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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?

#241

Post by ct520 »

wuunderbar wrote: post #26
ct520 wrote: post #23

Project manager, Business Analyst, Sales engineer, devops, high level support role, a role in system integrations, technical writer.. etc etc. I believe CS degree is a good base now and days and doesnt mean you have to go straight into development. Best people I know in the above roles have a programming background. Good luck, don't stress and dont give up. First job was the hardest for me :) Get out there and interv…

I would hope that a "Devops Engineer" or similar would be able to breeze through Easy leetcode problems (i.e., string manipulation) without issue.

True, I guess I didn’t group together string manipulation as a lee7code problem. Devops people I know are mostly chef and powershell scripts.

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

#242

Post by 1001101 »

#1: have you talked to an occupational therapist?

Software is going to be stressful, there are going to be time pressures. You might find an organization/industry where these are minimized. Medical, aerospace move at a very slow pace. I can think of a few companies in the industrial space where things move at a pretty slow pace as well.

Otherwise, software test, product management, documentation off the top of my head.

Asking for help is a good trait for a programmer to have. Good luck to you!

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

#243

Post by hermitdev »

giancarlostoro wrote: post #187
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'…

> where I didn't know all the answers and they still kept wanting to follow up with me.

Absolutely this. The primary purpose of the interview is to establish whether or not you are competent enough to do the job. This doesn't necessarily mean having all of the skills out of the box, but whether you are capable of picking them up and have the basis to do so. Best piece of advice I could give is don't lie. If you don't know the answer, say so. But, better to follow up with "...but, this how I think it might work" or "...but, this is how I would go about finding the solution".

One of my purposes in interviews was literally to get the candidate to say they didn't know. We can work with people that know their limits; can't work with a bumbling fool that knows no bounds.

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

#244

Post by zaat »

dangerface wrote: post #233

Degrees are worthless. A degree courses is designed to be easy to grade, not to teach you anything useful. The point is to show you are capable of learning, not to make you capable of doing a job. This makes them fairly portable, while jobs may ask for a degree with a specific subject they will generally consider anyone with a degree, unless its marine biology or some shit. Code camps and uni are a good start, but if…

>Degrees are worthless. A degree courses is designed to be easy to grade, not to teach you anything useful.

My experience is very far from what you describe. I learned ton of stuff from teachers who were mostly enthusiastic about the field they were teaching. Do you write from your own experience? do you have a degree?

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

#245

Post by nickelcitymario »

As someone who has never (and likely will never) pass these kinds of tests, am I in a minority in thinking maybe they're a good way of filtering the non-geniuses? I.e. Maybe the reason I can't pass these tests is I really am not sufficiently skilled/talented to work at Google?

At some point, I think we need to accept that sometimes other people are not the problem.

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

#246

Post by cryoshon »

codeisawesome wrote: post #161
abledon wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah like I said in another thread, CTCI is for more of a software __engineering__ role. There are lots of really easy software developement jobs where you ain’t doing algorithmic/dataatructures, just chilling with other code monkeys , humming Katy perry tunes and stackoverflow searching 4 hrs a day, the rest is breaks and hn reading

A candidate displaying the attitude shown in this post would not pass the culture fit round if the company needs team players.

the joke is (probably) on you: most people know not to mention these things in a job interview, but expect to enter a team with like-minded individuals upon hiring.

employers can't screen for it because there's no paper trail.

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

#247

Post by EADGBE »

I just wanted to let you know you're no stranger to these thoughts. You're going through exactly what I went through with the completion of a music degree.

So, with that logic; perhaps you should try your hand at teaching music.

Though I didn't get into "software engineering". I'm a frontend/backend developer. How narrow are your sights set? The CS field is pretty big.

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

#248

Post by spatulaorama »

Lots of great comments so far, but I would add that an alternative approach would be to find an open source project that you feel you could contribute to. Start at ground level fixing bugs and work your way up. It will look great on your resume and would be way more productive than just focusing on interview prep. If nothing else it will help you determine if you actually do enjoy programming.

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

#250

Post by zamalek »

zaat wrote: post #244
dangerface wrote: post #233

Degrees are worthless. A degree courses is designed to be easy to grade, not to teach you anything useful. The point is to show you are capable of learning, not to make you capable of doing a job. This makes them fairly portable, while jobs may ask for a degree with a specific subject they will generally consider anyone with a degree, unless its marine biology or some shit. Code camps and uni are a good start, but if…

>Degrees are worthless. A degree courses is designed to be easy to grade, not to teach you anything useful. My experience is very far from what you describe. I learned ton of stuff from teachers who were mostly enthusiastic about the field they were teaching. Do you write from your own experience? do you have a degree?

It depends strongly on where you go. I dropped out in my 20's because I was learning bugger all from completely disinterested lecturers. I'm picking it up again at 31 (new university) and I'm not only mostly enjoying it but I'm even enjoying "bullshit" subjects that have nothing to do with CS.

Some universities (I would assume most) are businesses that print degrees and answer to shareholders, others are learning institutions that answer to students.

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