming to the professor's office every week with homework questions. If you're going to learn it, you're going to need to dedicate some serious time; ten or so hours a week should suffice. I've found this free, online book to be extremely helpful when trying to recall material. If you can get your hands on Mathematica, that will make your life infinitely easier. I've found it pretty useful actually beyond the obvious 3d applications. It can be extremely useful for data analysis and has popped up in various forms in every AI class that I've taken. oRenj9 fucked around with this message at 01:50 on Aug 13, 2013 |
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Aug 13, 2013 01:46
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oRenj9 posted:Linear algebra can be really hard. The concepts are straightforward enough, but many school treat it as the transition class into higher-level mathematics. For me, LA was the first math class where I was expected to know how to write proofs and expected to solve problems in a general sense. In calculus, your teacher would show you the "idea" behind a concept such as the disk method, but never require you to formally show why it works. It's different in LA, as you will probably required to show that a solution holds true for an entire subspace. Linear algebra is absolutely essential to 3d graphics (projective geometry is more helpful) but virtually all well-behaved scientific and modeling problems have first order approximations that use it.
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