Category: cscareerquestions

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Is there a place for me in CS? (Mid-career physicist with semiconductor automation experience) /u/theyllfindmeiknowit CSCQ protests reddit

Is there a place for me in CS? (Mid-career physicist with semiconductor automation experience) /u/theyllfindmeiknowit CSCQ protests reddit

I have spent a decade in the semiconductor industry automating microscopy (and other sorts of measurements), and I am moving to a new city where there isn’t much of a tech presence. The jobs that do exist seem to be more ML/CS oriented, and I’m hoping to get some feedback about how my experience might (or might not) prepare me for a more code-heavy role.

My experience with ML is mostly in training and using machine vision models (chiefly Cognex) and supporting more homebrewed image analysis projects. I was not generally responsible for the data pipelines or more backend stuff, though I have used a bit of opencv. I enjoyed this work and was successful, and my models functioned better than my peers’. I managed to automate some tricky things that had a real payoff, and it felt great.

I have a physics (Ph.D.) background by training, but I have done useful (though not super complex) things in Python for a long time, though I wouldn’t consider myself a true software engineer so much as proficient in scripting and data analysis. I have never wanted to break into full time coding because I found the mundane details of implementation (learning syntax for new packages I haven’t played with, managing version tracking infrastructure, etc.) challenging to hold my interest. ChatGPT, with all its faults, has been a great gift for me because it provides some shortcuts through the mundane parts and allows me to focus on the fun/interesting crux of the issue. Perhaps this is emboldening me to consider a career shift now.

Is this type of background useful in any CS jobs? What am I missing that I would need to land something, if not?

submitted by /u/theyllfindmeiknowit
[link] [comments]

​r/cscareerquestions I have spent a decade in the semiconductor industry automating microscopy (and other sorts of measurements), and I am moving to a new city where there isn’t much of a tech presence. The jobs that do exist seem to be more ML/CS oriented, and I’m hoping to get some feedback about how my experience might (or might not) prepare me for a more code-heavy role. My experience with ML is mostly in training and using machine vision models (chiefly Cognex) and supporting more homebrewed image analysis projects. I was not generally responsible for the data pipelines or more backend stuff, though I have used a bit of opencv. I enjoyed this work and was successful, and my models functioned better than my peers’. I managed to automate some tricky things that had a real payoff, and it felt great. I have a physics (Ph.D.) background by training, but I have done useful (though not super complex) things in Python for a long time, though I wouldn’t consider myself a true software engineer so much as proficient in scripting and data analysis. I have never wanted to break into full time coding because I found the mundane details of implementation (learning syntax for new packages I haven’t played with, managing version tracking infrastructure, etc.) challenging to hold my interest. ChatGPT, with all its faults, has been a great gift for me because it provides some shortcuts through the mundane parts and allows me to focus on the fun/interesting crux of the issue. Perhaps this is emboldening me to consider a career shift now. Is this type of background useful in any CS jobs? What am I missing that I would need to land something, if not? submitted by /u/theyllfindmeiknowit [link] [comments] 

I have spent a decade in the semiconductor industry automating microscopy (and other sorts of measurements), and I am moving to a new city where there isn’t much of a tech presence. The jobs that do exist seem to be more ML/CS oriented, and I’m hoping to get some feedback about how my experience might (or might not) prepare me for a more code-heavy role.

My experience with ML is mostly in training and using machine vision models (chiefly Cognex) and supporting more homebrewed image analysis projects. I was not generally responsible for the data pipelines or more backend stuff, though I have used a bit of opencv. I enjoyed this work and was successful, and my models functioned better than my peers’. I managed to automate some tricky things that had a real payoff, and it felt great.

I have a physics (Ph.D.) background by training, but I have done useful (though not super complex) things in Python for a long time, though I wouldn’t consider myself a true software engineer so much as proficient in scripting and data analysis. I have never wanted to break into full time coding because I found the mundane details of implementation (learning syntax for new packages I haven’t played with, managing version tracking infrastructure, etc.) challenging to hold my interest. ChatGPT, with all its faults, has been a great gift for me because it provides some shortcuts through the mundane parts and allows me to focus on the fun/interesting crux of the issue. Perhaps this is emboldening me to consider a career shift now.

Is this type of background useful in any CS jobs? What am I missing that I would need to land something, if not?

submitted by /u/theyllfindmeiknowit
[link] [comments]  I have spent a decade in the semiconductor industry automating microscopy (and other sorts of measurements), and I am moving to a new city where there isn’t much of a tech presence. The jobs that do exist seem to be more ML/CS oriented, and I’m hoping to get some feedback about how my experience might (or might not) prepare me for a more code-heavy role. My experience with ML is mostly in training and using machine vision models (chiefly Cognex) and supporting more homebrewed image analysis projects. I was not generally responsible for the data pipelines or more backend stuff, though I have used a bit of opencv. I enjoyed this work and was successful, and my models functioned better than my peers’. I managed to automate some tricky things that had a real payoff, and it felt great. I have a physics (Ph.D.) background by training, but I have done useful (though not super complex) things in Python for a long time, though I wouldn’t consider myself a true software engineer so much as proficient in scripting and data analysis. I have never wanted to break into full time coding because I found the mundane details of implementation (learning syntax for new packages I haven’t played with, managing version tracking infrastructure, etc.) challenging to hold my interest. ChatGPT, with all its faults, has been a great gift for me because it provides some shortcuts through the mundane parts and allows me to focus on the fun/interesting crux of the issue. Perhaps this is emboldening me to consider a career shift now. Is this type of background useful in any CS jobs? What am I missing that I would need to land something, if not? submitted by /u/theyllfindmeiknowit [link] [comments]

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Never ever go above and beyond and try to do better than others /u/Effective_Manner3079 CSCQ protests reddit

Never ever go above and beyond and try to do better than others /u/Effective_Manner3079 CSCQ protests reddit

It will only lead to frustration and sadness as you know you can produce a better product. Even if you achieve more you won’t be rewarded for it. Just be average to slightly above average at best. NOTHING in my decade career where I tried to be a high achiever has ever paid off.

submitted by /u/Effective_Manner3079
[link] [comments]

​r/cscareerquestions It will only lead to frustration and sadness as you know you can produce a better product. Even if you achieve more you won’t be rewarded for it. Just be average to slightly above average at best. NOTHING in my decade career where I tried to be a high achiever has ever paid off. submitted by /u/Effective_Manner3079 [link] [comments] 

It will only lead to frustration and sadness as you know you can produce a better product. Even if you achieve more you won’t be rewarded for it. Just be average to slightly above average at best. NOTHING in my decade career where I tried to be a high achiever has ever paid off.

submitted by /u/Effective_Manner3079
[link] [comments]  It will only lead to frustration and sadness as you know you can produce a better product. Even if you achieve more you won’t be rewarded for it. Just be average to slightly above average at best. NOTHING in my decade career where I tried to be a high achiever has ever paid off. submitted by /u/Effective_Manner3079 [link] [comments]

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how to negotiate salary /u/motherfugher CSCQ protests reddit

how to negotiate salary /u/motherfugher CSCQ protests reddit

I have a call tomorrow with the hiring manager and the salary range is 80-90k.. I already know the manager will say “we can’t do more than 80k”, how can I ask for 90k?

This is a Jr dev role and i cleared 4 rounds of interviews.

I know I’m not particularly in a position to negotiate so help pls

submitted by /u/motherfugher
[link] [comments]

​r/cscareerquestions I have a call tomorrow with the hiring manager and the salary range is 80-90k.. I already know the manager will say “we can’t do more than 80k”, how can I ask for 90k? This is a Jr dev role and i cleared 4 rounds of interviews. I know I’m not particularly in a position to negotiate so help pls submitted by /u/motherfugher [link] [comments] 

I have a call tomorrow with the hiring manager and the salary range is 80-90k.. I already know the manager will say “we can’t do more than 80k”, how can I ask for 90k?

This is a Jr dev role and i cleared 4 rounds of interviews.

I know I’m not particularly in a position to negotiate so help pls

submitted by /u/motherfugher
[link] [comments]  I have a call tomorrow with the hiring manager and the salary range is 80-90k.. I already know the manager will say “we can’t do more than 80k”, how can I ask for 90k? This is a Jr dev role and i cleared 4 rounds of interviews. I know I’m not particularly in a position to negotiate so help pls submitted by /u/motherfugher [link] [comments]

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Help me make an easy decision that isn’t so easy to me /u/blondednikes CSCQ protests reddit

Help me make an easy decision that isn’t so easy to me /u/blondednikes CSCQ protests reddit

FAANG DS internship – The pay is great + housing provided – Bay Area HQ (major con for me) – Return offer would be amazing, but not guaranteed + would have to be full-time in the Bay – Networking + exit opportunities obviously a pro

Non-profit tech company DS internship – Pay is subpar (<10k, can’t negotiate) in NYC but I might be able to make ends meet – Really passionate about the company’s mission and the impactful work that they do – Return offer almost guaranteed (~100k) in NYC – Had a discussion w/ the cofounder who really really wants me to join – Obviously the riskier pick, but this is the type of company I would want to work for

Overall, I know that I should take the FAANG internship. But I spent my last summer in NYC and loved every part of it. Does the FAANG pay/benefits outweigh my personal values/desires in a career?

submitted by /u/blondednikes
[link] [comments]

​r/cscareerquestions FAANG DS internship – The pay is great + housing provided – Bay Area HQ (major con for me) – Return offer would be amazing, but not guaranteed + would have to be full-time in the Bay – Networking + exit opportunities obviously a pro Non-profit tech company DS internship – Pay is subpar (<10k, can’t negotiate) in NYC but I might be able to make ends meet – Really passionate about the company’s mission and the impactful work that they do – Return offer almost guaranteed (~100k) in NYC – Had a discussion w/ the cofounder who really really wants me to join – Obviously the riskier pick, but this is the type of company I would want to work for Overall, I know that I should take the FAANG internship. But I spent my last summer in NYC and loved every part of it. Does the FAANG pay/benefits outweigh my personal values/desires in a career? submitted by /u/blondednikes [link] [comments] 

FAANG DS internship – The pay is great + housing provided – Bay Area HQ (major con for me) – Return offer would be amazing, but not guaranteed + would have to be full-time in the Bay – Networking + exit opportunities obviously a pro

Non-profit tech company DS internship – Pay is subpar (<10k, can’t negotiate) in NYC but I might be able to make ends meet – Really passionate about the company’s mission and the impactful work that they do – Return offer almost guaranteed (~100k) in NYC – Had a discussion w/ the cofounder who really really wants me to join – Obviously the riskier pick, but this is the type of company I would want to work for

Overall, I know that I should take the FAANG internship. But I spent my last summer in NYC and loved every part of it. Does the FAANG pay/benefits outweigh my personal values/desires in a career?

submitted by /u/blondednikes
[link] [comments]  FAANG DS internship – The pay is great + housing provided – Bay Area HQ (major con for me) – Return offer would be amazing, but not guaranteed + would have to be full-time in the Bay – Networking + exit opportunities obviously a pro Non-profit tech company DS internship – Pay is subpar (<10k, can’t negotiate) in NYC but I might be able to make ends meet – Really passionate about the company’s mission and the impactful work that they do – Return offer almost guaranteed (~100k) in NYC – Had a discussion w/ the cofounder who really really wants me to join – Obviously the riskier pick, but this is the type of company I would want to work for Overall, I know that I should take the FAANG internship. But I spent my last summer in NYC and loved every part of it. Does the FAANG pay/benefits outweigh my personal values/desires in a career? submitted by /u/blondednikes [link] [comments]

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How do you guys deal with pressure and burnout? /u/stealth_Master01 CSCQ protests reddit

How do you guys deal with pressure and burnout? /u/stealth_Master01 CSCQ protests reddit

Its been 6 months since I graduated from my masters degree in Canada and probably im the only one left in my gang to get a job. Its kinda pretty stressful and I am learning new stuff, building projects etc. But for the past few weeks, I have been extremely burn out, couldn’t apply for jobs (coz I always think ill get rejected anyway) and have lost interest in coding new stuff. How do you guys deal with such situations?

submitted by /u/stealth_Master01
[link] [comments]

​r/cscareerquestions Its been 6 months since I graduated from my masters degree in Canada and probably im the only one left in my gang to get a job. Its kinda pretty stressful and I am learning new stuff, building projects etc. But for the past few weeks, I have been extremely burn out, couldn’t apply for jobs (coz I always think ill get rejected anyway) and have lost interest in coding new stuff. How do you guys deal with such situations? submitted by /u/stealth_Master01 [link] [comments] 

Its been 6 months since I graduated from my masters degree in Canada and probably im the only one left in my gang to get a job. Its kinda pretty stressful and I am learning new stuff, building projects etc. But for the past few weeks, I have been extremely burn out, couldn’t apply for jobs (coz I always think ill get rejected anyway) and have lost interest in coding new stuff. How do you guys deal with such situations?

submitted by /u/stealth_Master01
[link] [comments]  Its been 6 months since I graduated from my masters degree in Canada and probably im the only one left in my gang to get a job. Its kinda pretty stressful and I am learning new stuff, building projects etc. But for the past few weeks, I have been extremely burn out, couldn’t apply for jobs (coz I always think ill get rejected anyway) and have lost interest in coding new stuff. How do you guys deal with such situations? submitted by /u/stealth_Master01 [link] [comments]

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What questions do you wish you had asked before starting a new role? /u/cougaranddark CSCQ protests reddit

What questions do you wish you had asked before starting a new role? /u/cougaranddark CSCQ protests reddit

I have a second round interview coming up. I have lots of questions I can think of that I wish I had asked before accepting my last roles….but every job provides different hindsight for different people, so I’d love to hear what others can think of. Here’s some of what I have so far:

– Can you tell me about a time when there was disagreement over a change request on a PR, and how it was handled?
– Can you think of a time when someone new wasn’t asking enough questions, or was asking too many? How did you provide the knowledge sharing they needed in a way that worked for your team?
– Does your coding environment provide automatic linting, or do you work out issues with formatting via change requests on PRs? If not automated, do you have a style guide that acts as a reliable reference?
– What is the process to introduce new tech into your stack?

submitted by /u/cougaranddark
[link] [comments]

​r/cscareerquestions I have a second round interview coming up. I have lots of questions I can think of that I wish I had asked before accepting my last roles….but every job provides different hindsight for different people, so I’d love to hear what others can think of. Here’s some of what I have so far: – Can you tell me about a time when there was disagreement over a change request on a PR, and how it was handled? – Can you think of a time when someone new wasn’t asking enough questions, or was asking too many? How did you provide the knowledge sharing they needed in a way that worked for your team? – Does your coding environment provide automatic linting, or do you work out issues with formatting via change requests on PRs? If not automated, do you have a style guide that acts as a reliable reference? – What is the process to introduce new tech into your stack? submitted by /u/cougaranddark [link] [comments] 

I have a second round interview coming up. I have lots of questions I can think of that I wish I had asked before accepting my last roles….but every job provides different hindsight for different people, so I’d love to hear what others can think of. Here’s some of what I have so far:

– Can you tell me about a time when there was disagreement over a change request on a PR, and how it was handled?
– Can you think of a time when someone new wasn’t asking enough questions, or was asking too many? How did you provide the knowledge sharing they needed in a way that worked for your team?
– Does your coding environment provide automatic linting, or do you work out issues with formatting via change requests on PRs? If not automated, do you have a style guide that acts as a reliable reference?
– What is the process to introduce new tech into your stack?

submitted by /u/cougaranddark
[link] [comments]  I have a second round interview coming up. I have lots of questions I can think of that I wish I had asked before accepting my last roles….but every job provides different hindsight for different people, so I’d love to hear what others can think of. Here’s some of what I have so far: – Can you tell me about a time when there was disagreement over a change request on a PR, and how it was handled? – Can you think of a time when someone new wasn’t asking enough questions, or was asking too many? How did you provide the knowledge sharing they needed in a way that worked for your team? – Does your coding environment provide automatic linting, or do you work out issues with formatting via change requests on PRs? If not automated, do you have a style guide that acts as a reliable reference? – What is the process to introduce new tech into your stack? submitted by /u/cougaranddark [link] [comments]

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How to communicate with HR about why I didn’t like my team /u/DataWizard_ CSCQ protests reddit

How to communicate with HR about why I didn’t like my team /u/DataWizard_ CSCQ protests reddit

I have accepted a software engineering offer but now am considering reneging, solely because of the absolute lack of diversity of the team. A team of 15 people, 14 of them are of a specific ethnicity. The manager is white. I don’t really care about “having no diversity” but from my internship experience, I’ve had moderate difficulty understanding their accents and I had a challenging time fitting in because they seem to be communicating with each other more than they are to talk to me. There are many teams but that team is the only team in the company that has such ethnic uniformity.

Now should I tell HR exactly what I have in my mind as the reason for reneging or would be considered somewhat inappropriate?

It’s a mid-sized company and the constituents of that team is abnormal compared to other teams.

submitted by /u/DataWizard_
[link] [comments]

​r/cscareerquestions I have accepted a software engineering offer but now am considering reneging, solely because of the absolute lack of diversity of the team. A team of 15 people, 14 of them are of a specific ethnicity. The manager is white. I don’t really care about “having no diversity” but from my internship experience, I’ve had moderate difficulty understanding their accents and I had a challenging time fitting in because they seem to be communicating with each other more than they are to talk to me. There are many teams but that team is the only team in the company that has such ethnic uniformity. Now should I tell HR exactly what I have in my mind as the reason for reneging or would be considered somewhat inappropriate? It’s a mid-sized company and the constituents of that team is abnormal compared to other teams. submitted by /u/DataWizard_ [link] [comments] 

I have accepted a software engineering offer but now am considering reneging, solely because of the absolute lack of diversity of the team. A team of 15 people, 14 of them are of a specific ethnicity. The manager is white. I don’t really care about “having no diversity” but from my internship experience, I’ve had moderate difficulty understanding their accents and I had a challenging time fitting in because they seem to be communicating with each other more than they are to talk to me. There are many teams but that team is the only team in the company that has such ethnic uniformity.

Now should I tell HR exactly what I have in my mind as the reason for reneging or would be considered somewhat inappropriate?

It’s a mid-sized company and the constituents of that team is abnormal compared to other teams.

submitted by /u/DataWizard_
[link] [comments]  I have accepted a software engineering offer but now am considering reneging, solely because of the absolute lack of diversity of the team. A team of 15 people, 14 of them are of a specific ethnicity. The manager is white. I don’t really care about “having no diversity” but from my internship experience, I’ve had moderate difficulty understanding their accents and I had a challenging time fitting in because they seem to be communicating with each other more than they are to talk to me. There are many teams but that team is the only team in the company that has such ethnic uniformity. Now should I tell HR exactly what I have in my mind as the reason for reneging or would be considered somewhat inappropriate? It’s a mid-sized company and the constituents of that team is abnormal compared to other teams. submitted by /u/DataWizard_ [link] [comments]

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CS LinkedIn Data by School: Tech & Finance /u/Ok_Experience_5151 CSCQ protests reddit

CS LinkedIn Data by School: Tech & Finance /u/Ok_Experience_5151 CSCQ protests reddit

CS LinkedIn Data: Tech & Finance

This is a second attempt at an exercise I did a couple years ago. I picked ~200 research universities, ~75 liberal arts colleges and a few notable regional and special-focus schools and checked the # of U.S. based CS alumni (on LinkedIn) at various A+ employers in both tech and finance, then divided by the total number of U.S. based CS alumni. These percentages largely correlate with selectivity. But not exactly!

Included are all schools ranked by US News for CS, all AAU members, all schools with D1 power football, the top N national universities, the top N LACs, the highest-ranked public school (or pair of schools) in each U.S. state, and a few others chosen on the basis of having high enrollment.

Shown are each school’s US News rank (within category), the year it joined the AAU if applicable, whether or not it competes in a D1 “power” conference in football, and its US News CS rank (if ranked). Also admit rate (from US News) and SAT splits (also from US News). For schools where US News did not have SAT splits I went to IPEDS (past years) and/or Google. Those are shaded in yellow.

The list of tech employers: Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Amazon Web Services, NVIDIA, Facebook, Netflix.

The list of finance employers: Two Sigma, Citadel, Jane Street, Optiver, Citadel Securities, IMC Trading, Jump Trading Group, Hudson River Trading, Virtu Financial, Millennium, Susquehanna International Group, The D.E. Shaw Group.

In the comments I list the top cohort of schools for tech and finance separately within various “bands” of selectivity by admit rate and median SAT. This is interesting since it highlights less selective schools that nevertheless have a disproportionately high % of grads at these employers. Note that schools are grouped by overall admit rate and median SAT not the figures for their CS programs specifically. This results in schools where the CS program is much more selective than the school as a whole (e.g. UIUC) looking better than they might otherwise. I also excluded some schools whose percentages were only high only by virtue of having very small denominator, as well as one school (Drexel) whose high finance % seems to be due to a special internship arrangement with SIG.

Some caveats about these percentages:

  • They count both undergrad and graduate alumni. Consequently, the percentages for schools with many CS graduate students will be inflated, whereas those for schools with few (or no) graduate students will not.
  • They are highly sensitive to location. Students tend to attend schools near to where they group up and often choose to live/work in the same area. This is especially true of public schools. You see the effects of this in the percentages for California schools and those located near Redmond (since I included Microsoft in the list of tech employers).
  • The percentages correlate with selectivity. Stronger inputs lead to stronger outcomes. The fact that a given school’s percentages are higher does not necessarily imply that any given student will have better odds of landing a job at these employers if he or she attends that school. Imagine a college that admits students on the basis of height, athletic ability and basketball skill. That college will send a disproportionately high % of its alumni to the NBA. If you’re 5’0″ and not athletic, though, then attending that college will not meaningfully improve your odds of playing in the NBA.
  • Certain LACs that only enroll women punch way about their weight class in terms of tech employment; I would guess tech employers heavily recruit these schools in an effort to increase the % of their technical staff who are women.

submitted by /u/Ok_Experience_5151
[link] [comments]

​r/cscareerquestions CS LinkedIn Data: Tech & Finance This is a second attempt at an exercise I did a couple years ago. I picked ~200 research universities, ~75 liberal arts colleges and a few notable regional and special-focus schools and checked the # of U.S. based CS alumni (on LinkedIn) at various A+ employers in both tech and finance, then divided by the total number of U.S. based CS alumni. These percentages largely correlate with selectivity. But not exactly! Included are all schools ranked by US News for CS, all AAU members, all schools with D1 power football, the top N national universities, the top N LACs, the highest-ranked public school (or pair of schools) in each U.S. state, and a few others chosen on the basis of having high enrollment. Shown are each school’s US News rank (within category), the year it joined the AAU if applicable, whether or not it competes in a D1 “power” conference in football, and its US News CS rank (if ranked). Also admit rate (from US News) and SAT splits (also from US News). For schools where US News did not have SAT splits I went to IPEDS (past years) and/or Google. Those are shaded in yellow. The list of tech employers: Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Amazon Web Services, NVIDIA, Facebook, Netflix. The list of finance employers: Two Sigma, Citadel, Jane Street, Optiver, Citadel Securities, IMC Trading, Jump Trading Group, Hudson River Trading, Virtu Financial, Millennium, Susquehanna International Group, The D.E. Shaw Group. In the comments I list the top cohort of schools for tech and finance separately within various “bands” of selectivity by admit rate and median SAT. This is interesting since it highlights less selective schools that nevertheless have a disproportionately high % of grads at these employers. Note that schools are grouped by overall admit rate and median SAT not the figures for their CS programs specifically. This results in schools where the CS program is much more selective than the school as a whole (e.g. UIUC) looking better than they might otherwise. I also excluded some schools whose percentages were only high only by virtue of having very small denominator, as well as one school (Drexel) whose high finance % seems to be due to a special internship arrangement with SIG. Some caveats about these percentages: They count both undergrad and graduate alumni. Consequently, the percentages for schools with many CS graduate students will be inflated, whereas those for schools with few (or no) graduate students will not. They are highly sensitive to location. Students tend to attend schools near to where they group up and often choose to live/work in the same area. This is especially true of public schools. You see the effects of this in the percentages for California schools and those located near Redmond (since I included Microsoft in the list of tech employers). The percentages correlate with selectivity. Stronger inputs lead to stronger outcomes. The fact that a given school’s percentages are higher does not necessarily imply that any given student will have better odds of landing a job at these employers if he or she attends that school. Imagine a college that admits students on the basis of height, athletic ability and basketball skill. That college will send a disproportionately high % of its alumni to the NBA. If you’re 5’0″ and not athletic, though, then attending that college will not meaningfully improve your odds of playing in the NBA. Certain LACs that only enroll women punch way about their weight class in terms of tech employment; I would guess tech employers heavily recruit these schools in an effort to increase the % of their technical staff who are women. submitted by /u/Ok_Experience_5151 [link] [comments] 

CS LinkedIn Data: Tech & Finance

This is a second attempt at an exercise I did a couple years ago. I picked ~200 research universities, ~75 liberal arts colleges and a few notable regional and special-focus schools and checked the # of U.S. based CS alumni (on LinkedIn) at various A+ employers in both tech and finance, then divided by the total number of U.S. based CS alumni. These percentages largely correlate with selectivity. But not exactly!

Included are all schools ranked by US News for CS, all AAU members, all schools with D1 power football, the top N national universities, the top N LACs, the highest-ranked public school (or pair of schools) in each U.S. state, and a few others chosen on the basis of having high enrollment.

Shown are each school’s US News rank (within category), the year it joined the AAU if applicable, whether or not it competes in a D1 “power” conference in football, and its US News CS rank (if ranked). Also admit rate (from US News) and SAT splits (also from US News). For schools where US News did not have SAT splits I went to IPEDS (past years) and/or Google. Those are shaded in yellow.

The list of tech employers: Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Amazon Web Services, NVIDIA, Facebook, Netflix.

The list of finance employers: Two Sigma, Citadel, Jane Street, Optiver, Citadel Securities, IMC Trading, Jump Trading Group, Hudson River Trading, Virtu Financial, Millennium, Susquehanna International Group, The D.E. Shaw Group.

In the comments I list the top cohort of schools for tech and finance separately within various “bands” of selectivity by admit rate and median SAT. This is interesting since it highlights less selective schools that nevertheless have a disproportionately high % of grads at these employers. Note that schools are grouped by overall admit rate and median SAT not the figures for their CS programs specifically. This results in schools where the CS program is much more selective than the school as a whole (e.g. UIUC) looking better than they might otherwise. I also excluded some schools whose percentages were only high only by virtue of having very small denominator, as well as one school (Drexel) whose high finance % seems to be due to a special internship arrangement with SIG.

Some caveats about these percentages:

  • They count both undergrad and graduate alumni. Consequently, the percentages for schools with many CS graduate students will be inflated, whereas those for schools with few (or no) graduate students will not.
  • They are highly sensitive to location. Students tend to attend schools near to where they group up and often choose to live/work in the same area. This is especially true of public schools. You see the effects of this in the percentages for California schools and those located near Redmond (since I included Microsoft in the list of tech employers).
  • The percentages correlate with selectivity. Stronger inputs lead to stronger outcomes. The fact that a given school’s percentages are higher does not necessarily imply that any given student will have better odds of landing a job at these employers if he or she attends that school. Imagine a college that admits students on the basis of height, athletic ability and basketball skill. That college will send a disproportionately high % of its alumni to the NBA. If you’re 5’0″ and not athletic, though, then attending that college will not meaningfully improve your odds of playing in the NBA.
  • Certain LACs that only enroll women punch way about their weight class in terms of tech employment; I would guess tech employers heavily recruit these schools in an effort to increase the % of their technical staff who are women.

submitted by /u/Ok_Experience_5151
[link] [comments]  CS LinkedIn Data: Tech & Finance This is a second attempt at an exercise I did a couple years ago. I picked ~200 research universities, ~75 liberal arts colleges and a few notable regional and special-focus schools and checked the # of U.S. based CS alumni (on LinkedIn) at various A+ employers in both tech and finance, then divided by the total number of U.S. based CS alumni. These percentages largely correlate with selectivity. But not exactly! Included are all schools ranked by US News for CS, all AAU members, all schools with D1 power football, the top N national universities, the top N LACs, the highest-ranked public school (or pair of schools) in each U.S. state, and a few others chosen on the basis of having high enrollment. Shown are each school’s US News rank (within category), the year it joined the AAU if applicable, whether or not it competes in a D1 “power” conference in football, and its US News CS rank (if ranked). Also admit rate (from US News) and SAT splits (also from US News). For schools where US News did not have SAT splits I went to IPEDS (past years) and/or Google. Those are shaded in yellow. The list of tech employers: Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Amazon Web Services, NVIDIA, Facebook, Netflix. The list of finance employers: Two Sigma, Citadel, Jane Street, Optiver, Citadel Securities, IMC Trading, Jump Trading Group, Hudson River Trading, Virtu Financial, Millennium, Susquehanna International Group, The D.E. Shaw Group. In the comments I list the top cohort of schools for tech and finance separately within various “bands” of selectivity by admit rate and median SAT. This is interesting since it highlights less selective schools that nevertheless have a disproportionately high % of grads at these employers. Note that schools are grouped by overall admit rate and median SAT not the figures for their CS programs specifically. This results in schools where the CS program is much more selective than the school as a whole (e.g. UIUC) looking better than they might otherwise. I also excluded some schools whose percentages were only high only by virtue of having very small denominator, as well as one school (Drexel) whose high finance % seems to be due to a special internship arrangement with SIG. Some caveats about these percentages: They count both undergrad and graduate alumni. Consequently, the percentages for schools with many CS graduate students will be inflated, whereas those for schools with few (or no) graduate students will not. They are highly sensitive to location. Students tend to attend schools near to where they group up and often choose to live/work in the same area. This is especially true of public schools. You see the effects of this in the percentages for California schools and those located near Redmond (since I included Microsoft in the list of tech employers). The percentages correlate with selectivity. Stronger inputs lead to stronger outcomes. The fact that a given school’s percentages are higher does not necessarily imply that any given student will have better odds of landing a job at these employers if he or she attends that school. Imagine a college that admits students on the basis of height, athletic ability and basketball skill. That college will send a disproportionately high % of its alumni to the NBA. If you’re 5’0″ and not athletic, though, then attending that college will not meaningfully improve your odds of playing in the NBA. Certain LACs that only enroll women punch way about their weight class in terms of tech employment; I would guess tech employers heavily recruit these schools in an effort to increase the % of their technical staff who are women. submitted by /u/Ok_Experience_5151 [link] [comments]

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