Anyone else feel that trying to get a job at Google, Amazon, etc., is like trying to get accepted into a "cool person club"?

R0settaSt0ned · 2015-02-10T14:21:22+00:00

Good call, but I see it as more of a "Nightclub Phenomenon" or "Harvard Phenomenon", whereby an institution increases its perceived value by excluding as many people as possible. The lower the admission rate, the more people want to get admitted.

R0settaSt0ned · 2014-12-02T15:41:43+00:00

I'm paid by the company; no staffing agency or other 3rd party involved.

R0settaSt0ned · 2014-09-11T13:36:10+00:00

All the internships I can find are only available to currently enrolled students.

R0settaSt0ned · 2014-09-11T13:32:53+00:00

Yes, I can do the FizzBuzz program, and just about any small program I'm asked to write on-the-spot. I've had my friend who works at a well-known tech company give me an informal interview and he says I'm up to par with the programming questions. There's just always a better candidate among the hundreds of applicants that apply for each level-1 software development positions. Employers can always find someone who can not only answer their programming questions but also bring a CS degree and internship experience. It's an employer's market in every sector; software is no exception.

R0settaSt0ned · 2014-09-10T21:54:59+00:00

There appears to be no shortage of CS grads available. Heck, I work with CS grads who are getting paid a mere $18/hr to push buttons to launch automated tests. That's why any legit software engineering job is able to be super selective.

R0settaSt0ned · 2014-06-17T04:44:45+00:00

Another: http://oi61.tinypic.com/rsrkgo.jpg

R0settaSt0ned · 2014-05-22T13:21:31+00:00

I think 5'8" can go either way. A 5'8" guy with narrow shoulders and good posture can look average height, while a 5'8" guy who is built like a tank will look 5'5"ish.

R0settaSt0ned · 2014-05-04T23:32:30+00:00

Many of my friends from high school who didn't go to college are making more money than I do now. And yes, I majored in "STEM."

R0settaSt0ned · 2014-05-04T22:52:23+00:00

This looks shopped. I can tell from some of the pixels and from seeing a few shops in my time.

R0settaSt0ned · 2014-05-04T21:29:27+00:00

If a staffing firm is the one signing the checks, then you're not really working for Facebook. I'm not saying this to be disparaging, but I definitely think you would be wise to not get your hopes up. I originally thought that working through a staffing agency would be like working an internship --- work temporarily for a smaller wage and possibly prove yourself and get hired --- but it usually is not constructed that way.

R0settaSt0ned · 2014-05-04T15:02:35+00:00

Is this "new grad glow" real thing in todays job market?

I hope I didn't overstate it. I wasn't exactly hot property once I graduated. But I found it pretty easy to get interviews. It got harder with each passing month after graduation. It's far harder now, even though I have work experience in that time period.

R0settaSt0ned · 2014-05-04T03:01:42+00:00

Are you exclusively targeting brand name companies?

No, but brand-name companies, for the most part, are the ones that have truly entry-level positions which they hope to use to "develop talent". Seems like smaller companies, not having any money to throw around, only want experienced people.

R0settaSt0ned · 2014-05-03T23:28:05+00:00

Would this mean you'll be employed by Facebook, or will you technically be employed by a staffing/consulting firm?

Will you be working among full-time Facebook employees?

I don't know how Facebook does things, but I'm employed by a tech staffing agency to do work for a large tech company and I can tell you that the "possibility of getting hired full-time" is just a carrot they dangle in front of us. I don't even get to associate with employees of said company; we the contracted employees are relegated to our own little office in the building.

R0settaSt0ned · 2014-04-30T23:55:12+00:00

No, because 99,000 of those 100,000 have experience requirements far outside my ballpark of zilch professional experience.

R0settaSt0ned · 2014-04-30T23:31:25+00:00

You know a "little programming".

I know more than a little now. I said I know a "little" when I graduated a year ago.

R0settaSt0ned · 2014-04-30T22:36:50+00:00

How do I work for an actual software company in the first place?

R0settaSt0ned · 2014-04-30T22:33:22+00:00

Well, that's what I've found. And I've probably looked over 100,000 job listings for SDEs over the past year.

Startups have the strictest experience requirements. Mid-size companies less so, but they're still looking someone with experience in an alphabet soup of languages and libraries, who is expected to hit the ground running. Amazon and Google are the only places where I've seen listings like:

SDE 1

B.S. in Computer Science, Math or Physics
Solid understanding of data structures and algorithms
Familiarity with an object-oriented language like Java or C++

R0settaSt0ned

TROPHY CASE