281–289 of 289 posts
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First world problem if there is any. It's a lot easier than from most of non-EU world: at least you can hop on the plane for a job interview without fussing with visas. If one can't be arsed to move there's always an option to remain unemployed.
The problem is that for a company to justify giving H1B visa the candidate must be really good. I'm not so sure that those 13% unemployed are really good.
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> bay area > Perhaps those people in the UK need to move to a location It is very difficult and tedious process to go to work from EU to US. Also, most EU residents don't even want to live in US.
First world problem if there is any. It's a lot easier than from most of non-EU world: at least you can hop on the plane for a job interview without fussing with visas. If one can't be arsed to move there's always an option to remain unemployed.
Remote interviewing is easy now. We have Skype, hangouts, etc.
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I agree this is probably a 1000x more effective way to get hired at engineering firms that are seeking out top talent. I think a big reason coding bootcamps exist is because the mental model is that "pay money -> software job" -- it's an appealing idea, and doesn't necessarily mean the person is not going to put in the effort, but it's broken. I think it makes logical sense to someone that if they are going to pay lo…
Of course applicants "who built something from scratch" will stand out above bootcampers, and some can get into big tech firms with just a "computer," "internet connection" and "focus[]", but that's also a really tall order. There's nothing wrong with a "pay money -> software job" mentality, as long as the person is interested in the work, and puts in the effort. I know several people who came out of college with a h…
It's easy to assume resources are the key point - are people with less time/money well served by these bootcamps?
However, it makes sense that individual personality traits like motivation, ambition, and comfort level with uncertainty / cutting your own path could matter.
As aside I've always felt successful STEM people receive unbalanced praise, always credit for some ethereal genius, not enough credit for maniacal drive, near clinical obsession with goals, gall. Does the general public realize that everyone from Einstein to Musk would have been greatly diminished without these qualities?
Can someone remind me why boot camps were even a thing? What employer wouldn't be more impressed by a work sample? One possible plan: 1) Define success before doing anything. Pick specific companies or a specialty you want to end up with first. 2a) Take the three months (or however long you can afford to invest) and work backwards. Figure out the most impressive and relevant project that can be reasonably be accompli…
"How does somebody new make a good project choice, when taking into account everything that would actually be impressive and help land a job would require years of experience to know? You can't without feedback or validation, so don't make the mistake of choosing solo. Just ask people who are in the target area to help you decide. Lots of people would be willing to give input and it's more chances for networking and…
Building a high quality sales contact list and network is extremely difficult, it can take decades. It's not uncommon for salespeople to be hired mostly on the basis of their rolodex.
Conversely approaching someone to ask for career feedback is much easier. In general, people don't want to be sold something, but they don't mind helping out an up and coming person in in the field. It can even make them feel good they were respected enough to be asked.
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I went to a smallish private university and in the first year, there were about 50 people who intended to go for a CS degree. By year 2, there were about a dozen left. Every single one that said 'I heard there were good jobs in it' was gone. CS and writing code is not like many different arenas in that if the homework takes you 8 hours to understand, then it takes you 8 hours to understand. If you don't understand it…
Funny, I also studied CS and philosophy and always though it an execellent combination, most people I talk to find it odd.
Two things: Firstly, I work with a ton of people who came out of the Recurse Center (formerly Hacker School) and I've been consistently impressed by them. It seems to be a pretty self-paced thing, so maybe the people who do well there are the sorts of people who are excited about what they're learning, and I'm sure there's a layer of filtering at the hiring level. Just my personal experience. Secondly, I think that w…
I've met some alumni of the Recurse Center. They were all career programmers or hackers prior. It is not a boot camp like the ones mentioned in this article. https://www.recurse.com/not-a-bootcamp
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Of course applicants "who built something from scratch" will stand out above bootcampers, and some can get into big tech firms with just a "computer," "internet connection" and "focus[]", but that's also a really tall order. There's nothing wrong with a "pay money -> software job" mentality, as long as the person is interested in the work, and puts in the effort. I know several people who came out of college with a h…
You disagreed with me, but upvoting your comment because the counterpoint is compelling. It's easy to assume resources are the key point - are people with less time/money well served by these bootcamps? However, it makes sense that individual personality traits like motivation, ambition, and comfort level with uncertainty / cutting your own path could matter. As aside I've always felt successful STEM people receive u…
I friends with an incredibly intelligent patent lawyer who quit her job to become an FBI agent. I know another really smart guy who took a huge pay cut from his big-tech job to be a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. They didn't quit their technical fields because it was too hard, they could easily handle the STEM jobs when they were thrown at them.
I look at them now and see an even greater level of professionalism than they had in their previous positions, and that comes with a greater respect. Many STEM jobs often get that self-respect, and probably also FBI agents ans WSJ reporters, wish the same could be said about many other positions.
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Don't count on that. If an economic downturn happens, it's entirely possible that the less experienced, but less expensive developers will do well. It may be the experienced one will feel the hurt.
We don't have to guess... What happened to each group during the last two tech/economic downturns (2000-2003 and 2007-2009)?
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We don't have to guess... What happened to each group during the last two tech/economic downturns (2000-2003 and 2007-2009)?
In the tech bubble of the early 2000s, everyone got burned. In 2007-2009, few in tech were burned. Not sure that's relevant.