IT/Software career thread: Invert binary trees for dollars.

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Noodleface

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I'd do what tenks said and look at personal projects, special projects in school, etc., that apply to your field (robotics?).

Also, the first step after that is to do phone interviews - gauge their interest, feel out their skills, see if they know what they're talking about.
 
ToeMissile

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A friend of mine has a company that develops webinar software. He told me once about a guy that he had just hired who was at one time like the 3rd best uni-cyclist in the US. Obviously there isn't much overlap between programming/comp sci and unicycles, but it showed the guy was really dedicated and hardworking when it came to his passions/interests.

So kind of a weird, but it makes sense and always stuck with me.
 
Tuco

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Voyce_sl said:
So can you even be sure they're at all interested in working for you?
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No, we can't. Allegedly they are still looking for work and their major is in our field though.


It was actually easier than I thought to weed them all down. Once I looked at the resumes there were some very specific things I can't go into that were missing from 70% of them. Of the remaining 30% only a few really focused on the aspects of what I want. I just thought it was a good thought exercise.
 
Tuco

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ToeMissile_sl said:
A friend of mine has a company that develops webinar software. He told me once about a guy that he had just hired who was at one time like the 3rd best uni-cyclist in the US. Obviously there isn't much overlap between programming/comp sci and unicycles, but it showed the guy was really dedicated and hardworking when it came to his passions/interests.

So kind of a weird, but it makes sense and always stuck with me.
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The flip side to that is that from my experience someone who is super passionate about non-technical interests is less likely to be the guy to really pour himself into a problem, work a lot of hours, solve problems over the weekend etc. There's nothing wrong with dudes coming in and putting in a solid 40 hours then unicycling on the weekends, but the programmers that just like to nerd out hard 24/7 are much more productive.
 
moontayle

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Tuco_sl said:
No, we can't. Allegedly they are still looking for work and their major is in our field though.


It was actually easier than I thought to weed them all down. Once I looked at the resumes there were some very specific things I can't go into that were missing from 70% of them. Of the remaining 30% only a few really focused on the aspects of what I want. I just thought it was a good thought exercise.
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I had some thoughts about winnowing but I felt it was pretentious given my experience. I hope I'll never be in a position of giving a "yea" or "nay" on someone but the way this gig is going, it's probably going to happen at some point.
 
Deathwing

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Tuco_sl said:
The flip side to that is that from my experience someone who is super passionate about non-technical interests is less likely to be the guy to really pour himself into a problem, work a lot of hours, solve problems over the weekend etc. There's nothing wrong with dudes coming in and putting in a solid 40 hours then unicycling on the weekends, but the programmers that just like to nerd out hard 24/7 are much more productive.
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Is there data supporting this? I feel after ~8 hours, my productivity wanes, even for problems I genuinely want to continue working.
 
Noodleface

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I've just been listening to guitar shredding (Malmsteen, Rusty Cooley, etc) at work while coding. The frantic-ness of it really pushes me in a panic.
 
Cad

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Tuco_sl said:
The flip side to that is that from my experience someone who is super passionate about non-technical interests is less likely to be the guy to really pour himself into a problem, work a lot of hours, solve problems over the weekend etc. There's nothing wrong with dudes coming in and putting in a solid 40 hours then unicycling on the weekends, but the programmers that just like to nerd out hard 24/7 are much more productive.
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I don't really find this to be true, I think it just depends on motivation. I've met some super dork committed tech guys who are lazy as fuck and produce shit. I've met guys who don't touch a computer once they leave work who totally shred it while on the job, and work hard as necessary. I don't even know if I'd see a trend between laziness and technical aptitude. The desire to work hard and do well at work is an attitude that doesn't correlate with interests, I think.
 
Noodleface

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I would look for the people that have a passion for what you're working on rather than a passion for nerdy tech things. Sometimes they got hand-in-hand, but in general that's not always the case.
 
M

Maebe_sl

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Deathwing_sl said:
Is there data supporting this? I feel after ~8 hours, my productivity wanes, even for problems I genuinely want to continue working.
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I've seen people reference Henry Ford as the inventor of the 40 hours week. The claims have been he tested various working week hours.

From a MMO point of view, we all know the people who would lose focus after 4 hours, 6 hours, 8 hours etc and you'd know your own endurance.
 
Vinen

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Noodlemod_sl said:
I've just been listening to guitar shredding (Malmsteen, Rusty Cooley, etc) at work while coding. The frantic-ness of it really pushes me in a panic.
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The fuck is this hipster shit.

My productivity increases if there is a beer fridge. 3PM and a beer = 2x the productivity of 9-3pm.
 
Khane

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I can't wait for the SJW crowd to jump on the term Whitepaper. It's only a matter of time.
 
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