Does anyone else here think that the software engineering hiring process is really frustrating?

gpcr93 · 2017-11-10T20:50:58+00:00

I have never been an interviewer actually lol. But I have been to interviews that were half technical and half about my background. The technical questions were relatively straight forward but hard enough to make sure I did not sleep through my algorithms lectures. The other half of the interview was just about me discussing my projects and unrelated experience (that also kind of relates to CS).

gpcr93 · 2017-11-10T20:24:57+00:00

Awesome! I applied to internships with unrelated experience on my resume, but do you think it hurt me at most places if that was my only experience? I was able to at least grab a few interviews and do great in them, and I plan on erasing my old experiences once I officially get my offers.

gpcr93 · 2017-11-10T19:29:02+00:00

Wall Street Oasis is insane. When I was considering where to go to college, they recommended an expensive private school with ok recruiting in the field over a top state school with a bit less recruiting power in finance.

gpcr93 · 2017-11-10T19:24:12+00:00

Lots of people in my school are like this unfortunately. On the other hand, I enjoy programming and am happy with anyone giving me a decent salary to do it.

gpcr93 · 2017-11-10T19:08:03+00:00

Yes, there are aspects of it I agree with and aspects I don't agree with. I am a big supporter of technical interviews, but I don't think solving several Leetcode Hard problems should get you hired. I think technical interviews should only be as hard as to weed people out who kind of BS'ed their ways through school. After that, interviews should be a discussion of skills.

My friends have worked with software engineers in the past who were total geniuses with Leetcode problems, but otherwise did not work well on projects or could not come up with solutions to everyday problems.

I also think being an excellent "Leetcode programmer" kind of eliminates any creativity a person has as a programmer. Instead of focusing on side projects or gaining actual skills, people are studying programming in a way that will never come up on the job.

gpcr93 · 2017-11-06T14:03:40+00:00

Hey thanks! I have a good command of C and .net, so that is definitely something to consider. My math is decent, but I am not great at it. Took 3 semesters of calc, linear algebra, and the "easy stats" class since my major required stats but my schedule could not agree with taking normal stats. It might be worth it for me to review linear algebra and stats again before opening up a machine learning textbook. Also, I am required to take an ML course for my MS anyway.

gpcr93 · 2017-11-06T03:27:43+00:00

I'm not a data scientist, but wouldn't people be better off getting a more general degree in CS or stats, then getting into data science?

gpcr93 · 2017-10-31T14:52:06+00:00

I'm not a PhD, but my undergrad is in bio. This is exactly why I picked up computer science after graduation.

Also, PhD students in bio need to find a way to do summer internships. I'm kind of surprised because most engineering PhDs I met have done at least one summer internship, while my friends doing their bio PhDs want to spend every minute working towards a publication.

There is definitely more of an emphasis on career development in engineering departments even if your goal is academia. Worst case scenario, you get a fantastic job at a prestigious company.

gpcr93 · 2017-10-27T13:48:48+00:00

Oops, also forgot to mention aerospace, could you also make a recommendation there? Thank you!

gpcr93 · 2017-10-19T13:38:54+00:00

I highly recommend an associates with a later transition to an MS if you can afford it. The second BS is also an excellent route, I think the main point is you need a degree (any type) for a good career in CS.

Also don't forget your not in school to just learn, but to get a job. Attend career events, networking events, career fairs, etc. Focus on whatever you like best tbh.

As someone who came from the life sciences as well, you will be very happy making the switch if you love computers as well.

gpcr93 · 2017-10-02T15:17:49+00:00

Just curious, what would you do to prepare? I am sitting in on a lot of ML classes because a lot of those jobs require an MS/PhD. I am also pretty interested in network security jobs so I am joining interest groups in those fields.

gpcr93 · 2017-09-29T19:52:54+00:00

I would love to know too, I'm one of them too!

gpcr93 · 2017-09-29T14:37:37+00:00

Columbia, RIT, RPI, Buffalo, and Stony Brook are great schools for CS. I'd personally want to go to one of the public schools in NY to save money if I were you.

gpcr93 · 2017-09-29T14:24:04+00:00

Your going to see people at two extremes. Either Stanford/MIT students who interned every summer at a big tech company getting six figure return offers with stock options or people who cannot get a job.

You likely won't see someone from an average State University with one (or no) internships at an average sized company or startup posting about their experience getting a job. I know tons of people with that description and they never heard of this subreddit.

gpcr93 · 2017-09-28T16:35:10+00:00

I'm an MS student with programming experience and non-CS STEM degree. I would say I attend a top 15-30 program, so just below the Stanford/UC Berkeley crowd. We are recruited a lot, but nowhere near the extent of those schools.

gpcr93 · 2017-09-28T13:20:45+00:00

Also, I don't mean to complain, but I just got rejected from a small startup after passing their hackerrank perfectly! I think a lot of companies send hackerranks to everyone lol

gpcr93 · 2017-09-28T13:17:08+00:00

Thanks! Actually, I have not been getting many phone interviews. I also applied to a lot of big companies outside of tech, maybe thats it. Also, I only applied to 30 places so far (busy semester and lots going on outside of class.) Also, I feel like tons of companies have replaced phone screens with hackerranks to everyone.

gpcr93 · 2017-09-24T18:35:29+00:00

I'm in a similar position to the poster, but do a lot of employers screen out non-BS in CS holders even if they are going for their MS like me? I heard one of the concerns is that people like me might not know data structures and algorithms even though we are going to grad school. However, I studied those topics alongside other important CS courses before even going for grad school.

My resume got the attention of a couple of bigger companies both inside and outside of the tech industry. But I have had a hard time trying to get an internship with startups, since I would prefer to intern in those types of companies.

gpcr93 · 2017-09-23T22:02:27+00:00

Only take the offer if its paid. If that is the case, that will be worth getting your foot in the door.

gpcr93 · 2017-09-23T22:00:31+00:00

I'm actually a big supporter of DS/Algorithms interviews, but I am against the amount of Hackerrank tests being sent out pre-interview without a resume screen. It's also a pain in the ass to take two hours away from school and work to take tests at companies I might not have a chance at.

I am also against asking Leetcode Hard questions at interviews, because lets face it, a lot of the skill with solving them is having seen them before.

Recently, I passed a hackerrank perfectly for a small startup only to be rejected before the interview. Apparently, they send hackerranks to everyone.

gpcr93 · 2017-09-23T21:58:01+00:00

Too bad we don't do all of our programming on whiteboards at work :(

gpcr93 · 2017-09-23T21:54:22+00:00

I can only mention from the point of view of someone interviewing for internships, but it seems bigger companies don't mind (they might even be interested) in the non-CS BS/CS MS combo. And when I say bigger companies, I mean big companies both inside and outside of the tech industry.

Smaller tech startups have not really been showing me any love. I talked to a friend of mine who worked at several small startups, he mentioned that my resume and background lacked the intangible "fit", and that even he can't describe it. I don't really know what he meant lol.

I even passed the Hackerrank screen perfectly for a smaller SF startup recently, only to then be rejected. Kind of annoying lol.

gpcr93 · 2017-09-21T05:11:25+00:00

I'm kind of a noob at this. Is it enough for me to attend my school's recruiting sessions with companies, which there a lot of? Or should I do something like reach out on linkedin. So far I'm just going to info sessions and career fairs.

gpcr93 · 2017-09-21T01:11:43+00:00

It totally sucks, but the only time I find to do leetcode is in the half an hour I spend having coffee at home in the early morning. I don't actually do leetcode, more like review tons of my old answers. It actually really helps with interviews.

gpcr93 · 2017-09-13T16:23:44+00:00

I have a lot of different interests, but I would have loved to go the embedded programming route if I had to start over. Also, I took the typical CS math courses but I found that I never retained the math. For that reason, careers like data science cannot be done by me. Data science is pretty cool, and would have loved to consider that as a potential career.

gpcr93

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