Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 324 posts

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

#181

Post by flocial »

throwaway613834 wrote: post #64
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…

>> "Easy problems take me 2-5 hours." > 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. Putting myself in the OP's shoes, this would be really frustrating advice to hear. The OP literally said they already got a CS degree and that these are "easy problems" taking them 2-5 h…

While I agree that it could be taken that way considering the tone of OP's post there were several considerations going into my reply:

1. OP seemed locked in a spiral of negativity that was aggravating performance anxiety.

2. OP was actually able to solve problems and I assumed OP is not talking about "Fizz Buzz" class problems.

3. OP was nowhere to be found in the comments at the time of posting so I wanted the comment to be realistic but positive and also encourage others struggling with similar issues to take a deep breath and objectively reassess their situation rather than assuming everything is a waste and they truly aren't cut out for it.

As an aside, having just read OP's comment history[1], while he likes problem solving, his main motivation is money (extrinsic motivation) and he seems prone to analysis paralysis and anxiety about raw ability/intelligence. Based on that I wouldn't encourage OP to pursue something that stresses them out and aren't confident in purely for money.

There is enough good advice and feedback in this entire thread for a meaningful discussion with OP. Without the OP's feedback our discussion will only be trading assumptions and suppositions but thanks for the honest feedback, duly noted.

1. https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=Tmp1234

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

#182

Post by anuragojha »

Decide what you want. Make a plan. Take baby steps. Climb that hill and go get it.

If you are thinking about dropping this whole line, my advice to you is (1) do what you need to do to get a job as a software engineer; (2) walk away from it after two months.

Do anything else after this, but make sure you nail this sucker that is making you feel this way. Make sure you beat this challenge before walking away. I am from India, until a few years ago, every fresh graduate and I mean civil engineer, arts, mechanical engineer, electronic engineer, you name it, got a job at an Indian IT firm. 8 years hence, they are coding away, carrying on. People who don't even have the basics in CS are making it in the IT industry. You have a CS degree, get some use out of it. Don't listen to bullshit from others and yourself about doing something else. The most celebrated victories are comes from the individuals in the more dire situations.

But before anything else, start exercising a full hour every single day, eat and sleep well. Dress well throughout the day. Do this for a full week and start fresh next day if you fail. It will work like magic and help you pull your head out of wherever you have it parked. Oh and before you sleep, dream of making it through.

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

#183

Post by z3t4 »

Maybe you have not yet found your programming style. Schools tend to teach object oriented programming, but maybe functional programming is better suited for you. And also look into test-driven-development with test-first approach, where problems are broken down to really small parts and you solve one part at a time.

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

#186

Post by ninedays »

Been there. Have a CS degree and did programming for most of my `student years`. Noticed only the last year that I didn't want to be a developer and had no idea what to do if you're not a developer. I am now working as a QA and I find it great. My developer background really helps me talk with the devs and understand what goes through their mind.

Do not hesitate to talk to a head hunter and explain the situation to him, he may have some jobs you might be interested in even though you never thought of it.

Warm vibes, I hope you'll love what you'll do someday.

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

#187

Post by giancarlostoro »

whack wrote: post #101

> I experience PTSD like symptoms from the constant barrage of negative thoughts the difficulty and stress of doing these problems are causing me. A lot of the other posters have given some great advice from a technical perspective. I'd suggest taking some time to evaluate and improve your mental health as well. If you're putting yourself under so much pressure, that pressure alone will hold you back to a great exten…

I think I took off about a year after I graduated, I kept working at my job and then when I decided to look for work it all lined up just perfectly. Look for jobs that want new programmers or interns is all I can say.

Also:

You do not have to ace the interview just show promise.

What I mean is, even I've gone through interviews where I didn't know all the answers and they still kept wanting to follow up with me. Don't be too harsh on yourself.

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

#188

Post by austincheney »

I was hired by Travelocity (many years ago) to be a designer. A few months in they had plenty of designers but couldn't hire front-end developers, so they made me a developer. It wasn't a choice. If I wanted to stay employed I had to figure it out. After several military deployments and treating programming like a hobby for some open source projects I developed a talent for it. A talent a CS degree could never provide.

I have seen several developers who thought they were awesome because they had a CS degree from a fancy school. They were very wrong.

Programming is a skill. Skills take practice to develop. End of story.

Most people are confused about the nature of education, especially CS students. Education is not trade school. Trade schools exist to get you started on a skill. Education exists to provide beneficial structured knowledge. If you are having trouble figuring this out I wouldn't hire you either.

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

#190

Post by michaelt »

simonbarker87 wrote: post #144
godot wrote: post #119

I don't know if this helps, but I personally find coding interview practice sites/problems to be extremely boring, difficult, not fun, and frustrating to work on. I'm saying this as a 13-years-of-experience software engineer; I've been called a rock star or ninja or something similar in almost every company and team I've worked in (big and small), and throughout my entire career and the numerous times I've job-hunted…

> “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…

  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
When I was a teenager I attended a group interview for a retail job, and we were put into groups and told to design a TV advert for the retailer then act it out in front of the other interviewees. Of course my group decided to do a song.

Once you've been inoculated by having to sing in front of a room of 30 people, whiteboard coding in front of 2 people feels downright respectful and dignified :)

Post reply on HN