4 ms·

There should honestly be a Common App for internships: one application, a standardized coding challenge, and then interviews. TripleByte seems to be trying to d

by QML 8y ago

There should honestly be a Common App for internships: one application, a standardized coding challenge, and then interviews. TripleByte seems to be trying to do something similar for full-time, but they don't cover internships.

HelloFellowDevs 8y ago
Someone's tried with https://www.internblitz.com/ https://www.internblitz.com/, I've never used it though and now I'm out of the university system.
dumbfoundded 8y ago
I think the Common App is awful. Many of my friends out of high school applied to a few colleges. I applied to 17. Why? The cost of a college app is ~$75. The Common App turns careful consideration of where you want to study into a monetary game. I was lucky to afford it. Most people can't. As for TypeByte, I think it's okay. My girlfriend went through it, passed with flying colors and got many interviews. The problem is jobs like colleges differ vasty. Perhaps a better solution for the problem is a meaningful certification. Then you can simply focus on the specifics of the role and company to see if it's a good fit. Determining qualification is a solved problem in many other fields.
- ascar 8y ago
  So you are saying the current system is better, because rich students have better chances as they can afford more applications? The current college system in the US is entirely flawed. College education should be free and slots given based on merit and not money. What you pointed out is that this bad system already starts at the cost for an application. University education in Germany is basically free (~300€ per year) and application costs are printing 2-3 pages and sending them in or bringing them personally. And that's only for the final step, everything else is already online.
  - igorkraw 8y ago
    Some slight corrections/comments (source, German who went through our education system) 1. Depending on the university, you might not even have to print anything out, I applied to TUM purely digital IIRC 2. While I was studying they abolished the study fees. What you pay is student unions dues, which depending on which state include a public transportation ticket, access to additional medical consultations and career services and other stuff 3. We can also apply for federal study aid, depending on need. I worked and had parents who could support me, so I "only" got around 6000€ for all of my studies (plus an additional 3000 for studying abroad in Switzerland for a while) of which I'll have to repay 50% interest free, less if I can pay it off in a lump sum. 4. This is a very social-democratic German perspective, but I'd argue education is a right and should be given to everyone, limited only by the available resources. Conditional on limited resources split it between prioritising need (e.g., increasing social mobility) and prioritising ROI (in a rough sense, merit) As an aside, I will be happily corrected if this is wrong, but I remember reading that in 2012 Germany graduated almost as many engineers (3 years bachelor plus master graduates, most of whom did a bachelor before) as the US (4 year bachelor with most people not going for the master of not as part of a PhD, if I understand correctly?). While I'm sure you can't exactly equate these numbers, with population numbers of 82e6 Vs 300e6 this seemed to me like the German system was doing something right - especially given German engineers seem(?) to be well qualified in the international comparison
    - ascar 8y ago
      > 1. Depending on the university, you might not even have to print anything out, I applied to TUM purely digital IIRC I'm also a TUM graduate. At least a few years ago, you had to send in or hand in your signed final application papers (not even all documents) to the "Immatrukulationsamt". But so much of the process is purely online, that you might have forgotten about it.
      - igorkraw 8y ago
        Ah, true, at the very end you print out a form, sign and then mail it or hand it over. Thanks for jogging my memory
- QML 8y ago
  When I was referring to CommonApp, I didn’t mean to also include along it’s heavy fee per application. Beyond the medical field and lawyers, what other fields do you believe that qualifications is a solved problem? Mind that a certification itself can also be cost prohibitive — that’s ok if it can be amortized over many apps though.
  - dumbfoundded 8y ago
    Almost all trades have certifications. Everything from air conditioner repairmen to physical therapists.

by QML 8y ago

HelloFellowDevs 8y ago

Someone's tried with https://www.internblitz.com/ https://www.internblitz.com/, I've never used it though and now I'm out of the university system.

dumbfoundded 8y ago

I think the Common App is awful. Many of my friends out of high school applied to a few colleges. I applied to 17. Why? The cost of a college app is ~$75. The Common App turns careful consideration of where you want to study into a monetary game. I was lucky to afford it. Most people can't. As for TypeByte, I think it's okay. My girlfriend went through it, passed with flying colors and got many interviews. The problem is jobs like colleges differ vasty. Perhaps a better solution for the problem is a meaningful certification. Then you can simply focus on the specifics of the role and company to see if it's a good fit. Determining qualification is a solved problem in many other fields.

ascar 8y ago
So you are saying the current system is better, because rich students have better chances as they can afford more applications? The current college system in the US is entirely flawed. College education should be free and slots given based on merit and not money. What you pointed out is that this bad system already starts at the cost for an application. University education in Germany is basically free (~300€ per year) and application costs are printing 2-3 pages and sending them in or bringing them personally. And that's only for the final step, everything else is already online.
- igorkraw 8y ago
  Some slight corrections/comments (source, German who went through our education system) 1. Depending on the university, you might not even have to print anything out, I applied to TUM purely digital IIRC 2. While I was studying they abolished the study fees. What you pay is student unions dues, which depending on which state include a public transportation ticket, access to additional medical consultations and career services and other stuff 3. We can also apply for federal study aid, depending on need. I worked and had parents who could support me, so I "only" got around 6000€ for all of my studies (plus an additional 3000 for studying abroad in Switzerland for a while) of which I'll have to repay 50% interest free, less if I can pay it off in a lump sum. 4. This is a very social-democratic German perspective, but I'd argue education is a right and should be given to everyone, limited only by the available resources. Conditional on limited resources split it between prioritising need (e.g., increasing social mobility) and prioritising ROI (in a rough sense, merit) As an aside, I will be happily corrected if this is wrong, but I remember reading that in 2012 Germany graduated almost as many engineers (3 years bachelor plus master graduates, most of whom did a bachelor before) as the US (4 year bachelor with most people not going for the master of not as part of a PhD, if I understand correctly?). While I'm sure you can't exactly equate these numbers, with population numbers of 82e6 Vs 300e6 this seemed to me like the German system was doing something right - especially given German engineers seem(?) to be well qualified in the international comparison
  - ascar 8y ago
    > 1. Depending on the university, you might not even have to print anything out, I applied to TUM purely digital IIRC I'm also a TUM graduate. At least a few years ago, you had to send in or hand in your signed final application papers (not even all documents) to the "Immatrukulationsamt". But so much of the process is purely online, that you might have forgotten about it.
    - igorkraw 8y ago
      Ah, true, at the very end you print out a form, sign and then mail it or hand it over. Thanks for jogging my memory
QML 8y ago
When I was referring to CommonApp, I didn’t mean to also include along it’s heavy fee per application. Beyond the medical field and lawyers, what other fields do you believe that qualifications is a solved problem? Mind that a certification itself can also be cost prohibitive — that’s ok if it can be amortized over many apps though.
- dumbfoundded 8y ago
  Almost all trades have certifications. Everything from air conditioner repairmen to physical therapists.