Hadlock posted:

Hey, real talk for a second, I just got done having dinner with my friend who apparently is a finance manager at Apple in Cupertino. She deals with payroll so I gave her the $130 figure everyone has been parroting as being a starting salary out here.

Her response was a look of shock and said, "that's way high, I don't know where you're getting that number but that's what we might pay a REALLY good level 2 engineer."

So what's the deal? Does apple pay low, or are you guys feeding me be that a starting engineer makes $130 in the bay area?

Cryolite posted:

Can I get a critique of my resume? My boring enterprise .NET LOB job looks more and more like a dead-end and although I don't quite have the portfolio for it yet I want to see if I can move to Scala or a more JVM-focused position doing cool poo poo.

Here it is.

I reviewed this with a co-worker and he said I word things like I'm not confident, making me seem like a student looking for an entry level position. Like "Familiar Languages and Technologies" or "Developed several modules...". He said these words make it sound like I'm not sure what I did. I don't agree with that opinion and think it's harmless. Is this a valid concern?

He also said using words like "developed" isn't flashy/commanding enough, and that any chance I could get I should change things to "architected" or "redesigned". If it isn't truthful I don't want to include it, but saying you "architected" everything kind of cheapens the word I think. However I've interviewed quite a few people with this guy who have resumes that are full of bullshit like that. They're worthless developers and we turn them down, but then they go on to be contractors for some big megacorp making a ridiculous rate so I don't know what the hell to think.

I started a technical blog last month. It has 3 posts and about 5000 words so far. Is this big enough to put on a resume, or does it need more meat before being used for job searches in this way?

I appreciate any feedback at all.

Cryolite posted:

I originally thought that "stuff I'm teaching myself" section was cute but I've gotten the same feedback from someone else recently, so it should probably just be dropped instead of moved. Does anybody think there's any redeeming quality to something along the lines of "these are the things I'm working on next"? Or should you either show proficiency or just plain leave it off, period?

B-Nasty posted:

This is a problem when people start throwing raw $$ figures around. I mean Google may pay at the top end, but there's a reason why they have breakfast/lunch/dinner and barbers/dry cleaning in-house. Though I've never worked there, I doubt coming in at 9 and powering down at 4:55 would lead to a long and fruitful career there.

Vulture Culture posted:

I've heard of precisely one person I know being asked to actually implement some kind of balanced binary tree in an interview. It's one of those algorithms that's really useful to know, because people should understand the performance characteristics of different data structures and why they have those performance characteristics, but I'd still consider that one of those "fiddly bits" questions that I'd never ask.

We had AVL trees and red-black trees covered in my data structures textbook. I ended implementing red-black for a binary tree assignment, but at no time in my academic or professional career have I ever actually needed to write any kind of balanced tree.

In short: don't sweat it. If you want practice playing with data structures and algorithms, Project Euler and the ACM/ICPC problems from past years can be fun.

Good Will Hrunting posted:

I got a recursion problem or two at most interviews as well, in addition to bullshit OOP (which is laughable because my company is a shitheap of poorly designed code) and yeah that was basically my first job's interview process for each place in a nutshell. Those topics are cake for me at this point, I'm not even rusty. I haven't touch anything graph related since school though so I'm likely super deficient there. Dynamic programming as well.

Urit posted:

I recognize the difference between "basic concept that probably will be asked about in an interview that I might be asked to implement or use" and "complicated memorization thing that probably won't be asked to implement" but it's more the fact that I keep finding extra stuff to learn (even if I don't actually memorize implementation) that makes me nervous. Oh well, I can only do the best I can and try to learn what I can in the meantime.

necrobobsledder posted:

Consumer = unstable and expensive business software = incentivized to be stable is a completely false dichotomy in my experience. Medical devices have incredibly terrible reliability and security despite so much emphasis upon stability, compliance, and stability. Meanwhile, WhatsApp has basically zero regulatory problems and has stupid high reliability typically. The general availability of consumer software is probably higher than most enterprise-grade systems that are routinely down for maintenance to the point they're hardly usable outside 9-to-5 office workers. People like to talk about military grade stuff... but I don't want military-grade software anywhere near my house or life.

Even though Amazon doesn't emphasize availability of its site as a huge priority doesn't mean that it'll be down frequently. Meanwhile, every other place I've seen with SLAs in enterprise space has struggled to avoid downtime shorter than 10 days / year for various reasons - almost none of those reasons actually are related to technology or oftentimes even quality of engineers.

leper khan posted:

It's pretty easy to brute force by walking the space for every window of total dimensionality D in sequence from 1 to dim_x + dim_y + ..

It's not immediately clear to me if there's a trick to cut down on the checks of the larger spaces by knowing the values in the smaller spaces, but there could easily be such a method. It feels like there should be, but

leper khan posted:

Well yes, but I meant pruning chunks of the future search space, not quickening lookups for the old space. Dynamic programming doesn't stop you from needing to walk the whole tree.

Good Will Hrunting posted:

Anything else that helped you understand DP would be a godsend because outside of that (and some of the really tough tree algo questions) I feel like I'm ready to start interviewing for my 2nd job.

Stinky_Pete posted:

So you're saying by the time my sign-on stock has finished vesting (4 years), I'll be offered additional RSUs across my career there?

Analytic Engine posted:

As a programmer not working at the big guys:
Why aren't more people outraged at the wages of average companies? Those bonuses and stock options are insane for regular jobs. Googlers are reliably making 2x-3x our total comps while reaping untold networking & career benefits. I'm sure they're great at Compsci 101 exam questions and all but it's infuriating to know that the "market" values their work leaps and bounds above mine. Is there any rational response other than devoting huge amounts of my free time to studying Cracking the Coding Interview and breaking into the anointed-programmer club?

necrobobsledder posted:

Consistent with other attributions to me based upon typically reckless online trolling tendencies, this is largely incorrect. However, I will apologize for trolling with useless walls of text when some people take threads like this seriously.

Rocko Bonaparte posted:

The good news is that the people trying to pull this infrastructure stunt were moved into a different organization and have lost a lot of reach, but they are still trying. It means they can still slow everything down. They had one meeting to make the argument and tried to conclude we needed six more to work together. My new management did not know the game, but they haven't bought it so far.

Any advice on Amazon interviews? My first experience was extremely hosed up, but an actual development team wants me on the phone soon.

mrmcd posted:

My total comp w/o benefits and perks is ~250k as an L5 at G, but that's NYC (and SF) markets. It sounds like the biggest benefit to Amazon is Seattle being much cheaper so your paycheck buys a lot more. The biggest drawback would be their (allegedly) poisonous and cheap culture.

Necc0 posted:

Alright so update on the Necc0 job-hunt that started months ago: I'm super conservative with the companies I talk to. If I'm not 100% on their business plan, future prospects, culture, office, etc I usually bail. Because of this my job hunts typically take longer than usual but I've gone to in-persons with two companies now that both seem really compelling. I haven't received offers from either of them but I'm very confident both will give me an offer. Now I'm having trouble deciding between the two because they both seem like solid work opportunities but they'll be massively different.

Company A:
Very very small security company, maybe no more than 50 people. They've found a very interesting niche in security that's been a massive but obvious blindspot for many companies and found an extremely method for securing it. I wasn't too compelled by their elevator pitch at first but decided to go in to see them in person anyways because they're almost entirely staffed by CMU professors so they had to have been up to something. Was ultimately extremely impressed with the work they've done so far and they had a very clear vision of where they wanted to go. I would be a lead developer helping them delve into genuinely uncharted territories working under the guidance of some of the smartest people in computer science.

The big part is despite being only a few years old and going through a single VC round they're already profitable. Because of this they're growing slowly but steadily and are in no rush to ramp up volume or make mistakes. Since they're truly in a niche category and security seems to finally be taken seriously by the rest of the world, they've looking at a very target-rich environment.

Pros : I get to move from a career of consulting into a bona-fide sw.eng role. Work underneath stupidly smart people on a profitable product with tons of freedom to accomplish my work as I want. In-person meeting was with the CTO himself who seemed genuinely excited about what they'd caught on to and wanted me to be part of it. Potential to be on the ground-floor of something big.

Cons: It could all be smoke up my rear end- or this whole thing could end up flopping. Their customer base seemed pretty wide so far but satisfied with their results, but I don't know if that's just the honeymoon phase. If this ends up just coasting I could be stuck working on the same product that never really goes anywhere making minor modifications / maintenance for years with nowhere to go.

Company B:
Mediumish company with around 450 people but HUGE aspirations. Like company A they too have locked themselves into an interesting niche but instead of being uncharted territory they're going head-to-head with some of the biggest titans in the industry. Almost everyone who interviewed me was an ex employee of the Great Other competitor (including myself) and seemed to have a very deep loathing for how that company ran things along with a very clear vision of how much better things could be. Despite not being taken seriously by said competitors they've been scoring extremely serious victories which has demonstrated just how strong their platform is. I would continue my career as a technical consultant here working with some renegade titans of silicon valley.

These guys aren't profitable yet but they're scoring huge victories left and right and building strong relationships with their clients. everyone is extremely confident in the CEO and they're looking to go public within the next five years.

Pros: By remaining in consulting I get to keep the freshness in my work by working with different clients and technologies every 6ish months. While the base pay will probably be roughly the same as company A I feel like their bonus and equity package is going to be MUCH more lucrative. Potential to get in to a company that may explode like a bottle rocket as they're still getting ready for liftoff.

Cons: LOTS of travel. They're telling me 75% is expected but realistically usually drops to ~30% once the customer sees the travel expenses. I'm fine with this but it'd be nice to have the freedom of working remote or in a single steady office for once.

Sorry for all the words, I guess I'm more chewing over all the information I took in this week more than anything. These are both really compelling places to work and I'd be excited to wind up with either of them. But due to how much potential is at stake I feel like there's a lot more weight on the decision than normal. I think sleeping on it for a few days will be best.

b0lt posted:

there are way too many goonglers in here


nope, US-MTV-43 #1, we have the best cafe and the worst cafe

asur posted:

You're going to be really really disappointed if you think there are 6+ cafeterias with amazing food in MTV.

Rocko Bonaparte posted:

It was phone with an online collaboration link. We were able to talk to each other and type into a shared text box.


I'm not sure what you all are getting at:

Given your input set of [3, 4, 7, 1], the output they wanted would be [28, 21, 12, 84]
I kinda-sorta see that in what you have, but I don't see how you're getting there--with the zeroes in particular.
Is foldr and foldl Hashell stuff? That would explain why I am oblivious to it.

For people following along, there's a Stack Overflow about the literal question I had:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/...-numbers-no-div

You have to keep them from using division because otherwise you'd just get the product of all elements together, then divide by the element at each index to get each individual element's result.

It looks like the trick for a 4-element array is to multiply down. I think this is what the interviewer wanted to see:

code:

[1,         [0],         [0][1],          [0][1][2]]
[[1][2][3], [2][3],      [3],             [1]      ]

Assume the input is: [1, 2, 3, 4] 

That transform computes this:
[1, 1, 2, 6]
[24, 12, 8, 6]

Multiple down the columns:
[24, 12, 8, 6]

I mechanically see it but like hell was I going to be pull that out of my butt. Is there some sub-discipline of computer science I should be looking into to really get into that kind of thing? At best, I have only ever dealt with anything like that when dealing with triangles in 3d, and nothing where I would conclude something like that off the top of my head.

mrmcd posted:

Also, asking questions is important too, even if you're only restating the problem or providing more test cases. Not only does it make sure you understand the problem correctly (a good job skill!), but it helps illuminate for the interviewer how your thinking works and how you analyze a problem.

Beyond that, if you're the kind of person to get tripped up on your own headspace and choke, it can help you calm the hell down and provide the confidence you need to start working on a solution.

muon posted:

My God, Google does not mess around with food. I have another interview with a startup that is exactly what I want to do but it's going to be hard to pass up that perk.

mrmcd posted:

Yeah, depending on the office it can be pretty excellent. My MTV colleagues actually complain about how lackluster their food is compared to NYC. Such a smart perk too, because it doesn't actually cost that much per head when you're cooking for an entire site, and it encourages people to come to work and interact instead of turning into WFH cave trolls.

There's a bunch of warm and fuzzy language about "encouraging collaboration and spontaneous interaction between teams", but really 90% of the perks and office design is about how if you make your office environment as enjoyable a place to be as one's home, people will be happy to be at work for longer periods. Also helps recruiting, brand, etc.

Deep Dish Fuckfest posted:

That's more or less what I thought. Problem is, I tend to have trouble coming up with personal projects that are interesting to me, are reasonably small, and actually show I can do more than follow the tutorial for a machine learning framework. I guess there's no getting around that though, so I'll figure something out. Thanks.


The Google interviews weren't for anything directly related to machine learning (it was SRE Software Engineering). And I wasn't even the one who started the process; one of their recruiters contacted me and I figured I'd see if it lead to anything interesting.

The problem with applying for machine learning positions with my current resume is that there just isn't anything in there that would let me easily get through the initial HR quick glance. No past experience in the field, no university classes, or anything that would save my resume from the shredder, so I haven't actually applied for any positions. I'm also not sure how well what I've learned on my own would serve me in an actual interview. I'd figured taking an online course might help with both of those.

Maybe I'm just being pessimistic, though.

muon posted:

Oh man, my initial executive review at Google got denied and I was really bummed, but my recruiter appealed and I got approved! Super excited. I'll be working in MTV.

asur posted:

The first two weeks, one week I think if you aren't in tech, are orientation and have little to no interaction with your team so it doesn't really matter that December is slow or people are out. I would just start whenever is convenient for you. They normally allow you to start on any Monday, but I don't know if that changes in December.

oliveoil posted:

I want to learn to make the cool high-performance, large-scale systems that you think of when you think about the major tech companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, etc. Currently, I do small-scale python stuff. If want the best bang for the time I invest, what should I do to learn? Grab a classic book on C or C++ or a new one on Go or Rust or what? Or maybe since I have a low level of familiarity with Java already, I should focus on that?

Jose Valasquez posted:

Just got the call that I made it past the Google hiring committee. What are the chances that doesn't turn into an offer? I'm trying to set accurate expectations for myself

Jose Valasquez posted:

Any advice on what to expect from a team match meeting with a Google manager? I've got a couple set up for Monday and I don't want to fumble the ball on the 1 yard line

oliveoil posted:

I'm surprised that Facebook is so open about compensation. I saw https://qz.com/458615/theres-report...their-salaries/ and that made me think that big tech companies are all shady when it comes to comp, but then I've heard that Facebook pays even more than Google, so maybe Facebook really is different.

piratepilates posted:

....then who gets hired in to an E1 or E2 position?

piratepilates posted:

If E2 is one level lower than entry-level then it'd be like an internship (then if you graduate with no internships you're lower than entry-level?), what is an E1 then? A really lovely intern or something?

Jose Valasquez posted:

The problem I see with asking about your past work is that you can just lie. I don't mean like totally fabricating a project, that's almost certainly going to get you caught, but you can easily take credit for decisions and thought processes that weren't your own.

oliveoil posted:

As far as I know, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Amazon all have a system like E3, E4, E5, etc. where taking on increasing levels of leadership and technical complexity. Basically, at the lower level, you build things based on other people's specifications. At the mid level, you're writing the specifications based on concrete problems you're given, likely as part of a larger system that's already been built/specified. And at the senior level, you're also taking general problems and making them concrete, so that solutions can be specified (by you or a midlevel person) and then implemented (by you, a midlevel person, or a junior level person). At the level above that, you're identifying the vaguegeneral problems that need to be solved and essentially passing them (without really cleaning them up) to senior engineers to have them figure them out, but that's way out from me and not really relevant right now.

I'm not really thinking about startups and general mid-size companies. I'm only thinking about the big companies that have this kind of leveling system, plus maybe uber, Twitter, etc. That might offer similarly high comp without necessarily the same leveling system.

And yeah, I want to get a big pay bump. If I could increase my pay significantly without getting a title bump, then that would be great, but I'm making a little over $200k (due to growth in stock price since I've joined + a couple of very minor yearly stock grants) as a junior level person . I think that puts me at the top of the compensation range for a junior level at any big company, because I think at basically all the companies, junior comp is $150-200k, mid level comp is $200-250k, and senior comp is $250-300k.

So, I figured that if I brush up on my fundamental CS knowledge, I could get a $200k mid-level offer somewherr. If I was already mid-level at my current place, then I could lean on that to get a raise to whst I think big companies have as the top of their mid-level comp ranges (~$250k). And then I thought, what if I learned how to answer the questions one would see in an E5-level interview? If I did that, maybe I could get two E5-like offers and leverage then against eachother, to hit what I understand to be the top of the senior level range, ~$300k.


I'm going to say "E5" from now on because it's more specific to what I want. I dont want a "senior" position in the sense that every company has "senior" engineers. What I want to figure out is how to pass four to six 45-minute, E5-level, technical interviews. I'm sure there's a coding component and a design component... And someone pointed out that I should also be able to answer questions about what I've done in different situations, which is good and something I hadn't thought of.

Blinkz0rz posted:

Again, a lot of the numbers being thrown around are total comp and not salary. They make a lot of assumptions about the amount of RSUs being distributed in a given year and the continued value of said stock.

Dogcow posted:

I'm well aware that most places have some variation on this kind of terribleness but I have to believe there are plenty of places that are significantly better. Also I've watched it go downhill in terms of average developer skill. When I joined I was definitely the dumbest person in the room which was great, now I find myself explaining what I feel is pretty basic stuff far too often.

ToxicSlurpee posted:

You can also Google and Glassdoor companies before you even apply. If you read too much "this company is painful to work for" then just don't apply. You can also ask programmers you know to tell you about the company that they work for and if it sounds good then apply and ask for your pal to put in a good word. You can go to meetups and ask people working for local places what they think and where it is they're working and go from there. With many years of experience you probably have a bajillion options.

Paolomania posted:

All most of us really do is take data in one format and copy it into data in another format ... and then get that code through productionization and security review which really is just like some form of CS hazing.

Doctor w-rw-rw- posted:

Levels at FB are not visible. I talked to an E6 for a long time and he was surprised I wasn't an E5 yet, and he took me seriously. Buy-in and opinions are not discounted based on a number, but on their perceived contribution, or at least that's been the case for me. I've definitely seen myself move from the lower-value end of the spectrum to the higher end, where my team contributions are concerned, as I've integrated myself more with the team and gotten better at defining my role. Speaking up, being intellectually honest, and treating people right are all pretty defining aspects of Facebook culture/values.
end

Doctor w-rw-rw- posted:

If you work on something on your own time, with your personal equipment, without using proprietary information, and doesn't intersect with the company's business, California law demands that the company does not have IP claims to it.

minato posted:

For phone screen problems, work out the problem before you start writing code. That sounds like an obvious thing, but I saw people get bogged down in language semantics before they'd hit the crux of solving the problem. The interviewer is not there to check how well you know the language, focus on the problem.

If you make it through to the interview process, FB will give you lots of info in advance on the types of questions they'll ask. The thing they're looking for is "signal" that you know your stuff and would make a good culture fit. They're not trying to catch you out with esoteric knowledge questions, but there will be a point where they hit your knowledge wall, and you need to recognize that: say that you don't know the answer, but make a reasonable guess. Don't try to bullshit.

At the end of the interview they'll ask if you have any questions for them. It's considered very bad to not ask any questions; instead, demonstrate your curiosity and passion with some questions about the company. E.g. "How do you do QA on software that's deployed continuously?"

Sinten posted: