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Ask HN: Is My Career Over?

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Re: Ask HN: Is My Career Over?

#13

Post by c0110 »

Hey there. I didn't take Algorithms in college and am also not so good at it. Don't fret -- you'll get it. Grab a couple interview study books, the Algorithms Design Manual, etc. and study. It'll be hard and you might not feel like you're making progress -- it's ok. Keep practicing and don't lose hope. I interviewed at over 15 companies over the span of 3-4 months (I also did mock interviews, but my algs skills were so not good that the practice didn't really help) and was rejected by most of them (like, 12 of them), but finally I received an offer for a position I didn't think I'd get.

Keep your hopes up, look forward to beefing up your theory, and most of all, landing a position. :) Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: Is My Career Over?

#16

Post by throwaway2387 »

rahelzer wrote: post #8

Well, you have to fix the problems you have. 1. You must become a jedi-knight of white-board programming. For this, go to HackerRank and work absolutely as many problems as you can. But don't program them in an editor, get a whiteboard and use that. Then type in the program when you are ready to get it graded. 2. You need to fill in some knowledge you would have gotten in college. For this, read the first few chapter…

No other profession would put up with this nonsense. It's amazing how business people have tricked software engineers into demanding unreasonable standards of each other.

Re: Ask HN: Is My Career Over?

#17

Post by hnthrowaway9001 »

siquick wrote: post #9

Work on some side projects and use these as your 'proof of knowledge'? TBH, are you sure you want to work somewhere that uses those awful white-board sessions to pick out future employees? Plus you listed a variety of reasons why you think you failed - you should immediately work on these.

I do have a small number of mini side projects up on GitHub. I wouldn't mind doing another one, but can't come up with an idea for it. Also, it's tough to concentrate in my current state.

And I agree, I think using those whiteboard sessions is a negative sign for a workplace, but I'm not in a position to be picky at the moment.

I am trying to improve on the things I know I need to work on, namely algorithms. I just don't have a knack for it, and I've never needed to use them this actively in my career so far.

Re: Ask HN: Is My Career Over?

#19

Post by hnthrowaway9001 »

c0110 wrote: post #13

Hey there. I didn't take Algorithms in college and am also not so good at it. Don't fret -- you'll get it. Grab a couple interview study books, the Algorithms Design Manual, etc. and study. It'll be hard and you might not feel like you're making progress -- it's ok. Keep practicing and don't lose hope. I interviewed at over 15 companies over the span of 3-4 months (I also did mock interviews, but my algs skills were…

I have been running through a few of the language books I've accumulated. I'm terrible at learning things through pedagogy and generally learn during the process of getting something done.

Thanks for the encouragement though. I realize now that one month and 5 in person interviews isn't that much, but it's tough not to think I've exhausted my options.

Re: Ask HN: Is My Career Over?

#20

Post by hnthrowaway9001 »

brogrammer90 wrote: post #14

How old are you? You still got a chance if you're under 35.

I am under 35, but I'm older than most of the people I've worked with. I hear mutterings of age discrimination on occasion throughout the community but I don't have any reason to believe that is happening to me.
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