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I'm entering my last year as a CS Masters student after doing Information Systems as an undergrad (which ended up being okay because I made enough over 18 months to pay for my MS and living cost). My GPA is over 3.6 at an okay (fairly small, okay) school, but my big problem is finding projects to work on outside of school while finishing up my classes. Aside from a fairly cool idea I had for a web programming class that I'm working on, I don't know where to find things to work on. Where did you guys come up with things? Your own ideas, school assignments, books, elsewhere?
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Nov 29, 2012 01:21
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seiken posted:Just make something that you're interested in, because that's the only way you'll stick at it anyway. Bonus points if it's something actually useful to you yourself (or anyone else), but don't worry about that too much. I like video games, so I programmed a few little games. I also like audiovisual stuff, so I programmed some music visualiser kind of things. Take your favourite non-programming hobby and make something related. That's basically what I'm doing now and am also planning on (eventually) bringing it into a mobile app. I guess I just constantly worry that I'm so far behind the traditional CS undergrad who spent ~4ish years taking useful computer science courses. I took a lot of accelerated pre-req courses to start my M.S. program, and feel like I just didn't really get enough practice. I did really well and took a lot from Data Structures and Algorithms courses, but I guess I'd say I feel like I'm not as "sharp" as someone who's been doing this for a while and feel like I'll be at a disadvantage when I start applying for things.
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Nov 29, 2012 05:00
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After very casually looking at jobs, reading this thread, and starting to read some books and blogs about interviewing questions (and nightmare candidates), I'm very happy to be taking 2 less courses next semester and actually start focusing on becoming a good programmer as opposed to whatever you become from the rear end backwards way programming is taught in a lot of schools.
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Dec 7, 2012 01:48
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Jerry SanDisky posted:Online courses can be great, but there is no better resource than Introduction to Algorithms. This is the CLRS book that people keep talking about. It is a fantastic introduction to the implementation, design, and analysis of algorithms, and its an incredibly useful reference to have around. Look for international versions if price is an issue. Bought this early for a course next semester, had to hide it because it was too distracting from the boring poo poo I'm taking now. I wish I had it earlier, to be honest. It is seriously so good.
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Dec 14, 2012 17:49
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I've started to look for internships and it's fairly discouraging to see listings with things like "Extensive project experience or previous internship experience in (7 different areas)" and laundry lists on most of the listings I've come across so far. For someone like me coming from a different background and field, it's getting tough to find anything I feel comfortable applying to. Where do I draw the line in terms of applying for certain positions that list frameworks, APIs, etc, that I've literally never touched? I seem to see that bigger companies are a lot less picky and seem willing to hire people with less professional experience.
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Jan 11, 2013 21:33
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Progressive JPEG posted:In any case it is indeed quite possible that if you're straight out of college then not much will be expected of you I see so many job listings in my area (NYC) that contradict this. So much of what I've seen wants familiarity with not only multiple languages, but multiple frameworks/APIs/etc. I've found the bigger banks and financial firms are a bit more lenient and willing to work with those who have less experience, at least from the few recruiting sessions I've attended and people I've spoken to.
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Jan 26, 2013 08:43
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I was supposed to be venturing into NYC last week for a second round interview at a place that I think is a very good fit for me but the storm caused them to cancel last minute and I haven't heard anything yet. This apprehension sucks. They said they'd contact me when they figured things out as far as rescheduling, but is there any reason to follow up? If so, when?
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Feb 12, 2013 20:11
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Coursera is great so far: I'm using the Algos I course as review now and it has been really helpful. Additionally I've never seen some of the stuff covered in the second part of it, so I'm eager to do that. You're only a week behind Part I, so you can probably catch up. The programming assignments and job interview questions have definitely been a huge help.
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Feb 12, 2013 23:15
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biochemist posted:I don't get it. If I invest 2+ years and all of that money into a post-grad degree, I'm not allowed to expect to be compensated more than someone without a bachelors? What's the incentive then? From what I've seen the short answer to this is: "Not in this field, no".
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Feb 13, 2013 22:01
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I had an interview that went pretty well yesterday. 4-5 fairly standard technical questions, all of which I handled okay (one with a little prodding). Keeping my fingers crossed, but they interviewed a pretty good amount of people from what I understand. I think the hardest part for me at this point is competing with people who were CS undergrads and have been doing this longer than I have. Even if I can handle technical interview questions, I feel like there will always be people with more projects or relevant coursework under their belt. I'm thinking about applying for the 2-3 other jobs I have flagged and handing my search off to a recruiter so I can focus strictly on the independent projects I've been working on and have a little bit more to show.
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Feb 24, 2013 03:58
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If an employer gave you a range that you'd hear back by, and you don't within that range how, long do you wait to follow up? They said they'd give me an answer regardless of whether I got an offer or not.
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Mar 11, 2013 16:53
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I probably should have clarified but I interviewed with them at their office twice.
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Mar 11, 2013 17:32
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Hiring folks: How long is the ideal cover letter to you? I feel like I'm way over-thinking some of these and pissing away my time when I could be doing something more valuable like working on my independent projects.
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Mar 12, 2013 19:59
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- 10 or so "applications" so far (4 of which I did over the weekend) - 3 first round interviews (2 phone, 1 campus screening) all of which resulted in a second round interview (one completed, two next week) - 5+ "Hail Mary" applications I plan on throwing out just for the hell of it The 3 companies I'm in the interview process with all seemed to like talking to me at my campus's career fair. My one regret was not talking to tumblr while I was there. I felt a little inferior to what they were looking for but looking back I should have just bit the bullet. Also, I'm from a business background interviewing with a lot of financial institutions so my CS skills are probably inferior to someone with a BS in CS. Even though I have a MS, I'm still way short of most CS undergrads.
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Mar 25, 2013 23:52
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evensevenone posted:3) The company is mismanaged and will fail soon, and how!! will be out of a job, and will be unable to present anything constructive that that he's done when he goes to look for a new job. Which makes all the talk of how well he's being compensated completely negligible, really. I'd rather make $50k and go into work everyday eager to learn something I'm passionate about than $100k while sitting around doing nothing. I've been in the situation how!! is in with zero room to grow and it sucked even though I was making far more than any of my peers.
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Mar 30, 2013 18:22
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Well I used the money and free time to do schoolwork. Also, how!! and I were a bit different in that I was spending 8 hours in the office + a 1.5 hour commute each way. I left when we got a new manager who made the days longer and the work even more tedious/meaningless. Such is the audit department at a top 30 company I guess. E: I guess my post was pointless because I used money from that first job to get where I am now. Finishing school, interview process with a bunch of places I'm interested in, etc.
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Mar 30, 2013 18:35
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I just took an online aptitude test for a job I applied for after talking to the recruiter. It had general programming logic, database queries, some algorithms and math questions. Fairly standard interview questions that I handled fine, except for the fact that it was obviously written by someone who could not speak English. This tripped me up on quite a few questions as there was arbitrary word choice and I didn't finish as much as I could have because I was decoding the stupid grammar and spelling mistakes. Is this something worth mentioning or if I don't get a callback should I just let it go?
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Mar 31, 2013 02:08
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Very helpful breakdown. I'd be curious to know what area you're in! I'm not really looking for Web Dev jobs but from what I've seen in my area and what my peers do, if you're familiar with the hot JS frameworks you're set. All these start-up type places want someone that can knockout the competition with a good backbone in jQuery, someone who really nodes what they're doing.
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Apr 4, 2013 17:51
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Getting out of an interview and realizing you messed up one small, silly conditional in a loop feels bad. Such a dumb mistake I should have realized. Hope it's not a big deal  That was only 1 out of 5 (very easy) problems though. This thread definitely helped a lot with today's interview.
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Apr 5, 2013 21:22
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I have since calmed down and realized that its babby's first dev job and probably not a big deal. Conceptually, I also did something similar for another problem which illustrates that I'm not an idiot and that it was just because I was rushing. Now I'm worrying about making other mistakes! I'll find out soon enough though and I have an interview Monday that I need to do some prep for.
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Apr 5, 2013 22:40
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So I saw it mentioned in a post a few pages back, but could someone explain in a more low-level sense what the gently caress DevOps is, because basically every article on Google is complete poo poo and seems to be written for the technology-illiterate managerial buzz-word type. Maybe someone who works at an organization that considers themselves to be part of the "DevOps Movement".
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Apr 7, 2013 23:28
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Is there someone here I can PM for some offer-countering advice? It's pretty time sensitive. I'd also rather not share details.
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Apr 9, 2013 23:28
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So I have two offers on the table right now: Offer A: A full-time offer around market value for my area with a nice bonus at a stable company. My biggest issue is that I'm not sure how much responsibility or work they're going to give me and how this would influence my progress. Offer B: An internship offer at another company that doesn't pay great according to Glassdoor, but seems to hire their interns full-time after the internship period (pay also just okay). I think it's a great opportunity for me. I'm confident that I'd learn a ton and positive that it's interesting to me, but I'm a little scared to let a full-time offer for a position that could be a good fit slip away. Any advice on things to ask Company A to help me get a better idea? They're a big company, with lots of projects that come and go, and they seem to have a "we'll give you a few assignments and see where you fit" attitude which might be cool, but it's making me uneasy. (This might be ambiguous but I'm somewhat paranoid and any more information makes me feel like I'd be tipping my hand.)
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Apr 11, 2013 04:54
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Thanks for the insight, all. It's been really helpful. I'm just incredibly hesitant because I had a downright miserable experience with my first position out of school. I'm actually *still* waiting on Company C, who also really liked me. I reached out to them yesterday but found out there was some turnover and my recruiting manager is no longer there. I'll post an update tonight. Thanks again.
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Apr 11, 2013 16:46
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Update - I reached out to Company A (full time offer) with a few more questions. I was told that they didn't know what type of projects I would be working on to start. They were going to float me around and let me try different things since I'm new. They've never hired someone fresh out of school with minimal experience (me) before. My biggest concern is that I get stuck doing BA/consultant type poo poo for clients which is not aligned with my interests. - Company B (internship) said I could have until the end of today to decide and offered to talk to me if I had questions regarding the progression of the program. - Company C had some turnover in HR and was figuring things out. I told them I needed to make my decision by this afternoon. The recruiting manager seems to be out of office but did contact me yesterday. This is still my first choice for a multitude of reasons: best pay, easiest commute, and from what others have said a fairly low-stress environment.
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Apr 12, 2013 16:52
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I turned down the internship earlier this afternoon and felt pretty bad. As I was browsing LinkedIn later I saw the manager's profile and some more information on the projects they were working on, which seem really cool. This is the first big decision I've made regarding employment and I can't shake that "what if" feeling. 
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Apr 13, 2013 06:56
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After declining the internship and verbally committing to Job A, Job C (my first choice for many reasons) contacted me with a "We're still in the decision process and can't provide you with an update at this time" even though I told them I needed to make a decision by today. If they really wanted me they wouldn't be doing this right? I should forget about them at this point, correct?
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Apr 15, 2013 20:04
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Ithaqua posted:You're probably their N-choice candidate, where N >= 2nd. They're going down the list and seeing who accepts. Yeah I know, they want me to start in two weeks though. I'm not sure how much I can really stall.
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Apr 15, 2013 20:13
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Company A just sent me an email with some follow-up information and a link to paperwork that needs to be completed within 24 hours.
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Apr 15, 2013 21:24
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I start in 3 weeks. Part of me is excited, part of me is terrified that the person (people?) ahead of me for Job C will decline and I'll get an offer too late. I'm employed and going to be making good money, gently caress me right?
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Apr 17, 2013 01:12
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Sample 1 was too long for me to read because I have a headache, but 2 and 3 are super easy. E: Why would you ask someone to code a primality test? It's all memorization and (in my opinion) not a great test of whether someone can code or not. Good Will Hrunting fucked around with this message at 01:50 on Apr 23, 2013 |
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Apr 23, 2013 01:46
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Volte posted:As long as you know what a prime number is it's not that hard to code up a naive implementation Suspicious Dish posted:You should be able to reason out a simple prime test. Even if it's not a fancy schmancy algorithm like a Sieve, it's a simple for loop. This was my point. It strikes me as too easy for anyone with a Comp Sci degree that's seen the problem before. I thought, compared to the other two examples they gave, it was a less efficient test.
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Apr 23, 2013 05:33
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Anyone worried about their data structures or algorithms background for whatever reason, look into Coursera's two Princeton offerings. They're both fantastic in terms of lectures, assignments, and sample interview questions. I did the first as some review before starting my job search and it certainly helped in the interviews.
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Apr 30, 2013 04:51
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Mr. Crow posted:What's the best way to dodge the "what did you make before" questions and "what are your salary requirements" questions? Before a second interview I went with: "I'm not comfortable sharing that at this point" and "There are many important factors to me beyond salary". After my 2nd interview at the company I agreed with, I got positive feedback and they insinuated that an offer would be made. They gave me a ballpark range. I said that the upper end of the range was about what I was looking for and they gave me slightly more than that.
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May 1, 2013 19:00
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My top choice rejected me after a screen, two interviews, and eight weeks of waiting. Pretty glad I took Offer A. Thanks, thread!
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May 1, 2013 19:56
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My HR contact left 3 weeks after I interviewed which delayed the process.Police Academy III posted:In my experience, letting them know that you might be getting other offers soon can help put some fire under their butt I did this and they told me "next week" then "next week again!". That's when I knew it wasn't looking good. Good Will Hrunting fucked around with this message at 02:09 on May 2, 2013 |
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May 2, 2013 01:54
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rentilius posted:My question is if there are jobs for people that do enjoy accounting (not just tax) but also programming? If so, how should I position myself for a job like that? Should I go back to college? Computer science jobs are available in pretty much every field you could be interested in. I just started working at a company that develops apps for the banks, hedge funds, etc. The good news for you is that it's probably easier to get into the type of programming you're interested in at this point in your career than some other areas which require deeper CS knowledge and certain math you probably haven't seen much in the accounting field (though maybe you did a lot of math elsewhere?). Whether you should go back to college depends on your life situation, whether your current company would pay, etc. My suggestion to anyone who wants to get into programming post-college is to take a few beginner courses that start you on the right path, then explore for yourself. Good Will Hrunting fucked around with this message at 02:02 on May 13, 2013 |
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May 13, 2013 01:59
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If they don't really give you the ability to progress your career to your liking, I say leave (tactfully, of course) whenever you like. At-will employment is just that.
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May 21, 2013 04:03
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In addition to above, the best question to ask a recruiter is for the names of 1-3 people who were placed by that recruiter. Any recruiter worth talking to would be very glad to give you some references.
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May 27, 2013 23:34
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Safe and Secure! posted:Well, how good can the compensation be? Completely incompetent partners in my firm who are just really good at bullshitting are making like 10% on projects they pitch and get on top of $200,000 - $250,000 base. The latest is a $300,000 project that we look to be getting. It makes me hate consulting even more than I already do, which is quite a lot. Everyone in management at my company that seems to have gone anywhere is completely full of poo poo and also a tremendous poo poo-head who just throws out buzzwords. The good developer I sit next to makes a fraction of what they do and is infinitely smarter (and also a way better person).
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Jun 4, 2013 00:38
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