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kitten smoothie posted:The best part of impostor syndrome is it doesn't end when you get the job you didn't think you'd get, it only gets even worse! I had to do a programming exercise at an interview in a language I never used before, and it took me five hours. Most of it was me wondering why perfectly good code wasn't compiling and ended up with me thinking I should go back to college and try to become some kind of engineer instead. I did finish it though, and it all worked. I realized after the fact that the exercise was designed to be difficult and to resist traditional solutions. As a program, it was so badly designed that I assumed there must be some extra functionality in PHP that I didn't know about. In reality I just needed to use -> instead of . for pretty much everything. My self-confidence issues don't have to do with my grades, I was one of the best programmers at my school and I knew it all along. I just feel like my school has a very poor program. It's hard for me to figure out exactly where I am in comparison to other programmers. I would leave class having not learned a thing because I already knew everything taught that day, only to be completely stumped by the problems friends from the internet would be working on in their personal projects, who were lamenting the fact that they weren't skilled enough to handle a college degree. So I didn't think my grades were mistakes, or anything. But I still realize that my education wasn't top notch and that's something I need to make up for. I still don't know if I'll actually be able to get a job.
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Aug 21, 2013 10:25
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Just the fact that you're reading CoC to any significant extent and care about how good you actually are makes you better than 90%+ of doofuses working in this industry.
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Aug 21, 2013 13:57
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Brutor Fartknocker posted:Hey guys, I have successfully passed the first interview for a job as a C# developer at a software company. It went pretty well, and now I have a test they want me to take. If I can pass the test, then I get another interview with (I think) the department heads. I have impostor syndrome pretty bad, since I graduated back in may with most of my experience in java and have been at an internship trying to get a train wreck of a project off of github working since. I feel like I can talk the talk, but am not nearly so sure about putting it down on paper in any legitimate fashion. It varies so widely from company to company that it's impossible to say. Did they actually tell you what the content of the test would be? Also, if you're going into a job not knowing the language they work in, and they're aware of and comfortable with that, it's fine... they're expecting to teach you.
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Aug 21, 2013 14:25
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I got a message from a recruiter via stackoverflow careers saying I'd be a great fit for a web applications position at amazon. I list exactly one item in my "dislikes" section of my SO careers profile: web-applications. 
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Aug 21, 2013 16:22
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loving keywords, how do they work?
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Aug 21, 2013 16:33
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astr0man posted:I got a message from a recruiter via stackoverflow careers saying I'd be a great fit for a web applications position at amazon. I list exactly one item in my "dislikes" section of my SO careers profile: web-applications. My favorite ones are the senior positions which state a requirement of 5+ years. C'mon!
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Aug 21, 2013 16:45
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If you have a programming project that you might try to turn into something you sell how do you share that code with a place you're applying too? Obviously you won't want it on github.
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Aug 21, 2013 16:58
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Ithaqua posted:It varies so widely from company to company that it's impossible to say. Did they actually tell you what the content of the test would be? They told me what to expect, an algorithms question, a linked list question, a few SQL queries to write, some broken code I would have to fix, and something else I'm forgetting. Its an hour long timed test and no one ever finishes it. Two of my graduating classmates did internships there, then got hired upon graduating. Another classmate failed the interview and they gave him a job a month later overseeing sending out patches. The company really likes my school, so I have a pretty good shot if I can pass this test.
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Aug 21, 2013 17:17
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KidDynamite posted:If you have a programming project that you might try to turn into something you sell how do you share that code with a place you're applying too? Obviously you won't want it on github. Sneakernet?
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Aug 21, 2013 18:07
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KidDynamite posted:If you have a programming project that you might try to turn into something you sell how do you share that code with a place you're applying too? Obviously you won't want it on github. It's not the most elegant of solutions but you could just put up a dropbox shared folder. Otherwise, you could just put a placeholder in your application/resume saying "source available upon request" and send a zip/tarball/whatever when they do.
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Aug 21, 2013 18:15
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Doesn't BitBucket let you have free private repos?
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Aug 21, 2013 18:16
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KidDynamite posted:If you have a programming project that you might try to turn into something you sell how do you share that code with a place you're applying too? Obviously you won't want it on github. If you making money on this project is dependent on the source remaining closed, then you probably won't be making much money with project anyway.
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Aug 21, 2013 18:16
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Well that was quite possibly the worst interview I've ever had and everything the recruiter suggested I read up on wasn't even touched upon in the interview  Was a lot of more lower level questions than I've ever had to work with or my education ever touched on Recruiter emphasized data structures and multithreading, most of the questions were all about garbage collection, stuff about basic .NET types (mostly lots of questions about Object). Some quick questions about abstract classes versus interfaces which I did fine with, then lots of questions about Graphics objects and Drawing-related things in regards to the actual form itself. On the plus side, he went over all the answers to questions I was unable to answer so at least I learned a bit, but drat I feel like a total idiot after it. Sab669 fucked around with this message at 18:26 on Aug 21, 2013 |
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Aug 21, 2013 18:19
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Sab669 posted:Well that was quite possibly the worst interview I've ever had and everything the recruiter suggested I read up on wasn't even touched upon in the interview It sounds like they asked you a lot of bullshit trivia about hyper-specific things instead of getting a sense of your familiarity with the language and OO principles. I'm curious to know more specifically what you were asked. Feel free to PM me if you don't want to derail. New Yorp New Yorp fucked around with this message at 18:39 on Aug 21, 2013 |
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Aug 21, 2013 18:21
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DAT NIGGA HOW posted:If you making money on this project is dependent on the source remaining closed, then you probably won't be making much money with project anyway. Not sure why I'm responding to you but it's s specialized software for use in the trucking industry very targeted market. If it makes any money at all I'll be happy if not it will make my father's day to day easier but if this does end up being enterprise software I want to keep the code locked down for now.
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Aug 21, 2013 18:22
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Ithaqua posted:Such as? Didn't mean to submit my post already  Went and editted it.
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Aug 21, 2013 18:26
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Can I get a resume critique? I'm currently trying to rebuild it from the terrible template I received in the business writing course I had to take to get my diploma. I really don't know what to emphasize, as all I have done other than school/capstone are small personal projects, and some intern work at a startup. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5j9ATgWPsCeSFRBNk9iWVlCTTA/edit?usp=sharing I know its probably a long way from being usable, and I'd appreciate any comments/suggestions.
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Aug 23, 2013 00:31
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put the blurb about education near the bottom. remove the line cook and probably the sales job. expand the intern section drastically. expand the capstone project get rid of the personal project section. maybe put them up on github if thats your thing. also yeah format it better.
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Aug 23, 2013 00:36
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So people talk a lot about SF, Seattle etc. Being booming, but what about places outside of the u.s.? Surely the west coast isn't the only Shangri La for developers?
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Aug 23, 2013 00:37
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FamDav posted:put the blurb about education near the bottom. remove the line cook and probably the sales job. Thanks. Understand the others, could use an example, as I've seen lots and lots of formatting styles mentioned here, and elsewhere online.
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Aug 23, 2013 00:40
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Mr. Crow posted:So people talk a lot about SF, Seattle etc. Being booming, but what about places outside of the u.s.? Surely the west coast isn't the only Shangri La for developers?
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Aug 23, 2013 00:45
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Mr. Crow posted:So people talk a lot about SF, Seattle etc. Being booming, but what about places outside of the u.s.? Surely the west coast isn't the only Shangri La for developers?
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Aug 23, 2013 00:52
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How's the market in Toronto?
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Aug 23, 2013 00:55
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i'm personally a fan of these two resumes from the OP https://www.dropbox.com/s/0fhfx9l0kkwld6c/cicero_resume.pdf https://www.dropbox.com/s/2r6jwpoxvttdgxl/astr0man%20-%20resume.pdf
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Aug 23, 2013 01:01
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Sitting Bull posted:Can I get a resume critique? I'm currently trying to rebuild it from the terrible template I received in the business writing course I had to take to get my diploma. I really don't know what to emphasize, as all I have done other than school/capstone are small personal projects, and some intern work at a startup. This is... not great. Those personal projects are really too rinky-dink to be worth mentioning. I know if you're just starting out you don't really have anything to go by, but if I'm hiring I really don't care about toy projects like that. I think maybe pick the most complicated one or two and leave off the rest or just link to your github. What about something along these lines: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oyExIcpWcrPyU2P_c_tVM679r105HiPS1AVdo9VvyB4/edit?pli=1
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Aug 23, 2013 01:51
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Thanks! I will definitely run with that. The inclusion of the projects was just because I really didn't have anything else to fill the space with, but I see why they're not worth mentioning.
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Aug 23, 2013 02:11
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Sitting Bull posted:Thanks! I will definitely run with that. The inclusion of the projects was just because I really didn't have anything else to fill the space with, but I see why they're not worth mentioning. The toy projects aren't necessarily a bad thing, but they're the kind of thing I expect someone to have done in their first or second year of schooling. You should really pick a "big boy" project to work on in your spare time and list that. It doesn't ever have to go anywhere or amount to anything useful, it just has to be a fully-fledged software project that you can talk about in detail, especially with respect to implementation. Something that other people might actually use (if it was ever finished). I've had plenty of interviewers take a fairly keen interest in my go-nowhere side projects.
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Aug 23, 2013 02:19
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It's great that people with experience are giving feedback on people's CVs/resumes. I wasn't going to post mine (I don't mean to take any comments away from the ones people have already posted!), but I'm seeing a lot of differences and that's worrying. Because of the Word formatting, instead of a Google Doc I uploaded a screenshot here. A couple of general questions to help both me and others: 1) For keyword scraping: my resume includes a horizontal line graphic, nonstandard bullets, and tables inside of tables (I know you're not supposed to use tables for formatting and if this was HTML I'd use <div>). Would any of that throw off a typical keyword scraping algorithm? 2) How much resume-ese is expected? Good resumes seem to be primarily experienced-focused so they don't need things like "dedicated and multifaceted individual," but when you don't have that experience how do you compensate? 3) If you're not satisfied with the quality of work on a project is it better to still provide it and discuss the flaws when they arise, or omit it entirely? For example, during my internship I was one of the students who developed https://www.punchersmark.com (I'm the one with the worst picture!); knowing that the site has issues if asked about my internship do I willingly direct potential employers to it, or talk about the experience without giving anything concrete? Sitting Bull posted:Thanks! I will definitely run with that. The inclusion of the projects was just because I really didn't have anything else to fill the space with, but I see why they're not worth mentioning. Not that I'm really in a position to talk, but the biggest part on most resumes tends to be your "Work History" section. What did you do for your internship? You could expand on both your responsibilities and accomplishments, even if it's soft skills like working well in a team or adapting to a new environment or etc. Cicero's example included Advanced Electives so if you've had classes you've particularly enjoyed or thought were valuable it might be worthwhile to add those.
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Aug 23, 2013 05:04
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Diamond bullet points? Where on earth do you people find these resume templates?
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Aug 23, 2013 05:13
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CatsPajamas posted:It's great that people with experience are giving feedback on people's CVs/resumes. I wasn't going to post mine (I don't mean to take any comments away from the ones people have already posted!), but I'm seeing a lot of differences and that's worrying. Because of the Word formatting, instead of a Google Doc I uploaded a screenshot here.
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Aug 23, 2013 05:21
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CatsPajamas posted:It's great that people with experience are giving feedback on people's CVs/resumes. I wasn't going to post mine (I don't mean to take any comments away from the ones people have already posted!), but I'm seeing a lot of differences and that's worrying. Because of the Word formatting, instead of a Google Doc I uploaded a screenshot here. It's highly recommended to order things by importance, with the most important at the top. For a recent grad, this is usually Education, Work Experience, Technical Skills, then Related Courses. Awards are nice, but no one really gives a poo poo about them (and normally they have no idea how (in)significant they are). No one's going to read the paragraphs beneath each job. I skipped right past them to get to the bullet points before I realized the best stuff was in the lines before them. Break those lines out into bullet points. Also, ditto rrrrrrrrrrrt, get some standard bullets. Don't mention that you turned down an offer to be store manager. I'm sure it was a good choice, but it's largely irrelevant.
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Aug 23, 2013 05:28
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^^^quote:Turned down Store Manager offer to pursue academic goals This is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen on a resume. I mean that it the nicest way possible. Yeesh.
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Aug 23, 2013 05:37
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CatsPajamas posted:It's great that people with experience are giving feedback on people's CVs/resumes. I wasn't going to post mine (I don't mean to take any comments away from the ones people have already posted!), but I'm seeing a lot of differences and that's worrying. Because of the Word formatting, instead of a Google Doc I uploaded a screenshot here. Header: You should either center everything or left align everything. Your name first, and then two lines to fit what you have up there. You don't really need to provide your "full" address and you don't need to have both a cell and home number. Just list the cell number. Profile: Get rid of this section Professional Experience: This should go next instead of Education. Your sections are "OK" but could be more descriptive. I can't tell whether you were just a warm body for your company or if you actually did something useful. If you can come up with performance numbers on something you did like, "Did X which led to a Y% increase in revenue/visitors" that would be way better. Also I would probably list the languages you used at the internship/jobs. I mean entry-level programmers generally aren't going to get grilled because they don't know language Y but it's probably going to help your chances if you already have experience in the language the company uses. Honestly I'm not sure if other companies do the same thing, but I would say you should at least do that for companies that are looking for those specific language skills. Working at a movie theater is probably fine to leave in, but I would take out the "turn down store manager" job. I think reading that it would elicit a kind of, "so what do you want, a medal?" reaction. It's just completely irrelevant to their job position. Technical Skills: Looks fine, probably would get rid of the (Fall 2013) text though. Relevant Coursework: If it's not relevant to the job you're applying to, don't add anything here. If you haven't taken a Data Structures and Algorithm course I am probably going to find out within the first 5 seconds of questioning you. List any "Project" classes that you took at your school. Education: Just list the school you graduated from. No need to list Transfer/Community college. Awards: Good As for resume scanning. What I would do is open up notepad or textedit and make a "text only" version of your resume. Use this one when you visit sites that ask you to paste in your resume.
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Aug 23, 2013 05:46
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Also please make your bullets and text line up, it looks really messy at the moment. Don't use tables, use tab stops. The impression you're giving out before even reading any words is that you don't even know your way around MS Word properly.
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Aug 23, 2013 10:03
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CatsPajamas posted:3) If you're not satisfied with the quality of work on a project is it better to still provide it and discuss the flaws when they arise, or omit it entirely? For example, during my internship I was one of the students who developed https://www.punchersmark.com (I'm the one with the worst picture!); knowing that the site has issues if asked about my internship do I willingly direct potential employers to it, or talk about the experience without giving anything concrete? If by 'discuss flaws' you mean, 'tell your interviewers how you would do X differently and why', then yeah, it would be hugely beneficial for you. If, on the other hand you meant, "Haha, this page is kind of buggy, I just hacked it together", then maybe you shouldn't do that.
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Aug 23, 2013 14:22
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I took a stab at anonymizing one of my old resumes just for shits. What does everyone think? I'm not totally keen on some of the responsibilities I have listed since some of them seem kind of trivial compared the level of responsibility I have these days, so I may revise that section.
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Aug 23, 2013 16:06
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I don't care much about anonymizing my Resume (I have it up on the interwebs anyway and I don't say anything on SA that could get me in trouble anyhow) so here is a half-hearted attempt at removing PII from my resume. It's not particularly software-focused but it has served me well thus far. People tend to like my lumping of real-world and computer languages together. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1oBf5uRiLVZWk9YeXVqaTR5a1U/edit?usp=sharing
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Aug 23, 2013 16:19
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You guys know there's a huge resume/CV thread in the business forum, right? Because most of the problems with the resumes posted so far aren't technical ones.
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Aug 23, 2013 17:13
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coffeetable posted:You guys know there's a huge resume/CV thread in the business forum, right? Because most of the problems with the resumes posted so far aren't technical ones. So there is! Thanks for the link coffeetable, that OP has some good advice. In general, it does seem like resume advice is geared towards people who have an extended work history (rightfully so since those are the people businesses will want to hire). General advice on resumes and job hunting will probably be very helpful, but is there anything specific to the technical field that's different from the general case here? Edit: Just finished reading all the comments. Thanks for all the feedback you guys! Along with implementing some of the other ideas, I'll knock out all the formatting and have a separate text version (thanks for the suggestion Strong Sauce!). Not sure if we're going to continue the resume chat now with coffeetable's link, but didn't want to leave rrrrrrrrrrrt hanging. rrrrrrrrrrrt posted:I took a stab at anonymizing one of my old resumes just for shits. What does everyone think? I'm not totally keen on some of the responsibilities I have listed since some of them seem kind of trivial compared the level of responsibility I have these days, so I may revise that section. Since you have the work experience it's good that it comprises the bulk of the resume. You did a good job mentioning a lot of different languages and technologies by name, which is good for keyword scrapers I'm sure. The other real professional resumes posted in this thread didn't have a reference section though, so perhaps instead of that you could add a project you've worked on? Or expound on your work experience more. CatsPajamas fucked around with this message at 19:06 on Aug 23, 2013 |
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Aug 23, 2013 18:15
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I have a couple more questions: 1) What kind of stuff is asked in a typical technical phone screen (after the initial phone screen with a recruiter)? I didn't get the normal interview process for my current job so I don't even really know what's coming. 2) From submitting your application to getting an offer, how long does the interviewing process typically take in everyone's experience?
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Aug 23, 2013 18:55
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