Current Events > What should I know before applying for an entry level software engineer job?

(+) Yeah! (+)

i graduated six years ago with a double major in electrical engineering and computer science, but my grades weren't so good (2.7) and I ended up taking a job in an unrelated field


been trying to get back into programming though, and i'm working on putting together a resume and brushing up on my skills, which i haven't really kept up on

computer science is such a wide field though that I'm struggling on what I should know going into interviews. Been learning C# which is pretty easy given most of my background was in java. Do i focus on web design? windows forms? graphics? scripting? data structures? should i have a basic knowledge of all that stuff?


is it more about proving that i'm capable of learning (showing algorithms/pseudocode) or would a potential employer want me to have a firm grasp on whatever language/environment they use?
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Please respond
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All I've been told is: have a portfolio. Expect to write (as in literally on a board) code. And don't sell yourself as someone who can do it all. Because you most likely will work in a team and be responsible for specific things instead of doing a one person operation

Connections are important. It's not what you know but who you know many times....
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Marklar posted...

All I've been told is: have a portfolio. Expect to write (as in literally on a board) code. And don't sell yourself as someone who can do it all. Because you most likely will work in a team and be responsible for specific things instead of doing a one person operation

Portfolio in what sense? What I've read seems to suggest you shouldn't bring anything to an interview, no premadr code, etc
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CreekCo posted...

Connections are important. It's not what you know but who you know many times....

I don't know anyone in the field (in the city I'd want to work in)
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TheGoldenEel posted...

Portfolio in what sense? What I've read seems to suggest you shouldn't bring anything to an interview, no premadr code, etc

It depends on what kinda stuff you're going for.
Personally I'd bring a laptop with some stuff you've wrote and be able to talk them through it.
A portfolio would be something like a bunch of projects you contributed to and explain how and what you did

I'm reading its a bad idea to bring a laptop

My buddy who's gotten a couple software jobs said he just brought a notepad and pen, and just had some stuff on his git to link the interviewer to if necessary
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Last entry level job i interviewed for in IT we talked about my background for 5 minutes and about fishing for the rest of the interview. Think its really just a crapshoot.

BuckVanHammer posted...

Last entry level job i interviewed for in IT we talked about my background for 5 minutes and about fishing for the rest of the interview. Think its really just a crapshoot.

What is your background?

Like, I have no relevant work experience so all my programming projects were in school, 2008-2011

I designed a compiler my last year of school and took some higher level data structures courses, should I just point to my experience with those? I've been going back and re-doing assignments from those classes as prep
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TheGoldenEel posted...

BuckVanHammer posted...

Last entry level job i interviewed for in IT we talked about my background for 5 minutes and about fishing for the rest of the interview. Think its really just a crapshoot.

What is your background?

Like, I have no relevant work experience so all my programming projects were in school, 2008-2011

I designed a compiler my last year of school and took some higher level data structures courses, should I just point to my experience with those? I've been going back and re-doing assignments from those classes as prep

I just finished junior college with some cisco certs. Was planning finishing out a bachelor, but ran across a entry storage job, stuck it out and im a storage eng. atm.

If that is your only experience, ya use that. don't think of that being a negative tho. coming in completely fresh is a good thing to many places. one thing you might want to nail down is why exactly you didn't pursue something after college in the field. Maybe roll in some soft skills you learned on your own or on previous jobs; team building, collaboration, any kind of learning.

Well, out of college when I was looking for a job, the one I have now came up through some connections

Pretty good pay, and in my city (which is where I was trying to stay), so I took the job. I was overqualified with my degrees so they were concerned about hiring me and asked me if I could commit to five years

I've fulfilled that and now I'm looking to get back into the field I went to school for
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my best advice is to look up the openings in your area and see what employers are after. as far as what you should know, you should be strong in at least one server-side language (Java, C#, Python, etc) and one scripting language (Bash/Ksh/Shell, Python, Groovy). Basic knowledge of front-end stuff (HTML, CSS, Javascript) won't hurt anything. But, honestly, the concept of a "full stack developer" used to be really popular but now it's kind of fading away in favor of people who specialize. There's just too much out there for any one person to be a master of all trades. Decide if you want to be 'front-end' or 'back-end' and focus on those technologies.
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CreekCo posted...

Connections are important. It's not what you know but who you know many times....

this is 110% truth
especially these days
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Giant_Aspirin posted...

my best advice is to look up the openings in your area and see what employers are after. as far as what you should know, you should be strong in at least one server-side language (Java, C#, Python, etc) and one scripting language (Bash/Ksh/Shell, Python, Groovy). Basic knowledge of front-end stuff (HTML, CSS, Javascript) won't hurt anything. But, honestly, the concept of a "full stack developer" used to be really popular but now it's kind of fading away in favor of people who specialize. There's just too much out there for any one person to be a master of all trades. Decide if you want to be 'front-end' or 'back-end' and focus on those technologies.

See, I've been looking at openings in my area (and there are plenty) and every one lists a ton of stuff they say are "required"

I mean for the most part if you know one object-oriented language it's easy to learn any other one, but it's intimidating how much they claim is expected
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Bump for more tips

Been practicing with windows forms, is that a useful skill in 2017?
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evening bump
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Go to a temp agency.
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send help

I've been getting ran around for months.
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gatorsPENSbucs posted...

Go to a temp agency.

FUCK no

I am not leaving my current career with great benefits and long-term stability and job security to temp
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