5 ms·

I tried those posts three times now and they did not work for me. Not even a phone interview. Sure I am a recent grad (this december) who comes from a developin

by why-el 14y ago

I tried those posts three times now and they did not work for me. Not even a phone interview. Sure I am a recent grad (this december) who comes from a developing country (visa issues) and I lack open source experience, but my internship was with a good company and I happen to know a lot about various issues that face my fellow developers. Hopefully someone with a similar circumstance can advise me on who to work around this.

jeffclark 14y ago
Side projects. Start 'em. Build 'em. Talk about 'em. Everyone comes out as a fresh-faced college graduate. Differentiate yourself with your side projects. It's good for your skills and it's great on your resume.
- ruswick 14y ago
  "Fresh-faced?" I think it's reasonable to expect that graduates have a significant number side projects by the time they exit. Anything less seems indicative of a lack of interest.
  - mattdeboard 14y ago
    I think reasonable people can disagree on your point. I can imagine many scenarios where someone wouldn't have a plethora of published side projects coming out of school.
    - ruswick 14y ago
      Such as? It seems absurd that someone could intend to seek employment in this industry (and likely spend 4 years studying it and it's related fields) without producing anything real.
      - nfm 14y ago
        It does seem crazy, but anecdotally, it's pretty common. The number of people in my CS degree that couldn't program - at all - was astounding. I did a final year subject on databases, and ended up in an end of semester group project with two students that didn't know the difference between a table, and a database.
      - mattdeboard 14y ago
        We have a university here locally that is a join venture between two other major universities in the state, including sharing professors, curriculum and resources. It draws many, many working adults (as well as traditional students). There are many such students who work and attend school full time to get their degree and have not had time to do a bunch of side projects. Life gets in the way sometimes. Plus, you don't need someone whose whole life/only hobby is programming. My standards don't include "must spend free time practicing their trade". If one has open-source projects, great. If not that doesn't even come close to excluding them.
  - obstacle1 14y ago
    I can see how an overachieving/motivated 11th grader (you) might think this, but it is neither what "reasonable" hiring managers expect or what the average student produces. Maybe the situation is different at top-10 colleges, but my experience is that maybe 10-15% of a cohort will have >= 1 side project upon graduation. Most students don't even bother learning languages outside of what's taught in class.
gawker 14y ago
Startups have limited amount of funds to invest in their human resources so they will always be look for the best, the ones who take initiative, who goes all out to make something done right. I wouldn't give up hope just yet - start building something outside of what's formally required of you. Make an app, publish it, sell it and talk about it. You'll need to wear multiple hats in a startup so in addition to coding, if you can do the other stuff, you'll be a huge asset.
untog 14y ago
As jeffclark said, do some side projects. On the visa side of things- it can be difficult. While it isn't actually that difficult to sponsor someone for a visa, it does involve more work than hiring a 'normal' employee, and if a company hasn't done it before they may be reluctant to. My recommendation is to take a job with a larger company to start with. Get the visa that will allow you to be in the US. Network, prove yourself in that environment, then transfer your visa to a smaller startup.
- yen223 14y ago
  I was under the impression that visas are issued to the company - not to the person - and thus can't be transferred from company to company. Am I mistaken?
keerthiko 14y ago
I was in a very similar situation to you - international visa, interested in innovative/startup work, few opportunities to develop my skills before coming to the states for college, coming from a developing country with narrow opportunities. I spent about a year after graduating working as a software consultant for startups for dirt-cheap (15$/hr work-from-home, 30-hours-per-week), and doing an internship, working on side projects (as suggested repeatedly here). Both these helped me learn a lot about both startups, consulting work, making ends meet, and knowing my strengths. I was able to better understand what value I can bring to a startup environment, and what values I want a startup environment to have so I can feel fulfilled. About a year after graduating I was able to find my way to a great Bay Area startup, and here I am, putting myself to good use, and feel quite prepared to even start my own venture in the near future. After wading through tons of paperwork, since that visa issue doesn't just disappear. Good luck on your venture! Feel free to reach out for help and info on your type of situation.
- why-el 14y ago
  Yep, your situation is very similar. Can I email you somewhere?

by why-el 14y ago

jeffclark 14y ago

Side projects. Start 'em. Build 'em. Talk about 'em. Everyone comes out as a fresh-faced college graduate. Differentiate yourself with your side projects. It's good for your skills and it's great on your resume.

ruswick 14y ago
"Fresh-faced?" I think it's reasonable to expect that graduates have a significant number side projects by the time they exit. Anything less seems indicative of a lack of interest.
- mattdeboard 14y ago
  I think reasonable people can disagree on your point. I can imagine many scenarios where someone wouldn't have a plethora of published side projects coming out of school.
  - ruswick 14y ago
    Such as? It seems absurd that someone could intend to seek employment in this industry (and likely spend 4 years studying it and it's related fields) without producing anything real.
    - nfm 14y ago
      It does seem crazy, but anecdotally, it's pretty common. The number of people in my CS degree that couldn't program - at all - was astounding. I did a final year subject on databases, and ended up in an end of semester group project with two students that didn't know the difference between a table, and a database.
    - mattdeboard 14y ago
      We have a university here locally that is a join venture between two other major universities in the state, including sharing professors, curriculum and resources. It draws many, many working adults (as well as traditional students). There are many such students who work and attend school full time to get their degree and have not had time to do a bunch of side projects. Life gets in the way sometimes. Plus, you don't need someone whose whole life/only hobby is programming. My standards don't include "must spend free time practicing their trade". If one has open-source projects, great. If not that doesn't even come close to excluding them.
- obstacle1 14y ago
  I can see how an overachieving/motivated 11th grader (you) might think this, but it is neither what "reasonable" hiring managers expect or what the average student produces. Maybe the situation is different at top-10 colleges, but my experience is that maybe 10-15% of a cohort will have >= 1 side project upon graduation. Most students don't even bother learning languages outside of what's taught in class.

gawker 14y ago

Startups have limited amount of funds to invest in their human resources so they will always be look for the best, the ones who take initiative, who goes all out to make something done right. I wouldn't give up hope just yet - start building something outside of what's formally required of you. Make an app, publish it, sell it and talk about it. You'll need to wear multiple hats in a startup so in addition to coding, if you can do the other stuff, you'll be a huge asset.

untog 14y ago

As jeffclark said, do some side projects. On the visa side of things- it can be difficult. While it isn't actually that difficult to sponsor someone for a visa, it does involve more work than hiring a 'normal' employee, and if a company hasn't done it before they may be reluctant to. My recommendation is to take a job with a larger company to start with. Get the visa that will allow you to be in the US. Network, prove yourself in that environment, then transfer your visa to a smaller startup.

yen223 14y ago
I was under the impression that visas are issued to the company - not to the person - and thus can't be transferred from company to company. Am I mistaken?

keerthiko 14y ago

I was in a very similar situation to you - international visa, interested in innovative/startup work, few opportunities to develop my skills before coming to the states for college, coming from a developing country with narrow opportunities. I spent about a year after graduating working as a software consultant for startups for dirt-cheap (15$/hr work-from-home, 30-hours-per-week), and doing an internship, working on side projects (as suggested repeatedly here). Both these helped me learn a lot about both startups, consulting work, making ends meet, and knowing my strengths. I was able to better understand what value I can bring to a startup environment, and what values I want a startup environment to have so I can feel fulfilled. About a year after graduating I was able to find my way to a great Bay Area startup, and here I am, putting myself to good use, and feel quite prepared to even start my own venture in the near future. After wading through tons of paperwork, since that visa issue doesn't just disappear. Good luck on your venture! Feel free to reach out for help and info on your type of situation.

why-el 14y ago
Yep, your situation is very similar. Can I email you somewhere?