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Ask HN: Got a CS degree, but I’m unable to be programmer. What can I do?

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Re: Ask HN: Got a CS degree, but I’m unable to be programmer. What can I do?

#211

Post by Double_a_92 »

flocial wrote: post #44

"Easy problems take me 2-5 hours." Are you sure you're not reinventing established theories and algorithms? Those problems are supposed to be hard because they're based on ideas discovered by the most brilliant minds. If you can do them in 2-5 hours with no background you might actually be real good. Depending on what level of familiarity you have with the material, you might be selling yourself really short. Deliber…

They easy problems are usually really easy to solve. Including tinkering with the syntax of the language it should be possible in ~15 minutes.

Even if you don't find some quicker algorithm, bruteforcing usually still works.

Re: Ask HN: Got a CS degree, but I’m unable to be programmer. What can I do?

#212

Post by zwischenzug »

Take a break. This sounds like classic burnout. You need to regain the motivation and interest that got you here in the first place. You're young, and a bit of time doing something else will do you the world of good and remind you why you went down this path in the first place.

Nil desperandum!

Re: Ask HN: Got a CS degree, but I’m unable to be programmer. What can I do?

#213

Post by robjan »

ta1234567890 wrote: post #61
jokh wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why I said "pay reasonably well". It seems to me that most places that don't interview and filter candidates by asking algorithmic problems don't pay as well as those that do. That's just been my experience as a student that's interviewed for internships and is going to start interviewing for new grad positions in the fall. Also > (They do exist, even if they're not as common as they should be.) I'm curious wh…

At one of my companies we pay SF/BayArea market salaries and the way we hire (pretty much everyone, not just programmers) is: 1) short (10-20 min) phone interview, 2) if it seems like a good candidate we invite them for a paid test run, usually 2 weeks of actual real work, either remotely or in person, 3) if it works out, they get hired. Pretty much nothing will accurately predict how well someone is going to do on t…

Does this not reduce your pool to people who are actively looking? That excludes most people, especially the top candidates who are never out of work.

Re: Ask HN: Got a CS degree, but I’m unable to be programmer. What can I do?

#214

Post by chris_wot »

azthec wrote: post #198
chris_wot wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone with dreadful experiences of the metal health system, I think the very last thing you want to do is see a psychiatrist. Psychiatrists are expensive and look at brain chemistry, more than likely you’ll end up on some sort of medication which you likely don’t need. By all means see a counsellor or a psychologist, but unless you have deep psychological issues where you are getting to an unbelievably unbearabl…

I don't know where you live, but generally that is applied to people who have all the other things and are still unhappy. Psychiatrists will generally try to steer you towards healthy fulfilling social lifestyles, and only then if you are still unhappy then usually you have some chemical imbalance that can be fixed, why be too proud rather than just fix it.

There are great psychiatrists out there, but honestly the two issues are that their main tool is medication which is a very blunt instrument, and they still only know so much about the brain.

Unfortunately, for every great psychiatrist, there are just as many truly awful ones and despite their medical degree they can totally botch your diagnosis.

That’s my opinion anyway, take it as you will.

Re: Ask HN: Got a CS degree, but I’m unable to be programmer. What can I do?

#216

Post by simonbarker87 »

IshKebab wrote: post #176
simonbarker87 wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> “really easy interview and we just talked about my experience and projects“ This is what interviewing is like in 99% of other sectors, even engineering. You might be asked some competency based questions at a larger organisation but the whole “dance like a monkey in a high pressure environment while we watch” whiteboard/coding test feels like cruel and unusual punishment to me that is nothing like the job of actual…

That's not true. I've interviewed for many engineering jobs and lots of them involved solving puzzle-like problems on a whiteboard.

Are you US based? It may be a cultural thing as I have nevered heard of any engineers (and I know a good few dozen) who have had to do anything like that.

Re: Ask HN: Got a CS degree, but I’m unable to be programmer. What can I do?

#217

Post by that_jojo »

azthec wrote: post #198
chris_wot wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone with dreadful experiences of the metal health system, I think the very last thing you want to do is see a psychiatrist. Psychiatrists are expensive and look at brain chemistry, more than likely you’ll end up on some sort of medication which you likely don’t need. By all means see a counsellor or a psychologist, but unless you have deep psychological issues where you are getting to an unbelievably unbearabl…

I don't know where you live, but generally that is applied to people who have all the other things and are still unhappy. Psychiatrists will generally try to steer you towards healthy fulfilling social lifestyles, and only then if you are still unhappy then usually you have some chemical imbalance that can be fixed, why be too proud rather than just fix it.

I don't know where you live, but of the two psychiatrists I've seen both wrote me a prescription on my second appointment. And frankly, my mental health isn't the worst.

Re: Ask HN: Got a CS degree, but I’m unable to be programmer. What can I do?

#218

Post by Ensorceled »

sixdimensional wrote: post #125
toomuchtodo wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does one train to be a Product Manager?

I recommend materials or coursework by Pragmatic Marketing ( https://www.pragmaticmarketing.com/ ), if you can take their class. It was kind of accepted as one of the standard training courses for this role in industry at several companies I either worked for or interviewed with. This particular PDF [1] really helped me understand the roles better. I also read the book "The Product Manager's Survival Guide" (ISBN-10:…

I took that course and recommend it highly. It’s how I was going to answer this question but yours is VERY complete :-)

Re: Ask HN: Got a CS degree, but I’m unable to be programmer. What can I do?

#219

Post by rikkus »

When I graduated I had already decided that software development was too painful and not rewarding enough - in my experience up to that point. I chose to pursue system admin - networking, scripting, installing, configuring.

This was a good way to learn how to work with infrastructure 'hands on' and much less stressful than writing code, compared to my experience up to that point.

I ended up finding a route into development where I wasn't banging my head against so many walls, and was enjoying it, then stuck with it for about 12 years.

If you got a CS degree, you're capable of writing code, but you don't have to do it _now_.

Re: Ask HN: Got a CS degree, but I’m unable to be programmer. What can I do?

#220

Post by diminoten »

robjan wrote: post #213
ta1234567890 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At one of my companies we pay SF/BayArea market salaries and the way we hire (pretty much everyone, not just programmers) is: 1) short (10-20 min) phone interview, 2) if it seems like a good candidate we invite them for a paid test run, usually 2 weeks of actual real work, either remotely or in person, 3) if it works out, they get hired. Pretty much nothing will accurately predict how well someone is going to do on t…

Does this not reduce your pool to people who are actively looking? That excludes most people, especially the top candidates who are never out of work.

There are drawbacks and advantages to every hiring process, it's possible they've determined this set of advantages/drawbacks works best for them.

Besides, it's possible to take 2 weeks off of your current job.

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