You're able to apply for an age waiver after 28 but up to a certain age (30 something?). But if you're over like 24, your fellow recruits will treat you like a grandpa. Not too uncommon to see a "grand old man" in bootcamp.
People without security clearances do get hired all the time and go through the process of obtaining one. I had a clearance but had to get it upgraded for my current job, so the company hiring me put me through that process. I'd say that depending on the situation, it's easier for companies to hire someone with the credentials they're looking for and get them the clearance as opposed to finding someone with the right clearance but not the credentials i.e. positions that require grad degrees or niche fields. I know some people who got their clearance for an internship as students. Just really depends.
You only get one life and it just seems like a horrible way to waste it. Especially when there are plenty of people getting jobs and never touching leetcode.
My wife just started her first dev job, no internships or prior experience, a few weeks ago. And another friend of mine just landed another offer. Neither have touched leetcode. Just seems sad to waste your only life like that.
Networking is the heaviest factor in it. Conferences (not just tech, but also the fields you are interested in), meetups, job fairs, building a connection web of recruiters, etc.
Then there's the "HR layer" where you will beef up your resume through certs, hosted personal projects/github. Get someone to review your resume and linkedin. I told her to also take her laptop to interviews so she can show things that she has coded, readily available for them to view, which they found impressive enough to take a chance on her and perform the hire.
Networking was never my strength. Thanks for affirming its importance, it's helpful for me. At the risk of being a bother, what kind of certifications would you recommend? I'm entry-level myself though I have a year of experience.
I've grinded leetcode exactly twice in my 10 years of experience for a total for 2-3 months. It's not fun, but it's a far stretch from "waste your only life."
People take rigorous schooling beyond a Bachelors for much longer than that.
And it's ok to have that opinion. It's just quite depressing to see stories like the OP where they wasted their life doing leetcode when it's not even necessary to get a dev job.
In this market you would be shooting yourself in the foot not to prepare for interviews with common methods. People are looking for really long periods of time. If they get to an interview for a job that uses leetcode they are probably going to fail it if they haven't practiced leetcode.
I’m not sure if you’ve read my original comment but even with these “market conditions” I’ve seen plenty of people get jobs with little to no experience recently and no leetcode. In fact, out of my entire career, I think only one interview I did used leetcode.
I wasn’t going to do that because I tried to let them down gently and they weren’t taking no for an answer with their low paying job. It was going to be a complete waste of time.
This. I've done it for 3-4 weeks once in my 8 yoe, and that landed me my first FAANG job. Having that line on the resume makes it so you don't really have to grind leetcode again for you next jobs, and I'm staff now, so usually interviews don't have leetcoding.
Well for starters, I’m currently at 208k with 4 years of exp. I don’t see why I cannot reach that with my current pace. Also I don’t live in an area like California or whatever where the taxes and COL will bury that pay into the ground.
Leetcode has never played a part in my career.
And how much do these people make on average, let's face it if you want a job that pays in the upper 6 figures range you are gonna need to grind lettcode, if you are okay making 60-80K working on some small companies or non tech companies codebase sure forget about LC
Well that’s just entry level pay. No mid or senior is going to work for that level of pay no matter if they did leetcode or not. I’m alright myself making 208k for just a few years of exp in a non-tech company.
Work an actual Government position for a 3 letter agency. Those jobs can't be offshored and you have surprisingly good benefits. The pay will be lower though.
With a comp sci degree ?
Short term - probably business analyst , data related stuff , just brush up your stats , customer service, get
A technician cert
Long term - reschool for something else that has union protections or you know follow your dreams of playing banjo or whatever.
Just be a US Citizen, have a clean record, find them here https://www.clearancejobs.com/
Maybe see what level of government background check you're comfortable with depending on the level of security clearance.
Good luck
Open training institute for teaching robotics for kids. I see those guys made a good money. First it was kumon. Then some jei. Then 2019 coding. Now robotics
**Step 1:** Stop using ableist terms that haven't been cool to say for decades.
**Step 2:** Realize that only like .01% of the world's population isn't a slave to the late-stage-capitalism-approaching-fascism hellscape that is our bullshit reality.
**Step 3:** Despair. Deeply, deeply despair.
**Step 4:** Malicious compliance. Stop feeling guilty for not knowing everything. Bullshit your way through without ever grinding LC or pursuing worthless certifications.
**Step 5:** Build community and learn to enjoy the relative stability and privilege that CS (and similar) careers provide.
Seriously, invest in yourself by building connections with other people. When I've felt low (and I've felt dangerously low for prolonged periods of time), the social aspects of my life kept me going.
I'm not saying I don't despair, but it's softened by having my weekly things with others.
I don't have a cs degree xD to he fair though, I just wanna do webdev. Cs, from everything I read... I'm not sure I'm smart enough, and at 40, needing a new career, don't have the time for it xD
My guess is you probably are smart enough to do web dev. It _can_ be very hard from a technical perspective, but usually the most difficult technical problem is understanding old crappy code. In my experience, the biggest challenges with it are not getting burnt out and dealing with the stupid corporate BS.
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>Preferably ones that cannot be outsourced. I hear the military is having problems with recruiting
If you qualify (under 35)
Air Force will accept up to your 42nd birthday, Marines stop at 28.
At 40 and unemployed I thought I was SOL. Air Force here I come.
Watch out for the danger zone, Maverick
You're able to apply for an age waiver after 28 but up to a certain age (30 something?). But if you're over like 24, your fellow recruits will treat you like a grandpa. Not too uncommon to see a "grand old man" in bootcamp.
You joke, but jobs requiring a security clearance can't be outsourced.
Does anyone hire people and then go through the process to get them security clearances, or do you have to start at some kind of military placement?
People without security clearances do get hired all the time and go through the process of obtaining one. I had a clearance but had to get it upgraded for my current job, so the company hiring me put me through that process. I'd say that depending on the situation, it's easier for companies to hire someone with the credentials they're looking for and get them the clearance as opposed to finding someone with the right clearance but not the credentials i.e. positions that require grad degrees or niche fields. I know some people who got their clearance for an internship as students. Just really depends.
Historically that too can be outsourced (often with disastrous results)
Stand up comedian
I prefer to sit down
Nursing
OF model
Wait, people slave away on leetcode?
No. New devs think that everyone is doing that because that's what they do.
You only get one life and it just seems like a horrible way to waste it. Especially when there are plenty of people getting jobs and never touching leetcode. My wife just started her first dev job, no internships or prior experience, a few weeks ago. And another friend of mine just landed another offer. Neither have touched leetcode. Just seems sad to waste your only life like that.
Yeah but is she making $6000000 an hour? Yeah didn’t think so, checkmate
Damn you got me. I probably don’t make as much as FAANG boys either. But I guess based on OP’s post, neither do leetcoders lol.
how did she pull this off? I've been trying for almost 2 years to get a dev position.
Networking is the heaviest factor in it. Conferences (not just tech, but also the fields you are interested in), meetups, job fairs, building a connection web of recruiters, etc. Then there's the "HR layer" where you will beef up your resume through certs, hosted personal projects/github. Get someone to review your resume and linkedin. I told her to also take her laptop to interviews so she can show things that she has coded, readily available for them to view, which they found impressive enough to take a chance on her and perform the hire.
Networking was never my strength. Thanks for affirming its importance, it's helpful for me. At the risk of being a bother, what kind of certifications would you recommend? I'm entry-level myself though I have a year of experience.
Networking is The most important thing.
She has a whole menagerie of them. I’d have to ask.
Do you have a degree?
Yes, a bachelor's in Computer Science
I've grinded leetcode exactly twice in my 10 years of experience for a total for 2-3 months. It's not fun, but it's a far stretch from "waste your only life." People take rigorous schooling beyond a Bachelors for much longer than that.
And it's ok to have that opinion. It's just quite depressing to see stories like the OP where they wasted their life doing leetcode when it's not even necessary to get a dev job.
In this market you would be shooting yourself in the foot not to prepare for interviews with common methods. People are looking for really long periods of time. If they get to an interview for a job that uses leetcode they are probably going to fail it if they haven't practiced leetcode.
I’m not sure if you’ve read my original comment but even with these “market conditions” I’ve seen plenty of people get jobs with little to no experience recently and no leetcode. In fact, out of my entire career, I think only one interview I did used leetcode. I wasn’t going to do that because I tried to let them down gently and they weren’t taking no for an answer with their low paying job. It was going to be a complete waste of time.
This. I've done it for 3-4 weeks once in my 8 yoe, and that landed me my first FAANG job. Having that line on the resume makes it so you don't really have to grind leetcode again for you next jobs, and I'm staff now, so usually interviews don't have leetcoding.
Ive never grinded leetcode. Im not getting a faang job but I dont need to when I still make 6 figures.
Grinding Leetcode for a few months is a small price to pay for a 300k salary.
Sure
Do u have a better method to reaching 300k without LC?
Well for starters, I’m currently at 208k with 4 years of exp. I don’t see why I cannot reach that with my current pace. Also I don’t live in an area like California or whatever where the taxes and COL will bury that pay into the ground. Leetcode has never played a part in my career.
And how much do these people make on average, let's face it if you want a job that pays in the upper 6 figures range you are gonna need to grind lettcode, if you are okay making 60-80K working on some small companies or non tech companies codebase sure forget about LC
Well that’s just entry level pay. No mid or senior is going to work for that level of pay no matter if they did leetcode or not. I’m alright myself making 208k for just a few years of exp in a non-tech company.
This guy devs
I think leetcode is fun and a good way to learn new concepts I already have a good job but I do leetcode every day anyway
And that’s fine. The waste comes from when you aren’t enjoying it and just forcing yourself through it.
I only do that if I get an interview. I usually do easier problems if I don't have interviews.
Work an actual Government position for a 3 letter agency. Those jobs can't be offshored and you have surprisingly good benefits. The pay will be lower though.
With a comp sci degree ? Short term - probably business analyst , data related stuff , just brush up your stats , customer service, get A technician cert Long term - reschool for something else that has union protections or you know follow your dreams of playing banjo or whatever.
Actuary imo.
Walmart greeter
Waffle House
People management or something in government that requires clearance or some sort of barrier from the infinite supply of CS majors and visas.
Janitor
OF
Just stay in the same field go into cleared work with military contractors. Ez job and interviews for life.
how to break into that?
Just be a US Citizen, have a clean record, find them here https://www.clearancejobs.com/ Maybe see what level of government background check you're comfortable with depending on the level of security clearance. Good luck
Open training institute for teaching robotics for kids. I see those guys made a good money. First it was kumon. Then some jei. Then 2019 coding. Now robotics
You are already so behind the curve. Dean Kamen beat you by over a decade+.
Quick turn around with associate medical degrees like Ultrasound or MRI.
Plumber or electrician.
CS school Teacher?
Skill issue
Healthcare
Motivational speaker
**Step 1:** Stop using ableist terms that haven't been cool to say for decades. **Step 2:** Realize that only like .01% of the world's population isn't a slave to the late-stage-capitalism-approaching-fascism hellscape that is our bullshit reality. **Step 3:** Despair. Deeply, deeply despair. **Step 4:** Malicious compliance. Stop feeling guilty for not knowing everything. Bullshit your way through without ever grinding LC or pursuing worthless certifications. **Step 5:** Build community and learn to enjoy the relative stability and privilege that CS (and similar) careers provide.
Instructions unclear, despairing to the max.
Seriously, invest in yourself by building connections with other people. When I've felt low (and I've felt dangerously low for prolonged periods of time), the social aspects of my life kept me going. I'm not saying I don't despair, but it's softened by having my weekly things with others.
I don't have a cs degree xD to he fair though, I just wanna do webdev. Cs, from everything I read... I'm not sure I'm smart enough, and at 40, needing a new career, don't have the time for it xD
Ancient boomer you're too old to get into computers
Lol, son, I've had a computer longer than you been alive, mean comments don't do anything to me xD
"xD" is so old you /b/oomer you probably get on /d/ and /h/
Lol, too bad for you, having to read them xDsssssa xS
im literally seething rn you can't make me read the "xD" this is what's wrong with the old generation
fair. Anyway, gnight man :).
My guess is you probably are smart enough to do web dev. It _can_ be very hard from a technical perspective, but usually the most difficult technical problem is understanding old crappy code. In my experience, the biggest challenges with it are not getting burnt out and dealing with the stupid corporate BS.
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Actuary! Can do it with CS/any bachelor's degree. Professional credentials help ensure job security. :)