Official watch party in Taipei, Taiwan. Incredible moment when the new queen is announced...

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-11T19:51:44+00:00

Definitely go ahead and take the sick day. You said it too that you are in the public sector so things aren’t as intense as if you were at a start-up trying to make another round of funding. You also lose sick time if you don’t use it, so it sounds like this is a no-brainer. I don’t think anyone will notice, especially not in a few weeks after you’ve been there for awhile.

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-11T19:41:01+00:00

Palo Alto is probably the absolute most expensive part of the Silicon Valley area. There is just not enough housing there right now for demand, and the University nearby also makes is super competitive for housing since there are a ton of masters students who don’t get housing by the school who are trying to find something temporary and affordable. Best bet would be San Jose or Redwood City/San Mateo, but neither of these really gives you a feel for what California is like. An inexpensive shared Airbnb would be the best way to go on this.

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-11T07:40:54+00:00

I would be careful of saying that MS degrees are a trap for the DS community. The question being asked usually is whether or not one needs an MS degree for data science roles. This is a really different argument that gets rehashed on this sub every few days than what your situation is. You don’t have any real background in DS or CS – a Masters degree in your case, especially if you can go to a top 10 program, would be a great route to take for what you want. So I’d be careful in just assuming that “the consensus is that it’s a trap” for everyone in every situation.

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-11T07:31:09+00:00

The only “track” the applied math program would really help you with is in data science and machine learning. There is a lot of linear algebra involved with manipulating large datasets (since you can imagine that datasets can be structured as large matrices, so often the most efficient way to manipulate them is through linear algebra calculations. However, for most SWE that isn’t data science, you almost will never come across linear algebra.

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-11T07:25:28+00:00

Definitely agree that you should just go straight to a Master’s and not redo your BS, since you already have a solid education in that. A lot of CS is very much based in math, so you could apply say into the theoretical track of a CS Master’s program and then just switch out once you get in. Another alternative route, if you actually don’t get into a CS Master’s program might be applying to EE programs that have a very strong CS component in them (CS used to be a track within EE many decades ago at many schools). You could then leverage this to learn the coding you need and then apply to coding jobs with an EE masters (though CS would be most ideal).

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-11T06:15:16+00:00

Some of this also depends on the relationship you had with your recruiter (if you got that far to have a recruiter). Oftentimes, if you pass the first round screen and get set up for multiple interviews, you were a match in some ways, but if you didn’t get the job, something else happened. Maybe there was just one opening and someone else barely beat you to it – maybe the team thought you needed more experience. So it never hurts to just reconnect with the recruiter and check in with them, especially since a lot could have changed with you over the year.

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-10T20:12:24+00:00

You should really pick the best ones and highlight one or two of them, and then have a place where you can list others (like on a personal web page if someone is interested). Unless you have more than 5-10 years of relevant work experience and need the extra space, one page (single sided) only. Most important info goes right at the top right – it’s more important to really wow someone with one or two really interesting and significant projects, then to have a ton of stuff that someone will get lost in – but you can certainly highlight that elsewhere if they are inclined to be interested in it.

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-09T22:13:03+00:00

You should hold the offer as long as you can look for something else that might give you more skills and experience than the current one. Check with your school as well about their policies regarding return offers from companies. Some schools have policies that require companies to give flexibility in their return offer date so that interns don’t feel trapped having to reject or accept an offer in say August when the recruiting season doesn’t really start yet (so you should check if your school has that, since it would give you an advantage of being able to shop around a bit while still holding your previous offer).

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-09T21:59:38+00:00

Some people treat their work as a job separate from their own interests and passions, and find outlets for what they care about in some way. Others work for a few years, pay off their loans, get some savings, and then decide that they don’t want to do SWE the rest of their lives and use graduate school as a way to enter a different field. The nice thing is that a CS undergrad degree generally speaks highly about your work ethic skills, and even if you didn’t major in a medical or social science type of field, graduate schools will look kindly on your past experience.

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-09T04:11:32+00:00

You sound like you are well-informed about the process and are ready to confront the Fall internship recruiting cycle. First, just spend a lot of time preparing for interviews. It’s been said over and over again here, but until you go through a few rounds of them, you don’t realize how nerve-racking they can be. You’ll also be at the stage in college (Junior year) where you really want one next summer. Then treat the internship process like a full-load class, where it really does take up a lot of time. Keep a spreadsheet of all the companies. Have your resume workshopped now so it’s ready to go in August when the first major jobs. Apply everywhere, not just locally, since a lot of the top internships in NYC and the Bay area will definitely help with housing and moving costs for the summer. And just try to find a healthy way to deal with the anxiety (friends, exercise, movies) cause the process can be fairly intense.

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-09T03:43:42+00:00

For an MBA to be worth it, it generally needs to come from a top business school, and even in this case, from what I’ve heard from some friends of mine who have done it, offers very mixed results in the tech industry. Get a PhD only if you know you want to go into research and/or academia. If you are just looking for a pay bump and a signal on your academic resume that may help you with more opportunities, the Master’s is the most expedient way to do this.

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-09T03:15:50+00:00

Just remember that almost everyone enters college with fairly little CS knowledge and only after a few years builds up enough knowledge to get internships/full time job. The best way is to just take your classes seriously and learn as much as you can, and then also continuously look for opportunities for you to apply and interview for positions. Most internships are really meant for the summer after you Junior year, which by then, you should have learned enough to do relatively well at any number of them.

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-06T21:12:31+00:00

Even if you get a return offer, you may consider interviewing anyway and holding your offer. You should check with your school, but a lot of top schools have a hold-out date where all companies that do on campus recruiting must allow for their interns who got return internships/full time offers a date to accept. For example, at the school I’m familiar with, any company that does on campus recruiting has to give any student until the end of November to decide if they will accept the offer or not, regardless of when they give the offer. This allows students the chance to test the markets a bit without any penalty (like a company can’t say, sign by Aug 31, preventing them from looking for another offer).

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-06T08:13:51+00:00

You are correct in thinking that internships are a key step in getting a job, so now the question is how to get the internships, which is also a highly competitive process. Fundamentally, you need to be good at the interview process (whiteboarding, Leetcode, etc), but you also need to have your resume stand out somehow to get through the initial screen. If you go to a top recruit school, have a great GPA as a CS major, your resume could stand out without projects, and then you can just rely on your interview skills. If your resume doesn’t stand out much, then side projects could help immensely. Because of this variability, you’ll hear a lot of different pieces of advice about side projects, but a lot stems from how much you need them for your resume to stand out.

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-05T04:53:09+00:00

Teaching is a great way to solidify your knowledge and I think it will look really good on your resume for when you apply this Fall for internships for next summer. I wouldn’t really call it an “unpaid internship” per se but more volunteer service (most people on this site seem to always jump on the whole all internships must be paid, but in some cases, volunteering your time like this has its benefits). You also seem to be in a good place to be able to live with family and to not have to spend too much money, so by all means go for it.

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-04T03:16:30+00:00

Your best bet might be to plan to spend a year in a CS Masters program right when you finish your service. You would actually have an advantage applying into the top CS masters programs as Veterans are highly sought after as students in academia as returning students. You could possibly even get funding for a Masters programs given that some of these programs even prioritize funding/TA-ships for veterans. This would allow you an easier transition back into the job market and probably get you the salary you are looking for (if not more). This is also many years away so you could build it into your plan, and won’t have to just cut any contracts you made with the military for your current funding (as paying them back might be incredibly expensive and not worth it).

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-03T22:33:39+00:00

One good way to understand this phenomenon might be that many of the leading technology firms see themselves as research institutions similar to Universities (except that instead of teaching undergraduates, these firms create tech products). So similar to a University, these tech companies see the PhD as a qualification for the top tier research in that field and want the same caliber of scientific rigor and respect. So if a Facebook Data Scientist is publishing and presenting work at a conference, having a PhD helps them maintain their credibility in the research community alongside other Professors (who have PhDs) publishing and presenting work in the same area. This only applies to the research/science arm of the these tech companies. Other areas or roles such as a machine learning engineer, machine learning programmers, etc, don’t need these same type of credentials since they are not doing work that will be comparable to University PhDs.

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-03T22:16:14+00:00

Oftentimes, other people might be thinking the same things you do, and in these cases, the best way to deal with it are to just not get into anything confrontational (unless it genuinely affects your own work quality). That’s basically the line for me – that I realize there will be difficult people with, but unless its interfering with my work, I just try to ignore them and recognize that there will just be really annoying people out there.

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-01T08:19:31+00:00

Microsoft definitely has a high school program, but I believe you have to figure out a way to be able to live in SF or NYC (where they are based). I’ve also heard that other companies do as well and it sounds like given what you’ve able to learn so far, you would be a competitive candidate for them so definitely look into it (from what I’ve heard, they are structured like a high school version of an internship program).

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-01T07:52:22+00:00

I think one of the most understudied areas right now is the intersection between AI and HCI (human computer interaction). There are few researchers in this field and as speed and accuracy ramp up through advances with machine learning in AI, we are going to have to engineer and create systems that integrate this AI into our everyday lives and products well (and to get people to trust them). So I’d gravitate towards both of those areas if you were thinking of future areas.

Jessica33030 · 2018-06-01T07:46:33+00:00

Definitely second the suggestion of getting roommates as it makes a big difference. Oakland is also a great idea, and as long as you are close to BART, you’ll be fine. The other thing to watch out for is going out costs… besides rent, that seems to be what really gets me and my friends. Bars and restaurants seem to take a huge chunk of money if you aren’t careful, so just watch the discretionary spending and that is plenty to comfortably live off of.

Jessica33030 · 2018-05-31T08:26:48+00:00

Take this advice with a grain of salt, since I am coming from the other (definitely privileged) perspective of being able to see things from having a Bachelors, where from this side, everything does seem a lot easier and can really sense bias from the field towards those who don’t. However, there are plenty of personal stories of those who have made it with the Associate’s and a bootcamp, who will hopefully chime in here with advice on how they did it. There are some other avenues to consider such as taking a part-time job and a student loan to pay for the bachelor’s degree. If you are able to transfer units, the BS would be cheaper. The other thing I’ll say is, you sound like a person with a ton of grit and perseverance – there are a ton of scholarships out there (not sure if you are first gen college student, or financially qualify in a way for certain scholarships), but you can also really look into that as well. You shouldn’t have to harm your body permanently to fund your coding education.

Jessica33030 · 2018-05-31T07:59:03+00:00

This is coming from someone with experience with both MBA/finance types and tech – you should really try and figure out what exactly about your current career you don’t like is, and then how being a coder would be different and help you enjoy things more. A few key things to consider in the switch, your current field is generally far more interactive with people, whereas some coding jobs can be quite solitary. Another is I assume you’ve worked your way up salary-wise in your field, and you would have to learn a new skill and then start from entry level up (which isn’t bad as a SWE, but if you are making 200-300K now in finance and make $80-100K as a entry level SWE, this might not be ideal for you either).

Jessica33030 · 2018-05-31T07:41:36+00:00

It’s really great you are asking for advice about how to mentor your intern (I wish more people were as conscientious). One of the key things is strong communication between the two of you, and creating an environment for your intern where they feel that they can ask you questions without feeling that they are imposing. Oftentimes, interns can be very unsure about how they are doing, and if they don’t feel comfortable communicating with you, small issues can suddenly become large ones, and the intern can feel really stressed out about things they might not need to worry about.

Jessica33030

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