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Good Will Hrunting posted:I'm really interested in the work being done at a local place that does contract stuff for government projects. I recall reading some bad things about government contracts somewhere though. I don't remember if it was here or not. I've had experience working as a government civilian with large/prime contractors and as a contractor myself at a smaller company. I'd venture to say that the problems you've read are primarily with a prime contractor like the Boeings or the Lockheeds. A local place that is putting out a specialty and high quality product is fine. A good thing to ask is if you're position is about billable hours or the company being contractor to fill a seat. This has the unfortunate side effect of encouraging mediocrity in hiring sometimes and there's not a lot of incentive for the company to pay more for top talent. When the company is contracted to provide a specialty product, and they're committing to improving and maintaining this product or suite of products. I think under these circumstances, contracting is similar to any other small company making a product for a small group of customers: hope the benefits and people are great 
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Nov 1, 2013 04:25
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I ended up stumbling into an interview for a Junior Java Developer here in Phoenix and it went pretty well I think. From a technical perspective the questions were pretty easy. What happens to a default constructor when you overload it? What is method overriding? Why is a String immutable? I had never heard of the term transitive variable, but when he explained it I asked the right questions. The final technical question was, For a Map, could use use an object as the key value? I thought through in for a few seconds and concluded that while I had never done that, I was pretty sure it could be done but that I thought you'd probably have to override the equals method. He was pretty happy with the response. For a first interview I was really happy with how it went. Hopefully I'll hear something back either way early next week.
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Nov 1, 2013 16:58
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Any advice what to do when you get a new job? I'd like to become an important and integral part of the team as quickly as possible, but I'm concerned that overengineering solutions (by making generic tools to solve specific problems) will just make others hesitant of the code I contribute and keep my tickets moving too slowly.
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Nov 1, 2013 17:42
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Cheekio posted:Any advice what to do when you get a new job? Based on 5 months of making myself valuable: Ask questions and try and be pro-active about getting poo poo done/figuring out what needs to be done. With code, just make it clean, tested, readable etc. you can waste a lot of time trying to engineer the ultimate re-usable solution and it may never get used again. If the code is well written though, it shouldn't be too hard to refactor/extend to make it more flexible later down the line.
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Nov 2, 2013 00:05
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Simpo posted:Based on 5 months of making myself valuable: Exactly this.
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Nov 2, 2013 00:49
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Simpo posted:With code, just make it clean, tested, readable etc. you can waste a lot of time trying to engineer the ultimate re-usable solution and it may never get used again. If the code is well written though, it shouldn't be too hard to refactor/extend to make it more flexible later down the line. Tunga fucked around with this message at 00:55 on Nov 2, 2013 |
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Nov 2, 2013 00:52
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CPFinnit posted:I had never heard of the term transitive variable, but when he explained it I asked the right questions. What's a transitive variable?
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Nov 2, 2013 01:47
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So I finally got the time to get a pro to do my resume and linkedin. My tweaks already got some attention from various people. Oh, and I just finished the 16th week of being paid as a contractor, so direct hire time is coming soon. This should be a memorable November. Worst case I just put up with being lowballed due to the very flexible terms with work hours at my current employer and move on at my leisure. drat I love this industry.
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Nov 2, 2013 01:59
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gently caress you man, I gotta get in on this  So far I've shown the ability to make a basic webpage and I'm working on those data structures, but I still don't feel like I've got enough to really look good to any recruiters/managers.
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Nov 2, 2013 03:11
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Pollyanna posted:gently caress you man, I gotta get in on this Start going to user groups, you find out about all the latest cool stuff and make valuable connections. Also consider getting into the guts of a project. So if the documentation for flask or whatever is bad, fix it and send it in.
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Nov 2, 2013 06:19
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I was offered a contract-to-hire position. I'm not working right now, so first money is kind of best money. The hourly rate I was offered for contract-to-hire was 1/2,000 the annual salary I was expecting. Is that, like, bad? Is that an acceptable model for contract-to-hire, since in a few weeks I'd be getting benefits and supposedly the approximate same pay or whatever? I'm confused please help D:
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Nov 2, 2013 07:24
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it is posted:I was offered a contract-to-hire position. I'm not working right now, so first money is kind of best money. The hourly rate I was offered for contract-to-hire was 1/2,000 the annual salary I was expecting. Is that, like, bad? Is that an acceptable model for contract-to-hire, since in a few weeks I'd be getting benefits and supposedly the approximate same pay or whatever? I'm confused please help D: Hours in a work-year are about 2080. Paid holidays count towards that total, which you will likely not be working during. So yeah, if I'm doing the math right it sounds like the PAY they're offering is roughly equivalent. But if you aren't getting any benefits, yes, it's significantly less (I'm sure others in the thread will shoot me down if I'm wrong, so make sure you don't just read my analysis of the situation). Beyond that, have you negotiated at all? Like is this their final offer, or just their first? If it's the first, there's no reason not to negotiate; they'll either remain absolutely firm on their offer or they will give you more money. Employers don't just up and withdraw an offer of employment if you have the gall to negotiate, it's too much trouble to come to the decision to hire you in the first place to do something like that. Look back through this thread for advice on how to negotiate without sounding wishy-washy. There's a good article about this that I can't find; it's been linked here before. I'm sure someone will dredge it up for us.
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Nov 2, 2013 13:03
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I'm about to try my hand at negotiation. I've got plenty of interest even with babby's second resume and enough balls to walk without a word, but the work environment is worth staying if I get a budge to something reasonable. I'm definitely making so little that it's not worth staying if they're stupidly firm, or worse, try to cut me. They did the annual salary/2080 thing to me, so I make 19.23 an hour right now. Anyone who would with a straight face tell me to take that clearly doesn't respect me, and I'd be a chump to not walk, or for that matter, take advantage of their extreme lunch flexibility to go look for something better.
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Nov 2, 2013 16:11
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Che Delilas posted:Look back through this thread for advice on how to negotiate without sounding wishy-washy. There's a good article about this that I can't find; it's been linked here before. I'm sure someone will dredge it up for us. That being said though, I should probably throw in a bit about myself, and hopefully get more conversation going. I am currently in college for Software Engineering (think cs, but less math, more programming). Its for an advanced diploma here in Ontario, Canada (not quite as much schooling as the degree, but given that my program has an extra 16 month co-op term, timewise, its the same). I graduate in April, and I've been looking on here, as well as applying for jobs here and there (I've been going through not only places like monster.com, but also stackoverflow.careers, etc). I'm not quite sure if I want to stay here (there are a number of big companies/startups, but the postings for them seem to be scarce), or try moving on (some university CS friends of mine have been telling me all about how they plan to move onto the big tech cities looking for developers, and get jobs out there). Any advice you can give an indecisive software engineer?
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Nov 2, 2013 19:53
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Hyperman1992 posted:*stay here or move* First the Caveat: I'm hardly an expert in such matters, these are things I've come up with based on my relatively meager experience and from reading and researching. Do not take any of this as gospel. Some considerations: 1) You're young (I'm assuming, since you're in school). It's never going to be a better time to try new things, live in new places, see the world, etc. It will only get harder to take those kinds of risks as you get older. (That said, it's not like you get anchored into the ground when you hit 30. But if you don't have a mortgage or a large family in the area that's tying you there, there's no reason to limit yourself.) 2) If the tech sector where you live is non-existent or anemic, companies that hire you are going to be aware of it. They will trot out the "this is the average salary for the area" line when you bring up that you are being underpaid. They will use the fact that there aren't a lot of jobs in the area as an excuse to treat you poorly in a myriad of other ways. I may have recent personal experience with this that is coloring my perception and attitude, YMMV. 3) Good for you that you're shopping around already. But if the postings seem scarce, that could in part be because hiring tends to slow down during the winter. I'll bet you'll see more job postings come February or so, when a new crop of graduates is getting ready to be reaped. Don't stop looking just to wait for spring, but chances are good that opportunities are less scarce than they seem right now. 4) For gently caress's sake, if you want to work in a big tech city or something, don't move first. Especially places like the Bay Area with huge costs of living. Most companies will be willing to entertain applicants from out of town as long as you make it clear you're willing to relocate. Hell, they'll often fly you out for interviews if you make it that far in the process. You don't NEED to be a local during the application process, by and large. I believe this is the article about salary negotiation that has been linked here before. It's a long article. Read every single word. Che Delilas fucked around with this message at 23:50 on Nov 2, 2013 |
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Nov 2, 2013 23:43
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Che Delilas posted:*good considerations* 1. You are right, I am quite young, and don't have a mortgage or a relationship at the moment, so nothing really is holding me back... 2. Apparently, my area is really bustling with jobs (there's an EA hub, a google hub, a large startup community building, the hq of one of the biggest eLearning companies in Canada, blah blah blah), but I mean, I'm not really seeing any of these jobs... Maybe I'm not networking well enough? Maybe you're right about the postings just being scarce for now? (as an aside, I see a couple of positions in this area, but none that are less than 3+ years experience) 3. I'll keep that in mind for now. If people are not ramping as heavy for jobs atm, then I won't get so discouraged when I don't see so many (that said, I'm not going to stop all together...) 4. To tell you the truth, before this thread, I never even heard of people flying you out for interviews, or helping you get out to the interview, besides just switching it from an in person to a phone. I never really knew it was an option... (then again, alot of the jobs i've applied for, co-op and non-co-op, have been around my area, so it didn't really need to be discussed). Those do give me a bit to think about in my search, so thanks for those Che! Also, thanks for the link to the article.
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Nov 3, 2013 18:50
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My friend at a local place got my name in the pile for an entry-level Ops position. I'm told it's an entry level position and that in years past it's actually where all their engineers started. Nowadays they're big and do need real Ops, but many (most?) people get poached from Ops into other departments. HR phone screen was fine. Phone interview with manager was good -- he seemed really enthusiastic. Interview happened last Monday. It was great and I knocked the whiteboard out of the park. Followed up with personalized thank you notes to everyone and the recruiter. Then dead silence. I hosed up by not asking "what now?" at the end of the interview, but then the manager wasn't there so asking the employees didn't seem appropriate. I asked my insider if he knew anything. He was able to talk to one of the three guys who interviewed me, who "really liked [me]" and "Honestly thinks [I'm] too advanced for Ops." I'll stop here and say I have absolutely no work experience at any software company in an engineering role. I know *about* software engineering because of a 4-year CS degree and good classes on standards and practices of things like test cases and writing human-legible code. I feel caught between "knows too much" for some entry level positions and "has no experience" for all the other entry level positions that want 1-2 years of work first. Sure, it could have been a kind of "wow" compliment. Sure, they still might be doing interviews or waiting til next week or something. But I'm reluctant to hold my breath when this place has been so on the ball about getting back to me within a day max and putting forth a bunch of effort to keep the rails greased.
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Nov 3, 2013 20:44
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boho posted:I hosed up by not asking "what now?" at the end of the interview This wasn't a gently caress up, how is this a gently caress up? boho posted:Sure, it could have been a kind of "wow" compliment. Sure, they still might be doing interviews or waiting til next week or something. But I'm reluctant to hold my breath when this place has been so on the ball about getting back to me within a day max and putting forth a bunch of effort to keep the rails greased. How long has this dead silence lasted?
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Nov 3, 2013 21:20
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shrughes posted:This wasn't a gently caress up, how is this a gently caress up? It's just recommended (at least it has been to me). Reminds them of your interest and you might get a better idea of what's going on in the background (other candidates, w/e). shrughes posted:How long has this dead silence lasted? 3 (business) days. It's just unusual in terms of how fast/communicative they've been. I didn't expect an offer the next morning, but I figured if I was still in the running I'd at least hear something by the end of the week. Perhaps I'm jumping the gun in terms of pessimism but it's a nice place, sounds like a nice job, seemed to be going great, and would let me stay in the area. I've got other balls in the air but this one was my favorite.
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Nov 3, 2013 21:46
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3 days? Really?
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Nov 3, 2013 22:02
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rsjr posted:3 days? Really? What can I say, I'm a worrier. 
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Nov 3, 2013 22:16
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It took me about half a week to go from interview to asking for references to a week to getting an offer, 3 days is nothing. Hell I've had companies call me asking for a phone interview months after I've applied there, just the other day a company I gave my resume to at a job fair about a month back called me asking to set up a phone interview and I've already had a job for two weeks.
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Nov 3, 2013 22:17
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piratepilates posted:It took me about half a week to go from interview to asking for references to a week to getting an offer, 3 days is nothing. My high score on lovely turnarounds is six months. I'd honestly forgotten I had applied.
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Nov 3, 2013 22:31
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At least it wasn't a company that kept promising have you start as soon as they finalized one of their members leaving, and then six months later said "whoops sorry we can't take any more people on, tough poo poo".
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Nov 3, 2013 22:50
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So if I've got a job now in a crappy area, when should I start applying for jobs in an area I want to live in? I figure there are so many job postings in and around SF, and to a lesser extent, NYC, that just by numbers I should find places that move quickly. For both my internship and my current job, I got a same-day response to my initial application and received an offer letter in seven days or less from my application. Is that really so uncommon? I want to live in one of SF or NYC in February, so I figured I'd give my two-weeks' notice on like, January 1st. By then, I'll have $5-6k saved up from my current job, so if the job search takes longer, that's okay. I'll only have three days of time off accumulated by then, though, so I'm thinking I'll have to quit before I can consider interviewing in-person at places in SF or NYC? Though I'm guessing that they wouldn't fly me out unless they already had a good idea that they were interested in hiring me? Assuming they're not gigantic like Google and fine with throwing away money on interviewing tons of candidates who they end up not hiring.
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Nov 4, 2013 02:38
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EN Bullshit posted:$5-6k  Take the cost of living into account. 5-6k will last you 3 months in NYC, and that's if you budget extremely well and go without frivolous things like food. Rent starts at around $1500-1800 per month for the shittiest of shithole studio apartments in terrifying neighborhoods.
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Nov 4, 2013 02:50
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EN Bullshit posted:So if I've got a job now in a crappy area, when should I start applying for jobs in an area I want to live in? I figure there are so many job postings in and around SF, and to a lesser extent, NYC, that just by numbers I should find places that move quickly. For both my internship and my current job, I got a same-day response to my initial application and received an offer letter in seven days or less from my application. Is that really so uncommon? Well at least you're taking the E/N advice to heart. Good luck.
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Nov 4, 2013 03:00
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EN Bullshit posted:So if I've got a job now in a crappy area, when should I start applying for jobs in an area I want to live in? I figure there are so many job postings in and around SF, and to a lesser extent, NYC, that just by numbers I should find places that move quickly. For both my internship and my current job, I got a same-day response to my initial application and received an offer letter in seven days or less from my application. Is that really so uncommon? Don't bet on a quick turnaround for job applications, even if you had one last time. Sometimes it happens, but if you expect it, you're setting yourself up for a lot of disappointment and unwarranted self-doubt. If you want to live IN SF proper, you're going to be out of money in 2 months with that kind of savings. The rest of the Valley isn't as bad but if you don't find something immediately you are going to hear the clock ticking in your head constantly. It won't last long at all. I would never, NEVER move to a city with a cost of living that high if I didn't have a job, and I mean a signed employment agreement with a start date, and I have a lot more money saved than you do. Besides, applying remotely isn't really that big a deal to most places, especially if you indicate that you will be moving to the area after you have secured employment. And yes, they tend to fly you out in the later stages. You'll probably have at least one phone interview and perhaps an online whiteboarding/problem solving session before they decide they want to meet you. No reason to leave a lower cost of living area while you're on the hunt. Most people are going to tell you not to quit your current job at all until you have a new one secured. It's good advice; if you're so flooded with interviews that you don't have enough time off/leeway to schedule them all, then you can probably get away with quitting because you'll likely have a new job quickly if you're that in demand. But don't quit just due to the possibility of inconvenience. Wait until it happens at least.
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Nov 4, 2013 03:12
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Ithaqua posted:
No, this is for my living while interviewing right now. $5-6k will last me 3-4 months where I currently live. I'm saying that I wouldn't be sunk if I quit job, then companies took weeks to get back to me. Also, is it not the case that a place willing to pay someone enough to live in the city won't really bat an eye at a one-time relocation cost? How much would you say I need to save if I find a place that pays for / reimburses my moving expenses? Especially considering I can throw away pretty much everything I have except my laptop and a week's worth of clothes. 90% of my possessions are textbooks I'll probably never read again, most of them $8 Dover editions of old math books, some of them paper-back international editions of textbooks that have probably become out-of-date as newer editions are released. I'm definitely not considering moving to one of these places without a job lined up. Che Delilas posted:Most people are going to tell you not to quit your current job at all until you have a new one secured. It's good advice; if you're so flooded with interviews that you don't have enough time off/leeway to schedule them all, then you can probably get away with quitting because you'll likely have a new job quickly if you're that in demand. But don't quit just due to the possibility of inconvenience. Wait until it happens at least. You're saying see what the response is like, then quit job if it's favorable? In that case, am I going to piss anyone off if I start sending out applications right now and then politely turn down any interest? EN Bullshit fucked around with this message at 03:18 on Nov 4, 2013 |
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Nov 4, 2013 03:16
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EN Bullshit posted:You're saying see what the response is like, then quit job if it's favorable? In that case, am I going to piss anyone off if I start sending out applications right now and then politely turn down any interest? You're not going to piss anyone off; you're not the first person in the world to have decided they wanted to move to SF and sent out a bunch of job applications to places that look interesting. Send out applications, talk to the ones that look like they're a good fit for you, turn down the others, get offers, pick one job, quit the job you have, move.
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Nov 4, 2013 03:39
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EN Bullshit posted:You're saying see what the response is like, then quit job if it's favorable? In that case, am I going to piss anyone off if I start sending out applications right now and then politely turn down any interest? This is how it's done. A job application is never a commitment, at all, on any level, no matter how far you are into the process. Edit: You should still give reasonable notice to your current job when you leave, of course. It's just the polite and professional thing to do. Che Delilas fucked around with this message at 05:50 on Nov 4, 2013 |
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Nov 4, 2013 05:43
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I had a place take a month to go from applying to a phone screen, another month or two to get a technical phone screen, then 6 weeks to reject me.  I have no clue what's going on there but I don't understand how anyplace could think that's an acceptable way to treat potential employees.I don't know if this is the right place to ask but I was wondering if anyone could tell me more about the scenes in SF and Seattle? I've been doing .NET for two years in Portland and I'm not having a good time trying to find a better position around here (no one seems interested in junior devs or so they say) so I might have to split. I was thinking either one of those two places for obvious reasons but I'm not sure which would be a better place to focus on. I was wondering if people could tell me more about what languages/types of experience are the most in-demand, what types of companies tend to dominate the scene (smaller places/startups vs. big places), what the culture is, etc. Maybe it's a stupid question but I was just curious.
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Nov 4, 2013 07:42
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HondaCivet posted:I had a place take a month to go from applying to a phone screen, another month or two to get a technical phone screen, then 6 weeks to reject me. I've been in Seattle for the past 10 years after doing SF for 3-4 before that. I'm sure there's plenty of .NET work here for obvious reasons but most I'm familiar with is C++, Java, and Objective-C. It's a split between startup and big company just like SF would be. Whatever you want you'll find here. (Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Expedia are major employers, and there's hundreds of smaller startups.)
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Nov 4, 2013 13:53
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Ithaqua posted:
this is definitely not true, and it's kind of a pet peeve of mine when people say stuff like you need a $100k salary to live in nyc. you can get a 1BR in a place like crown heights or bed stuy, which is about a 30-35 minute commute door-to-door to my office in union sq, for $1400, and I was able to save 10-20% of my paycheck when i was living by myself on 60k. your mileage may vary depending on how terrifying you find black people though.
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Nov 4, 2013 15:46
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Pie Colony posted:this is definitely not true, and it's kind of a pet peeve of mine when people say stuff like you need a $100k salary to live in nyc. you can get a 1BR in a place like crown heights or bed stuy, which is about a 30-35 minute commute door-to-door to my office in union sq, for $1400, and I was able to save 10-20% of my paycheck when i was living by myself on 60k. your mileage may vary depending on how terrifying you find black people though. You are only validating his point, as far as I can tell.
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Nov 4, 2013 16:10
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how? the commute is the same as from the upper west side to downtown manhattan, the apartments in brooklyn are newly renovated for all the white people moving in, and 20% of my paycheck after all my expenses seems pretty good to me.
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Nov 4, 2013 16:16
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Pie Colony posted:how? the commute is the same as from the upper west side to downtown manhattan, the apartments in brooklyn are newly renovated for all the white people moving in, and 20% of my paycheck after all my expenses seems pretty good to me. Okay, how long could you live on $6,000 without any source of income whatsoever? 2 or 3 months, right? That was my point: it's a very expensive city to live in, and 6,000 might not stretch as far as expected.
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Nov 4, 2013 16:20
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Pie Colony posted:how? the commute is the same as from the upper west side to downtown manhattan, the apartments in brooklyn are newly renovated for all the white people moving in, and 20% of my paycheck after all my expenses seems pretty good to me. You mean saving 20% of net after taxes or 20% of your discretionary? The former is pretty good, the latter not so much. Edit: Your take home is approximately $840/wk if you don't pay for pre-tax benefits. That means your $1400/mo 1br is almost half your take home pay. baquerd fucked around with this message at 16:45 on Nov 4, 2013 |
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Nov 4, 2013 16:42
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Pie Colony posted:this is definitely not true, and it's kind of a pet peeve of mine when people say stuff like you need a $100k salary to live in nyc. you can get a 1BR in a place like crown heights or bed stuy, which is about a 30-35 minute commute door-to-door to my office in union sq, for $1400, and I was able to save 10-20% of my paycheck when i was living by myself on 60k. your mileage may vary depending on how terrifying you find black people though. Both Crown Heights and Bed Stuy are shitholes. A 400 square foot apartment, which is barely in the realm of acceptable for a single person unless you really like living in a closet, is going to run you $1800-2600 a month depending on the neighborhood unless you want to be 45-60 minutes removed from Manhattan. This excludes the fact that the rental market is an utter nightmare and you typically need anywhere from 3-5k up front (first/last month's rent + finder's fee) to even be able to get into a place. New York is a hilariously overpriced dump. At least for as exorbitantly expensive as it is, a place like SF has the great weather going for it.
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Nov 4, 2013 17:21
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gucci void main posted:Both Crown Heights and Bed Stuy are shitholes. A 400 square foot apartment, which is barely in the realm of acceptable for a single person unless you really like living in a closet, is going to run you $1800-2600 a month depending on the neighborhood unless you want to be 45-60 minutes removed from Manhattan. This excludes the fact that the rental market is an utter nightmare and you typically need anywhere from 3-5k up front (first/last month's rent + finder's fee) to even be able to get into a place. New York is a hilariously overpriced dump. At least for as exorbitantly expensive as it is, a place like SF has the great weather going for it. Even Jersey City and Hoboken are lovely and overpriced. That's why I live in Central NJ -- it takes me over an hour to get to midtown, but I get to live in a 3 bedroom house with a giant backyard that costs me $1800/month.
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Nov 4, 2013 17:25
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