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>>> when a new technology is introduced, one is _immediately_ required to know about it before getting a job where that technology will be used. Well Said. I t

>>> when a new technology is introduced, one is _immediately_ required to know about it before getting a job where that technology will be used. Well Said. I too am in a similar position you have explained. I have a Computer Science college degree (graduated in November) and I have been applying to junior/graduate level jobs that have inflated expectations of what a regular graduate should know (especially technologies). All these claims of tech worker shortages recruiters talk about is hard to believe. I think there is a communication breakdown with companies and education centers breakdowns when it comes recruitment.

freshflowers 12y ago
Try looking at it from an employer perspective. The fact that you have a CS degree tells me absolutely nothing about your engineering talent. So hiring you on that basis alone would be gamble, and the odds for that gamble are hysterically bad. They have better odds taking a year's junior developer salary straight to the casino. The number of people claiming to be able to do the job is a multitude of those actually able to do the job. If you are actually "in a similar position", it should take you less than two months to get out of that position. Teach yourself a stack that is in demand, build a project and put it out there (Github, App store, whatever) and if you show any talent and skill the odds are you'll be hired within a month. Just waving your CS degree around isn't going to make anything happen. Fuck it, you've just graduated in November, you have no proven skills and you're already whining about not getting hired?
- computerjunkie 12y ago
  >>> Teach yourself a stack that is in demand, build a project and put it out there (Github, App store, whatever) and if you show any talent and skill the odds are you'll be hired within a month. Thanks for the advice. I am currently working on that.
- MichaelCrawford 12y ago
  "(Github, App store..." Quite commonly I am asked for my Github link, but then regarded as unqualified because I don't have one. That's because you can download my source from my own website. I have some pretty good reason to believe that many of those who want to know my Github, don't know what Github actually is. That is, not only do they not inspect anyone's Github source, if pressed, they could not explain the difference between a github and a hubcap. Almost universally, one is required to have at least on App in the App Store or Google Play. There's no specific requirement as to what the app actually does, whether it works well, whether it's source code makes sense to anyone, whether it gets good reviews - just that one just that that special magic ticket into a mobile development job. Again, I have good reason to believe that few ever actually so much as look at the app store or google play pages, let alone download, install and run the app. Have you ever heard someone say "I'd like to work with you so we can find a way that you can drive a brand new car right off the lot. How about I give you a thousand dollar trade-in on your totally thrashed beater?" I actually had a Toyota saleswoman say just that to me. The reason I was shopping for a new car, is that my thousand dollar trade-in was so unreliable that I was to be fired if I didn't buy a new car Real Soon Now. Now consider that many recruiters are really good at just that kind of sales. It's not that they try to sell anything to the candidates. They sell their, uh, "service" to the hiring managers, by somehow convincing them that its worth paying them tens of thousand of dollars in commissions for placing just one coder.
MichaelCrawford 12y ago
It's a whole lot easier to get started if you apply for jobs where you'd right in-house apps, for tech support or for system or network administration. I did all three. Actually the vast majority of computer software is never released to the public. For example I wrote image processing software for an aerial photography firm. Our "product" was hardcopies of our photos, as well as expert interpretations of what our customers should do, based on what our experts found in the photos. So my own "customers" were those experts.
- computerjunkie 12y ago
  Thanks for the advice, I'm going to start looking for roles you have stated whilst I develop applications on the side. I guess if you are starting out, I shouldn't be really picky.

freshflowers 12y ago

Try looking at it from an employer perspective. The fact that you have a CS degree tells me absolutely nothing about your engineering talent. So hiring you on that basis alone would be gamble, and the odds for that gamble are hysterically bad. They have better odds taking a year's junior developer salary straight to the casino. The number of people claiming to be able to do the job is a multitude of those actually able to do the job. If you are actually "in a similar position", it should take you less than two months to get out of that position. Teach yourself a stack that is in demand, build a project and put it out there (Github, App store, whatever) and if you show any talent and skill the odds are you'll be hired within a month. Just waving your CS degree around isn't going to make anything happen. Fuck it, you've just graduated in November, you have no proven skills and you're already whining about not getting hired?

computerjunkie 12y ago
>>> Teach yourself a stack that is in demand, build a project and put it out there (Github, App store, whatever) and if you show any talent and skill the odds are you'll be hired within a month. Thanks for the advice. I am currently working on that.
MichaelCrawford 12y ago
"(Github, App store..." Quite commonly I am asked for my Github link, but then regarded as unqualified because I don't have one. That's because you can download my source from my own website. I have some pretty good reason to believe that many of those who want to know my Github, don't know what Github actually is. That is, not only do they not inspect anyone's Github source, if pressed, they could not explain the difference between a github and a hubcap. Almost universally, one is required to have at least on App in the App Store or Google Play. There's no specific requirement as to what the app actually does, whether it works well, whether it's source code makes sense to anyone, whether it gets good reviews - just that one just that that special magic ticket into a mobile development job. Again, I have good reason to believe that few ever actually so much as look at the app store or google play pages, let alone download, install and run the app. Have you ever heard someone say "I'd like to work with you so we can find a way that you can drive a brand new car right off the lot. How about I give you a thousand dollar trade-in on your totally thrashed beater?" I actually had a Toyota saleswoman say just that to me. The reason I was shopping for a new car, is that my thousand dollar trade-in was so unreliable that I was to be fired if I didn't buy a new car Real Soon Now. Now consider that many recruiters are really good at just that kind of sales. It's not that they try to sell anything to the candidates. They sell their, uh, "service" to the hiring managers, by somehow convincing them that its worth paying them tens of thousand of dollars in commissions for placing just one coder.

MichaelCrawford 12y ago

It's a whole lot easier to get started if you apply for jobs where you'd right in-house apps, for tech support or for system or network administration. I did all three. Actually the vast majority of computer software is never released to the public. For example I wrote image processing software for an aerial photography firm. Our "product" was hardcopies of our photos, as well as expert interpretations of what our customers should do, based on what our experts found in the photos. So my own "customers" were those experts.

computerjunkie 12y ago
Thanks for the advice, I'm going to start looking for roles you have stated whilst I develop applications on the side. I guess if you are starting out, I shouldn't be really picky.