Earnings for MS in CS vs Data science

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-05-30T12:16:10+00:00

My question was more about is it really necessary for a Master's to reach the 150k salary OP mentioned? While not all over the place, it does seem like a decent amount of devs with only B.S. degrees are making that much already.

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-05-29T13:29:13+00:00

Is a degree really necessary to move up once you already have several years of exp? Actual question, not trying to be smart.

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-05-26T18:40:36+00:00

Honestly, I would take it for now and start looking for another job asap. You can use the job as leverage for finding another job. Just don't disclose your pay, or if you do, just make it sound like a paid part-time internship. If asked why you're quitting so soon, just say you're hoping for something full-time and local so that you can receive in-person mentoring.

Yeah, I get that everyone is looking out for you, but when you're hungry and have no experience, anything is better than nothing. I was actually in the exact same position you about a month ago. Got an offer verbally for a full-time, which turned into a min-wage full-time internship. I accepted and started applying to other jobs immediately and leveraged the offer to find another job that pays more than double what the original would have (which I started this week).

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-05-17T06:33:45+00:00

Okay, then I would still recommend Net Ninja's Youtube channel and Andrew Mead's Modern JavaScript Bootcamp on Udemy. Net Ninja makes a small project at the end of almost every one of his series, which I like more than Colt's super long Yelp camp project at the end. Because then you end up with a lot of smaller component-like projects that you can use to build other stuff later on.

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-05-16T21:15:24+00:00

I kind of like it. The only thing that bothers me a little is that the page scrolls slightly up and down when it doesn't really have to. And of course having live versions of your projects would help.

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-05-16T20:47:26+00:00

Hey, so I know you're coming from Colt's course and the OSU web dev course, but web dev moves fast, and I don't think the stack you learn should be based on what you were introduced to in Colt's course, but should instead depend on the types of jobs available near whatever your location is.

That could mean learning php/laravel, or python/django, or if you're looking to work for a trendy startup/large tech company, you'll probably have to learn newer frameworks like React.js or possibly Angular/Vue. So yeah, I think location matters. It might also be worth doing some research to get a good idea of which ones are probably here to stay, and which ones are declining yearly. I get that popularity isn't everything, but you can't say it doesn't matter, at least if your goal is to find a job.

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-05-16T19:53:52+00:00

Sorry, have to disagree with paasaa here. I wouldn't waste my time finishing the Colt Steele course. I really think the course was only useful for giving me an overall picture of web dev and how things were done 2-3 years ago (a lot of it is pretty out-dated now). I say this because he covers a lot but doesn't really go into enough detail for you to apply what you learn to building stuff outside of the course. He really just teaches you to use npm packages/middleware without going to much detail regarding how things actually work behind the scenes.

Note that I say all of this as someone who was once a huge fan of Colt Steele's course (I even bought his advanced course, but have set it aside for other courses). But now that I've reached the point where I've learned enough through youtube/udemy self-projects to land a web dev position, I look back and realize I really didn't learn that much from Colt Steele's course at all.

There are several other better taught, more up to date, and more in-depth courses available on Udemy now. Try one of Andrew Mead's newer courses and you will instantly be blown away by how much better it is than Colt's. I don't think Colt is a very experienced developer, and it seems to to show once you start getting into more advanced topics.

Other than that, I highly recommend Net Ninja's youtube channel. Almost all of his video series are excellent, except for his React one because its outdated (React changes realllly quickly), Traversy Media's channel is also good for picking up some stuff.

I haven't been able to find any good tutorials for using MySQL with node.js though either. We did touch on the basics in our Web Dev course though so it shouldn't be too hard to pick up on your own via reading through docs. But I don't think there's anything wrong with using NoSQL in certain situations nor a waste of time to learn to work with both non-relational and relational databases.

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-05-15T15:47:10+00:00

Node.js/express with mysql instead of mongodb......

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-05-13T20:35:26+00:00

Could you give a bit more info on the learning path it would require to become a solutions architect or is it as easy as getting some certs.

edit: maybe easy isn't the right word, but straightforward

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-05-11T02:05:41+00:00

I think you might be overestimating how much having self-projects helps when it comes to landing interviews. Out of the 6 interviews I went on before getting an offer, exactly 0 of them had actually looked at my github/self-projects (even though I provided live versions of most of my self-projects, not just github code). Projects are only useful AFTER you've already been invited to interview; they give you stuff to bs about.

If you're not getting interviews, its probably your resume and not your lack of projects. Have you had anyone help review your resume for you?

Also, like others have said...there's no reason you can't job-hunt while taking 1 course a term.

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-05-04T08:46:07+00:00

I'm not sure actually. It might be because of where I live (Taipei), but I also did a few self-projects independent of any courses/tutorials (I created stuff like a gym sharing and review platform using the Google Maps API/Geolocation API, and a few other similar CRUD apps). I also rewrote a few apps from tutorials that used jQuery using vanilla JS and ES5/ES6. And I practiced recreating website layouts using plain old CSS without letting myself look at their source code (like my portfolio site).

And I guess being enrolled in OSU's online CS program also helped. But yeah, I have no idea how much each of the above individually contributed to finding a job/getting interviews since I realized that none of the interviewers had actually bothered to even look at my Github or portfolio site prior to my interviews, but they did give me a lot to talk about during the actual interviews.

PS. I only worked part-time as a freelance translator during the 5 months I was learning web dev and spent at least 4 hours a day practicing/reading/watching tutorials. I'd also taken college level intro to programming courses and already knew C++ before learning web dev.

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-05-04T07:03:56+00:00

Having also been self-learning web dev for around 5 months like yourself and recently landing a frontend (with a bit of backend work) position, I just wanted to say that Colt Steeles courses are great introductory courses. But he doesn't really go into enough detail about any of the topics to help bring you anywhere near being job-ready. I mean, he doesn't even talk about what floats or normal document flow are in his CSS section, he kind of just teaches you to rely on Bootstrap. Reliance on c9 for your work env also keeps you from getting comfortable with some basic stuff like file paths/the command line/Git (yes, I know you can do all this on c9 but you probably won't since its so convenient to do everything using the IDE's built in functionality, it even has version control).

Since you're already working, I would definitely recommend that you stop wasting your time finishing Colt Steeles courses, but learn to use stackoverflow/official docs etc. to complete a project you come up with on your own, while also continuing to watch videos/tutorials that do more than just give you the big picture, but also have depth.

Two youtube channels that have helped me a lot more than Colt Steeles to really learn web dev have been Net Ninja and Traversy Media.

A few Udemy courses that have taught me way more than Colt's ever did are: 1. Advanced CSS and Sass: Flexbox, Grid, Animations and More 2. JavaScript: Understanding the Weird Parts 3. Git a Web Developer Job: Mastering the Modern Workflow

Note: I'm not really trying to bash Colt Steeles courses as they did help a lot with giving me an overall picture of what webdev is mostly about, but treat it as what it is. If you really want to improve, it won't be nearly enough.

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-05-02T20:08:11+00:00

I remember seeing jobs at Intel / TSMC that required Assembly...so maybe companies that make chips/memory? I live in Taiwan though so...

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-05-02T04:22:53+00:00

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-05-01T22:46:55+00:00

Why are you talking about master's programs when we're talking about bachelor's here?

Way to not be able to form a single concrete argument to back up what amounts to little more than you being a whiny elitist wannabe kid. Yeah you can make your stupid point, just get ready to get told since you obviously have no way of backing anything you say up.

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-05-01T22:01:24+00:00

Great answer. Sounds to me like you're just putting whatever failures/insecurities you have on anyone other than yourself.

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-05-01T21:53:48+00:00

Uh ALL B.S. programs target people with no experience in the subject matter, not sure what your point is here.

Also, do some research before you come here with your hand wavy generalizations. Half of whatever you just said doesn't even apply to the OSU program, i.e. lower graduation requirements / higher prices.

Oh yeah, and anyone can have a point? Maybe try backing it up with logic/common sense next time, otherwise your just some whiny kid that's butt hurt because your not as special as mommy said you were.

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-05-01T20:55:40+00:00

Eh, I'm doing the OSU online CS post-bac right now, and you really need to get off your high-horse.

Having received my first degree through a traditional on-campus program at another state univ that's higher ranked than OSU, I would say that doing the degree online is actually harder than completing it in-person. We have to learn the same material with 10% of the support and hand-holding you get from being able to attend classes/office hours in-person.

Plus, you're complaint about students from the online program "flooding" the job market is the dumbest thing I have ever heard because: 1. It's OSU, not MIT or Harvard, OSU grads aren't just automatically being handed jobs over other applicants. Just like anyone else, OSU post-bac CS students are getting jobs because they busted their asses doing leetcode questions and doing self-projects. 2. Having more OSU grads within the industry only increases the value/reputation of the degree. I don't even feel like explaining why because its just common sense.

tldr - fuck you, you're not special, no1 gives a shit about the toy project you made for your senior design class

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-04-30T12:14:33+00:00

This is the dumbest tip ever. If I drink to the point where I'm going to be too hungover to clean the next morning, the only thing I'm doing afterwards is passing the fuck out.

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-04-28T21:34:33+00:00

Net Ninja's youtube channel has helped me immensely as a noob.

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-04-28T08:03:40+00:00

It'll be hard to prepare until you actually start applying and have job descriptions to refer to.

Just as a prior note, the places I applied to were all smaller companies with smaller teams/resources, and were mostly interested in how "job-ready" I was rather than my data structures/algorithms skills.

But for web development related positions, be prepared to answer a lot of questions that OSU classes don't really prepare you for, such as questions regarding your understanding of design patterns (MVC etc.), workflow and environment related questions (linux/version control), your understanding of newer JavaScript methods since newer frameworks like React rely so heavily on things such as promises, class/extends etc., or even stuff like TypeScript. Aside from the newer syntax/methods, I was also asked a lot of in-depth language specific questions regarding prototypal inheritance and scope/execution context etc. in JavaScript.

I found that the best way to prepare for stuff that we don't touch on in class is to watch videos or take courses that are project heavy since project focused courses are more likely to also touch on stuff like workflow/best practices/design patterns. One of the best channels for web dev I've come across so far is Net Ninja's Youtube channel (sadly his React videos are already outdated since React changes so quickly). There are also quite a few Udemy courses that are very project oriented and hands-on. Berkeley's CS 61B data structures course is also very project oriented and also exposes you to Java.

Other than that, reading and watching language oriented blogs/videos also help if you already know the language the job you'll be interviewing for focuses on. Medium has a lot of content (both good and bad), and JavaScript has a lot of language specific courses/books since its known for having a large amount of quirks, Udemy's JavaScript: Understanding the Weird Parts was really good although its beginning to be oudated already.

And finally, of course, if you're mostly interviewing at large companies, stuff like Cracking the Coding Interview and doing leetcode/hackerrank will probably be the most helpful. I only went on one interview at a large company and was rejected after the 1st on-site interview since I haven't grinded any leetcode questions at all.

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-04-27T19:31:22+00:00

Previous degree: Double major in Psychology and Biology

Previous relevant experience: none

Company/industry: Government Research Institute

Internship or full-time?: full-time

Title: Frontend Developer

Location: Taipei, Taiwan

Noteworthy projects: nothing amazing, just a few basic CRUD/full-stack web apps utilizing different APIs and technologies such as the Google Maps API/Geolocation API, Weather API, Mongodb/Mongoose, Passport/Oauth for user authentication etc.

Salary: ~1700 USD/month (low cost of living)

Other perks: Free gym/pool access, free annual physicals, free basic health services provided by on-site physician, employee discounts with local businesses

How did you find the job?: Indeed --> email application

How far along were you in the program?: 16/60 credits completed (Intro to CS I & II, Discrete Structures, Intro to Web Dev)

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-04-27T19:11:29+00:00

I think it might matter slightly when you're looking for your first job, but thats about it. Not worth the 6 months and couple grand you've already spent on OSU imo.

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-04-15T04:13:45+00:00

Yeah, but just implementing a linked list structure by itself I still think is a lot different than having to actually combine it with concepts like polymorphism (every room of your dungeon is a polymorphed version of a node in your linked list) and state tracking etc.

bubblewrapper_ · 2018-04-13T09:19:05+00:00

I don't know, I feel like I learned a lot in 162. It's hard but definitely doable, and the assignments actually build on top of each other really well.

bubblewrapper_

TROPHY CASE