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One thing I have not heard mention is pedigree. Sometimes having the right company or school on your resume makes all the difference. I went to decent schools for undergrad and masters and got no interest from the top tech companies for years. Then I did a short stint as research staff at MIT and suddenly all the recruiters came knocking. I didn’t even work on anything all that impressive. It was like I was a made man. *jaded intensifies*
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Jun 26, 2018 20:34
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Good Will Hrunting posted:Personality is honestly probably my strongest point after communication and expression.
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Jun 26, 2018 20:47
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Rocko Bonaparte posted:If this goes on a bit, then I'd be really humored if you tried to be a robot instead. I think they want a robot. It's too bad I can't code well! But then again, who does?
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Jun 26, 2018 20:51
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There's also the possibility that you've been interviewing with racist/ageist assholes. 
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Jun 26, 2018 21:16
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New Yorp New Yorp posted:I've done a bunch of conference/event speaking over the past 4 years. Yeah, I would definitely start with local groups. It's great practice, and even if you're an established speaker it's also a good place to trial balloon your talks before taking them to a big conference. And the bar for entry is low -- from running a local group myself, it's often hard to get speakers; if someone is offering to give a talk, I'm going to take them up on it and I'll be grateful for it. Quite a few of the conferences I attend have also started doing Skype workshops or some sort of help for novice presenters in terms of preparing a proposal. Reach out to the organizers and ask. Conference organizers want a healthy mix of "the usual suspects" and new speakers, so it's in their interest to help out. Also you're gonna get rejections, even if you're a super well known and established speaker. It's nothing personal, it's a content curation decision more than anything. Just keep sending the abstracts out.
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Jun 26, 2018 21:30
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Hiring is a cesspool of idiots who reject perfectly good candidates because they saw a red bumper sticker on the way to work. This industry’s approach to hiring is loving abysmal, and I can’t shake the feeling that it’s intentional.
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Jun 26, 2018 22:11
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Pollyanna posted:Hiring is a cesspool of idiots who reject perfectly good candidates because they saw a red bumper sticker on the way to work. This industry’s approach to hiring is loving abysmal, and I can’t shake the feeling that it’s intentional. Don't knock it 'till you've tried it
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Jun 26, 2018 22:50
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Pollyanna posted:Hiring is a cesspool of idiots who reject perfectly good candidates because they saw a red bumper sticker on the way to work. This industry’s approach to hiring is loving abysmal, and I can’t shake the feeling that it’s intentional. Hiring is also a soul crushing experience where you have to deal with hundreds of applicants not remotely qualified lying about their experience thinking they can just pick up engineering on the job just in order to find a couple people who truly understand how to program a Hello, World. It just sucks all around.
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Jun 27, 2018 00:19
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Good Will Hrunting posted:It's too bad I can't code well! But then again, who does? Good news! Robots can't code either!
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Jun 27, 2018 01:26
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IAmKale posted:I have a question about taking a contract position as a means of eventually getting a full-time position with a larger organization. Is it wise to pursue a contract position with the hopes that I might be able to convince someone on the inside to eventually advocate to bring me on full-time? Or should I instead pursue full-time employment by applying for jobs that are actually full-time? It depends on the company and the contract. If the contract is on-site with the client and not through an agency, there's a better chance that something like that could be on the table. If the arrangement is that you'd be working for a consulting agency who has the brand as their client, then I wouldn't get my hopes up for converting. That's something you can ask a recruiter, though, whether or not anyone they've placed with their client has converted to FTE.
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Jun 27, 2018 02:29
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Good Will Hrunting posted:I don't even know how to get better at those kinds of interviews. Am I loving stupid? Do most people solve these in 35 minutes in a glorified Word document? your problem is chasing scala jobs. scala is a garbage language for garbage people at garbage failing companies
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Jun 27, 2018 03:46
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I'm not even "chasing" Scala jobs. I'm getting contacted for them. I could give a gently caress (pretty much) what language I'm using as long as its not front-end or full-stack work I'm doing. Also, here's a list of places I've interviewed so far in some capacity: Amazon BAMTech, formerly MLBAM (Scala) - https://www.glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-BAMTECH-Media-EI_IE1755978.11,24.htm Flatiron Health (C#/Python) - https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Flatiron-Health-Reviews-E844757.htm Honest Buildings (Java/PHP) - https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Honest-Buildings-Reviews-E502106.htm iHeartMedia (Scala) - https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/iHeartMedia-Reviews-E354635.htm The Trade Desk (bunch of poo poo) - https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/The-Trade-Desk-Reviews-E779832.htm Two Sigma, supposedly the 5s are fake lmao (bunch of poo poo) - https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Two-Sigma-Reviews-E241045.htm Then a bunch of even smaller Kool-Aid sipping start-ups. Also rejected from Spotify and Venmo without an interview. Might turn heel after this batch and look at bigger companies to be honest. But beyond like Bloomberg, I'm not even sure what I'd be interested in. It's pretty much all banks and fintech. A common theme in my dilemma is a distinct lack of knowing what to look for in terms of aligning industry scope and tech challenges.
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Jun 27, 2018 03:54
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Good Will Hrunting posted:Holy gently caress I just had a question that was solving the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collatz_conjecture and using a cache wasn't enough - the most optomized solution was to also use a queue or stack to pop the numbers back off it. And the interviewer was mad when I didn't think of it!!! And clearly wasn't paying attention! were you doing unbounded recursion in a language that doesn't have tail call optimization?
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Jun 27, 2018 04:38
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FamDav posted:were you doing unbounded recursion in a language that doesn't have tail call optimization? yeah, as far as toy problems go that's a pretty good one for seeing if somebody knows that (call) stacks can overflow... while that's an important bit of CS fundamentals it's mostly irrelevant most of the time
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Jun 27, 2018 04:43
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FamDav posted:were you doing unbounded recursion in a language that doesn't have tail call optimization? I wasn't even using recursion cause a constraint was "up to 1 million" and also the interviewer told me specifically not to use recursion when we started the problem (because there's no tco in Java which I'm obviously well aware of). I mean one of the literal first things I said was "I'm still worried about breaking the stack with recursion solution even though I'm going to implement this with a cache" and they said "yes good point there's no tco in Java so do it iteratively and I said "yah bitch I know ok" before struggling to use the lovely editor to put together a grossly formatted solution. Good Will Hrunting fucked around with this message at 05:05 on Jun 27, 2018 |
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Jun 27, 2018 05:03
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Good Will Hrunting posted:Might turn heel after this batch and look at bigger companies to be honest. But beyond like Bloomberg, I'm not even sure what I'd be interested in. It's pretty much all banks and fintech. A common theme in my dilemma is a distinct lack of knowing what to look for in terms of aligning industry scope and tech challenges. Mate I feel you. This year I've only recieved offers from garbo places that I was basically using as interview practice or to prove to myself than I can pass tech interviews again. The places I actually want to work I never even get to the interview stage. The last place that made me an offer responded to the "Who does code reviews and how are they done?" question by telling me I was expected to review my own code and that's the extent of it. They thought this was a positive. I just want to work on a product with engineers I can learn from but apparently all I'm cut out to do is agency churn and burn poo poo.
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Jun 27, 2018 05:05
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Cirofren posted:The last place that made me an offer responded to the "Who does code reviews and how are they done?" question by telling me I was expected to review my own code and that's the extent of it. They thought this was a positive. Jesus.
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Jun 27, 2018 05:19
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Cirofren posted:The last place that made me an offer responded to the "Who does code reviews and how are they done?" question by telling me I was expected to review my own code and that's the extent of it. They thought this was a positive. Run.
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Jun 27, 2018 09:10
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Zaphod42 posted:Hiring is also a soul crushing experience where you have to deal with hundreds of applicants not remotely qualified lying about their experience thinking they can just pick up engineering on the job just in order to find a couple people who truly understand how to program a Hello, World. I find recruiting to be one of the most rewarding parts of my job.
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Jun 27, 2018 12:22
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I hate hiring mainly because our recruiters are terrible and going around them is super discouraged.
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Jun 27, 2018 12:26
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Doh004 posted:I find recruiting to be one of the most rewarding parts of my job. How are you doing this so it isn't terrible?
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Jun 27, 2018 15:51
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Cirofren posted:Mate I feel you. This year I've only recieved offers from garbo places that I was basically using as interview practice or to prove to myself than I can pass tech interviews again. The places I actually want to work I never even get to the interview stage. Even though my recruiter tells me it's the case for everyone, totally arbitrary interviews where 1 small thing in 1 interview will lead to rejection, and my closest old manager / mentor tells me there are just so many lovely places out there that it's almost impossible to navigate without knowing someone there to gauge the quality of the company, I still can't help but feel like I'm the common denominator and I'm doing *something* wrong at some point. The most obvious thing is bad experience leading to poor design interviews, but I'm questioning if I should be more perfectionist and meticulous in coding questions or something, I don't even know at this point. Either way if this really is a numbers game, maybe I'm best off quitting the job that's doing nothing to increase the probability of finding a new, better job and just blasting out interviews because at least that would make it more likely that I find something by virtue of the sample size increasing.
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Jun 27, 2018 16:53
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We should just get on Discord and something and interview you and see what the hell is going on. Somebody can even play the part of a horrible interviewer and make you guess a number between one and a million or something.
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Jun 27, 2018 18:31
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Rocko Bonaparte posted:We should just get on Discord and something and interview you and see what the hell is going on. Somebody can even play the part of a horrible interviewer and make you guess a number between one and a million or something. Do the android interrogation from Blade Runner.
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Jun 27, 2018 18:33
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Just had round 3 for Amazon. Three algorithm questions, increasing in difficulty. I got the first two in ~20 minutes, the last took about 40. Once again, got solutions that the interviewer said were correct but did I do it "cleanly" and "quickly" enough? I'd be down for some Discord/Twitch or something where I answer some algo and design questions if the next few sets of places falls through.
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Jun 27, 2018 18:35
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Good Will Hrunting posted:Then a bunch of even smaller Kool-Aid sipping start-ups. Also rejected from Spotify and Venmo without an interview. You must have tried Peloton and Blue Apron? I've hit everyone on your list too.
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Jun 27, 2018 18:56
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MrMoo posted:You must have tried Peloton and Blue Apron? I've hit everyone on your list too. Not yet, they are on my list somewhere though. Should I avoid? Tossing some other names out: Last time I hit Betterment, Mark43, Spring, and Rent the Runway. This time I've got... Oscar, Stash, Capsule, X, and a bunch of other smaller ones remaining still. Good Will Hrunting fucked around with this message at 01:21 on Oct 31, 2019 |
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Jun 27, 2018 18:59
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Apply to MakerB- sorry. Can’t do it
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Jun 27, 2018 19:00
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Good Will Hrunting posted:Not yet, they are on my list somewhere though. Should I avoid? Tossing some other names out: Last time I hit Betterment, Mark43, Spring, and Rent the Runway. This time I've got... Oscar, Stash, Capsule, Curalate, and a bunch of other smaller ones remaining still. Curalate is quite nice, headquartered in Philly but an office in Manhattan. Scala shop, they paid for my trip down there but were thoroughly unimpressed by my lack of DP image analysis skills. How about Yext? That's a bit of a freak shop, funny seeing them listing on the NYSE floor recently. Colossal rear end hat asking questions about CSS 3 values for certain fields. 
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Jun 27, 2018 19:59
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MrMoo posted:Curalate is quite nice, headquartered in Philly but an office in Manhattan. Scala shop, they paid for my trip down there but were thoroughly unimpressed by my lack of DP image analysis skills. Well, then I'll definitely bomb X as well :hive:. Yext appears to be one of the most absurdly Kool Aid-drinking places and their interview reviews last I look on Glassdoor were atrocious. Same realm as all those other places too far up their own asses. Oh also Compass seemed obnoxious as poo poo too. Good Will Hrunting fucked around with this message at 01:20 on Oct 31, 2019 |
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Jun 27, 2018 20:05
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Good Will Hrunting posted:Just had round 3 for Amazon. Three algorithm questions, increasing in difficulty. I got the first two in ~20 minutes, the last took about 40. Once again, got solutions that the interviewer said were correct but did I do it "cleanly" and "quickly" enough? I hated Amazon interviews. I aced all the design and details questions but because I did poor on 'behavioral' questions that was that. Man I'm sorry I can't remember exact details about a project I worked on 4 years ago.
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Jun 27, 2018 20:15
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Zaphod42 posted:I hated Amazon interviews. I aced all the design and details questions but because I did poor on 'behavioral' questions that was that. They told me to prepare behavioral questions, but it was literally 59 minutes of coding and 1 minute of "Hey, I'm Dude and I work at Place within Amazon Team - sending you a collabedit link via email." I've now written solutions for 5 problems for Amazon over the span of 3 hours and I think if I passed this step the next step is like a 6-hour on-site.
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Jun 27, 2018 21:46
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I also believe now that truly good places very rarely have openings because no one really leaves them. Other than the big places with more money than they know what to do with. poo poo places always have to be looking so chances are good when you apply to an opening its to a hellzone.
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Jun 27, 2018 22:24
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Good Will Hrunting posted:They told me to prepare behavioral questions, but it was literally 59 minutes of coding and 1 minute of "Hey, I'm Dude and I work at Place within Amazon Team - sending you a collabedit link via email." I've now written solutions for 5 problems for Amazon over the span of 3 hours and I think if I passed this step the next step is like a 6-hour on-site. Yeah I did the on-site. It was pretty brutal. Like I said, the behavioral on site is serious. They will fail you even if your code / design is perfect if you don't have a story about single handedly saving your company 10 million or something, bah!
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Jun 27, 2018 22:31
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Zaphod42 posted:Yeah I did the on-site. It was pretty brutal. Like I said, the behavioral on site is serious. They will fail you even if your code / design is perfect if you don't have a story about single handedly saving your company 10 million or something, bah! They sent me prep for it. It sounds loving insane. These "values" and how you need 2-3 examples for each. Bitch I barely have 1 for some! The level of burnout I'm approaching overall is laughable. Probably best to take a break or something, or take another week off work and just do nothing but interview then take 2 weeks off between jobs as a real vacation.
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Jun 27, 2018 22:40
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Amazon is a cult and Bezos must be taxed for 99% of his worth.
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Jun 27, 2018 22:45
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Zaphod42 posted:Yeah I did the on-site. It was pretty brutal. Like I said, the behavioral on site is serious. They will fail you even if your code / design is perfect if you don't have a story about single handedly saving your company 10 million or something, bah! I was bitching about this a few pages back. I've been through two on-sites with Amazon and both times the recruiter hinted that I didn't elaborate enough on the "leadership principles". WTF. Here I was studying my rear end off for coding questions. Like you said, if they expect some insane level of project detail from years ago, I simply don't remember.
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Jun 27, 2018 22:57
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Good Will Hrunting posted:They sent me prep for it. It sounds loving insane. These "values" and how you need 2-3 examples for each. Bitch I barely have 1 for some! After the 6 hour amazon on-site and I didn't get it, I took a few months off work for a sabbatical. Then I got back into it and got my current job, which I love. I mean, be careful and manage your finances, I went through a lot of money in that time period. But luckily I had saved up enough of a cushion that I was able to buffer my way through unemployment for awhile. ForrestPUMP69 posted:I was bitching about this a few pages back. I've been through two on-sites with Amazon and both times the recruiter hinted that I didn't elaborate enough on the "leadership principles". WTF. Here I was studying my rear end off for coding questions. Its really stupid. Also like, this isn't what they want to hear, but the truth is at lots of my old jobs my boss was lovely and I wasn't ALLOWED to do the things that I knew would help save the company money, even though I suggested them 10 times and waited months each time and had a full detailed proposal and was willing to do it myself. Like this is how amazon pictures engineering careers: 1. Go to college, get degree 2. Get entry level job as code monkey 3. ????????? 4. Be a computer architect who tells the CEO exactly how to be 200% more efficient And they haven't even considered what the "??????" step is supposed to be. If you're at step 2 then you're only qualified for more code monkey jobs and you'll never get to step 4. I mean I understand that they want the best and brightest but seriously, unrealistic expectations guys. Its just bullshit.
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Jun 27, 2018 23:43
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I honestly think a huge part of engineering interviews when it comes to finding the right candidate or getting the position are both pure luck. And we kid ourselves into thinking otherwise. And now that I have an awesome job, not only am I getting paid tons of money to work on stuff I find interesting, but I'm getting opportunities for growth left and right. My company sends me to seminars to learn about new tech, which is good for them because they want engineers up to date on new stuff, but its also basically good for me. I could quit and leave and I'd still have all those things I learned on the job, which would help me get an even better job. Not to mention having this company on my resume. I dunno it just feels really stupid and unfair. Like you struggle and struggle with no opportunities and no pay and poo poo jobs, and then when you're finally "in" you made it and now you get good jobs for life with good pay.
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Jun 27, 2018 23:48
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So my career progress is reduced to a dice roll because of two jobs where I learned some poo poo but apparently not enough to reach the god engineer tier or having free employment will?
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Jun 27, 2018 23:53
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