Every “entry level” job opening asks for five years of experience with some technology that has only existed for two years.
I got my CS degree eight years ago, and it’s been gathering dust as I’ve been working an unrelated part-time job instead. At this rate I feel like it might be too late for me, having no real work experience at my age is something recruiters probably see as a red flag…
I have a 2 year degree in sys admin from 10 years ago. For most of that 10 years I worked as a sys admin in a smaller company where I wore many hats. I had a year of coding at uni prior to my 2 year degree, so I knew how to code. Over that 10 years, I wrote scripts and small apps to automate some of my day to day work or at least built tools to help do things.
Last year, I switched jobs and I’m kind of working part time with the dev team with a roadmap to get there full time. I’m in my mid 30s.
Basically, I just want to point out anecdotally that it’s not too late to get to do the work you want, it just may be slower and in steps to get there if you can find a company to work with you. Alternatively, you could maybe get in at a start up looking for junior devs. The red type might be easier to get through there.
kinda same for bio-tech, bio related jobs. must have x, usally 2-4 years of skills. plus programs you never heard of. found out later these tend to be ghost jobs, or people they hire internally or VISA wise, and dint want to look discriminatory.
you’re acting as if internships are easy to get into. dont know about cs/programming ones. but other stems like bio/biotech are notirously difficult and competitive to get one, if you can even find it. so most people try to get into limited lab spaces at a uni instead, and all the internships ive seen require a very high gpa plus geared only for specific scientists.
They are. Almost all tech companies have cs internships. There’s almost nothing to loose and a lot to gain.
But, again, there’s loads of FOSS projects on github with tickets tickets that you can just start contributing to. That’s also experience and highly valued.
Five years of experience straight out of finishing a four year bachelor’s degree means that you need to start grinding for your career when you’re still a high school kid. To put it extremely politely: this is an unrealistic expectation.
If you’re skilled, then you have experience. That’s the point.
Experience doesn’t mean you need to have had a paid job. Decide to make a game in Java? You’ll have a lot of experience. Publish it on GitHub, and that’s what your interviewer is looking for
And there’s no way for the interviewer to know how many years of experience that game actually represents. If it’s four instead of five, they’ll never know. That’s the trick.
Nope. The non-technical phone interview can be bullshitted, the technical phone interview can be passed with enough skill, and by the time they get to you then you aren’t even checking for experience.
There are loads of people that get through this process by lying about their years of experience. You have confirmation bias.
The only thing experience is good for is getting better at lying on resumes and lying in interviews. It’s a screening process to filter out people who don’t know how the sausage is made.
Internships for software are almost always paid, and compared to other disciplines, paid reasonably well. $30+/hr in Canada is fairly normal for dev/qa internships, and I’ve heard from several students that I’ve interviewed that they’ve made more in US companies. Some companies also offer raises for students that return for successive terms.
Every “entry level” job opening asks for five years of experience with some technology that has only existed for two years.
I got my CS degree eight years ago, and it’s been gathering dust as I’ve been working an unrelated part-time job instead. At this rate I feel like it might be too late for me, having no real work experience at my age is something recruiters probably see as a red flag…
I have a 2 year degree in sys admin from 10 years ago. For most of that 10 years I worked as a sys admin in a smaller company where I wore many hats. I had a year of coding at uni prior to my 2 year degree, so I knew how to code. Over that 10 years, I wrote scripts and small apps to automate some of my day to day work or at least built tools to help do things.
Last year, I switched jobs and I’m kind of working part time with the dev team with a roadmap to get there full time. I’m in my mid 30s.
Basically, I just want to point out anecdotally that it’s not too late to get to do the work you want, it just may be slower and in steps to get there if you can find a company to work with you. Alternatively, you could maybe get in at a start up looking for junior devs. The red type might be easier to get through there.
kinda same for bio-tech, bio related jobs. must have x, usally 2-4 years of skills. plus programs you never heard of. found out later these tend to be ghost jobs, or people they hire internally or VISA wise, and dint want to look discriminatory.
Idk, I got my entry level job with 5 years of experience. That’s what internships are for when you’re studying in Uni…
And I wouldn’t want to hire someone who hasn’t that experience. It shows a lack of drive.
you’re acting as if internships are easy to get into. dont know about cs/programming ones. but other stems like bio/biotech are notirously difficult and competitive to get one, if you can even find it. so most people try to get into limited lab spaces at a uni instead, and all the internships ive seen require a very high gpa plus geared only for specific scientists.
They are. Almost all tech companies have cs internships. There’s almost nothing to loose and a lot to gain.
But, again, there’s loads of FOSS projects on github with tickets tickets that you can just start contributing to. That’s also experience and highly valued.
Drive or lack of opportunity? ‘Just get an internship’ is as dismissive pf an argument as ‘just get a job’
5 years of experience doesn’t mean you need a job for 5 years
Just show me what you coded for the past 5 years. There’s no lack of opportunity for your github.
Five years of experience straight out of finishing a four year bachelor’s degree means that you need to start grinding for your career when you’re still a high school kid. To put it extremely politely: this is an unrealistic expectation.
To be programming when your in highschool, yes. If you’re not programming already in highschool, you probably shouldn’t study computer science
…or just expect to take an internship or do Foss work for a few years after you graduate, to catch up with your peers
Lol, then what about these people with jobs after attending boot camps? They’re all there for their talent and experience?
Boot camps and certs are scams
Professional training courses and certifications: all scams.
Expecting people to do unpaid spec work when they’re 16: not scams.
Or they can just lie on their resumes like everyone else.
Resumes don’t mean shit. Tech interviews are hard. If you lie, you probably won’t make it to the first whiteboard interview
And if you’re skilled, you don’t really need “experience.” Just don’t lie about your skills.
How is the whiteboard interview going to uncover the fact that you only have two years of experience instead of five?
If you’re skilled, then you have experience. That’s the point.
Experience doesn’t mean you need to have had a paid job. Decide to make a game in Java? You’ll have a lot of experience. Publish it on GitHub, and that’s what your interviewer is looking for
And there’s no way for the interviewer to know how many years of experience that game actually represents. If it’s four instead of five, they’ll never know. That’s the trick.
You’d fail before the whiteboard interview. Its easy to detect people with little experience
I never ask how much experience someone has in an interview. I throw a hard problem at them and watch them work
Nope. The non-technical phone interview can be bullshitted, the technical phone interview can be passed with enough skill, and by the time they get to you then you aren’t even checking for experience.
There are loads of people that get through this process by lying about their years of experience. You have confirmation bias.
The only thing experience is good for is getting better at lying on resumes and lying in interviews. It’s a screening process to filter out people who don’t know how the sausage is made.
Your classism is showing.
It shows a lack of
driveaccess to resources that allow you to do an unpaid internship.Internships for software are almost always paid, and compared to other disciplines, paid reasonably well. $30+/hr in Canada is fairly normal for dev/qa internships, and I’ve heard from several students that I’ve interviewed that they’ve made more in US companies. Some companies also offer raises for students that return for successive terms.
Who said internships are unpaid? Internships should be paid. Companies get marginal work for side projects for like 20x discount