ThatSoftwareDude

Category

Career

My sometimes funny experiences in the job world for the past decade. My first hand accounts of interviews that haven't gone so smoothly.

Articles

career

This is why you will get fired as a software engineer

I will start out by saying that these stories don't apply to me personally. In my 15+ years as a software engineer, I've been fortunate enou

10 Programming Interview Questions To Remember

I have had a fair number of interviews in my career. Not because I suck. No no don't get me wrong. After college I needed a job immediately

You Can Still Succeed Without a FAANG Job

After more than two decades as a professional software developer, I've never set foot inside a FAANG company. When I taught at a coding boot

Top 5 reasons to not become a software developer

Recently I wrote about why you should become a software developer and all the benefits that come with it. It's a great career and an awesom

How To Write A Good Technical Resume For a Programmer

I've read tons of articles and how to's on how to write the "perfect resume". And I've followed many of those standards and rules throughou

My Worst Job Interviews

I write alot about interviews and about interviewing people because it's a very important part of work. You can't hire someone without both

I took a midterm exam during my coding interview

Everyone that knows me, knows that I enjoy a good interview. I even enjoy the bad ones sometimes because if anything, they at least make fo

What Is A Senior Developer?

After years of programming, I'm still not quite sure yet myself. Many times you'll see those keywords in job descriptions and then stop f

How Important Is College For A Successful Career

This is a question that I've asked myself plenty of times during the past ten years, as I'm sure many people ask themselves at some point.

Starting The Freelance Journey

Just recently I left my, what I assume to be, last desk job ever. After 10 long years and 30lbs of weight fluctuation between jobs, I've de

Building Your Programming Portfolio in 5 Steps

The year is off to a fresh start, and as such, it is time for many people to make those new year's resolutions and to maybe get a new job.

How Much Should You Charge For A Website

If you work a 9-5 job programming job, you won't have to worry much about this question anytime soon. But if you're in the free-roaming wor

What I Look For In A Programmer

In my decade long career I've had the opportunity to interview many different programmers for many different roles. Everything from front-en

Interviewing a senior software engineer

Ibrahim D. Inglewood, CA www.idiallo.com A 300 word blurb about yourself My name is Ibrahim Diallo, I am software

Avoid These During Your next Programming Interview

Interviews in general can be nerve-racking meetings regardless of where your current skill level is at. You can be a junior developer and a

Landing your first programming job

Regardless of the field that you find yourself in, landing your first job is one of the most difficult challenges that you will face in you

Your work portfolio vanished, now what

Just recently, a potential client requested to see some of my past work, or my work portfolio, if you will. If you ever go the self-employe

The best way to prepare for a programming interview

You received that email, welcoming you through the doors of a prestigious (or not so prestigious) software company in order for you too show

Is programming a stressful career choice?

Many people see the Instagram posts of programmer's sipping luxurious coffee in bed with their laptops at an awkward angle that would not do

How to quit your job and feel good about it

If you're 23+ years old, odds are that you either currently don't like your job very much, or that you just left a job that you didn't like

This is why you should spend a few years in corporate America

Whenever you hear about programmers and coding, you eventually end up hearing about working remotely from your bed in your pajamas while a f

Making your first programming job easier

Regardless of how good you think you are as a programmer, there is a good chance that you are not prepared for your first big programming jo

3 things to avoid at your next coding interview

I have interviewed a fair number of potential programmers during my years and have turned many of them down for various reasons. There are q

Mistakes I made at my first programming job

Just like in the Matrix, everybody falls their first time. You don't know what you don't know and what you don't know can sometimes cause th

4 things to avoid in your personal programming portfolio

If you have a portfolio on the web with your own custom URL, then congratulations, that is half the battle when looking for a job. The other

How to get a programming job without a college degree

The age old question of college vs self-taught has been debated for decades now, with no clear winner. But I think that we're now closer tha...

4 common mistakes junior developers make at work

Everybody is a junior at least once. At least for a portion of their lives. And during that time, mistakes will happen and servers will go d

How Much Should I Expect to Earn as a Programmer

Because of the influx of digital adoption across industries, tech-based jobs are among the most relevant and fastest-growing in the job

Top Reasons To Say Goodbye To Your Job

So you've contemplated it for weeks which turned to months, which maybe turned into years and now you're ready to make your big move. Quitt

How I Landed My First Programming Job

One of the hardest things that I've had to do in life was to convince a company, a money making institution, that they needed my awesome sk

Interview Questions I Enjoy Asking Programmers

At my latest job I had the opportunity to interview a fair number of people. It's definitely a challenge and it takes some preparation. Some

Another Day Another Interview

I'm getting back into the interviewing business, as I just recently left my job to pursue greater things and to work on my own projects. Wh

The Pros And Cons Of Working With Recruiters

Recruiters have a tight hold on tech jobs these days, for a few reasons. But mainly that tech jobs are hard to fill and they pay substant

College Work Vs Real World Work

The real world can be really really different than that which we are told in college. At least for me it was, anyway. The degree I received

Top reasons to become a software developer

Choosing a career is one of the most important things that you will get a chance to do in life, so it's important to choose wisely. It's da

Becoming a professional web developer without a CS degree

A college education, while still valuable, isn't necessarily for everyone. For one, it's typically one of the largest expenses that you will

7 biggest challenges of being a remote programmer

Programming is typically considered one of the rare dream jobs that can be done from anywhere in the world that has a decent internet connec

10 tips for your next programming interview

Regardless of how skilled you are in your craft, interviews can still be rough for most of us. And that's because you are walking in blind t

Why Are So Many Developers Going Unhired?

Not a day goes by that we don't read an article about developer jobs going unfilled and the demand skyrocketing by the day. And despite what

Remote Work Leaves Junior Developers Behind

My very first gig as a professional software developer was around 2008 for a medium sized publishing agency. During the interview process I