IT/Software career thread: Invert binary trees for dollars.
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Noodleface
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Well I should clarify. If I need to stay late I do. At previous jobs I've worked off hours to complete tasks in crunch time. I'm not some Android that works 8 to 5 and is already in the parking lot by 5:01
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He is. I'm trying to do things that will reduce the amount of time it takes to manually review test results. Since that's 90% of his job, his repeated reaction is that he'll get laid off. Keep talking like that, sure. Or maybe you could realize that reviewing test results is mostly a waste of a human and that there's better usage for a salaried employee.
Sorry, didn't mean to presume that you guys were lazy shlebs.
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Noodleface
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No I just wanted to clarify. I've been on both sides and my life was much more miserable at Akamai than here (it was good at Emc too before the buyout). While this work is less stimulating than low level bios programming, my life on a whole feels much better.
chaos
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Yeah, people get like that, they only see "my job is threatened" and they miss the fact that their job is more than the narrow task they were doing. Typically companies don't want to lose qualified people, even if you manage to make yourself redundant they will want you to do something else.
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Eh, I like working more of a "flex" type schedule. I send emails on Friday night/Saturdays/Sundays/Weekday-nights because I will take time during the day for non-work activities.
I had a previous supervisor who said it best: If you feel like you're fucking the company with time you take, you probably are.
On the other hand, the company never feels bad about trying to work me to the bone, so I'm going to do ~45 hours/week at most (on average, for the year). Will there be 80 hour weeks, yes; will there be 30 hour weeks, for sure.
I had a previous supervisor who said it best: If you feel like you're fucking the company with time you take, you probably are.
On the other hand, the company never feels bad about trying to work me to the bone, so I'm going to do ~45 hours/week at most (on average, for the year). Will there be 80 hour weeks, yes; will there be 30 hour weeks, for sure.
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Mist
REEEEeyore
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Well, the other company I was going to work for in Rhode Island... we acquired.
So, basically any new job would require moving and I'm just not able to do that.
LulzSect
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I've only ever stayed late/come in night/weekends when mission critical shit has gone down. I was compensated/comped hours though. I feel like it's always devs/programmers that get stuck in this work for free (oh it's crunch time lol) scam. Weird.
Less stress, more productivity: working fewer hours is good for you and your boss | Hacker News
^Discussion related
Less stress, more productivity: working fewer hours is good for you and your boss | Hacker News
^Discussion related
chaos
Buzzfeed Editor
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Yeah, I have done shit that needs to be done, of course. But it's always comped in some way. Which, you know, that's the game.
This woman at the last place I was at would work like 12-14 hour days, every day. She didn't get paid for that, and she sure as shit wasn't getting 12-14 productive hours in. I guess maybe some of the bosses looked at that and though "wow, she's a hard charger" but that wasn't reflected in her compensation or in her mobility. I love what I do, but I'm not dying for the company.
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Noodleface
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My last job was flexible. Their hours were "get your work done" and the work from home policy was "get your work done" so I worked from home a lot, and often I did work shorter weeks. I always felt bad though.
I was in the weird position of being the only BIOS engineer in the entire company, so there was no accountability on my end.
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Xarpolis
Life's a Dream
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What made you leave that job, then? And those of you that work 40 hour weeks (doing overtime as needed), what do you do? What would be a good starting point for someone looking to start a job like that? I literally have zero background. No college. Blank slate, and all that.
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Information Security Architect (lol)
I have a BA (stress the A, there is no S) in CompSci, and I learned by myself or on the job (Ok Google, how do I do X). I was doing Linux work before getting a job, but learned everything related to Windows through my job(s).
I started doing BSD sys-admin and desktop support out of college for a small company for a few years, then moved to a large enterprise doing desktop support, moved to linux system engineering, moved to incident and forensics, move to infrastructure security, then moved to my current job.
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Noodleface
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LulzSect
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Never excelled at College the first attempt many, many years ago as I learned everything on the job. Eventually ended getting a couple of certs and went back to school (Bus Adm AS). Started back up within the last couple of years for the IS BS, but just real tired of hitting the math wall (not even made it to Calc I). I just don't get it.
Career-wise, is just any stupid B.A. helpful; provided you keep learning/acquiring certs?
Or do you really just have to buckle down and trudge through Calculus?
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I took calc twice in college, once as an AM with a teacher who was terrible (got a solid D+), then again and got a B+. I still barely understand it. It's not useful for Computer Science (at least the shit I do).Never excelled at College the first attempt many, many years ago as I learned everything on the job. Eventually ended getting a couple of certs and went back to school (Bus Adm AS). Started back up within the last couple of years for the IS BS, but just real tired of hitting the math wall (not even made it to Calc I). I just don't get it.
Career-wise, is just any stupid B.A. helpful; provided you keep learning/acquiring certs?
Or do you really just have to buckle down and trudge through Calculus?
Though, this stick figure comic of encryption basics proves Calc does have some usage: A Stick Figure Guide to the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
Get a BA/BS in something to show you can learn. This is required if you have experience, but it won't hurt you (shouldn't).
Get a MBA/Masters if you want to get to a specific level. This won't guarantee a position, but not having it CAN hurt your attempts to go higher.
I keep looking at an MBA or a Masters. The SANS Masters course in InfoSec seems like it would be fun/terrible.
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Noodleface
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More than likely it's the algebra. I'm really good with algebra and I breezed through calculus but it seems that's where most failed. I didn't really see the difficulty until multivariable calculus and even then it was more algebra related.
Also some people just don't like math and aren't good at it
Also some people just don't like math and aren't good at it
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Xarpolis
Life's a Dream
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That comic was definitely over my head, but I was still able to follow the majority of it, even if on the most basic of levels. What ultimately got me at the end was the log stuff. I've never dealt with logs before. I know they exist as a math term, but I've never learned how to use them. Thus, consider me befuddled. Interesting comic.
