3 ms·

I thought I was alone in getting bummed out over this. I've had nothing but negative experiences interviewing with Silicon Valley Internet companies. What kind

by throwaway1979 13y ago

I thought I was alone in getting bummed out over this. I've had nothing but negative experiences interviewing with Silicon Valley Internet companies. What kind of super-humans are they looking for? I love writing software but some days I hate my profession. I'm seriously considering getting into a different career (where knowledge capital doesn't degrade as fast) and code for fun (as a hobby). The problem is I'm in my mid-30s. Starting over has a very high opportunity cost.

epoxyhockey 13y ago
From my experience, companies in the Valley & SF don't value the same types of engineers that are valued in every other part of the US. What kind of super-humans are they looking for? These companies are looking for what you may consider a needle in the haystack; someone with an extremely narrow tech focus. You may think that this person doesn't exist and the company is crazy, but they actually aren't. They will eventually find someone who matches the job description to a T, even if they have to pay for that individual's relocation. Bay Area companies also do not generally value engineers with business skills, communication, or even social skills. I used to think code monkey was just a fun description of an engineer. But, I've found in the Bay Area, companies really want what I would consider to be a very 1-dimensional employee. In my college years I was told by a CS professor that if I didn't have experience with many programming languages and operating systems, then I had no business calling myself a computer scientist. Yet, at a recent meetup in SF for a specific programming language, the speaker asked for a show of hands for those individuals with experience in another, relatively popular language. Only about 1% of the room raised their hands. I was pretty shocked and wondered where those people would be, career-wise, in a few years.
- johnward 13y ago
  I mean if you are a decent programmer in some language it doesn't seem like it's a big jump to another. At least with popular web languages today. Even if you have no experience, I'm sure you could pick it up in no time.

epoxyhockey 13y ago

From my experience, companies in the Valley & SF don't value the same types of engineers that are valued in every other part of the US. What kind of super-humans are they looking for? These companies are looking for what you may consider a needle in the haystack; someone with an extremely narrow tech focus. You may think that this person doesn't exist and the company is crazy, but they actually aren't. They will eventually find someone who matches the job description to a T, even if they have to pay for that individual's relocation. Bay Area companies also do not generally value engineers with business skills, communication, or even social skills. I used to think code monkey was just a fun description of an engineer. But, I've found in the Bay Area, companies really want what I would consider to be a very 1-dimensional employee. In my college years I was told by a CS professor that if I didn't have experience with many programming languages and operating systems, then I had no business calling myself a computer scientist. Yet, at a recent meetup in SF for a specific programming language, the speaker asked for a show of hands for those individuals with experience in another, relatively popular language. Only about 1% of the room raised their hands. I was pretty shocked and wondered where those people would be, career-wise, in a few years.

johnward 13y ago
I mean if you are a decent programmer in some language it doesn't seem like it's a big jump to another. At least with popular web languages today. Even if you have no experience, I'm sure you could pick it up in no time.