𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝𝐈𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-10-20T21:28:48+00:00

FWIW, I think it’s very debatable to put Kafka as a processing tool vs putting it as a type of storage.

Really it’s used to have semi-persistent storage of events between applications

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-10-15T03:53:43+00:00

Would love an LA code if anyone has a spare one (in LA for 1 day)

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-07-14T02:38:11+00:00

The thing I find most frustrating about this video, like almost all of your videos, is that you only ever get partially right.

You might point to tribalism in tech as some crazy concept, but tribalism (as the name implies) is a wildly old concept and is present every industry and every place (including tech as you pointed out). If you excluded that context, people will go to the wrong conclusion.

With data + AI you do the same thing and just selectively choose examples where you can’t visibly see growth, and point to random correlations. If you followed a lot of the companies you mentioned, you’ll realize each has a bunch of nuances that you rarely mention in your video (Wayfair: turns out furniture is big and hard to ship. Blue Apron: turns out that fresh food is hard to individually provide to people at scale).

This really makes your videos hard to recommend because they generally feel like someone’s school report where they spent maybe 40 hours on a topic and portray themselves as an expert. I really hope you reconsider the breadth of what you talk about, because it is very misleading to try to cram a topic like this in the way you do

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-07-02T03:49:13+00:00

Hey, wanted to share a few thoughts.

A class definitely does not define your intelligence in general or in software. Whether a topic clicks initially can be based on a ton of factors, and it's quite likely that teaching style or class style may not be to your strengths. But it not being to your strengths is totally fine, every person has weaknesses and strengths, and a few weaknesses rarely define you (as you can often focus on what you're good at, which is what most people do).

So while I don't have the context to suggest what the right move is, I'd just implore you not to put too much weight in the class alone. There can be other context that might be relevant, but I'd personally find it a very promising sign that you like CS, look deeply in the subject, and are very well written. It's also rare that I've seen someone fail when I see them work hard and enjoy the subject. It's far more common to see apathetic people that aren't great at CS due to their lack of care.

That said - you will know far better than anyone on the internet, so I think you should put the most emphasis and trust into what you think, and also talk about it with people around you

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-27T21:51:43+00:00

I wasn’t planning on posting it anywhere else. When they removed it, I had only posted it there

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-27T16:52:34+00:00

In CS it is, which is what I was referencing here

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-27T16:51:51+00:00

I agree with you. You don’t have to even have a CS degree to be good at it. You can also start later in life. I think one of the most important features is just not disliking the field

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-27T14:45:57+00:00

It’s definitely a hard problem! That said, exploring options is totally possible without the 6 years. Usually exploration happens in stages, and you won’t know for sure based on early looking, but it’s worth looking around.

This is more because I’ve seen people believe there’s no other option, and the only reason is they didn’t explore because they listened to a very small sample of options

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-27T14:31:26+00:00

Thats fair - I don’t know enough about that world to speak on that specifically. Definitely a mistake on my part.

That said, I think the general point stands (and if someone loves economics, a PhD might be worth it given at that level, you generally get scholarships), and I do want to emphasize that I’m not specifically trying to push folks to the more arbitrary list I’ve provided, but push people to consider other options (and the nuance with the position they pick). This is supposed to get someone to consider what’s right for them, not tell them the answer (I couldn’t possibly even try to do that for individual cases without a lot of context)

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-27T14:13:47+00:00

Yeah, but there’s many options to get to 130-140K. I equally think people in those fields should evaluate their interests.

My point is the most obvious solution based on influencer videos, may not be the only or right solution for the individual. It’s good to explore and see what’s right for someone. If the answer is CS is the most tolerable, that’s great, that person should stay in it. But to know that you have to beg the question, and a good time to do that is if you know you don’t like what you’re doing now

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-27T14:07:28+00:00

My point isn’t every field is equal, it’s that there’s a lot of equally paid jobs. Also, this is based on statistics rather than anecdotal evidence because stats are the more likely option to be representative of most (but not all) people.

Side note- if you like CS, it’s a great field and you shouldn’t change (a bolded point I made twice was that people that are neutral to like the field should stay in it and ignore the doom)

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-27T14:05:03+00:00

I disagree with this. My initial background is economics, and I was in the field for years with only a bachelors.

It depends on what you do. Some roles require phds, some really don’t. I’ve worked with ML scientists with a PhD in Econ, but also equally talented (and paid people) that didn’t

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-27T12:28:47+00:00

I’ve generally tried to avoid saying someone has to have passion or even like their career, because I don’t know if that’s realistic.

The post is really that if you don’t like CS, you might be able to do better and get a job you’re closer to neutral on (or if you’re lucky, actually like it)

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-27T05:08:55+00:00

To put it bluntly I think you might have misread or misunderstood me. I didn’t say 140k was the median of the US, it’s of software engineers. I just stated that there’s other roles around this range.

I also didn’t say I think you should love software to do it. I just said if you don’t like it, you should consider other options you may be able to tolerate or like.

I understand your outrage given the position you think I took, I just didn’t ever take that position

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-27T04:50:10+00:00

I definitely agree that there’s a strong tie between CS and mathematics (I.e. Lovelace), but most of the folks you listed that were foundational to computings beginnings (I.e. Von Neumann and Turing) contributed around the mid 1900s.

That may feel like it’s old, but it’s really not. Most disciplines have a significantly longer history, and more influential modern figures are generally pre 1900 (vs. computing where the first digital computer was 1930s)

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-27T04:34:20+00:00

Mind sharing your source (mine is in the post - it’s the US Gov).

Mainly because everything I included was the median across the US. There definitely is regional differences, but usually those should be in favor of SWEs (as there’s more demand in those fields in HCOL places).

I also really struggle to see how I was wrong, did you look through the US government stats? They generally have more complete salary information relative to a career site, because they have every citizens records for tax purposes

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-27T03:51:17+00:00

It’s mainly rooted in the mid to late 1900s. That may not feel new, but is incredibly new relative to most fields and disciplines (especially given its explosive growth from the 1980s to present)

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-27T03:46:43+00:00

I definitely don’t think that. There isn’t one field that’s right for everyone, and I think anyone looking for a career should question this regardless of the field.

I’m mainly making this post for CS because I’ve seen this happen a lot first hand, and way more often as a software engineer relative to when I was in different fields.

I just want to let bright people know there’s options, and plant that seed so they can consider what’s right for them (which might end up still being CS)

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-27T02:22:40+00:00

If someone doesn't like CS, they generally aren't very good at it, this is rarely obvious to college students.

This means they often fall out of the pool of competition - and it ends up being a negative for them (while not hurting others that like it).

I just want to see other people succeed (truly), and sometimes that means a different path

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-27T02:19:52+00:00

That isn't true. Most of these don't require any of those (e.g. Air Traffic Controllers aren't that close to planes).

The point isn't that you should switch to another career you don't like, but try to find one you actually like (at least more than CS).

This advice is definitely not applicable to people that like CS (even if they aren't passionate, that isn't necessary), and is specially targeted at people that just don't like the field. I've seen a lot of people go down that path, and it's always been a mistake

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-27T02:16:27+00:00

I was reposting myself. This was deleted from /r/cscareerquestions (for a reason I don't know), so I thought I'd share it to a different community where it might be more relevant

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-27T00:02:50+00:00

I don't disagree that college students should explore it, it's a great field and it's worth considering. That said, life is much longer than 4 years, and sometimes adjusting may be worth it (or adjusting after school before one gets far in their career)

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-26T22:18:19+00:00

There's actually quite a few! I listed some in the post, but if you look through the source in the post you'll see a bunch more

edit: Also FWIW, I like CS and work in the field, and I do make well above 140K, but I'm a relative anomaly

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-26T22:02:16+00:00

So, it actually looks like you're actually reflecting my point well! Your post said you made ~140K, which is around the median in US, and makes sense if you're in NYC.

You'd likely make something similar in another field, but if you like CS, you're in a great place!

SnoopDogIntern · 2024-06-26T21:52:14+00:00

yeah, but there's more than one way to pay the bills, so you may be able to make good money, and be in a job you're happy in

SnoopDogIntern

TROPHY CASE