1–10 of 16 posts
Would you personally rather take a job at a giant corporate consulting firm where you get trained to program in Java and become a software engineer, or take a much lower paying position at a mature startup (over 300 employees) with awesome culture doing product tech support with a possibility of growing with the company?
It's also obviously a question of culture. Which would you thrive in?
Me personally? I'm not sure what you mean by product support, but if you mean something like help desk/tech support for a product they make then I can't go that route. I've done it before and I was absolutely miserable.
Between the two choices you gave I'd have to choose the corporate firm and learn java even though I'd probably be more interested at the startup in a different position.
It's not like this is a life or death decision. If you don't enjoy the job down the road you can quit and go do tech support for thousands of other companies. Thousands of other companies will not hire you and teach you to become a Software Engineer. When I hire developers, unless they're interns, I hire them because they already are Software Engineers.
P.S. I worked at a consultant software firm and it was the worst. I pretty much worked by myself going to clients then coming back. No team atmosphere to spread knowledge and challenges with.
I faced one issue with choosing between the two. Startups won't hire junior level people or people without extensive knowledge about the technologies they are using. With most startups they all have very different "stacks" so it is hard to catch up on the all technologies. Startups are trying to get a product up and running quickly for investors or create more value to get more customers. I interviewed at startups th…
Since then, I've started learning Django (as I feel that's probably the easiest route toward getting a job), and made some progress, but the state of Django tutorials being what it is, I'm starting to hit a wall with it. To that end, I've registered ReadySetDjango.com (no content there yet, so no need to bother visiting) and am working on changing that situation.
And I wonder if the situation is significantly different with larger startups, of, say 100-ish employees. At that level, it seems like they can afford to hire for demonstrated ability in related areas rather than expecting one to be able to ramp up in 2 days.
Anyone who has some advice or input on my situation, I welcome you to email me (contact info in profile). I'm wondering if the results I'm getting are because I'm just not what they want and I'm wasting my breath, or if I'm not presenting myself correctly.
PS I live in the Bay Area and would love to meet up with any of you who are also.
If you become a software engineer you will be able to use your skills in many different environments. I got my degree, got my first job at a global enterprise solutions company, and since then I've worked in aviation, defence, information security, business intelligence and now in financial services.
If you become tech support your skills may not be transferable to other environments, as you may only get to know about the company's product.
Also, I did work for a start-up (the business intelligence company). Very high pressured, close knit team, cool work, little reward (even if the company floated - the devs wouldn't get a large reward). In my experience the high paying global companies higher the quality employees whom you can learn a lot from.
I faced one issue with choosing between the two. Startups won't hire junior level people or people without extensive knowledge about the technologies they are using. With most startups they all have very different "stacks" so it is hard to catch up on the all technologies. Startups are trying to get a product up and running quickly for investors or create more value to get more customers. I interviewed at startups th…
+1 to your comment. I'm facing some of the same issues looking for a startup job. I have 2 years of professional experience with Python, and have concentrated on Python jobs, but haven't yet gotten better than a generically warm response, except once when I was brought in for a week-long "audition." (And, in that case, I feel that I just barely missed the mark and they were able to find someone just slightly more sui…
If you went to a big university try Google, Facebook, etc. They don't care what you code in, they just want to see if you understand programming fundamentals and problem solving capabilities. The bay area is flooded with Junior and Entry level developers so it is hard to land a spot. You have to go to networking places. The best way to find a job is by meeting someone who is hiring.
come listen to Jeff Atwood speak (created Stackoverflow.com) https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jeff-atwood-founder-of-stack-ov...
Adam Gopnik about Albert Bregman, professor at McGill University, on http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/01/28/130128fa_fact_...