Tell HN: I just wanted to say: thank you, Hacker News • Hacker News Board

Re: Tell HN: I just wanted to say: thank you, Hacker News

#81

Post by jenscow » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 9:51 PM UTC

eikenberry wrote: post #79

WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #51

Just a life tip here, make sure you work your way up the ranks. Which means studying and learning how to manage people not learning the obscure computer language. Tech is very tough on old guys. Programmers and CS jobs start to disappear as you get older. The happy stories you'll read here are the exception, not the rule. You need to cover your bases. Good luck.

This depends on where you live. I only really read about ageism being a problem in the valley. Locally (US Northwest) I've never seen any sign of it.

Same here (I'm in the UK).

It really depends on the age of what you know.

Re: Tell HN: I just wanted to say: thank you, Hacker News

#82

Post by 50something » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 9:52 PM UTC

ultrasounder wrote: post #75

50something wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm actually not a fan of CS50. I never took the course, but I went through the online material did the first few weeks of assignments. It is very broad and very shallow. It is also very hard and discouraging without some guided assistance. The students who take it for credit get a lot of help. For a first CompSci course, the edX Python course is better, IMO. https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-computer-science-m…

Thanks for your feedback. I could see your point about the course being broad. With 6.0.0 the whole focus is on Python and CS. Congrats on "Getting the Google job", at which many a might folk have failed; https://medium.com/@googleyasheck/i-didnt-get-hired-here-s-w... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9695102 Are you able to share the role that you got hired in to? Was it a SRE? thanks

I'm trying to stay anonymous and am concerned I may have already revealed too much. Let's just say it is a technical role that involves coding and leave it at that.

Re: Tell HN: I just wanted to say: thank you, Hacker News

#83

Post by eikenberry » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 9:55 PM UTC

austincheney wrote: post #24

Is this age and sex bias a silicon valley problem? I am nearly 40 and most of the developers I have worked with in the past 10+ years have always been older than me (aside from college new hires). They have also been 20-40% female. I have spent this time working in the Westlake, Irving, Plano technology corridor of north DFW. I would like to hear what kind of demographics people encounter by geographic location. I al…

> Is this age and sex bias a silicon valley problem?

From my experiences a lot of SV's ageism is not really that they won't hire older workers on principle, it is just that most of their worker are young due to local conditions and like attracts like. By 'local conditions' I mostly mean cost of living, everyone I know who has lived in SV moved away when they got older and wanted to start a family.

Re: Tell HN: I just wanted to say: thank you, Hacker News

#84

Post by ApolloRising » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 9:55 PM UTC

50something wrote: post #13

I am finishing my bachelors in CompSci at Harvard Extension and just got hired by Google. And I've got about 20 years on you. So yeah, absolutely, this can work! It was fun and challenging competing with top computer science students. In the long run, my organizational skills, focus, determination and world experience outweighed their raw brainpower and better memory. It's an ultramarathon, not a sprint.

How long did this take you? I was considering something like this and would love it if you could tell us about your experience doing this remotely.

Re: Tell HN: I just wanted to say: thank you, Hacker News

#85

Post by 50something » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 9:58 PM UTC

ApolloRising wrote: post #84

50something wrote: post #13

I am finishing my bachelors in CompSci at Harvard Extension and just got hired by Google. And I've got about 20 years on you. So yeah, absolutely, this can work! It was fun and challenging competing with top computer science students. In the long run, my organizational skills, focus, determination and world experience outweighed their raw brainpower and better memory. It's an ultramarathon, not a sprint.

How long did this take you? I was considering something like this and would love it if you could tell us about your experience doing this remotely.

It took three years. As I mentioned elsewhere, I tested out of a semester of work. Unlike undergrads, I was used to working year round, so I took January term and summer classes to reduce elapsed time.

While some remote students have been able to build quality relationships with professors, it is far easier if you are local.

Re: Tell HN: I just wanted to say: thank you, Hacker News

#86

Post by wikibob » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 10:02 PM UTC

50something wrote: post #32

wikibob wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d love to hear more about this. You feel it was worth the cost? Did you do all classes online or did you go in person for some / all? Did you work in technology previously?

>You feel it was worth the cost? Harvard Extension is a bargain compared to most colleges. $1500-$2500 for most 4 credit classes. Don't tell those smart college students that you are getting the same class for less than half the price. I tried the online thing (Coursera, edX, Udemy, etc.) but was never as motivated as competing against real students in a real class with deadlines that have consequences. Fear of failu…

I’ve looked into the extension school a few times but never went forward due to lack of good first hand success stories. Mind if I drop you an email in the future? Anonymous email is fine if you prefer (saw your below comment).

Or you can ping me (in profile).

Re: Tell HN: I just wanted to say: thank you, Hacker News

#87

Post by ultrasounder » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 10:03 PM UTC

50something wrote: post #82

ultrasounder wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for your feedback. I could see your point about the course being broad. With 6.0.0 the whole focus is on Python and CS. Congrats on "Getting the Google job", at which many a might folk have failed; https://medium.com/@googleyasheck/i-didnt-get-hired-here-s-w... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9695102 Are you able to share the role that you got hired in to? Was it a SRE? thanks

I'm trying to stay anonymous and am concerned I may have already revealed too much. Let's just say it is a technical role that involves coding and leave it at that.

perfectly understand your concerns. Thanks again and wish you well on your journey!!!

Re: Tell HN: I just wanted to say: thank you, Hacker News

#88

Post by 50something » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 10:05 PM UTC

ultrasounder wrote: post #75

50something wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm actually not a fan of CS50. I never took the course, but I went through the online material did the first few weeks of assignments. It is very broad and very shallow. It is also very hard and discouraging without some guided assistance. The students who take it for credit get a lot of help. For a first CompSci course, the edX Python course is better, IMO. https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-computer-science-m…

Thanks for your feedback. I could see your point about the course being broad. With 6.0.0 the whole focus is on Python and CS. Congrats on "Getting the Google job", at which many a might folk have failed; https://medium.com/@googleyasheck/i-didnt-get-hired-here-s-w... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9695102 Are you able to share the role that you got hired in to? Was it a SRE? thanks

Also, I got rejected twice (!) at Microsoft and didn't even get an interview at Amazon, so I can sympathize with "GoogleyAsHeck." Clearly hiring is a very noisy process with a lot of randomness. A lot of it is beyond your control no matter how much preparation is done.

Re: Tell HN: I just wanted to say: thank you, Hacker News

#89

Post by wikibob » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 10:09 PM UTC

spyhi wrote: post #42

astro_robot wrote: post #25

Thanks for coming back and sharing your success! It's very inspiring for me. I just graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree and debating going back for a CSE Bachelor's degree but unsure if it would be worth it.

I don't know how it is in other schools, but at mine you can get a masters in CS even if you didn't do your undergrad in CS. They just have you take the core undergrad CS courses, which is about 1-1.5 years of work. With an ME, it might not even be that long. You should look into that before going for a second bachelor's.

Which school?

Re: Tell HN: I just wanted to say: thank you, Hacker News

#90

Post by zamalek » Wed, Mar 21, 2018, 10:12 PM UTC

eikenberry wrote: post #77

zamalek wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That worked for me until I wanted a visa. Now I am getting a CS degree.

Was it that you needed any degree or did you specifically need a CS degree for your visa? Which country was the visa for?

USA. I'm currently on an L1B (which is difficult to get and renew, and only renews once). To get an H1B I need that degree, and it helps if it's related to the field.