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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?

#121

Post by johnsonjo »

whack wrote: post #113
johnsonjo wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is really great advice. Being too stressed during an interview is not good for looking like a good job candidate. I’ll have to check out that book too, because I personally get a little too stressed public speaking, so thanks for the recommendation. That’s one of the great things about questions like these is they can be very relatable and you get such great advice from all walks of life.

Thanks. Since you mentioned public speaking, I would also strongly recommend Toastmasters as a way to improve your public speaking and overcoming-anxiety skills. I've personally tried it, and it really helped.

Thanks, I’ll have to check that out too. Just bought The Inner Game of Tennis and read up past the introduction. Seems like it will be very insightful.

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

#122

Post by cjhanks »

First off, if you're beating yourself up because you cannot do these Leetcode, Project Euler stuff - stop it. You will probably not be the best algorithms developer, but who cares?

Don't sit around and say, "Where can I go from here?". No matter where you are, figure out where you want to go. And 9 times out of 10, the skills you have accrued in your life will be of some value. That is my experience, anyways.

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

#124

Post by afarrell »

throwaway613834 wrote: post #89
godelski wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you underestimate how common imposter syndrome is. It may be that the OP just isn't good at programming. But it may also be imposter syndrome. Having the degree suggests that they did something and gained some skills. So it isn't unlikely that the OP is selling themselves short. Plus it is better to encourage people than put them down. Most people can learn most skills, but some people require less time to le…

You call out impostor syndrome when you actually have evidence to suggest it is the case, not completely baselessly. Like when you give someone a role because you believe in their ability (whether through prior interviews with them, or seeing their prior work, etc.), but they don't feel up to the task. In other words, we know they actually can do tasks that we believe to be of similar or greater difficulty, but they…

Impostor syndrome gets talked about so much in conference talks that I think we as an industry have started to classify all confidence problems as impostor syndrome and thats just inaccurate and unhelpful. Instead, there are a variety of things in work that can cause problems.

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

#125

Post by sixdimensional »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #12
Ensorceled wrote: post #9

Some of the best Product Managers I’ve worked with people with Engineering or Comp Sci degrees who had been mediocre devs for one reason or another. That said, is there any type of programming are you good at? What actual work have you done? Have you shipped an iPhone app or launched a basic website? Were your comp sci courses brutally hard and you spent hours working at them and barely eked out a degree? I’m asking…

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: 007180546X) and found it to be a pretty good basic introduction, when I needed it.

Lastly, nothing beats having cross-disciplinary experience by chance in any job. What lead me into product management was always "getting stuck in the middle" because I was equally capable of being technical as well as talking with a user and understanding their needs. I was more of a Technical Product Manager, however, than a pure Product Manager (an important distinction).

[1] This is a legit download - "The Strategic Role of Product Management" it's a link to a PDF on the Pragmatic Marketing website - https://cdn.agilitycms.com/pragmatic-marketing-v2/SRPM_PM180...

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

#126

Post by sixdimensional »

ct520 wrote: post #20
toomuchtodo wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does one train to be a Product Manager?

PMP cert seems to be a defacto certificate I see thrown around in the field. (besides all the scrum stuff)

PMP is for project management, relevant to product management, but perhaps a particular set of tools within the broader domain of product management.

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

#127

Post by noonespecial »

Have you ever used the computer to make something for yourself? A personal project? Even a clever hack with a spreadsheet to save some time?

Congrats. You're a Programmer. (And probably in the top 10% of all "computer geeks" everywhere). Someone wants to hire you.

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

#128

Post by my_usernam3 »

orcs wrote: post #123

This is exactly how I feel. I'm 2/3 the way through a CS degree as a mature student. I feel like I've learned absolutely no programming at all.

Dude it took me a whole year in the industry to feel like I knew ANYTHING about programming. Don't be discourage by that feeling, and don't let other's outwards confidence fool you. Were all 10 years olds pretending to be adults.
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