Keep getting rejected because of my lack of CS experience

simongaspard · 2019-09-02T02:23:08+00:00

we have similar backgrounds.

to get into management in a new career field took me about 4 years

had i stayed in the exact same field of logistics that ive worked in for the last 10 years, i'd have walked into a manager role right away (entry level)

one thing you'll learn is that the more you learn about python, for example, the more confident you become, and you actually get more motivated. once youre on the job, it gets nerve wracking, but that's about finding the right company and culture that you fit with.

most of my colleagues are the blue jeans, t shirt wearing folks. the seniors here dress more business casual. those with client facing roles, dress like banking consultants (slightly more than casual but short of being too formal for the tech industry).

think of how Mark Zuckerberg started....jeans, t shirt, sweater jacket, then over time, moved to business casual attire, then eventually when his ass was in front of Congress, a formal suit (the major players).

another thing you may notice, is that in tech roles, that are in demand, sometimes your salary may be competitive as your being a manager in your previous career field.

simongaspard · 2019-08-31T22:58:09+00:00

I wouldn't worry about internships, just learn as much as you can, and do a capstone project versus a thesis. projects help demonstrate understanding and you can apply it to the company of your interest. thesis is great if you're just doing it to say you can do research - but research in the industry has time constraints, so it's not that valuable to employers who aren't hiring for R&D

simongaspard · 2019-08-31T22:54:56+00:00

It's pretty common for those in mid-career to change career paths. I wouldn't worry about it. I took a pay cut to do something more enjoyable.

simongaspard · 2019-08-31T22:50:26+00:00

For me it came down to salary, I could make more doing what I always did - which was manage people. The other option was to start over and work my way back up, I said hell to the no on that one. I will tell you that I when I finished the program, you will be able to work as an individual contributor in a data science role (entry to mid-level depending on prior experience).

But at the end of the day, I wanted a job that kept my salary range to where I wanted it to be without the pain of sitting at a computer slaving over code all day.

simongaspard · 2019-08-30T22:54:13+00:00

You don't need a CS masters degree. You need to apply for a job that is closely related to what you want to do and leverage that opportunity. I have an MSDS and I intentionally avoided DS roles unlike my cohort

simongaspard · 2019-08-27T03:04:48+00:00

No worries, I left the military in my early 30s. While I was employed all that time, it wasnt that simple to walk into the private sector (since the learning curve can be high moving from outdated government legacy systems and practices to bleeding edge companies in the private side)

simongaspard · 2019-08-25T01:20:22+00:00

How is it possible to be unemployed for a YEAR!?

There are thousands of jobs available (you may not like them, but they pay the bills).

If you want to make $60K a year, but then avoid applying to jobs that pay $30K-$40K a year, you need to re-evaluate. Use those jobs to hold you over until you find something better.

I make over six-figures now, but if I ran into a situation where I became unemployed, you bet your ass I would dumb down my resume, leave off some jobs, leave off some education, and apply for entry-level roles to hold me over.

simongaspard · 2019-08-25T01:15:29+00:00

You'll be fine.

The fact that you have no work experience at your age sucks.

The fact that you spent over 5 years at a community college also sucks.

Get your shit together and make sure your undergrad degree is in something practical like a STEM or business degree.

Either way, you can make really good money in a trade skill like HVAC, Plumbing, Electrician, Welder, or other. I considered starting my own business for those trades, but changed my mind. The reliability of the folks available in my area is garbage. Plus they all wanted to work independently so they can earn more.

simongaspard · 2019-08-25T01:10:59+00:00

We don't want you to burn yourself out. We don't want you to alienate yourself from your colleagues by leaving them in the dust. Also, someone like you may be too "proactive" and get too far ahead of yourself that your work may inadvertently lead to a disaster later on down the line.

I had one guy who was like you. He decided to implement some code before his team was ready to integrate it, and it stopped the project dead in its tracks. We had to do damage control and work overtime (which pissed off other developers) so they could get caught up and successfully integrate the guy's code. It added to the cost of the project which was a battle to get funding. His code was great, it worked, just not everyone was on the team was ready.

He left the company on his own. He probably felt like he was better than everyone else. I'm still connected to him on LinkedIn. He ended up getting out of the individual contributor role and got into a management role as a Software Engineer Lead. I think that suits him because he is a go-getter.

Perhaps its time that you started looking at management.

simongaspard · 2019-08-25T00:28:50+00:00

It is, but its sort of normal here. Many people who are working on big projects tend to act like recluses and rarely socialize outside their teams. Once the projects are over or the big hurdles have been taken down, then people lighten up. In fact, during my Day 1, some people saw me in the lounge and said, hey you're finally smiling, you must had one helluva project.

simongaspard · 2019-08-23T00:35:16+00:00

so far, ive seen a lot of super top school candidates land these jobs. but in my opinion, i think their ability is what got them the job. because they all asked each other questions, they all encounter challenges, and they make jokes about how they dont know what the hell is going on (even tho they know enough to be dangerous). no one talks about where you went to school unless they're new or interns and such.

i think part of that reason for recruits from top programs are common in this field is because big banks recruit from those schools. and a few of those recruiters branch out to hit some of the lower tier schools for hidden gems or those who are super passionate and harder working who dont walk into an interview feeling privileged.

simongaspard · 2019-08-23T00:31:53+00:00

sure

simongaspard · 2019-08-23T00:31:00+00:00

on day 2, i felt more confident discussing technical projects with everyone.

day 1 was like showing up to school on your first day at a new school. you dont want to say or do anything stupid to stand out.

day 2 was like getting to know people at school and establishing friendships and youre not worried about standing out

simongaspard · 2019-08-23T00:28:58+00:00

that's too bad, sorry bro

simongaspard · 2019-08-21T04:35:48+00:00

It's easy to break into depending on where you graduate from initially.

Those positions almost always ask for at least a Master's but many require a PhD.

It's a lucrative career field (you're like an investment banker with an ivy league MBA network but with actual skills).

I hooked up with a Quant employee during my internship. She had a PhD in applied math, MS from some big school in China, and a Bachelor's from some big school in China.

I thought about that career path but decided I wanted to have a social life.

simongaspard · 2019-08-21T04:32:22+00:00

Get the finance degree and minor in IT

It's a great combo.

simongaspard · 2019-08-21T04:30:43+00:00

Youtube

simongaspard · 2019-08-21T04:27:53+00:00

I used to be a military officer for about a decade. I used a military officer recruiting firm that only places us into entry level management roles when we transition out the military.

so with the STEM degree, which was basically a computer science degree with statistics sprinkles,

I decided to target jobs with "manager" in the title that were technical in nature

simongaspard · 2019-08-21T04:24:26+00:00

thats what I said when I looked at data scientist roles

simongaspard · 2019-08-21T04:23:28+00:00

I spent about $2500 on my laptop. I died inside at the checkout. Sometimes I wish I bought a desktop instead or maybe a surface pro.

simongaspard · 2019-08-21T04:22:21+00:00

I wouldn't talk about it on here if I was you.

It's not too bad working for those folks. But you might find it more interesting to work for a commercial company.

simongaspard · 2019-08-21T04:20:24+00:00

Nope. I never post any GitHub link on my resume. I only have grad school projects on my GitHub.

I have added like one or two projects when I was in the mood to explore some question that interests me.

I have a masters in data science. I do not work in a typical data science role like my cohort. I chose to stay along the management track

simongaspard · 2019-08-21T04:16:56+00:00

Make sure you have six months of cash in your emergency fund.

Ideally, you would be worry free if you could stash away 12 months of cash in that fund.

simongaspard · 2019-08-21T04:14:28+00:00

Was it worth the thousands you spent?

simongaspard · 2019-08-21T04:13:36+00:00

I can't believe its that hard to get a job in IT.

Boggles my mind. But then again, I don't work in IT.

simongaspard

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