Tell me about being a computer software engineer! (& computer jobs in general)

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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask / Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Tell me about being a computer software engineer! (& computer jobs in general)

HondaCivet: Oct 16, 2005; 3 elements down, 1 to go!

How in-demand are new grad/entry-level programmers? I don't see many actual job listings for them.

# ? Jun 28, 2011 05:25

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# ? May 21, 2013 15:46

Cicero: Dec 17, 2003; Jumpjet, melta, jumpjet. Repeat for ten minutes or until victory is assured.

The thing about entry-level programmers is that pretty much by definition you have no experience so what would a job listing even say?

"Help wanted: someone who just finished their CS degree.

Requirements:

- 4 years of implementing trivial problems at the last possible minute
- Thorough understanding of BSTs and Quicksort
- Can code FizzBuzz like nobody's business"

Anyway, there are jobs for entry-level programmers, certainly the market is way better than for just about every other relatively common entry-level job. It's just that there's more supply relative to the demand than for more senior developers, and unlike senior developers who have specialized in something, newbies are more or less interchangeable. So, companies don't have to try very hard to recruit them.

If you get in contact with local companies, you can find out who is hiring junior devs, and the big companies like Google, MS, etc. always hire new college grads in big waves.

# ? Jun 28, 2011 06:44

HondaCivet: Oct 16, 2005; 3 elements down, 1 to go!

Yeah, pretty much, just wondering how to go about getting that type of job when I didn't get to nail a job fresh out of school like seemingly everyone else did. Probably my biggest problem right now is that I haven't relocated yet so I'm an out-of-towner.

# ? Jun 28, 2011 06:59

Cicero: Dec 17, 2003; Jumpjet, melta, jumpjet. Repeat for ten minutes or until victory is assured.

HondaCivet posted:

Yeah, pretty much, just wondering how to go about getting that type of job when I didn't get to nail a job fresh out of school like seemingly everyone else did. Probably my biggest problem right now is that I haven't relocated yet so I'm an out-of-towner.

If you have a good GPA (or something else impressive on your resume) you can probably get an interview from a big company that will fly you out. Most of my interviews came from places that were recruiting on-campus, but the company I actually went with was not; I just submitted my resume online and passed a couple of phone screens, then came the in-person interview.

# ? Jun 28, 2011 07:06

Mike1o1: Sep 5, 2004; Tiluvas

Contra Duck posted:

You can expect to be overwhelmed when you start. There's going to be a huge amount to learn and it's going to be tough coming to grips with systems that are orders of magnitude larger than anything you've worked on before.

That said, everyone out there knows how difficult starting at a new place is (even for an experienced developer) so they won't expect much out of you for the first few months. At the place I work all newly hired developers get a week or two of formal training in both technical and business aspects, then for the next few months they're teamed up with a mentor who'll help them get to grips with the code base, answer their questions when they're stuck and generally make sure they're not breaking anything too horribly. Regardless of their level, when someone new comes on I don't expect them to be genuinely productive for 2-3 months, and for a brand-new junior person it could easily take 6 months before they're comfortable enough with everything to work on their own.

This is what I've been told, that I should really expect to be pretty useless for a month or two. I think what I'm most nervous about is that during the interview process I was told that I'm replacing somebody who couldn't get up to speed quickly enough, but I don't know what kind of time-frame that person was given. The lead developer seemed pretty cool and relaxed, but the manager that we both report to seemed to have very high expectations. I just hope that they realize the job title has the word "Junior" in it for a reason!

This is only my second job, so that is also leading to some nerves. I've had a previous job in the banking industry for 8 years as a business analyst, so this is a very big change for me! Big change in industry, job title and culture.

# ? Jun 28, 2011 10:43

HondaCivet: Oct 16, 2005; 3 elements down, 1 to go!

So I sort of unexpectedly heard back from a place today. They'd like to do an informal interview over the phone this Friday. A technical interview. Over the phone. Not sure how it's going to work . . . I have that Programming Interviews Exposed book from the OP, should I just get through as much of it as I can by Friday? What do I doooooo

# ? Jun 29, 2011 01:38

Cicero: Dec 17, 2003; Jumpjet, melta, jumpjet. Repeat for ten minutes or until victory is assured.

HondaCivet posted:

So I sort of unexpectedly heard back from a place today. They'd like to do an informal interview over the phone this Friday. A technical interview. Over the phone. Not sure how it's going to work . . . I have that Programming Interviews Exposed book from the OP, should I just get through as much of it as I can by Friday? What do I doooooo

Look at technical interview questions on glassdoor and work through them. Not just in your head, but articulate your solutions aloud as if you were explaining it to someone.

When I did my phone interviews with Amazon, they had me type out code, and then recite it to them over the phone, syntax and all. As you might imagine, this is an incredibly stupid and awkward way to phone screen. Apparently they've started using collabedit, hopefully you'll use something similar (or at least will be able to email your code).

Oh, and know your data structures.

# ? Jun 29, 2011 02:20

Good Will Punting: Aug 30, 2009; And as the curtain falls
Just know you did it all except lift weights

The internship search is not going well for me. Companies want way too much in terms of skills, or at least that's what they say on their listings.

# ? Jul 2, 2011 20:36

Cicero: Dec 17, 2003; Jumpjet, melta, jumpjet. Repeat for ten minutes or until victory is assured.

Good Will Punting posted:

The internship search is not going well for me. Companies want way too much in terms of skills, or at least that's what they say on their listings.

If you know at least some of the technologies, just apply anyway. Especially if you can identify from the listing which skills are the primary ones and you have those. Recruiters/HR have this idea that they can simply state all of the technologies they use, and developers will suddenly appear out of thin air to perfectly suit them. When it comes time to actually hire, though, they're generally ok with someone who knows the basic things and appears smart and people-skilled enough overall.

# ? Jul 2, 2011 20:39

Tulenian: Sep 15, 2007; Getting my 'burg on.

For entry level / internship positions, the companies I've worked for could care less about what languages you know as long as you know one. If you can provide solutions to simple programming problems, and do decent design / high level thinking you shouldn't have a problem.

# ? Jul 2, 2011 22:11

NinjaDebugger: Apr 22, 2008

Tulenian posted:

For entry level / internship positions, the companies I've worked for could care less about what languages you know as long as you know one. If you can provide solutions to simple programming problems, and do decent design / high level thinking you shouldn't have a problem.

This. My experience with hiring is that good companies will be looking for good engineers, because it's easier to teach a good engineer a new language than to train a bad engineer into adequacy.

# ? Jul 2, 2011 22:43

Jam2: Jan 15, 2008; With Energy For Mayhem

http://www.google.com/intl/en/jobs/...ions/index.html

There's a listing for a position as a Software Engineering intern in Mountain View this Fall. Is this likely a full-time position or something one could do part time?

Google requires that candidates are "currently pursuing a BS, MS or PhD in computer science or a related technical field," but there is no further evidence that this is a part-time position.

Do any of you here know if part-time internships are available for CS students during academic periods?

# ? Jul 2, 2011 23:26

Tulenian: Sep 15, 2007; Getting my 'burg on.

Internships at big tech companies like Google, Amazon, Microsft, etc are going to be full time. They're going to give you real projects and expect you to work on them / finish them. That's not really something you can do part time for a semester.

# ? Jul 2, 2011 23:33

Jam2: Jan 15, 2008; With Energy For Mayhem

So potential candidates for this position would be expected to take the semester off or the internship would have to coincide with a pause in their studies?

# ? Jul 3, 2011 00:27

Good Will Punting: Aug 30, 2009; And as the curtain falls
Just know you did it all except lift weights

Jam2 posted:

So potential candidates for this position would be expected to take the semester off or the internship would have to coincide with a pause in their studies?

Well, it probably counts for credit so you'd be taking less courses. Then you'd have to take all online/night courses, intern during the day, and do nothing but homework on the weekends.

# ? Jul 3, 2011 00:29

Jam2: Jan 15, 2008; With Energy For Mayhem

Good Will Punting posted:

Well, it probably counts for credit so you'd be taking less courses. Then you'd have to take all online/night courses, intern during the day, and do nothing but homework on the weekends.

Not in my cards. I guess I'll have to hold off on these aspirations until next summer.

# ? Jul 3, 2011 00:31

Good Will Punting: Aug 30, 2009; And as the curtain falls
Just know you did it all except lift weights

I can't decide if I should take Human Computer Interaction or Distributed Systems. Both seem super interesting, awesome, and applicable to what I'm interested in.

# ? Jul 3, 2011 00:38

Cicero: Dec 17, 2003; Jumpjet, melta, jumpjet. Repeat for ten minutes or until victory is assured.

Jam2 posted:

So potential candidates for this position would be expected to take the semester off or the internship would have to coincide with a pause in their studies?

Yes. You're getting paid very well, of course they expect you to take the semester off. Most colleges don't have much in the way of upper-level courses in the summer anyway, so usually there's no conflict for junior internships.

Good Will Punting posted:

Well, it probably counts for credit so you'd be taking less courses. Then you'd have to take all online/night courses, intern during the day, and do nothing but homework on the weekends.

Why would you get credit for a job that's paying you? Do some colleges actually do that?

edit: one thing I should add that is different about Google internships is that they don't just hire in a big wave and then dole the interns out to teams later. Individual developers look through the internship applicants and choose ones that they think would be a good fit for them to work with.

Cicero fucked around with this message at Jul 3, 2011 around 01:31

# ? Jul 3, 2011 00:47

hobbesmaster: Jan 28, 2008; We are Legion, a terminal of the Geth.

Cicero posted:

Why would you get credit for a job that's paying you? Do some colleges actually do that?

What engineering program doesn't have such coop programs?

# ? Jul 3, 2011 01:33

HondaCivet: Oct 16, 2005; 3 elements down, 1 to go!

I'm pretty sure you get "school credit" for co-ops mostly so that you can stay enrolled as a student and keep the bureaucratic side of things from getting hosed up (student loans, health insurance, etc.). I've also seen programs let you count your co-op "credits" towards some requirement of your degree so it makes things easier there too.

# ? Jul 3, 2011 02:06

wacky: Jun 19, 2008; by Ozmaugh

Good Will Punting posted:

The internship search is not going well for me. Companies want way too much in terms of skills, or at least that's what they say on their listings.

They say it on their listings. Shoot off resumes left and right. Then sort out the bodies as they write you back. This advice has never failed me and it usually takes prodding to get me to do it anyway, but once I'm prodded and just say "gently caress it, no more overanalyzing, apply left and right" I just wait for the callbacks/emails.

Do you have a school career board? These are good.

# ? Jul 3, 2011 03:49

Dr. Honked: Jan 9, 2011; All that is visible must grow beyond itself and extend into the realm of the invisible.

I'm a senior software engineer with over 20 years experience. The thing is though - I'm a computer games programmer. This is the LOWEST PAID sector of software engineering apart from maybe being a useless website making guy or something. In order to become a games programmer, you need to have some seriously impressive stuff in your portfolio, which you have made in your own spare time. You do not need a degree, but a CS degree can help, if you can demonstrate understanding of the linear algebra etc. that you learned.. you learned linear algebra on your degree course, right? Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you do one of those games courses if you want to be a programmer (Full Sail etc.) JUST DON'T. THEY ARE poo poo.

When you become a games programmer, you will be made to work very hard. Try not get married or have children until you have made Angry Birds, and are financially independent, and can leave this sorry pantomime behind you.

Personally I am addicted to games development and I will continue to do it until I drop. I love it. I am also responsible for hiring people - please ask me questions about this very particular area of software development.

# ? Jul 3, 2011 04:31

evensevenone: May 12, 2001; Glass is a solid.

HondaCivet posted:

I'm pretty sure you get "school credit" for co-ops mostly so that you can stay enrolled as a student and keep the bureaucratic side of things from getting hosed up (student loans, health insurance, etc.). I've also seen programs let you count your co-op "credits" towards some requirement of your degree so it makes things easier there too.

At my school you got credit but it didn't really count towards any requirements, and most engineers would finish with way way more than the required number of credits anyway, so it was mostly just administrative. Sometimes you could swing a couple credits of design project credit if you did a report on what you did at your job.

Anyway, if you get offered a semester-long internship at Google and you have to take a break from your studies to do it, honestly, do it without hesitation. Things like that are going to positively affect your opportunities in the job market far far more than any class you take. Plus you will get paid, and probably pretty drat well, and you will probably do something cool.

# ? Jul 3, 2011 05:12

Good Will Punting: Aug 30, 2009; And as the curtain falls
Just know you did it all except lift weights

I'm still pretty amateur on this front so I need to find something super introductory that realizes I am willing to bust my genitalia if it means being engaged in my work and learning lots. They don't even have to pay me anything more than travel. I'm like a desperate fat chick right now.

# ? Jul 3, 2011 05:20

Cicero: Dec 17, 2003; Jumpjet, melta, jumpjet. Repeat for ten minutes or until victory is assured.

hobbesmaster posted:

What engineering program doesn't have such coop programs?

I knew that there were engineering programs that set up or required co-ops, but I thought that they weren't actually counted as class credit. Although I guess the difference between "required" and "required and counts as a class" are sort of trivial.

# ? Jul 3, 2011 06:13

Nippashish: Nov 1, 2005; Let me see you dance!

Cicero posted:

I knew that there were engineering programs that set up or required co-ops, but I thought that they weren't actually counted as class credit. Although I guess the difference between "required" and "required and counts as a class" are sort of trivial.

When I did mine there were some extra hoops you needed to jump through to make an internship count towards the co-op program, so in that sense the internships were "for credit" because if you ticked off all the special boxes then it changed what they wrote on your degree at the end compared to someone who just went out and got a job each summer. Each internship was counted as a class, as in you would register for a special "I AM DOING AN INTERNSHIP" class while you were working.

So in short, it was counted as class credit but the classes you got credit for where created specifically to accommodate the co-op program. In reality I think it was more of a bookkeeping issue than anything else that caused it to be set up like this.

# ? Jul 3, 2011 09:46

Ethereal: Mar 8, 2003

Good Will Punting posted:

I can't decide if I should take Human Computer Interaction or Distributed Systems. Both seem super interesting, awesome, and applicable to what I'm interested in.

Do both? There's no reason not to if you're seriously interested in both areas. The breadth of knowledge will help you in your search for depth of knowledge.

# ? Jul 3, 2011 21:11

Good Will Punting: Aug 30, 2009; And as the curtain falls
Just know you did it all except lift weights

I've been looking at some questions on Glassdoor and have come to the conclusion that my Undergrad Comp Sci courses were a complete joke. Thankfully, the ones I'm taking now are significantly more detailed and deeper, and I'm actually learning stuff. My best bet is probably to suck it up and stay at my job for another semester, and wait until I've got a bit more knowledge under my belt because I really don't see what I bring to the table (yet).

# ? Jul 5, 2011 14:28

hobbesmaster: Jan 28, 2008; We are Legion, a terminal of the Geth.

Good Will Punting posted:

I've been looking at some questions on Glassdoor and have come to the conclusion that my Undergrad Comp Sci courses were a complete joke. Thankfully, the ones I'm taking now are significantly more detailed and deeper, and I'm actually learning stuff. My best bet is probably to suck it up and stay at my job for another semester, and wait until I've got a bit more knowledge under my belt because I really don't see what I bring to the table (yet).

Did they not teach you about stuff like what a binary search tree is or C++ syntax? The former is computer science, the latter isn't.

# ? Jul 5, 2011 17:40

Good Will Punting: Aug 30, 2009; And as the curtain falls
Just know you did it all except lift weights

hobbesmaster posted:

Did they not teach you about stuff like what a binary search tree is or C++ syntax? The former is computer science, the latter isn't.

I only took a handful, and they were mostly coding (C++, PHP x 2, and a database course all at a sadly elementary level) but I wasn't a Comp Sci major so I didnt get the math/theoretical stuff (which is why I'm back in school taking that now.) I'm a late comer into the field, my undergrad was in Business Admin with a focus on Information Systems and a minor in Regret.

# ? Jul 5, 2011 18:44

Buffis: Apr 29, 2006; I paid for this

Prefixing this post by stating that I went to school in Sweden. Universities in other parts of the world might differ.

I've only been working as a Software Engineer for about 2 years now and I would really recommend people in at least getting a bachelors degree in computer science for some very simple reasons.

1. It opens up more job options. Even if you are very skilled, a guy with similar experience which holds a MSc degree will likely prioritized ahead of you. If you have poo poo-tons of experience, it's still likely that you'll be hired before a new-grad but yeah... having a degree wont hurt your options

2. It shows that you're commited. Getting a three of five year degree shows that you're able to complete large projects. A CS degree (at least from decent->good universities) is nothing to laugh at.

3. It actually teaches you a lot of things you probably wouldn't teach yourself in your spare time. During my degree I went through courses in all kinds of nice stuff, including compilers, 3d graphics, tons of math and physics, image recognition, embedded systems, advanced algorithm/data structure courses, signal processing... and programmed in everything from MIPS ASM to Prolog. Getting a broad understanding on CS/programming topics makes it easy to learn new things.

Also, unless you are into gaming real hardcore, try to stay away from jobs in game programming. I know people who like working as game developers, but I've heard lots of horror stories about close deadlines, and the salaries are generally worse than for other developers.

edit: Also

quote:

Anyway, if you get offered a semester-long internship at Google and you have to take a break from your studies to do it, honestly, do it without hesitation. Things like that are going to positively affect your opportunities in the job market far far more than any class you take. Plus you will get paid, and probably pretty drat well, and you will probably do something cool.

Absolutely. I did a 6 month internship at Google when writing my Masters Thesis, and it taught me a lot. If you get offered a paid internship from Google (or any other large company), you should probably take it.

Buffis fucked around with this message at Jul 6, 2011 around 05:25

# ? Jul 6, 2011 05:21

Jam2: Jan 15, 2008; With Energy For Mayhem

Cicero posted:

Yes. You're getting paid very well, of course they expect you to take the semester off. Most colleges don't have much in the way of upper-level courses in the summer anyway, so usually there's no conflict for junior internships.

Why would you get credit for a job that's paying you? Do some colleges actually do that?

edit: one thing I should add that is different about Google internships is that they don't just hire in a big wave and then dole the interns out to teams later. Individual developers look through the internship applicants and choose ones that they think would be a good fit for them to work with.

The internship is for Fall 2011.

Should I apply and, only after if I am contacted my google, figure out if I'd be able to take the semester off to pursue the opportunity?

I am interested in developing a good, log term relationship with the company, so I don't want to burn any bridges by yanking its chain--expressing interest and then not being able to follow through.

I'm transferring to Stanford for CS in the fall. It's going to be my first semester. That's why I'm thinking maybe summer is a better time.

I'm open to different ideas.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 15:22

evensevenone: May 12, 2001; Glass is a solid.

Well, in that case, Google is always going to have internships. And they recruit on-campus (heavily) at Stanford, so you'll probably have a much better chance than by just sending a random resume in. I would aim for next summer or next fall, that way you'll have the benefit of some classes and connections at Stanford. Actually, by then you'll probably think Google is lame because everyone you know worked there. But definitely go for it.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 16:18

Shavnir: Apr 5, 2005; A MAN'S DREAM CAN NEVER DIE

Good Will Punting posted:

I can't decide if I should take Human Computer Interaction or Distributed Systems. Both seem super interesting, awesome, and applicable to what I'm interested in.

Take one, arrange to do an independent study with the other class's professor.

Also a while back I actually went to my alma mater and gave a presentation on how to find a job in industry. It wasn't too terribly detailed, and nothing earth shattering, just the timeline I built for myself and what sort of things I tried to do in the months leading up to graduation. Is that something you guys would be interested in?

# ? Jul 31, 2011 08:09

GidgetNomates: May 5, 2010; I love this hobby:
stealing your mother's diary

Shavnir posted:

Also a while back I actually went to my alma mater and gave a presentation on how to find a job in industry. It wasn't too terribly detailed, and nothing earth shattering, just the timeline I built for myself and what sort of things I tried to do in the months leading up to graduation. Is that something you guys would be interested in?

Yes.

# ? Jul 31, 2011 11:47

Eggplant Wizard: Jul 8, 2005; I was getting sick of seeing that.

Shavnir posted:

Take one, arrange to do an independent study with the other class's professor.

Also a while back I actually went to my alma mater and gave a presentation on how to find a job in industry. It wasn't too terribly detailed, and nothing earth shattering, just the timeline I built for myself and what sort of things I tried to do in the months leading up to graduation. Is that something you guys would be interested in?

That sounds useful, please post it.

# ? Jul 31, 2011 14:36

Good Will Punting: Aug 30, 2009; And as the curtain falls
Just know you did it all except lift weights

Yes, please do.

Two classes + working full time is near god drat impossible. I'm doing okay in one, but didn't do so hot on my first exam in the other. (Don't understand why a class that's all coding is 40% midterm and 60% final for our grades, no projects, no assignments). I am learning though, so I guess that's good. I know it's only one class, but I'm a bit worried that a less than stellar grade will hurt my job chances. At this point I don't really have a choice though, I've gotta keep working + taking classes. I've already screwed myself enough with my terrible undergrad education and abysmal first job.

# ? Jul 31, 2011 15:37

Shavnir: Apr 5, 2005; A MAN'S DREAM CAN NEVER DIE

Okay. This is paraphrased from some slides so apologies for the excessive bullet points.

A bit of background, I finished up my M.S. about a year ago from one of those tiny liberal arts schools, but despite being a May graduate I had a signed offer letter in January. What I've got here isn't a garuntee or a hard and fast process, but a list of things I did and what worked for me.

First thing you need to do is plan a timeline. Figure out when you want to have an offer, figure out what all you'll need to do toward that offer and count backward that long of time. Personally I was aiming to have an offer in hand ready to go by Spring Break (assuming May graduation).

Step 1 : Do Stuff

Keep a log of interesting projects you worked on
If you have time consider side projects. I cannot stress this enough, someone that's actually gone out of their way to do some programming on something is going to look a lot better than someone who hasn't.

I basically count all my undergrad and the first year of my M.S. as this timeframe.

Step 2 : Formulate a resume

Take all the stuff from step 1 and turn it into categorized chronological lists
Review it yourself. Parse it down as far as you can while still having it succinctly say what you want. If you can cut 5 letters into 4 without losing meaning do it.
Get other people to review it.
Get more other people to review it.
Review it yourself again.

Personally I spent all of September on this. I probably had at least 8-10 people pour through my resume, ranging anywhere from friends in industry, professors, anyone that seemed like they might have had input got a copy to look over.

There's a lot of advice on what to put in a resume, but if you're fresh out of college there's no reason to have it over a page.

Step 3 : Application Shotgun

DICE, Monster, Craigslist, any local sites. Send them out.
Try and set a goal of how many applications you send out each day or week
If you don't mind going for a large company check and see if they have their own site. As an advantage once you have a profile setup with them (95% of them use the same software, you'll recognize it after a while) you can application shotgun within that company very easily.
Don't get discouraged, you have to be persistent with this step.

I think I was sending at least 3-4 applications out a day with peaks much higher when it came to the major companies sites. Once you're used to the software the major places use you can easily churn through 20-30 applications within the same company very easily. The important thing to know is you just have to keep pressing forward. I was doing this phase from late September through getting my offer letter in January. As a note this phase does not end until you have a signed offer letter in hand. Just because you have a good interview don't stop applying.

Step 4 : Interview

Most likely your university has some sort of career center that will have a lot of advice on interviews
One thing that helped me was having a friend advise me to prepare specifically for behavioral interviews. There's way too many types of interviews to be ready for all of them but if you can get any advice as to how the company interviews it can be very helpful going in with that information.
Be prepared for different types of questions depending on who you're interviewing with. HR interviews and technical interviews are going to feel very different.

Step 5 : Post-Interview

Follow-up. Always.

Step 6 : Offer Letter

Do you have another offer letter pending? You can usually ask HR about this and if you have one ask for an extention on how long you have to respond.
You can e-mail other places you've interviewed with well or have good contacts at and see if this can be used as leverage.
Consider counter-offering. Near as I can tell even if it only works some of the time its a near-0 risk activity.

Step 7 : Leave Academia!

Consider relocation and the like. Bigger companies may have a relocation package.
When you meet with people remember its fundamentally different from academia. The people you met freshmen year you might have a few classes with over the next four years...the people you meet early on in the job you may be working with a lot closer and for significantly longer.
Have fun but be serious as the situation demands.

Other bits of advice :

No two companies feel the same. Watch for things around the office as they take you to and from the interview room, see what you can glean from that. If you get a tour you may check for the 'dilbert factor' as one of my co-workers labels it (too few dilbert cartoons means management has no sense of humor, too many means it hits too close to home).
Make sure you like the environment and location of the job. If its in an area you really don't want to live in then don't take that job.
Interviews are two-way streets. Just as much as you're trying to find a job they're trying to find an employee that they can keep around for X years.
Don't assume. Before the interview that got me my current job I was told flat out at the end of a phone interview that November was too early to interview for a job starting in May. Three days later I got called in for an interview and later on my boss mentioned the delay in my start date actually was one reason they hired me.
Be yourself.

So with that in mind, any questions class of 2012?

# ? Jul 31, 2011 17:15

wacky: Jun 19, 2008; by Ozmaugh

Expanding on your first point, I started a blog which I used to keep track of my personal projects. It actually ended up getting top hit on Google for some topics but the initial reason I created it was to organize my work and thoughts, have an outlet to show off things I actually created (even if it was to no one, it would still be a link if someone wanted to see it) and to include on my resume (a couple of interviewers asked if I had a blog before I had started one).

Now I have a job but I still keep the blog going. Obviously, it isn't an E/N blog, it's a log book for personal work in the field (not necessarily super sterile or anything but you probably shouldn't be posting about your everlasting woe or whatever if you are going to be putting it on a resume).

# ? Jul 31, 2011 17:32

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# ? May 21, 2013 15:46

nelson: Apr 12, 2009

Do you love problem solving? Do you think logically? Can you communicate well and work well with others? Can you teach yourself new things so that when someone asks "can you do this" you'll say "probably, let me look into it". That's basically a software engineers job. Programming comes into it too because programming is the main tool you use to solve problems but it won't be the only tool.

If you only want to work 8 hours a day that is entirely possible. I work for a big aerospace company and I'm almost never asked to work more than 40 hours a week. On the rare occasions it does occur I get paid overtime. Of course, this is one of the things I looked for when applying for jobs because I heard all of the horror stories about some of the less reputable companies out there.

As I said above, programming is only part of the job. Much of the job, at least in aerospace, involves going over design requirements and working with subject matter experts to make sure everything is correct. There's also testing. I started out programming automated test scripts and moved into programming application code from there. Plus there will always be things you have to do like code reviews and process mandated documentation that may not be fun to do but are part of the job.

As far as learning new things, no one tells you have to learn them. The customer usually doesn't care how you do something so long as it works the way they want. From there you have to decide how to get it done and sometimes that requires doing things you've never done before. Sometimes it's tough but it also keeps things interesting. All in all, software engineering is a good career choice if problem solving makes you happy.

# ? Jul 31, 2011 17:58

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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask / Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Tell me about being a computer software engineer! (& computer jobs in general)