What do you do?

Budos_sl said:

Any advice for a 30 year old, upcoming undergrad CS major/math minor? I'm graduating from Virginia Tech in May '16 and wondering if getting an internship, while I'm still studying, is more beneficial than just focusing on grades until graduation.

I've been slowly updating my resume with all the CS courses I've taken (C, C++, java, combinatorics, etc.). I've been told that, post graduation, to just cast a really wide net and see what companies bite. I'm also going to make a LinkedIn profile soon too.

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If you don't get an internship you will never get a job that doesn't suck.

BrotherWu_sl said:

I've managed software groups at a couple of places and have done a shitload of hiring. Seeing internships where the person accomplished something, learned something, and displayed a good work ethic is far more important to me than a few tenths of a point in the GPA.

If you come out with a 4.0 but no work experience, you're still an unknown in terms of actually getting shit done and not being a pain in the ass to work with.

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Exactly, I actually ignore resumes that have no work experience. The majority of our junior candidates are interns we hire. (Company I work for pay's interns north of 50K/year)


Example fuckup:Ask Slashdot: Finding a Job After Completing Computer Science Ph.D? - Slashdot
Amazing quote from thread

You could say that for the last six years you were a volunteer jihadi for ISIS. That would be bad, but it would cover the gap, and would not be as bad as admitting that you have a PhD."

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Thanks for all the input. I plowed through the other thread (Majoring in Comp Sci) that was basically asking the same thing I did.

I'll start looking for an internship this Spring and see if I can find something that's an open source project to get involved in.

I appreciate you bros.

In addition to trying to find an internship, make a site/app/something that you can put out there and talk about. If it takes off and gets a decent user base, even better.

Working on open source projects are also a good idea. Something tangible they can see what you've done on.

Congrats. We just pulled some money out of the company today, first time we've pulled anything significant out in nearly 5 years (still have 2009 bonuses sitting on the balance sheet as shareholder loans due to cash flow, as those are owed to the holdcos and we'd have to pay a dividend tax to get them personally, whereas our 2013 bonuses were owed to us personally and taxes had already been paid. None of the other past few years did we make enough to bother declaring bonuses for tax reasons).

Always amusing to walk in to the bank, hand a check to the teller in the six figure range and say "deposit this please, and I don't want a hold on it." Feels good man.

Tempting to make a big purchase, but I think I'm going to resist that temptation. Bro has already purchased a 1990 M5 as a collector and a 2009 R8 as his winter car. What a jackass.

Eomer_sl said:

Congrats. We just pulled some money out of the company today, first time we've pulled anything significant out in nearly 5 years (still have 2009 bonuses sitting on the balance sheet as shareholder loans due to cash flow, as those are owed to the holdcos and we'd have to pay a dividend tax to get them personally, whereas our 2013 bonuses were owed to us personally and taxes had already been paid. None of the other past few years did we make enough to bother declaring bonuses for tax reasons).

Always amusing to walk in to the bank, hand a check to the teller in the six figure range and say "deposit this please, and I don't want a hold on it." Feels good man.

Tempting to make a big purchase, but I think I'm going to resist that temptation. Bro has already purchased a 1990 M5 as a collector and a 2009 R8 as his winter car. What a jackass.

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No kidding, how I'm going to feel in a few months when I cash ~200 of stock.

Vinen_sl said:

No kidding, how I'm going to feel in a few months when I cash ~200 of stock.

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Hoping this is me in a few years when my company IPOs. Things looking good, new valuation (after taking VC) is 8x my option strike price already and we are 2 years from IPO. Hard to not do the math but also have seen lots of stories of paper millions going poof from my peers in their past jobs (poor FusionIO guys here have the worst stories).

CnCGOD_sl said:

Hoping this is me in a few years when my company IPOs. Things looking good, new valuation (after taking VC) is 8x my option strike price already and we are 2 years from IPO. Hard to not do the math but also have seen lots of stories of paper millions going poof from my peers in their past jobs (poor FusionIO guys here have the worst stories).

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I'll be honest. The majority of my stock is post-acquisition. I got around 180 in signing and then between 70-100 each additional year.

The main acquisition only netted me 75ish.

Vinen_sl said:

I'll be honest. The majority of my stock is post-acquisition. I got around 180 in signing and then between 70-100 each additional year.

The main acquisition only netted me 75ish.

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I just have the 25k options they gave me at start, but my 1yr is coming up so maybe get more then (not sure tbh). Strike price is 1.60 and the current valuation puts shares at ~9-10 (after we took 100M in VC round E). So not a big pot yet, but this is the kind of company that could hit 40 post IPO if our current sales trends keep up so I dream relatively big.

While I am envious of the bonus checks you all are talking about, I can't help but notice the word "check" that you guys go to the bank with?

Are those checks as in actual paper pieces with signatures / money amounts on them? I thought those only existed as gameshow things now? The big ones when people win lots of money.

Not even sure you can get them here anymore, I think they went out of circulation in the mid/late 90s.

I remember I had a summer job as a bank clerk in 2005 and an old lady came in with a check and it caused all sorts of problems. Had to get a senior staff member to come handle it because the computer systems didn't even have options to put the money into her account. Granted other than insurance / loan applications, people don't really use banks now. Now most banks don't even have the option for cash withdrawals (other than their local ATM) as that is regulated to normal stores.

Droigan_sl said:

While I am envious of the bonus checks you all are talking about, I can't help but notice the word "check" that you guys go to the bank with?

Are those checks as in actual paper pieces with signatures / money amounts on them? I thought those only existed as gameshow things now? The big ones when people win lots of money.

Not even sure you can get them here anymore, I think they went out of circulation in the mid/late 90s.

I remember I had a summer job as a bank clerk in 2005 and an old lady came in with a check and it caused all sorts of problems. Had to get a senior staff member to come handle it because the computer systems didn't even have options to put the money into her account. Granted other than insurance / loan applications, people don't really use banks now. Now most banks don't even have the option for cash withdrawals (other than their local ATM) as that is regulated to normal stores.

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Metaphor motherfucker.

I get an 1100 dollar yearly bonus maybe. It's a larger than normal check with the perforations. But now I'm going to complain and say i want my checks like happy gilmore.

Picasso_sl said:

I get an 1100 dollar yearly bonus maybe. It's a larger than normal check with the perforations. But now I'm going to complain and say i want my checks like happy gilmore.

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I like my cheque stained with the blood of virgins.

My yearly bonus comes in July each year and the lowest guy in the office gets 20% of his gross pay and it scales upwards from there. It's basically profit sharing. There are about 9 people in the office to split it with. My dad retired from here and he never got less than 30% ish and he had a special deal that allowed him to wok at home and run his own business so he got less than most. I got 45% this year and I missed a good portion of the first half of the year.

We still get paid via check and the owner still signs each check for all 75 people (office and shop) and then puts it in the vault so if he's gone on Friday someone else can open it and pay everyone.

Where do you work?
Northeast Kentucky/Non-profit

What do you do?
Therapist, mainly specialize in adolescents, substance abuse, and family therapy.

What field/industry?
Healthcare.

Wages?
60k a year.

Bonuses/SEP?
None.

Benefits?
All of my student loans were paid off, and I never paid one penny on that debt. They will pay off up to 150k of student debt, however you have to work 5 years for them. All of my continued education is paid for, including any re-certification I have take every so often. I work at most 45 hours a week, and on bad weeks I have to work 50 hours. I work residential and if the kids decide to act up I may have to go in, but doesn't happen very often. 3 weeks of vacation and 20 sick days a year.

When I first started there it was as a practicum, and was hired on as floor staff. Made 11 hour doing it while working on my bachelors in philosophy/social work. Once I got my bachelors degree I jumped up to a case manager making 30k a year, and done that while working on my masters in clinical social work, and picked up my chemical and alcohol dependency certification while I was at it. Thankfully, all the years that I have been with them was counted to the time I need to work for them to not be charged back on having all my student loans paid off.

Droigan_sl said:

Where do you work? Local county / govt job.

What do you do? (Title/keywords) - Drug counselor. Help people with drug/alcohol problems. Everything from economic and personal counseling, treatment placement and follow up.

What field/industry? Public health care

Wages? 70kish a year

Bonuses/SEP? Not really.

Benefits? Based on standard Norwegian laws. 25 days vacation, paid sick leave (up to 1 year), maternity/paternity leave (1 year), and other stuff. Most you never regard as "benefits" until you need them. 100% pay increase during overtime, but that is rare to be granted. Normally it is based on flexi time. You work +7.5 hours, take a paid day off. Have known people with so many + hours they had 7+ weeks off in a row.

Job is a temp job out this year so far, so looking for other jobs at the moment. Really enjoy it though. Last job was production of welfare disability and other benefits (the actual legal document production) with no face time to anyone. Now I get to help people from the get go, which is good, but can be a bit stressful.

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What age ranges are you working with? Also, what approaches do you use? Is it mainly 12-steps/ Seven Challenges or are you using a different approach? Do you also have to deal with billing or do you have someone that does it for you?Are you mainly out-patient or do you work residential? I'm curious what methods are used in other countries.

Droigan_sl said:

Spending lots of time and effort getting people help only for them to skip out on it is stress inducing. Especially when you need to do it over and over and over, hoping that it sticks at one point. Feels really good when you manage it though.

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Sadly, working with substance abuse this is very common. It's part of the process of working with addiction, and the best you can hope for is that at some point something you said sticks with them. Just make sure you are keeping yourself separated from your Clients and none of it is being brought home.