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It's sort of complicated. I did a boot camp, 100 applications 3 interviews 0 offers, went back to school (Harvard, the real one not the extension school) and am

It's sort of complicated. I did a boot camp, 100 applications 3 interviews 0 offers, went back to school (Harvard, the real one not the extension school) and am currently doing the summer internship grind (30 applications 3 interviews 0 offers). But I'm CS.

rconti 7y ago
Ugh. I hear that first step can be rough. I took a non-traditional path so it wasn't an issue for me. I didn't realize internships were so hard to get, though.
- gizmo385 7y ago
  Internships are tricky for a few reasons, I think. For one, a lot of college students tend to have very generic/entry level engineering skill sets (not really any fault of their own) so it becomes quite difficult to differentiate oneself from the hundreds or thousands of other people who are applying for that one internship slot. I think a lot of folks tend to only focus on the large, well known companies when applying to internships, which I think exacerbates the first problem. I've told some friends who are still in college to try and apply for places beyond the major Silicon Valley companies and that pretty much any company that they can think of 1) Leverages software engineering heavily 2) Has an internship program. I think it'd be interesting to see a "wage-distribution" style chart of who gets internships in Fortune 500 companies. When I say that, I don't mean actual wage, but moreso "what percentage of engineering students are getting what percentage of internships" and similar questions.
- VPN_SIDEHUSTLE 7y ago
  What was your non traditional path?
  - rconti 7y ago
    Worked in tech (ISPs, support, then unix sysadmin) in my teens and after graduating high school, quit my job to go back to college at 21. Worked part time in IT dept during college and summers, remote part time work for a web hosting company during summers as well. Business major, not CS. It seems like dev jobs in particular are interview meat grinders.
ryandrake 7y ago
Don’t worry. I’m 20 years into my career and the last job hunt was about 100 applications, 10 interviews or phone screens, and 1 offer. Anyone who can get an offer out of less than 10 applications in this difficult job environment is either very lucky or a top-0.1% wizard in his field.
- rconti 7y ago
  Engineering? I hear the interviews can be incredibly lengthy and brutal, and the process just too time-consuming. That said, the job market is positively white-hot. Most companies in major markets simply cannot find enough people to hire. The economy's been growing at a breakneck pace for a decade now. I don't doubt your experience, nor would I blame it on you personally (I'm no wizard). Just a bit curious about how that experience comes out of this market.

rconti 7y ago

Ugh. I hear that first step can be rough. I took a non-traditional path so it wasn't an issue for me. I didn't realize internships were so hard to get, though.

gizmo385 7y ago
Internships are tricky for a few reasons, I think. For one, a lot of college students tend to have very generic/entry level engineering skill sets (not really any fault of their own) so it becomes quite difficult to differentiate oneself from the hundreds or thousands of other people who are applying for that one internship slot. I think a lot of folks tend to only focus on the large, well known companies when applying to internships, which I think exacerbates the first problem. I've told some friends who are still in college to try and apply for places beyond the major Silicon Valley companies and that pretty much any company that they can think of 1) Leverages software engineering heavily 2) Has an internship program. I think it'd be interesting to see a "wage-distribution" style chart of who gets internships in Fortune 500 companies. When I say that, I don't mean actual wage, but moreso "what percentage of engineering students are getting what percentage of internships" and similar questions.
VPN_SIDEHUSTLE 7y ago
What was your non traditional path?
- rconti 7y ago
  Worked in tech (ISPs, support, then unix sysadmin) in my teens and after graduating high school, quit my job to go back to college at 21. Worked part time in IT dept during college and summers, remote part time work for a web hosting company during summers as well. Business major, not CS. It seems like dev jobs in particular are interview meat grinders.

ryandrake 7y ago

Don’t worry. I’m 20 years into my career and the last job hunt was about 100 applications, 10 interviews or phone screens, and 1 offer. Anyone who can get an offer out of less than 10 applications in this difficult job environment is either very lucky or a top-0.1% wizard in his field.

rconti 7y ago
Engineering? I hear the interviews can be incredibly lengthy and brutal, and the process just too time-consuming. That said, the job market is positively white-hot. Most companies in major markets simply cannot find enough people to hire. The economy's been growing at a breakneck pace for a decade now. I don't doubt your experience, nor would I blame it on you personally (I'm no wizard). Just a bit curious about how that experience comes out of this market.