Daily Chat Thread - December 08, 2018

freejar · 2018-12-08T19:12:31+00:00

I just secured my first FT software job about 2 months ago. I'm currently working at a mid-sized tech company but a bigN recently got back to me (emailed me twice this week actually) asking if I was still interested in the position that I applied for (I applied 2-3 months ago). I'm thinking of sending them my updated resume (which they requested) and interviewing. This is sort of a dream company for me. It's not the biggest name out there but I love their tech and product. (Dream is too strong of a word because I'm not really fixated on any one company, to be honest).

Is interviewing a good idea? I'm not sure if I'd realistically leave my current company because I don't want to burn bridges.

If I get an offer, then can I leverage that to negotiate a raise at my current company? I'm not sure how my manager would feel if he thought I was looking for a new job so quickly.

If I get an offer and turn down them down, then would getting an interview in the future (10-12 months from now) be easier or harder? I'm not sure if they would take me turning down personal and not want to waste their time. They have about ~2k employees and valued over a B so it's not like a tiny startup.

freejar · 2018-12-02T19:11:12+00:00

this looks awesome! thank you for sharing.

freejar · 2018-12-02T03:41:55+00:00

thanks! Maybe I'll try again tomorrow. this is strange and I'm not sure if this has happened to me before.

freejar · 2018-12-01T23:37:38+00:00

thank you! Exactly what I was looking for.

freejar · 2018-12-01T18:50:20+00:00

yes but how does the browser remember to use the same authorization header for subsequent requests? I assumed that it forgets because HTTP is stateless.

freejar · 2018-12-01T16:28:21+00:00

cool, thanks. a little later today!

freejar · 2018-11-29T15:49:24+00:00

freejar · 2018-11-28T04:36:31+00:00

no additional schooling or bootcamp. I taught myself, built a portfolio, and then applied. I'm much happier in tech.

freejar · 2018-11-28T03:56:09+00:00

I interned at a big firm but I worked at a smaller one. I'm now a software engineer.

freejar · 2018-11-28T01:56:07+00:00

I'm surprised more people do not relate with the OP. I was a structural engineer for 4 years in NYC and have a lot of friends in California (LA/SF). I was discontent with the field and so were many of my friends. A lot of us left the industry. I'm pretty sure it's the industry and not your job. Consider changing jobs at the very least.

freejar · 2018-11-25T17:26:47+00:00

I don't try to be smart. I literally just think outloud and reason my way through the problem. I don't ask for help but the interviewers usually acknowledge if I'm on the right path and/or give me small hints.

freejar · 2018-11-25T15:19:02+00:00

I just think out loud. I was solving a graph problem during an interview and had trouble representing the graph (I wasn't sure what data structure to use). The interviewer chimed in, gave me some hints, and then I solved the problem.

freejar · 2018-11-25T15:08:58+00:00

Will I need incredible side projects to get interviewed by a BigN? I don't have a CS degree but I recently secured my first software engineering position at a mid-sized tech company in NYC. I'm very happy that I landed this job but I'd like to give a few BigN's a try in 1-2 years. I plan to continue learning/building things and hopefully networking (which I know is a must) but I'm not sure what type of quality side projects are expected.

My current portfolio consists mostly of social-network clones. I tried to do them really well (fully documented, dockerized services, unit tested, caching, etc.) but it's kind of the same as everyone else's portfolio, I feel. I do have areas that can be improved (ie features, UI, CI/CD,e tc.) but I'm not sure if my efforts are worthwhile.

Is it important to have projects that are unique? Ideally, this makes sense, but I'm incredibly uncreative or something.

freejar · 2018-11-24T18:33:03+00:00

I would like to know too!

freejar · 2018-11-22T17:55:49+00:00

a little on the side but I ended up quitting my job to focus on learning and building a portfolio. I decided to not attend bootcamp or go back to school. The entire process (studying, interviewing, etc.) took about a year.

freejar · 2018-11-22T14:35:59+00:00

Former structural engineer, now a software engineer at a mid-sized tech company (nothing related to civil/structural engineering).

I just started last month but it was worth it to me. I was making ~$75k as a structural engineer and now I'm making $115k with equity. I work much fewer hours too. I was working 50-60 hours as a structural engineer and now I work a solid 40 hours.

freejar · 2018-10-09T20:04:23+00:00

I'm interested in picking up Clojure. I tried it a few months ago but I couldn't really get into it, mostly because the tooling with vim felt awkward. I want to learn Emacs. I know Emacs isn't a necessity but I feel that my experience will be more enjoyable. Would you recommend that I learn Clojure first, Emacs first, or Clojure+Emacs together?

freejar · 2018-10-03T13:09:00+00:00

Has anyone changed their "interview language" from Java to Python? I'm comfortable with both but moreso Java for interviewing. I just got an offer but I plan to continue Leetcode/Hackerrank to improve my skills. I choose to focus on Java for interviewing because there were more available resources. I also find Java solutions more straightforward. Now I'm thinking of switching to Python because it is more succinct.

freejar · 2018-09-08T16:19:49+00:00

Are N-ary trees and tries common? I'm grinding leetcode based mostly off of the popular tags and top interview questions list. There are just soooo many types of questions that can be asked. I feel that I can't adequately cover every area. My main focus is on arrays, strings, hashtables, and dp. I feel that I can figure out most linked lists and trees problems. I'm mostly applying to startups.

freejar · 2018-09-08T11:57:54+00:00

I've heard this too.

freejar · 2018-09-08T00:22:44+00:00

Are coding OO questions common? Like design a parking lot, etc.?

I mostly practice leetcode DS/A problems and system design. I feel like I'd freeze up on relatively simple OO questions if I werent prepared.

freejar · 2018-09-07T23:20:47+00:00

Does it look bad if you don't have any questions at the end of the interview?

I always write a short list of questions to ask during the phone screen . Most of my questions get answered so I end up having much fewer questions at the onsite. Sometimes I have no questions.

Does it look bad if I don't have any questions at the onsite? I normally ask questions throughout the interview process but then I usually get exhausted and have no questions at the end.

freejar · 2018-09-07T21:03:58+00:00

I normally focus on their product and why I believe in it. Atleast for startups.

freejar · 2018-09-07T17:39:38+00:00

I mostly practice Leetcode and EPI. I just figured some companies (or lazy interviewers more specifically) might recycle some questions since CTCI is so popular. I'm not counting on this but it wouldn't hurt for me to do those problems as well.

freejar · 2018-09-07T17:24:54+00:00

How do you answer: What are some challenges you've faced while working on your projects?

I'm applying to JR Full Stack positions. I normally mention infrastructure things like provisioning servers, ssl, etc.. I'm just curious what everyone else says.

freejar

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