What every computer science major should know. Portfolio versus resume Having emerged from engineering and mathematics, computer science programs take a resume-based approach to hiring off their graduates.
A resume says nothing of a programmer's ability. Every computer science major should build a portfolio. A portfolio could be as simple as a personal blog, with a post for each project or accomplishment. A better portfolio would include per-project pages, and publicly browsable code (hosted perhaps on github or Google code).
Contributions to open source should be linked and documented. A code portfolio allows employers to directly judge ability. GPAs and resumes do not. Professors should design course projects to impress on portfolios, and students, at the conclusion of each course, should take time to update them. Examples Technical communication Lone wolves in computer science are an endangered species. Modern computer scientists must practice persuasively and clearly communicating their ideas to non-programmers. Specific recommendations Java. 7 Ways to be a Better Programmer in 2014.
Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years. Musings of a restless programmer: Hacking the coding interview. The technical interview process used to hire software engineers/developers hasn't changed much over the years.
A couple of coding problems to solve on a whiteboard for roughly an hour a piece over the course of a day. Intersperse lunch & bathroom breaks for fluid I/O needs. Leave feeling exhausted, perhaps regretting how silly you were to forget the algorithm for merge sort on that 3rd interview. Over the last 7 years I've given and received enough interviews to see a couple of patterns emerge. I think it's rather unfortunate, but proper preparation and foreknowledge of "the process" can make as much difference as simply being the right person for the job. What I'd like to do is spend the remainder of this post being a hacker who's goal is to get the best offer at a company possible (compensation, position).
Know what you're up against These are the typical steps in the interview process from first contact to offer letter: 3 to 6 interviewers. Out goal is to optimize for offer quality. Advice for Computer Science College Students. By Joel Spolsky Sunday, January 02, 2005 Despite the fact that it was only a year or two ago that I was blubbering about how rich Windows GUI clients were the wave of the future, college students nonetheless do occasionally email me asking for career advice, and since it's recruiting season, I thought I'd write up my standard advice which they can read, laugh at, and ignore.
Most college students, fortunately, are brash enough never to bother asking their elders for advice, which, in the field of computer science, is a good thing, because their elders are apt to say goofy, antediluvian things like "the demand for keypunch operators will exceed 100,000,000 by the year 2010" and "lisp careers are really very hot right now. " I, too, have no idea what I'm talking about when I give advice to college students. I'm so hopelessly out of date that I can't really figure out AIM and still use (horrors!) Nevertheless. What was I talking about? Learn how to write before graduating. Part two: C. Next: CRACKING the CODING INTERVIEW - Home.