Oldie Programming: Career Advice, Questions, Change of Directions

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > The Cavern of COBOL > Oldie Programming: Career Advice, Questions, Change of Directions

No Wave: Sep 18, 2005; HA! HA! NICE! WHAT A TOOL!

Hey guys - I'm having a lot of trouble making this career decision.

I majored Computer Science in college but wasn't super into it - I did fine in my classes but worked in a different career path for two years after college. I went back to programming, though, and I've got about two years of experience on a Django project that I had to leave for a totally random reason that doesn't reflect poorly on me or anything. Because it was the same project for two years, I have some weird gaps in my programming knowledge (I know nothing about threading, for example), so I haven't been exactly crushing it during the interviews.

I've gotten an offer in NYC (where I'm located now, temporarily staying with parents until I have this figured out) for around $90K for a small start-up. There are only a few engineers there.

But also, my friend who got me the last gig wants me to come out to San Francisco and work with him on a new project for at least a month - and if that works out, move forward from there (he's got a steady stream of work coming in). He's definitely trustworthy, and we worked together OK the last time - I just sort of thought that I'd learn better habits by working with a wider variety of people.

I'm having trouble deciding which of these choices would be better in the long run in terms of becoming a more knowledgeable coder. It seems like the ideal would be to work at a bigger company with smart programmers, but I don't think I'm qualified yet to work at a Google/Facebook/other obvious tech company. Would it be better to consult, try to learn stuff in my off time, and make it a goal to get in with one of the big guys?

# ¿ Oct 26, 2014 03:20

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 04:20

No Wave: Sep 18, 2005; HA! HA! NICE! WHAT A TOOL!

Che Delilas posted:

I don't really know how competitive 90k is for NYC, since I've never even glanced at it for my own career, but I think you're over-thinking this.

Get a job where you're programming in a reasonably modern language that you're interested in. Try and learn poo poo while you're working. Try and keep up on, or at least be aware of, some of the advances in your language/framework while you're working. If you find you don't like working at a startup, apply to non-startup companies for your next job. The way to be a better coder in the long run is to code, it doesn't really matter what the type of business is where you're doing it.

Appreciate the feedback.

Che Delilas posted:

Also, you haven't really given us nearly enough information about the SF job, but I'd be really
really
really
really
really really wary of moving across the country, to the other highest cost of living city in the country, for nothing more than a single month of guaranteed work (Oh but there will be more IF it's successful I pinky promise). Hell of a risk when you've already got an offer where you're living now.

All my stuff is stored rent-free, no car, no responsibilities at all, which is actually pretty pathetic, but my absolute worst-case scenario is that I end up back in NYC interviewing again in a month.

Che Delilas posted:

Why not? Did you apply there and the hiring managers/senior engineers tell you that you aren't qualified? Because that's the only valid way to tell. Don't disqualify yourself, that's their job, and frankly you aren't qualified to know if you're qualified.

In general, haven't heard much response from my applications. I get the feeling that trying to work at a bigger one like that is something better done while currently working, as the timeframes can be kind of long and I don't really know how to juggle that with the smaller companies I've applied to that want to know if you're interested in working there within a day or two of making a decision. That's sort of why the consulting thing was of interest to me - I could have the time to get referrals and interview as I get results (which could take months) without having to hold off entirely for two years (the length I'd want to stay at a normal job before leaving).

No Wave fucked around with this message at 22:08 on Oct 26, 2014

# ¿ Oct 26, 2014 04:54

No Wave: Sep 18, 2005; HA! HA! NICE! WHAT A TOOL!

Arachnamus posted:

I've found that tiny companies are either amazing or terrible for inexperienced coders and it can be very hard to tell which ahead of time.

It's all in the quality of the senior staff, as they're highly susceptible to both big-fish-little-pond-"lead"-developer issues and overworking by management.

The flip side is if you get a good group of people, you'll be working closely with them on the company's entire codebase and learning shedloads.

Yeah, I don't have a ton of confidence (not proven wrong, just no reason to believe that they're great) in this particular company. I may try out the consulting-thingy route, continuing to apply for jobs at bigger companies while doing so - especially because I already have the experience of having a ton of autonomy/responsibility on a smaller project.

No Wave fucked around with this message at 22:10 on Oct 26, 2014

# ¿ Oct 26, 2014 22:08

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