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This right here. You either have useful work experience or a portfolio of your work, or i'm trashing your resume. It's also amazing how many CS majors waste t

by brador 11y ago

This right here. You either have useful work experience or a portfolio of your work, or i'm trashing your resume. It's also amazing how many CS majors waste their 3-4 years addicted to video games (LOL seems to be the big one right now). Those 1000's of hours are better spent building that portfolio that will net you $100k day 1 out of your degree. Video game addiction is serious. Google for solutions, it can be fixed. It does not improve your resume to mention your lol rank.

simonh 11y ago
I take your point, but I get enough pleasure from Kerbal Space Program that wouldn't blame others for needing their occasional gaming fix. But sure, being a productive and active person should come first.
- whateveracct 11y ago
  > But sure, being a productive and active person should come first. This viewpoint is garbage. Outside of work hours, a person has no obligation to be career-focused. Tech shouldn't require someone to be about their career in their free time as well. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you. I sure hope I am because this expectation to make CS your hobby to be a valid CS grad in the workplace is awful.
  - stuxnet79 11y ago
    I agree with this. Even when I used to game seriously, I wasn't gaming all the time (some of my friends shocked me with how seriously they took the hobby). I really envy people who can dedicate their entire lives to doing one thing and one thing only 24/7 - whether gaming or coding. That is beyond me.
    - lfowles 11y ago
      > I really envy people who can dedicate their entire lives to doing one thing and one thing only 24/7 - whether gaming or coding. Similarly, I used to have a crippling envy of accomplished coders who were same age as me, which has long since evaporated. Probably a symptom of ADHD, my life consists of many short distinct phases where I hyperfocus on an interest. Knitting, woodworking, programming, reading, etc. I do have several projects that I wish I could just dedicate a couple of months too, however! Seeing how far I could get in a dedicated week always makes me long for another month of intense focus.
  - simonh 11y ago
    That's not my point at all. I'm just saying that if you don't have a career history to demonstrate your ability and experience, there are still many, many ways to do that. I'm not saying it's a requirement, but it's a valid and useful option.
- lfowles 11y ago
  Interesting perspective, but consider time allotment for a day. You get 24 hours generally broken down into: ~8h sleeping, ~8h working/studying, ~8h "free time". Can't you argue that they're being productive by virtue of their day job or the courses they've taken?
stuxnet79 11y ago
I haven't gamed seriously in about 5 years, because I have been busy finishing up my undergraduate degree. Now that I've graduated and I'm employed I've started building a gaming rig, with hopes of getting back into the hobby. Now that I've read this I'm wondering if I should even bother. Perhaps I should focus on building my portfolio more. I find video games help me unwind so that I don't have a restless feeling when I'm focusing on what really matters. In adequate amounts I think video games are alright. I'm wondering what your threshold for "addiction" is though ...
- thfuran 11y ago
  Do you want to spend your life gaining work experience and building a portfolio to ensure maximum salary, or do you want to spend your life doing what you want do? Some people program as a hobby and convince themselves that anyone who has different hobbies is a worthless programmer, but that is nonsense. Build that gaming rig.
- lfowles 11y ago
  Do what you find enjoyable. There's little point fighting it. My personal threshold for addiction is "this is a mindless time filler keeping me away from other things I want to accomplish" which is enough for me to determine that the activity is only marginally more enjoyable than doing nothing. Plus, except for the pricy GPU, a gaming rig is mostly a good development rig!

by brador 11y ago

simonh 11y ago

I take your point, but I get enough pleasure from Kerbal Space Program that wouldn't blame others for needing their occasional gaming fix. But sure, being a productive and active person should come first.

whateveracct 11y ago
> But sure, being a productive and active person should come first. This viewpoint is garbage. Outside of work hours, a person has no obligation to be career-focused. Tech shouldn't require someone to be about their career in their free time as well. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you. I sure hope I am because this expectation to make CS your hobby to be a valid CS grad in the workplace is awful.
- stuxnet79 11y ago
  I agree with this. Even when I used to game seriously, I wasn't gaming all the time (some of my friends shocked me with how seriously they took the hobby). I really envy people who can dedicate their entire lives to doing one thing and one thing only 24/7 - whether gaming or coding. That is beyond me.
  - lfowles 11y ago
    > I really envy people who can dedicate their entire lives to doing one thing and one thing only 24/7 - whether gaming or coding. Similarly, I used to have a crippling envy of accomplished coders who were same age as me, which has long since evaporated. Probably a symptom of ADHD, my life consists of many short distinct phases where I hyperfocus on an interest. Knitting, woodworking, programming, reading, etc. I do have several projects that I wish I could just dedicate a couple of months too, however! Seeing how far I could get in a dedicated week always makes me long for another month of intense focus.
- simonh 11y ago
  That's not my point at all. I'm just saying that if you don't have a career history to demonstrate your ability and experience, there are still many, many ways to do that. I'm not saying it's a requirement, but it's a valid and useful option.
lfowles 11y ago
Interesting perspective, but consider time allotment for a day. You get 24 hours generally broken down into: ~8h sleeping, ~8h working/studying, ~8h "free time". Can't you argue that they're being productive by virtue of their day job or the courses they've taken?

stuxnet79 11y ago

I haven't gamed seriously in about 5 years, because I have been busy finishing up my undergraduate degree. Now that I've graduated and I'm employed I've started building a gaming rig, with hopes of getting back into the hobby. Now that I've read this I'm wondering if I should even bother. Perhaps I should focus on building my portfolio more. I find video games help me unwind so that I don't have a restless feeling when I'm focusing on what really matters. In adequate amounts I think video games are alright. I'm wondering what your threshold for "addiction" is though ...

thfuran 11y ago
Do you want to spend your life gaining work experience and building a portfolio to ensure maximum salary, or do you want to spend your life doing what you want do? Some people program as a hobby and convince themselves that anyone who has different hobbies is a worthless programmer, but that is nonsense. Build that gaming rig.
lfowles 11y ago
Do what you find enjoyable. There's little point fighting it. My personal threshold for addiction is "this is a mindless time filler keeping me away from other things I want to accomplish" which is enough for me to determine that the activity is only marginally more enjoyable than doing nothing. Plus, except for the pricy GPU, a gaming rig is mostly a good development rig!