Hey, so less than a month left for me to graduate and I could be looking for work already but I am too scared I will get it.
I mean, I am absolutely scared of getting job say as java developer or so and just be told: "Okay make ...." and they set task that I have no idea how to do.
Like the way I imagine it happens:
I graduate, I apply for job, I get job, I get thrown into office or something and told okay make us a nuclear reactor (hypothetically), I don't do it and I get get thrown out/fired, I mean if you apply for job you are expected to know things?
The reason I am scared of this is because I just randomly clicked on one IBM application and got call from them instantly, obviously I failed it because I didn't know a shit of what they asked.
Like I can build website from scratch (HTML, CSS, JS, Node.js, PHP, MySQL, I can setup web server with just having blank linux ubuntu server etc..),
I can make Java software as Desktop Applications, I can make native android apps (Just apps, audio, gps, and other shit),
I can make 3D models (not that it matters),
My point is I have decent CV, I have 1.5 years experience in one small company, I think if IBM called me back almost instantly (while other course mates applied to loads of jobs and didn't get a single call back) I have lots of chances to find job but the problem is - I am scared to find one and get it.
What do I do?
Also few questions to those who may know:
1) If you get asked a question about salary in interview, what should I say? I mean I assume if I say too much they will instantly refuse to employ me?
2) If you are a programmer or something in company, do you have to wear like shirt and tie and all that stuff?
3) Is it acceptable to google stuff when working? Like I am told to create nuclear reactor (again hypothetically) is it okay to google things?
4) Do you get fucked out of job if you are given task and you can't do it?
5) Could I perhaps say lowest possible salary to question 1 hoping that in return they will ease off on me and let me make mistakes few times?
I'd suggest reading cracking the coding interview for some of this info, and to check out [url]http://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions[/url] for more questions, but:
[QUOTE=arleitiss;47519970]
2) If you are a programmer or something in company, do you have to wear like shirt and tie and all that stuff?[/quote]
CtCi says for startups and big tech companies, polo shirt/button up shirt, nice jeans/nice pants of some kind. For finance industry (banks), suit w/ no tie but bring a tie just in case.
[quote]
3) Is it acceptable to google stuff when working? Like I am told to create nuclear reactor (again hypothetically) is it okay to google things? [/quote]
100% yes. Nobody knows everything. However, when you start out at a job, your first few weeks will be getting acquainted with whatever Codebase/API you'll be working with, and there will be plenty of senior developers (jedi masters) who know damned near everything about the API. Ask them for help; don't be ashamed to be new.
[quote]
5) Could I perhaps say lowest possible salary to question 1 hoping that in return they will ease off on me and let me make mistakes few times?[/QUOTE]
Do not do this. The starting salary at your first company is extremely important because it will be the standard for your salary in all future interviews. they will ask you how much you were paid at your last job and then decide your new salary with that in mind.
I don't work in the field but this is all that I've read thus far on /r/cscareerquestions.
[quote]
1) If you get asked a question about salary in interview, what should I say? I mean I assume if I say too much they will instantly refuse to employ me?
2) If you are a programmer or something in company, do you have to wear like shirt and tie and all that stuff?
3) Is it acceptable to google stuff when working? Like I am told to create nuclear reactor (again hypothetically) is it okay to google things?
4) Do you get fucked out of job if you are given task and you can't do it?
5) Could I perhaps say lowest possible salary to question 1 hoping that in return they will ease off on me and let me make mistakes few times?
[/quote]
Hi! web game programmer here let me answer your questions:
1. Your wage is open for negotiation. They will offer you something lower than what they are willing to pay so always say something higher and settle in-between.
2. That depends 100% on the company, there's no general rule that programmers have to wear tie. Covering your upper body is however a good idea, so yes, you should atleast wear a shirt, possibly pants but that's up to your boss to decide.
3. Yes how else are you supposed to solve the problem? When you get employed as a programmer they don't expect you to be able to write any program from the top of your head, ofc you will need references, documentation etc. plus working as a programmer is alot about being able to learn new stuff and put it to use fast.
4. That depends on the type of job, if you repeatedly fail to accomplish what's given to you, you're not cut out for the job and depending on how nice of a company you are working for, you will either get another position / simpler tasks or they'll fire you for being unable to do the job. Make sure you find a field that sparks your interest, if you're gonna work with programming make sure you're having fun because staring day in and day out into a piece of code you don't want to write will only cost you mentally and emotionally.
5. If you settle for lowest possible it's no guarantee they'll keep you around. Only thing guaranteed is less pay. Be honest instead if you think you're in over your head.
[QUOTE=arleitiss;47519970]
Also few questions to those who may know:
1) If you get asked a question about salary in interview, what should I say? I mean I assume if I say too much they will instantly refuse to employ me?
2) If you are a programmer or something in company, do you have to wear like shirt and tie and all that stuff?
3) Is it acceptable to google stuff when working? Like I am told to create nuclear reactor (again hypothetically) is it okay to google things?
4) Do you get fucked out of job if you are given task and you can't do it?
5) Could I perhaps say lowest possible salary to question 1 hoping that in return they will ease off on me and let me make mistakes few times?[/QUOTE]
1. Say what you feel you deserve and the amount you want. Don't dock your pay because you are scared, find out what people make currently with your degree or skills and fall somewhere around that.
2. Depends on the company, I work at Microsoft and people wear sandals and shorts. Today I am just wearing jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt. First couple days dress a bit nicer and get the context of how other people dress and then you can start dressing more comfortable.
3. Don't even get me started how many times I google things. Either things I forget about or things that just won't stick into my brain. The biggest thing I can emphasize is don't be scared to ask questions. Other developers will most likely help you in getting started. They aren't your enemies just waiting for you to fail. You are all a team and trying to improve/make the product you were tasked to do. Though at least try to accomplish the task your self and try not to ask a question every 30 seconds. The other developers also have work to do.
Also don't be scared to improve on their code. I just checked in some code of mine that fixed another developers code who went the long way around to get some end results that we needed. He was very grateful.
4. Depends, if think if they give you a task you should try your best to do it because you will also be learning how to do it in the code base as you go, learning the pre-created tools and utilities. Just ask questions if you get stuck, don't just out right say no I can't do this. If you genuinely are having a difficult time doing what is asked of you, just keep asking questions until you get it. However eventually if you can't keep up they will let you go.
5. I wouldn't do that. Like someone else mentioned, it is a starting base for where you want to be in the future. Like mentioned in question 1 I would research into how much someone for the position would be paid and since you have very little experience lower it a bit. If they don't like what you offer they will most likely do a counter if they are interested in you. I started out low in my job and I am paying the price now because I can't suddenly ask for a $10 raise. If I wanted to go up in pay I would have to leave. It isn't that easy to get raises later on.
Hope some of this helps. Now albeit that I have no degree I am in a bit of an interesting scenario. I would say my things still stand though.
That's what the interviews are for.
I would like to emphasize that the interview shouldn't be one way. They are also for you to get a feel for it. Ask questions. Ask what they'd be expecting of you, what working there is like, what you will work with with as much detail as possible. This will not only help you figure out yourself if you fit the job or not, but it shows you're interested which is a big plus.
And don't forget to do as much research as you cab before the interview. A lot of companies put lots of information of what they are doing and what they strive for on their website.
Oh and yeah, as said. Don't just settle with a low salary. Look up what would be reasonable for you to get with the competence and experience you have and say you want around that. But of course, don't be too rigid and demand that much either. Settle somewhere you both feel comfortable. If no such sum can be found, don't take the job.
[editline]14th April 2015[/editline]
And I forgot the most important part. Don't be afraid to fail. If it does turn out you cannot do what they ask despite giving it a good try, and you didn't oversell yourself then it isn't much of a big deal.
Just by reading this I get excited about starting to look for a job after I finish University (I haven't started it though :smile: ). All the answers you've been giving him helped me a lot.
[QUOTE=arleitiss;47519970]
1) If you get asked a question about salary in interview, what should I say? I mean I assume if I say too much they will instantly refuse to employ me?
2) If you are a programmer or something in company, do you have to wear like shirt and tie and all that stuff?
3) Is it acceptable to google stuff when working? Like I am told to create nuclear reactor (again hypothetically) is it okay to google things?
4) Do you get fucked out of job if you are given task and you can't do it?
5) Could I perhaps say lowest possible salary to question 1 hoping that in return they will ease off on me and let me make mistakes few times?[/QUOTE]
I work as a software engineer for a big company:
1. tricky one. if it's your first job and you don't have tons of experience youd have a harder time negotiating it. obviously you dont want to be completely underpaid, so search for rough salary numbers on the position and say you want a fair salary for the position. not all places look for this and if you are looking for a grad position they may just pay all their grads the same. if you said too much they probably wouldn't say no instantly and just say they couldn't take you for that, but again depends on the company/interviewer.
2. depends on company, mine is 'casual office' unless meeting with clients, and Fridays is anything you like. no ties required.
3. yes, not everyone knows everything.
4. depends on company, but the fact is if you are coming in as a graduate they will generally not expect you to be able to fly in and get stuff done instantly. if you were to massively oversell yourself and lie about your skills, then yes, I would imagine this is the case, but if it's a good company then they would provide training and support where its needed.
5. don't do this.
sounds like you are worrying about it too much, and as I said the issues with not being competent would probably only apply if you oversold yourself then couldn't live up to the name. grads that start here are eased in, given smaller projects, shadow people, get training etc to build them up. they interview you, they hire you based on what you say, so it isn't your fault if they are expecting too much of you, and it isn't shameful to ask for help. you should leave an interview with a good feel for the job and company.
interviews vary wildly between companies too, for example my face to face interview was literally just sitting down for a chat and they really emphasized that, obviously they asked questions and stuff but it didnt feel a stereotypical grilling.
I just wrote up a huge fuckin' post and lost it, so these are the short answers. I have a background in agile software development using .NET 4 in the finance industry.
[QUOTE=arleitiss;47519970]1) If you get asked a question about salary in interview, what should I say? I mean I assume if I say too much they will instantly refuse to employ me?[/QUOTE]
There's no if; you will get asked about compensation, and you will want to negotiate. Their first offer is almost always a lowball. For example, if you are offered $60,000 and ask for $65,000, they won't give you a middle finger, they'll settle somewhere inbetween.
[QUOTE=arleitiss;47519970]2) If you are a programmer or something in company, do you have to wear like shirt and tie and all that stuff?[/QUOTE]
A good question to ask the interviewers, don't you think? Although the norm for developers is casual, at worst business casual. I would not recommend working for a company that requires you to wear a suit consistently. I only have to wear suits when our biggest clients are in the office... Once a year.
[QUOTE=arleitiss;47519970]3) Is it acceptable to google stuff when working? Like I am told to create nuclear reactor (again hypothetically) is it okay to google things? [/QUOTE]
Yes. I bet you didn't go through school with information gleaned solely from lectures and textbooks, right?
[QUOTE=arleitiss;47519970]4) Do you get fucked out of job if you are given task and you can't do it?[/QUOTE]
Depends on the circumstances, but usually not, unless you were doing something deliberately negligent or malicious. If you accidentally fuck up bad enough to get fired, you probably deserved it. Life is rough like that.
[QUOTE=arleitiss;47519970]5) Could I perhaps say lowest possible salary to question 1 hoping that in return they will ease off on me and let me make mistakes few times?[/QUOTE]
The pressure you receive to complete a task in a timely manner and with minimal error should absolutely not depend on your compensation. Only the worst of the worst managers will factor in your wage into any sort of punishment.
My situation is sort of related to the thread title and I'd appreciate some advise.
I'm about to complete my HND (associate level degree) within the next few weeks. I'm currently on work experience with a well established (30+ years), medium size software company. I got the placement through college and I've just been offered a permanent position (after a further 6 months probation).
There's a few things that don't sit quite right with me, and it's related to the salary. I'm currently getting £12,000 a year which I was initially quite pleased about considering I'm not entitled to anything (I'm also getting £5,000 student finance on top of this). During my probationary period I've been offered a £3,000 increase.
I'm worried that after probation, I'll still be considerably underpaid (even taking into account my location). Looking on job sites, software development jobs for junior programmers in my city generally range from £22,000 - £35,000, although I assume these would be aimed at honours degree graduates, despite some of them being non-specific.
I also discovered an ad on a job site which didn't name the company, but exactly described the company I work for. The advertised salary for the position (didn't state if it was junior/senior level) was £15,000 - £22,000. This makes me worry that even if I invest many years in this company, I'll struggle to ever earn more than the low 20Ks.
simple
don't work for those companies; they underpay significantly
Since everyone else already answered the questions in the OP, I just want to add that programming ability is pretty in demand right now. You could be pretty awful and still get a job that pays pretty well as long as whatever you wrote works in the end. Chances are if you read programming forums, have side projects, you are well above awful. Take advantage of having an in-demand skill set, don't just accept any offer. There's lots of companies looking for developers.
It's ok you feel scared, everyone does) You will get rid of this feeling as soon as you acquire some experience. After my graduating I felt so insecure so I couldn't sleep and eat until I was approved for my first vacancy, I couldn't even write a decent CV ( happily there are many resumes services, I used [url]http://craftresumes.com/[/url] ). You should make the first step and don't think of side problems which even didn't happened to you yet)
oh boy I'm graduating at the end of this year, getting an industry job is very daunting to me. I've spent my uni degree not really learning my strengths. All I know is I like to program, I like to do business with people and I like making websites as long as I can use a framework like bootstrap and laravel.
[editline]24th April 2015[/editline]
Luckily in my current job as a receptionist I do a lot of IT and business related jazz so it's good experience. I'm making a website for my boss soon for his new clinic.
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