The good thing about learning C/C++ first is that it will help you understand how the internals work and you will (should) learn how to program efficiently and understand basic algo's and methodologies. For that matter, assembly might be a good start! :-) If you understand HOW things work, it will not matter what language you elect to use down the road (for example, you might want to use Rails because it makes developing web apps a pleasure, or whatever). Ultimately, your choice.
This seems a little short-sighted to me. It's noted that the company doesn't make the offer until they've had the candidate go through on-site interviews. It's not like they are making an offer on initial meeting. If both parties are interested, this should be acceptable.
Look at it from another perspective. The hiring manager has an open position to fill. They want to fill it with someone who wants to work with them. They can't leave a job offer on the table for a long period of time, just to have the candidate say no. Having that offer outstanding prevents them from making an offer to other potentially qualified (and more eager) candidates. An interested candidate should have no problem with a decision at this point in the interview process.
If the job offer is pulled because it is expired, and the candidate is really interested in the job, they should be able to get another offer if the position hasn't been filled by the time they got off the fence.
I started my professional career in QA, then "downgraded" to a support role in a different company because (a) it was a mile from my house instead of a 2hr commute each way every day and (b) it actually paid more! Now for the interesting part: In support, you have an opportunity to SHOW and CREATE tremendous value! Value drives recognition. Value drives increases in salary. Value drives opportunity - within or outside your current employer.
Let me back up my assertions:
I worked for a large software company that had acquired a smaller niche company. Niche company had some bugs that caused some problems for its customers.
I helped said customers resolve those issues. Those customers wrote really nice letters and sent them to my employer. Regularly. It was actually a little embarrassing after a while. It's almost as though I was asking for them, and I wasn't. It just wasn't "normal" -- enter "Wonder Boy" nickname. That's all good - I got raises and recognition.
Next, I developed a utility to help correct this problem. I didn't actually understand much about programming, and it was a fairly complicated issue for me to solve. Had to do with bitwise operators and all that good stuff. I sought out answers to an equation I wasn't smart enough to solve, but for a problem I knew existed. Once I had the bits (funny, huh?) of info I needed, I wrote a very simple program/utility to save companies from experiencing this problem. Guess what happened then? Development manager tried to recruit me (lucky for him, I didn't accept).
Then...I started working closer and closer with partners. I was becoming somewhat of a subject matter expert. I then get invited to present in partner training. So I go do this. What do you know? Sales Consulting people see me and say - Wow - this guy is confident, knows his stuff, and can communicate to an audience. Now, I get recruited to sales consulting. Sweet - that works! Not smart enough to figure out complicated bit shifts, but smart enough to solve real world problems and communicate those solutions to high level business people and lower level techies. That works.
Create value! Have passion. Seek solutions to problems to problems that only you have visibility to! You are in a unique position - you are the front-line! You are seeing things that escape everyone else. Use it as an opportunity to make people happy. You make them happy and you solve your own situation. You will have customers trying to recruit you when you solve major problems. You'll have internal people fighting for you. You'll have your HR department spinning their heads not knowing what to do when your boss is trying to give you a raise out of cycle, and two or more people from other departments in the same company are asking them for salary advice when trying to negotiate your role in their department.
Hope this helps! (no time to proof and hope it makes sense - forgive any typos or strange sentences/fragments - hopefully you get the concepts)
I'm not certain a soldier deserves more respect than a doctor, teacher, fireman, policeman or engineer. I'm not even certain a soldier gets more respect than many of those occupations listed. Soldiers do not ask for respect. It is given to them. I don't know why, but let me throw out a few possibilities:
1. It's a national holiday. This draws national attention to the sacrifices made - even in post WWII invasions. Perhaps, more than any other career, more lives have been lost, or negatively mentally/physically altered, by military members. I don't know the stats here - so it's an assumption.
2. Maybe it's related to the sacrifices made by soldiers. I'm not limiting this to just the soldiers that get killed or seriously wounded either. Are you aware that lower ranking enlisted members (the majority that will do 3 to 5 years and then get out) are at, or very near, poverty level? They don't do it for the money.
3. People admire/respect bravery. This goes for police officers and firemen too. This, I think, is why a lot of women like a "man in uniform."
4. Many American families have lost loved ones in wars dating back a long way. They recognize the sacrifices their ancestors made for the country. These memories and feelings carry forward generations.
I was writing this response before jboydyhacker chimed in.
So to address your latest comments:
1. Soldiers don't always agree with the battle they are fighting.
2. You shouldn't respect anyone unless you respect them. If your choice is to not respect a soldier, that's your right!
3. It's quite likely if an Afghani hacker who joined the Taliban wrote the article mentioned that it would get great press - somewhere. Maybe not here, but somewhere. Had I written this particular article, it would not have made front page. In fact, it would not have received 3 upvotes. People respect the GOOG as much as they respect the soldier. Combine the two, and...this is what happens. There - your engineer just got some respect! ;-) I will bet my next paycheck that if an Afghani hacker joined the Taliban and then came to America, worked for GOOG and published the article referenced - yes, it will make it to the front page of HN.
4. I am at war against my company's competition every time I try to convince someone our software solution is better than the alternative. I believe in what I try to sell. If I went to one of my competitors tomorrow, I'm sure I would fight just as hard for them. Does that translate to an answer for your Viet Cong argument?
I spent four years in the U.S.M.C in the enlisted ranks. This article is an interesting read, but only really scratches the surface of what one learns in the military. I didn't spend a single day in a war zone, and still learned patience and acceptance. I also learned much, much more - and they are skills that have helped me in my civilian life - personally and professionally.
I won't enumerate everything here; if I tried, I would fail. But I will attempt to highlight many of those that repeatedly surface:
1. Attention to detail. I don't think it matters what your military occupation is, you will certainly be subjected to this, at least in the Marines. It starts with boot camp, and continues through your career. The little things make a big difference. While some of the military training tactics leave you, this one seems to stay - at least that's been my experience.
2. Initiative. If something doesn't look right, can be done better, needs to be done - do it! I don't even think I recognized this was instilled in me until I was back in the civilian sector. It does wonders for a career!
3. Respect. Respect for everyone - above, beside and below you. This was especially difficult for me during my first two years of enlistment. I thought I knew it all. The promotion structure in the military has a huge time factor built into it. For me, I thought many of those of higher rank were ignorant. Guess what? It doesn't matter! You learn to respect them. You learn to understand you're ignorant too. You learn how to work with all different types of personalities, levels of intelligence, ethnicity, etc... - and you learn how to respect each of them for what they bring to the table. You never know what a person has been through to get to where they are now or why they make the decisions they make. There is almost always a reason. Respect them enough to try to understand. This has allowed me to work with and for all types of people in the civilian sector and I somehow manage to get along with almost everyone. In the rare event that I don't get along with someone, I'm able to deal with it without trashing them. It's usually representative of some flaw of my own anyway.
4. Camaraderie. Especially true during times of war, but also true in times of peace. The "bond" Dan spoke about comes from a lot of factors, but they all boil down to difficult, common experiences and trust. Civilians don't always understand some of the methods in which these bonds are created. By the time I got my blood stripes pinned on, it was not an accepted practice because of media exposure. But I wanted to earn them and my unit allowed it. It's a hazing ritual that is very painful to go through. My wife thought I was nuts. I feel that I earned those stripes and I know my unit had my back during the process. You've seen stories in the media where some of these events have gone bad. Examples include: Blood/Wing Pinning and Shellback Ceremony. I would suggest boot camp is largely a hazing ritual in and of itself. Controversial as it may be, I believe these rituals play an important part in the life of a soldier. It may not look good on TV, but neither does some of the stuff that happens while fighting for your life in the middle of a battle (things I know nothing about).
5. Tenacity. Everything isn't always easy. You don't quit at something just because it is hard or because you can't figure it out or because someone pissed you off. Keep pressing forward.
6. Integrity. Integrity is more than just telling the truth. It's being the truth. It's being true to you and to your (fill in the blank). It's being professional. It's standing up for people when they aren't there to stand up for themselves. It's not gossiping. It's not trying to cheat to get ahead of the next person. It's about doing your best and when success comes, you know you earned it honestly.
7. Adapt and overcome. Speaks for itself.
Some of the comments here speculate about why the military doesn't have a larger tech representation. Other comments question the intellectual capacity of some of the soldiers. Let me say this: I worked with some of the smartest people of my life while in the Marines. I worked with some of the more challenged too. I worked with some of the smartest people in my life while in the civilian sector. I worked with some of the more challenged too.
I didn't reenlist for two primary reasons: (1) I wanted to make more money as a provider for my family and (2) I didn't want to relocate my family every two or three years. Yesterday represented 16 years since my last day of active duty service, and I can reflect back and say it was one of the best experiences of my life.
Happy Veteran's Day to all past and present military members.
In my mind, a hacker has a deep desire to understand
Extremely simple analogy: Most people are happy that when they flip a switch, a light comes on. They might even know how to install a switch and change a bulb. But a hacker isn't happy/content with this surface knowledge. Instead, s/he wants to know what's happening in the background to create the outcome. Once this background knowledge is gained, the hacker has a lot of tools available to solve/invent that the majority of others will not - this makes the hacker extremely efficient. S/he may also take this knowledge and apply it to other domains.
Apply this to telephony, networking, hardware, low-level programming, .... and you should be able to easily come up with similar analogies for any discipline.
I wish this question would have received more love. I can't imagine why it did not, especially here on HN where you could get some really great feedback. I'm interested in hearing what other people might say. I like the response kstenerud provided. I'm commenting in hopes some others will see it in the new comments and bring some life to it.
You say "particularly in moderately-differentiated tumors" -- I have a few questions.
1. Why did you specifically point out "moderately-differentiated?" I ask because my wife has a tumor classified as poorly-differentiated. I'm wondering if the middle ground is unique/harder to diagnose in some way.
2. Would something like this come into play during the initial biopsy or after the tumor is removed? I ask because she has a mastectomy next week. I kind of assumed the nature of the cancer was already figured out with the estrogen+ and her2/neu tests. We never really received a "score" - just a breakdown of the good and the bad characteristics and the suggested treatment plan post surgery - which includes both anti-estrogen drugs AND herceptin.
3. Does it make sense, at this point, to try to get her into Stanford for this C-Path test?
You'll be plenty valuable, don't worry. Sometimes the business guys go out and do market research, get preliminary letters of intent signed, do presentations, etc... Enjoy the experience, it's completely worthwhile and rewarding. (note: I'm a technical guy, been to a couple of these types of events, and know the value non-techs bring to the table)
One thing I would like to add, in addition to my earlier comment, is this: There is a time to gamble, and a time to play it safe. The best time to gamble is when you've got the money to lose, not when your mortgage/rent payment is on the line.
Even if the startup has a great chance of success, my decision would personally be to go to Google. This is with very limited info. However, what we are going through right now very much resembles what we went through during the dot.com era. If history repeats itself, then in a couple years our job choices won't be so vast. In that case, I would rather be with the company that has billions in the bank and can continue to employ me. This is a very personal choice, and one that I'm sure is causing you tremendous anxiety. I hope this helps.
Fundamentally, I don't see an issue with you doing outside consulting work, as long as it isn't in direct competition with your main employer. I would definitely never mix assets - e.g. don't use your main work computer for moonlighting work. Moonlighting has been around forever, in all trades, and won't go away.
Realistically, this is a very difficult task to pull off in our discipline. This was true for me anyway - I've tried it and it was short lived. It could be that I'm an "all or nothing" kind of guy and it is just difficult for me. Maybe other people don't suffer from this quirk. For me, I find it incredibly difficult to shift between simultaneous projects. It takes a certain amount of mental time just to get into productive mode. By the end of the day, I'm pretty exhausted from my main duties. What happens, then, is I ended up doing okay at one task, and terrible at the other, but didn't produce the kind of quality output I would want for either. Ultimately, I wasn't pleased with myself.
The startup is going to expect you to be 150% focused on their objectives. I don't think it will be an 8 to 5 gig. That's not the way these things work. It's a heck of a commitment, and if it were my startup, I would want you "fully engaged."
"...Swearing says more about your abilities as a speaker then it does your content... that's the problem."
Good thing he is talking about speaking instead of writing.
EDIT: That is in the opening paragraph, and this is in the closing paragraph:
"...The minute you drop that F-bomb, that's when you lose me. If you don't care enough to flex the language at your disposal, why should I give a fuck about what you have to say?"
The part that struck me was when he said something along the lines of: It takes 10,000 (or 15,000) hours just to get the necessary knowledge. Then, you are at step one. You may or may not be good, but don't know until you've put in the required time.
Also, the immediate authenticity I felt by this man and this story is something amazing. Great way to start my day.
I disagree with point (1) and only somewhat agree with point (2).
For point 1 - I definitely don't like rules, and I have found that if you create enough value, you get away with making your own rules and can come very close to having a feeling of running your own business.
For point 2 - in the high tech industry, you can make as much, or more, income without the uncertainty of self employment/own business. Running a business is HARD. I tried it, for many years, and ultimately failed (well, I failed financially, but learned a hell of a lot - so not a complete failure). Perhaps I was in the wrong business, but I simply didn't enjoy the non-technical aspects of it, which consume the majority of your time. The ROI wasn't there - not for me. Not every business is going to make you rich - in fact, most of them will not. I can't say I've given up permanently, but I have gone back to the corporate world for now and do not regret it. I disagree with the job stability portion of this point - you have ZERO job stability when you work for someone else. I firmly believe you have more stability working on your own than for a vast majority of companies. The concept of job security is a false sense of security.
I wasn't trying to argue with you, rather I was trying to point out that some good can come from the C/C++ path. I've had a lot of people ask me which language to use as a starting point in programming, and not once have I said C/C++ -- maybe, upon reflection, I should have??
My first "real" job was with a software company, in the QA department. I got lucky getting that job, as I had no requisite skills. Anyway, I wanted to learn how to program. I took a C class at a local university. I remember, vividly, being so frustrated that I was in tears when trying to learn about pointers and recursive functions. Very basic to me now, but at the time, extremely frustrating - I simply didn't understand the concepts. I reached out to a few of the developers at that company and they helped me. I'm not a stud programmer, not by any stretch of the imagination, but I've made a good living over the years - and I have not once programmed in C since that class. BUT --- the things I learned in that class have helped me tremendously. For example, it helped me when I was programming in VB and needed to tap into raw winapi functions. A combination of C programming basics, along with OS basics, will get you a LONG way when trying to understand and solve challenges you'll come across in "normal" programming challenges.