I recently changed my major to comp sci, and plan on taking an emphasis on software engineering. Right now my only problem is having a job while going to school, in that all jobs I can find suck, at least with my resume. Are there any certifications/training I could get that is relative quick to get (i.e. not the BSc I'm going for) that would help tremendously in getting a job somewhere close to related to my field of study?
Name:
Penis2008-07-09 17:29
1. No one cares about certs. A monkey can get certs. Certs are shit, clear? DO NOT put them on your resume unless you're applying for a shit job.
2. Your degree/school/whatever matters. Your minor can be important too if it shows you are "different." I got my job with a major in Politics, tons of experience, and then they said "huh, a minor in math, that's odd."
3. Your experience matters more. In particular, what did you do while dicking around on the internets? Write any apps? Tell em you wrote a client/server app in C, for example, or that you spent a year writing an interpreter or whatever. Something. Initiative matters.
4. Your ability to give a decent interview matters. Don't be cocky, answer the questions (and if you start rambling don't worry---just say "hrm, i'm not sure I answered your question, could you repeat it?" people want answers, not your life story). Be friendly, but not overly so. Be respectful, but don't suck their dick. Wear a good suit, bring a notepad and take notes, ask questions. An interview is a two-way street. If I am interviewing someone and they don't ask shit I tend to think they're idiots.
If you are looking for a job with a computer company expect to be asked very technical questions. Study up beforehand but don't spazz out if you don't know the answer---just work through it and tell em how you are working through it. The correct answer is NOT relevant.
For example, a good friend of mine is a genius mathematician who has since moved into the corporate world in IT. When he grilled PhDs he would ask something completely irrelevant, like, "alright, so how many gas stations are in the US, anyway?" There'd be some dumbass up there saying "what, that has nothing to do with my dissertation, I can't answer that," not realizing he just wanted to know how they would handle a question they didn't know the answer to.
AND FOR GODS SAKE IF SOMEONE ASKS YOU WHAT YOU WOULD DO IF A TEAMMATE WAS FALLING BEHIND AND YOU HAD A DEADLINE SAY YOU WOULD STEP UP AND TAKE CARE OF IT _BUT_ YOU WOULD ALSO MAKE SURE YOU WOULD TRY YOUR BEST TO HELP YOUR TEAMMATE UNDERSTAND SHIT. People are looking for someone who will benefit their orginization for decades, not some nerd who will just come in and do something. That's what contractors are for. Besides, you're going to spend most of your time anyway trying to figure out how to deal with and worth with other people. Your coding will be minimal compared to that.
I interviewed someone recently... started off well... obviously smart and capable. Then halfway through he says "yeah I'd like to start my own business in a few years". FAIL. Sorry, but I got better things to do than train some dumbass for several years only to see him leave the company.
5. No one cares about what you know. They care about what you can learn. Any monkey can say they know Java, but so what?
Show that you know multiple language and systems or, better yet, show that you don't care about languages, that you're better than mere languages. Any programmer worth their salt can program in anything on any system with little more than a reference book.
6. A smart interviewer will ask you what your favorite language is. Why? It's a test. The proper answer is LISP but "who cares about syntax" will do. Don't just sit there and say "LOLJAVA". That's epic fail.