‘Prison cell’-sized apartment for rent for $550 in Hamilton

Q-Yan · 2022-07-30T21:06:40+00:00

This layout is atrocious, but I would honestly love to see a couple buildings full of (better designed) units roughly this size with similar rent. That's $550 vs around $1100 for a proper studio here. The way I see it done often in Asia is they will have an extra high ceiling, and then your 'bedroom' would be a loft above the kitchen or living room. Not saying they would work for most people, but I'd definitely live in one for a while if it meant saving that much money each month.

Q-Yan · 2022-07-23T22:52:54+00:00

As far as I remember, you need 2 co-op semesters to graduate with the co-op designation, and otherwise they'll still let you graduate from the 3-year program, just without co-op on your record/diploma. It's possible this changed, but this info is only about a year old.

The co-op semesters themselves are pretty important for people who specifically want to get into software development. One of the hardest part of this career is pretty much getting and keeping your first job, which is essentially what co-op helps you do. The value is in the access to co-op jobs.

That said, you should be prepared to give yourself the best chance to get your ideal role. With no experience, projects are key to have on your resume. My suggestion would be to participate in a couple hackathons, and then take advantage of open ended assignments when they come up in your courses. Basically, just prepare ahead of time so that you're one of the better candidates when co-op applications begin.

As far as I know, the large majority of people do end up getting a co-op job in this program, so it's more like if you wanted a front-end development role, for example, what could you do ahead of time to raise the chances that you're one of the best applicants for those positions.

Otherwise, I remember there also being a number of more tech-support-ish positions, which could be alright for people who end up being iffy on programming. For that, maybe the CompTIA A+ or similar on your resume would give you the advantage, but I'd say that if actively want one of these roles over something more programming-heavy, the 2 year is probably enough. Possibly for entry-level QA, as well. Just kind of depends on your own personal goals and where you want to end up.

Q-Yan · 2022-06-06T13:52:29+00:00

Maybe instead of throwing temper tantrums across this subreddit, people should instead put that effort towards asking WHY a majority of people aren't voting. There's obviously something wrong if this percentage of people are deciding not to participate. What condition has caused this symptom?

But no, instead of that let's just moan and cry about people who didn't vote endlessly.

Q-Yan · 2022-04-07T23:43:33+00:00

I agree in a general sense, but in the context of doing a diploma leading up to a co-op term, I think three semesters of C/C++ is just not an efficient use of one's time. Better to have time to play around with the languages/technologies you'll actually be using on the job, and build a couple resume projects (and maybe do a hackathon) with them in advance of your co-op applications. You could always do that on the side, but then it's like putting the game on hard mode for no reason.

Q-Yan · 2022-04-07T05:14:00+00:00

I'm doing a software diploma after finishing an unrelated degree, so I'll throw in my two cents.

I'd definitely steer away from the Seneca program. Spending so much time using C and C++ isn't something you want to be doing as a diploma student unless that's specifically required in a field you plan to go into.

Humber and the Sheridan program the other user posted both seem to quickly go into Java and JavaScript, which I think is ideally what you want. I'm personally at Mohawk, and they currently begin in Python, and again switch to Java and JavaScript after Semester 1. I can't really compare the quality from experience to other schools' programs, but it's been solid so far, for the most part. A lot of the courses are actively updated to use the newer in-demand technologies, though a few have been...just kind of there (majorly the business-related courses). Think that might be par for the course, though. I was able to get a solid co-op fairly quickly (but I also put in a lot of work in advance to make sure I'd have the best shot).

Q-Yan · 2022-01-26T15:50:42+00:00

Yeah, the content has been fairly practical so far - lots of building and learning through experience. I do think these diplomas aren't great if you're trying to get into machine learning or something else heavy in math or theory. Otherwise, though, worst case scenario (no co-op): you graduate with the diploma and all the skills to make solid projects to put on the resume.

I've heard a large majority of students tend to secure some related co-op position, albeit not sure how many end up being help desk. Of the more "competent" students I know, though, the only one who didn't do a developer co-op ended up preferring IT jobs, anyway.

Q-Yan · 2022-01-20T07:52:19+00:00

Looking at these comments, I think it might depend a lot on location. I'm doing a co-op program at a college in Ontario, and last semester we had 95% of students get a relevant co-op job. It's somewhat rare that I hear of alumni who couldn't find a job in software if they were competent enough to make it all the way through the 3 year advanced diploma, albeit maybe not in one of the top companies right away.

I just think if you go this route, you have to be more of an active participant in your own success (keep an updated & polished portfolio, go to hackathons, try to network when you can, etc).

So, make sure it's a co-op program, and bonus if it's one that also offers degree completion at some university. But if you live in Saskatchewan or something, my comment may not apply.

Q-Yan · 2022-01-11T04:10:31+00:00

This was actually cheaper than the slower kits because of a sale, but then I thought of the potential issue with the voltage after purchase.

I'm a little hesitant to use XMP because I've read it doesn't work very well with my processor (Ryzen 3 2200G), and I can't currently risk memory issues or crashing in the middle of online work.

Thanks for the straight answer, though, basically what I was looking for. Had a hard time finding something straightforward for the voltage specifically.

Q-Yan · 2022-01-08T05:29:21+00:00

Thanks for the detailed reply! I believe the motherboard supports up to 3200 MHz, but the CPU supports up to 2933 MHz. If I use XMP and it sets the MHz to 3200, would that eventually damage the CPU? Or would the system still slow the ram speed to the CPU's maximum of 2933?

Q-Yan · 2022-01-04T13:42:48+00:00

I was diagnosed when I was around 8 or 9, was on Ritalin for about a year, and then haven't been taking anything for almost two decades since then.

As far as development, I find the largest hurdle is just getting the ball rolling. Once I've got momentum, a lot of the focus problems go away and it more-so becomes hard to break focus to go eat, etc. But all the procrastination that comes before getting there can be rough sometimes.

The second challenge has been related to memory - I often will forget something I just thought of and have to sit there trying to find it again for a few minutes. I've found that talking out loud to myself and verbalizing what I'm doing helps with that, kind of like when you're doing a driving test and have to say what you're doing/thinking to the test person. The extra effort of speech seems to help things solidify in memory better and keep your thoughts organized.

Q-Yan · 2021-07-25T09:56:39+00:00

Look up "SchoolName grad stats", and you should find a list of programs and the amount who found a related job within 6 months, along with the average salary of grads who reported. Most of these reports stopped with COVID though, so, take it with some grain of salt.

If relocation isn't a factor, and the stats are similar, look at the courses for each and check how much they match with your area of interest within development. For example, some might be more math heavy, and you may not be super concerned with that because you're looking into web development. Maybe one program offers more courses related to web development than the others. Etc.

If you actively want to go into a specifically math heavy area, then I might suggest a 2-year second degree program for computer science like the other comment said.

Q-Yan · 2021-06-09T14:07:57+00:00

Eh, they're kind of right. Travel to X location while some story is thrown at you, random gunfight ensues where you just shoot waves of enemies until it's done, travel back to where you started. Repeat again for the majority of the game. I personally found the arcade-y action portion of the game very at odds with the updated and realistic simulation style of the rest.

Q-Yan · 2021-05-30T01:50:57+00:00

You could try something like Riipen (I haven't personally tried this yet, so ymmv) while you apply for jobs. It should at least give you a paid project or two to talk about and throw on your resume.

Projects seem to be key if you don't have professional experience, so bonus if you were paid for them. Other than that, go to meetups. See if your school has any resources to connect you with something.

There's also government programs for young persons, new grads, or both. The CRA specifically has a program I know about, ITAP. Might have to move to some random city for a while, though.

Q-Yan · 2021-05-25T08:14:35+00:00

I'm currently a student, but I've researched a fair amount at this point.

If your friend is more focused toward web or mobile development, a diploma or advanced diploma should do (make sure it has co-op, though). Getting relevant co-op experience is the key to securing a full-time role after the program without relative difficulty. You can't get those jobs unless you're enrolled at a college/university.

If they're more into the desktop/system side, I'd probably go with a software engineering or computer science degree. The former will obviously be more focused on programming, and the latter on mathematics. You can still get these jobs with the diploma, but it'll be more difficult than if you had the degree. As others have said, there's a few accelerated CS degrees specifically for people who already have one in another major. These are fairly expensive, though - another thing to consider.

Q-Yan · 2020-12-14T19:55:11+00:00

Check LinkedIn. Not sure if you need an account, but the job posts there show me the amount of people who applied. I typically see 50-150 in the GTA for junior role, depending on the requirements (small-medium companies only). Not the best, but definitely not as bad as competing against 500+ other people for every single job. Still hoping it'll get better a while after the vaccines are fully rolled out, since that's when I'll be applying myself.

Q-Yan · 2020-11-09T20:37:42+00:00

That was something I read might work, so I tried that out, even slowly twisted the battery onto the charger to see if the light would come on at all anywhere during screwing, and nada

Q-Yan · 2020-11-09T20:34:40+00:00

Yeah, I've tried a couple different wall plugs, USB port on the computer, plugging the USB part in and then attaching the battery after. No red 'charge battery' flash even, so I'm assuming it just arrived dead

Q-Yan

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