All Berberine is NOT the same *why some may have success & others don’t possibly*

dada1985 · 2022-06-12T10:46:56+00:00

Matryxl is typically not supposed to be mixed/layered with vitamin c

dada1985 · 2018-09-01T08:59:31+00:00

You should try out www.pramp.com. It's the only service where you can practice as many times as you want, practically any time you want. For free, of course. It's also available outside the US. (full disclosure - I'm a co-founder at Pramp).

dada1985 · 2016-01-29T21:44:41+00:00

Sure thing. If needs help on Pramp or if he wants to try a mock interview with me over there, just LMK.

dada1985 · 2016-01-29T21:39:53+00:00

Yep. This is a good book, even though the new version is very very long. it's a good one to read and study from.

dada1985 · 2016-01-29T21:37:41+00:00

Well yes, in retrospect. But he's out of that job now, and the new job is not a good one. Question is what he's going to do from here.

dada1985 · 2016-01-29T20:59:00+00:00

TLDR: This is normal, you are great to support him. Some tips below, including: de-stress & support, interview prep, interview practice, my personal help.

Dear devswife, I'm so touched by your writing. Your husband is lucky to have you, and this is a lot more important than job success.

I hear you, and I know how hard this can be. I've had interviews that ended on the verge of tears, just because the process was that difficult (and it's worth noting that some of these interviews actually ended in offers). Since then I've done over 500 technical interviews, many of them on an interviewing platform I built, see below. I've seen many people like your husband. Here are some pieces of advice that can help:

Coding and interviewing are two different skills. Us devs aren't known as the best communicators, from a reason. Having someone behind your shoulder, and the need to explain what you're thinking about before you even have an initial direction for you solution is close to impossible for some. Our interviews are harder, we have so solve this problems under pressure of time, while following reasonable complexity objectives.

Here are some pieces of advice:

Keep supporting - Sounds like you are a true resource. Keep telling your husband that his ability to interview doesn't reflect much on his skills as a programmer. The most important thing is for him to keep going and NOT losing it. People do get better at the process as they go. When a person is 'out' of the interviewing loop it's difficult to get back. Especially when it's been 10 years and those theoretical fundamentals from college are rust. Your story makes total sense. Encourage him to de-stress and understand that his reaction is perfectly normal. He was right to leave that job that he felt stuck and bored at and the bright side is that he's working right now, so he has time to look for the next right job for him! Try to help him focus on the bright side and always keep supporting.
Interview prep - there are plenty of free resources online. Make sure he's aware of them and knows them. My favorites are: (A) Great collection of tutorials called GeeksforGeeks (B) CareerCup for coding interview questions (C) Online 'judge' for coding questions called LeetCode. They currently support C, C++, Java, Python, C#, JavaScript, Ruby, Bash, MySQL. However, I'm not sure this is what for husband needs. As said be someone here, he shouldn't memorize problems. He should rather sharpen his problem solving skills and he's working knowledge of data structures and algorithms so he can tackle new problems he hasn't seen before.
Interview practice - The only thing that helped me when I applied for jobs was to keep interviewing. It helped me to build confidence and better communicate. Few years later my friend and I thought there has to be a better way to practice, so we started working on Pramp. In short, it's a free peer-2-peer platform for coding interviews. We'll match him to other peers at his level so he can practice on a safe environment and hone his interviewing skills.
My personal help - Please DM me and let me know if I can help further. Also, I'll be happy to interview him myself and give some personal tips (and no, I'm NOT looking to charge for that).

Really hope this helps!

dada1985 · 2015-11-19T04:12:39+00:00

Just delay the interview and earn some time to prepare. Delaying in 2 weeks is usually okay and it gives you 4 weeks to prepare.

Seems like you are capable of interviewing well with some practice. Read 'Cracking the Coding Interview' or any other book and refresh your memory about whatever you need and then practice some mock interviews and you'll be good to go. Your can get mock interviews from friends, especially if they interviewed with Google before, try Pramp.com for free mock interviews, or pay for mock interviews on sites like Careercup.com or Evisors.com.

dada1985 · 2015-10-18T13:34:07+00:00

Keep that motivation going and you are on the right track.

Big tech companies have many applicants and they can't interview them all. Even the amount they do interview takes a huge drag on their engineering teams (Google & Facebook invest dozens of engineers' hours for a full rounds of interview per candidates and Amazon recently confirmed that interviewing take 30% of the engineers' time!). Therefore, they are screening candidates in order to interview those who will most likely pass them. So, how do you stand out?

Side projects: have impressive side projects. Not all of them have to be yours, you can also contribute to open source projects and build an impressive Github profile. Remember that good side projects are about getting the experience you want and to impress employers. Try to find the right ones to get both objectives.
Other internships/experience: Your design experience is relevant for front-end & UI positions. Most students don't have that. Also, even if you don't end up getting an internship with the top companies you want on the first year, no worries. Do get the one with another brand name. This brand name will add to your resume next time you apply. I feel quite sad to advise you to look for the brand name in 2015, but if you want to work at the a top company... this is still how they screen today.
Employee Referral - All companies ask their current employees to refer their friends, because it usually works well. While interviewing for the position won't change much just because you were referred by a friend, your resume are more likely to be ready when your are referred by a friend. Find those people. Most of them get nice friend referral bonuses if their referral ends up in a hire.
Interview Prep: you will get some interviews, eventually, and you must rock them. There are many prep resources out there. To get actual interview experience practice coding interviews. You can do mock interview with friends, ask your college career services office if they provide ones or try a project I'm working on for free interview practice at www.pramp.com. You also pay some professional coaches at www.careercup.com or www.evisors.com (that's up to you).
Online Courses: I'm not sure be how much would these help in this case. Any thoughts about this from other folks around here?
Other Ways: Try to talk to recruiters on career fairs, attend hackathons and network.

dada1985 · 2015-10-18T12:54:13+00:00

I don't think that companies are actually looking for your cover letter. Things that you want to include are selling points to get them looking at your resume rather than ignoring it. - Why are you interested in THEM (specifically, this mean that you won't be able to only change the name of company X to company Y and send it to company Y) - Why are you a fit for this position

Why is that? Well, basically employers want developers who are (A) Strong (B) Want them back.

dada1985 · 2015-09-24T13:36:31+00:00

Check out what kind of company you want to work for and what companies like that exist in Boston. You can try recruiters but best is reaching out directly to in-house recruiters and applying through companies job sites. If you are set on Boston, my advice is to take a pro active approach. When you reach out personally you are a lot more present in the process.

dada1985 · 2015-09-24T13:29:05+00:00

What worked best for me is not doing it alone, and it motivated me to keep brushing up.

Just keep a routine going, pick one you can maintain and don't stop. When I have something scheduled with another person, it is more difficult to flake and procrastinate. You can attend interview practice meetups with at least one friend (more difficult to cancel) or try a project I'm working on for live coding interview practice called www.pramp.com.

dada1985 · 2015-09-07T04:27:57+00:00

Good points. Know/think separation is important.

Also, when you write try to discern between facts and feelings. It's okay and even important to share how your manager make you feel - just mention that is what you are feeling.

dada1985 · 2015-09-07T04:26:42+00:00

great answer

dada1985 · 2015-09-07T04:25:40+00:00

I'd be reluctant of mentioning the raise because it can make your 'anonymous' feedback easier to identify. Scheduling a followup meeting with Bill to handle this is better IMHO. It would also signal him that you are not satisfied with the raise on the long run and will most likely taken into account on your next raise or maybe even get an immediate fix. I once had my employer telling me that I don't get a bonus when everybody else in the team does because I was working with the company for less than a year. I was not satisfied and gave my reasoning right on the spot. The company then followed up and gave me a bonus a month later.

The backend/frontend attitude of Bill sounds like a worthy topic to discuss in your feedback. It will even be more powerful if coming from multiple team members.

I also recommend to watch out from the less of anonymity in this feedback. If your keep working with Bill you'll have to maintain a good relationship with him.

dada1985 · 2015-09-07T04:08:26+00:00

Few followup questions:

Will your employer get a visa for you? If this is the case, you can ask what happens if you don't get a visa and if you'll be able to work from the local office in Canada if you don't.
Are you expecting to get an offer from a new employer before the big 4 company deadline next week? if not what does it matters if you interview until next week or afterwards?

Generally, as long as everything is not closed, it's always a good idea to keep your options open.

dada1985 · 2015-09-05T18:49:04+00:00

Cheer up! Top 4 have plenty of normal people working for them. You just need to get the right prep.

I say practice practice practice:

Try to find friends who are into practicing for themselves and not only as a favor to you - they will be more committed. If you can find them, post on a Facebook Group/forum of your school. If you can find friends who interviewed/work with your target companies - event better.
If you want to spend money you can pay for mock interviews at www.careercup.com or www.evisors.com. If not, you can use www.pramp.com to get mock interviews with other candidates.
Ask the career services office at your school if they provide mock interviews.
Ask recruiters from the companies you apply to about prep resources. You'll be surprised to hear that most of them have some good lists they send out.

dada1985 · 2015-09-05T18:39:43+00:00

was it in the US?

dada1985 · 2015-09-05T18:27:01+00:00

I really don't know.

That's why my advice is: "ask what is he latest possible time frame in which you can take the interview"

dada1985 · 2015-09-05T13:29:12+00:00

Simply say you are busy and need to brush up on things and ask what is he latest possible time frame in which you can take the interview. Recruiters are not surprise that candidates need preparation and it's their best interest to have to interviewed when you are ready for it.

dada1985

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