jankedout

Imagine when algorithms (something like https://www.narrativescience.com/) start producing these stories instead of slow humans.

I can't believe he sent out that many solicitations. With an air of smugness, I'm glad I busted my ass in high school to go to a top CS school. I've probably sent about 30 resumes in my life and gotten phone interviews for all but one, offers from 15.

Regardless, I'm glad to see that developers who go to bootcamp can get phenomenal salaries. I have a few friends going through them now.

This style is really filtering those who "don't have time," not by age.

How has your career trajectory been as a remote employee? Do you receive raises and promotions? Are changes in tracks (engineer to engineering manager, etc) a possibility? My biggest fear with working remotely is career stagnation. I've had two positions were I worked in remote offices, and they both turned out to be terrible: laid off at one, left the other after <1 year.

"Even techies, who want to raise a family, can't afford San Francisco anymore".

Dublin/Livermore is pretty cheap. If only more tech companies would take a hint and start building East Bay locations. If your employees can't afford to live close enough to your offices, then you should move your offices closer to them, or where real estate is more reasonable.

I've lived in a dozen cities all over the world and there is something special about the people in the Bay Area.

This is the area where the Gold Rush happened. It was an entrepot for valuable commodities. It still has that dynamic to this day. People come from all over to extract as many resources as possible, sell them and run off to somewhere else not caring about the externalities their opportunistic behavior creates. The political landscape here is mostly about pandering to special interests and never really solving social problems. Whoever panders best uses their constituent base to get elected into state and federal government positions leaving behind the dumpster fire that is the Bay Area.

Counter-counterpoint: Nazi science is one of the main reasons why we have IRBs.

They conducted many unethical experiments to obtain results. If China is researching unethically (by plagiarism, etc), then their work is worthless.

Please don't organize hackathons. They're inauthentic - running counter to coder culture - and a waste of time.

There's data scientist. You don't need a PhD to pursue that. I mean, you probably won't be researching cures for cancer, but you'll still be applying research methodologies. You'll be getting paid more and probably won't have to wait half your lifetime to get a plum position. I abandoned grad school after seeing the rigor mortis that has set into academia and private research companies.

I use Google Messenger. Everyone has a cell phone number. No need to enroll. I can share pictures, audio, text, video. Text messaging is the only thing you need.

I have a group chat with 2/3 other friends I've know for 20+ years. Then I usually text others individually.

Facebook is an awful medium to conduct intimate conversations over. After two failed attempts to ditch it in the past, I've been off Facebook for a year. I can attest that you won't miss it. Just use SMS.

During an interview it's pretty hard to gauge whether the environment is a fit for you. You're focused on performing well and you often brush aside things that would irritate you otherwise. This is why I recommend "courting" the company.

I've had ~10 jobs and 4 of them had intolerable environments. In the past few years I started vetting the companies I wanted to work at by getting in touch with current and past employees. This can give you some insight on how the place functions. I also request to visit the headquarters/office. Most companies will accommodate this. If they don't, I end the recruitment process because it's a big red flag for me.

bpchaps's bullet list is pretty good too. I've run into each of the line items in interviews. Particularly bad for me was Twilio, where the pre-screen phone interview consisted of two developers asking me trivia questions about various technologies. After the first 10 minutes I wanted to hang up. I was glad to not get an onsite. Right before Digg went under I interviewed there. There was no receptionist when I showed up, so the first interviewer (lead dev) didn't even know I was there. We started the interview 15 minutes late, and the interviewer took phone calls during the interview. I was extremely irritated, but I kept my cool.

Just remember, if you are treated in a way you don't like during the recruitment process, then you'll probably be treated in a similar manner if you become an employee.