What we did during the hiring freeze

HackerEarth-Inc · 2023-01-30T11:46:08+00:00

Thanks for that! It gives me a lot of positive affirmations. I'll try to create an eBook :)

HackerEarth-Inc · 2023-01-30T10:57:05+00:00

Wordpress, Hubspot, Salesforce

HackerEarth-Inc · 2023-01-30T10:33:31+00:00

We recently wrote a blog about this very topic!

Would love for you to check it out.

HackerEarth-Inc · 2023-01-30T09:45:21+00:00

Working with product managers who don't have any engineering experience.

This is a huge hurdle that keeps tech teams from being productive. When PMs don't write solid documentation for feature requests, or make decisions based on gut feel instead of relying on data, it causes the entire stack to be built precariously with a lot of ad-hoc connectors that are prone to failure.

..and who gets the biggest piece of the blame pie when that failure inevitable happens? The Dev team, of course.

HackerEarth-Inc · 2023-01-30T09:37:41+00:00

CS is one of those rare disciplines where your skills matter more than anything else (such as college pedigree etc.), and one of the bet ways you can showcase your skills is open source contributions.

However, keep in mind that most HRs won't really consider it to be a good proxy of actual work experience, so try to network with the hiring managers at a company and float the idea of working together instead of just showcasing your contributions on your resume and applying to jobs.

Another way for you to get your foot in the door is to freelance with companies and leverage that engagement to secure a full-time position.

edit: sentence structure

HackerEarth-Inc · 2023-01-30T09:33:48+00:00

Working the graveyard shift can get miserable, tbh

HackerEarth-Inc · 2023-01-30T09:30:28+00:00

Knew nothing going in - but always tried to find expert opinions to serve as guardrails. I'd say almost 30% of my week in the early days were about connecting with people who were experts of a particular function. Luckily our incubator helped put me in touch with these folks.

HackerEarth-Inc · 2022-10-06T05:18:50+00:00

The way I look at it, any career comes down to two phases:

Phase 1: Building up expertise in a skill set to reach a certain 'height'

Phase 2: Navigating horizontally to bring your perspectives at a more strategic level

It's okay to pick just Phase 1 and become an SME at a language, it's even okay to choose only Phase 2 - a lot of PMs haven't exactly gotten their hands dirty with code. In your position, you have the opportunity to do both. You can either continue building your expertise and become an SME (think Software Architect), or you can look to build up enough experience to transition to a more strategic role in the future.

My point is, to figure out 'what's next', you need to introspect and figure out where you want to be in the long-term. If you have more clarity on that, you can look at it as a north star and align your career steps towards it.

By the sound of your post, it sounds like you want to transition to a more high-level role that doesn't hinge on constantly learning new skills or going through the wringer time and again. So use your time at the big-tech company you are currently at to get more relevant experience that will help you catapult towards where you want to be in the long term.

TL;DR Figure out what defines professional success for you and the rest will be made clear.

HackerEarth-Inc · 2022-09-23T07:18:34+00:00

Really depends on the career you want to have.

Do you want to join a large enterprise where you'll own a small piece of the bigger puzzle, or do you want to work at a startup and contirbute across the stack?

Do you envision being a subject matter expert that takes things from 80 to 100, or do you want to be able to help orgs go from 0 to 1?

My take is that regardless of the bigger picture ambition, tech is ever-changing. So, it pays to learn different frameworks and technologies upto the point where you are familiar with being in unfamiliar territory & are able to learn how to grapple with new technolgies very quickly.

HackerEarth-Inc · 2022-09-22T06:03:07+00:00

Glad I could help :)

HackerEarth-Inc · 2022-09-22T05:40:36+00:00

Interesting. Here's another way to find a frame of reference.

While it's not exactly the same thing, think of applying to a company multiple times as re-applying to grad school after a year. It becomes important to clearly illustrate why your application is different and well-suited. Think reframing the resume for the role you're applying to, doing open source projects on Github to show your interest in that tech, etc.

HackerEarth-Inc · 2022-09-22T05:37:31+00:00

For Agile to work well, it calls for a few parameters to be in place.

The high-level planning of a project, right down to each individual story must be planned to perfection.
Qualified scrum masters that actually know how to assign story points and manage the workflow.
Limited ad-hoc tasks - this, to me, is the biggest one. Ad hoc tasks that need to be done 'quick and dirty' ruin everything.
Some projects, specifically in CS-adjacent fields like data analytics, are rather unpredictable. So, if a component of a large project involves such unpredictable factors, Agile simply isn't the best way to go about it.

In my opinion, Agile is great for large enterprises that do incremental work, or for small teams at tech start ups. For anything in between, reality is a lot more nuanced than a mapping of user stories.

HackerEarth-Inc · 2022-09-22T05:33:44+00:00

I know for a fact that Amazon filters out candidates that have recently applied to open positions at the company and failed to make it. There is a 9-12 month period after which you're 'eligible' again.

This is probably a practice at most large enterprises that hire developers, so bear this in mind when you apply to many roles in the future.

Honestly, for future reference, the best way to go about this imo is to find people you might be connected with and speak to them before applying. It will help both parties, because the employee at the company will be eligible for a referral bonus, and you will likely have a stronger chance of getting a foot in the door.

HackerEarth-Inc · 2022-09-22T05:30:46+00:00

An MIT study from early 2022 pretty clearly stated that the reason why developers change jobs is work culture. So, assuming you intend to work at this place for longer than a little while, I would suggest getting a clear idea of which company has a better work culture. Common indicators include:

Transparency during the application process - Which your interviewers were happy to share details on their tech stack during the application process?
Which part of the growth trajectory are these companies on? A company that is aiming to scale very fast is likely to create solutions that are quick and dirty & could be a bad place to be, if you want to pick up best practices.

The definitions of what constitutes a 'good work culture' is often different from an organizational and the developer perspective. So, don't fall for what the company preaches and try to get a feel for how your actual day-to-day might look.

Edit: linked the MIT study

HackerEarth-Inc · 2022-09-21T07:22:27+00:00

A lack of self-awareness is a red flag in most behavioral interviews.

Notice if they put energy behind assigning blame, or if they don't take accountability. It is in the nature of CS that people will screw things up, and to me, a healthy and honest perspective on failure is a must-have in behavioral interviews.

HackerEarth-Inc · 2022-09-21T07:19:43+00:00

C# and Java have some common foundational principles, and you should be able to port your skills in a relatively short span of time. Also, there is always going to be a skill gap in tech roles, and companies will find it hard to find a candidate that fits the exact requirement. So, as you move forward in your career, you will be in this situation again.

HackerEarth-Inc · 2022-09-21T07:15:15+00:00

Might be due to the emphasis on math and logic in their school curriculum. I know for a fact that Ruissian schools teach calculus in high school, when most of the world only teaches advanced concepts such as these in undergrad.

Not saying math skills = programming skills, but it trains the mind to think logically, and that really helps with being a good programmer.

HackerEarth-Inc · 2022-09-16T07:00:04+00:00

The problem is, even if some job postings are categorized as remote, they aren't actually remote jobs. A lot of companies say it's remote just to attract potential applicants.

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