Desperate New Grad: Take this offer?
Hey Blinders I know this is long but I need some career advice :) I’m strongly considering accepting a full stack software engineering role at a healthcare company. The company is a 12B org just to reference general size. But they aren’t known for tech to my knowledge. It’s with the mobile experience engineering team working on patient facing mobile and web apps + some devops. The tech stack is in the attached picture. Offer is 71k and fully remote. Currently in very low col. The team seems chill. I want to accept this because I’ve only been coding for two years and have a low gpa for my CS degree from a t3-t4 US CS uni. I also have to doordash and drive for Uber eats for my current income and it sucksssss. It’s a 6 month contract that will constantly renew for the foreseeable. My thoughts are I can do this job for 6 months to 1 year while I bolster my LC (I’m ass at LC but incredibly determined to improve). And then gtfo and hopefully double or drastically increase my salary. I think I’ll need 6 months of LC to crack anything decent since it matters. So Blind, is this career suicide or could my people plan be effective? Thoughts on the tech stack and if it’s marketable with referrals and LC practice? Thanks 💜 Edit: Can anyone directly comment on the transferability of the tech stack? Seemed good to me with Java being a staple
There's no more career suicide than being unemployed. Take anything related to the tech and try again while you are getting paid.
Yea I’ve been graduated for two months and could take many months to become a Leetcode god. Might be a huge gap if I pass on it
Going off of what JPMORGAN said. I have 0 professional swe experience or internships. So this would be my first and get me in the door to hopefully improve technically while being paid
Why do you think is career suicide? Get the job if you don’t have any other offer. Your plan makes perfect sense.
Thank you my thoughts too! Wanted affirmation that a contract won’t ruin my chances at big tech or blackball me. I’m a student of blind first and foremost
Take the job and try to convert to full time with the company.
I was in the same boat. Try and apply to MS or Amzn in a year since the bar is low. Once you get those names then aim for higher ones
I would be really happy with that progression :) thanks for the two cents!
Dm for vmw
Thanks! Why not :)
Gotta start somewhere. Get a year under your belt then leetcode into your next gig.
My thoughts. If my LCing was there today I’d be aiming way higher. No way around LC grind but this way I can grind in comfort + learning :)
You’re interviewed on other things than just raw syntax and problem solving with code that’s where practical experience comes in. There’s a difference between that and for example having built architecture that works at planet scale and being able to draw from that experience and the insights you gather from doing it.
I did something like this. As a new grad I worked for a couple years at a company similar to this, then leveled up to FAANG. I think this position is a great stepping stone to better things!
Also try interviewing right now at some of the larger FAANG companies that offer lower entry level positions. Like Microsoft and Oracle.
I actually feel sorry for people who get hired into Facebook right out of college. Facebook does not teach you how to be a good employee, you have to learn by hard knocks. Taking a non-FAANG position and learning how to be a good employee becomes a competitive advantage later.
As a hiring manager, the strongest positive signal I see for a junior engineer is knowing how to work at a company. Lots of people can pass the coding piece of the interview. I want to know if you can look at a project, estimate how long it will take, be approximately right, keep your manager and PM informed while you do it, and ask for help when appropriate. You don't get that from academic work, you get that from an industry job. Take the job and learn the non-coding skills you need.
Some experience at a shit company is better than no experience
Yea doordashing for Pennies isn’t exactly helping me improve technically