tyg13

joined 1 year ago
[–] tyg13 4 points 1 year ago

Everyone has imposter syndrome. It’s not just you, and having more degrees doesn’t make it go away!

Very true! As a huge admirer of the Rust programming language, hearing that Graydon Hoare felt like an imposter when he was Rust team lead gave me a lot of reassurance about my own skills. Of course, I'd probably be a lot more reassured if I had been pivotal in the creation of one of the fastest growing modern programming languages :^)

[–] tyg13 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The hard part with self-study is always the need for self-motivation and a lack of good community to help with instruction. Since quitting reddit, I've lost /r/ProgrammingLanguages and /r/Compilers, but the former's discord is pretty good.

[–] tyg13 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is a good thing to be reminded of. I often forget that masters are much more targetted in scope.

Formal programming languages instruction could be useful -- while I have learned enough in practice to implement most of a compiler, I have often found my foundation in theory to be lacking (e.g. type theory/operational semantics). Then again, I'm fairly sure I could learn the same on my own without having to spend thousands of dollars. The only hard part is convincing a future employer that I know my stuff.

[–] tyg13 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You say you have a lot of coworkers with masters, are they from other countries?

This is an interesting observation -- that does appear to be the case. I have noticed that most people in compilers tend to have a masters/PhD, though I suppose it's likely the implication is reversed (i.e. people go for a masters, end up in compilers, and then get a job in industry).

10
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by tyg13 to c/experienced_devs
 

I'll try to make the context quick. I have been employed as a compiler engineer at a large company in SV (not FAANG) for about a year now. Previously, I've held jobs at a couple companies at the junior level (~4 years total). About 5 years ago, I completed a bachelor's degree in Mathematics at a state university.

I am now feeling that this education was insufficient: the subject matter was not really related to my eventual career path, and the experience was overall incredibly mediocre. To put it quantitatively, my school is not even in the top 100 engineering schools in the country. And, as the title implies, I never received a masters degree.

My coworkers all have masters degrees and this has led to a pervasive feeling of imposter syndrome. I'm also worried about my future employment prospects: while I am not searching at the moment, I am worried that when I decide to do so, most of my competition will also have masters degrees. My company has recently struggled to hire compiler engineers, and I can't help but feel like I was able to get in with a lesser degree and experience as a compromise against a tough hiring market. I don't know if I'll be afforded that same chance in the future.

I am now in a much better position to pursue a master's, and since I live in SV, I also have the possibility of pursuing a master's at a high-quality school without needing to relocate. I am trying to determine if this would be worth it. Some pros: increased networking opportunities, a more prestigious resume, possibilities for research/skill growth. Some cons: likely expensive, could be difficult to get into a good school, skill growth might not be as much as I'd like.

Some part of me thinks it's a better idea to continue working on side-projects to improve my skills on my own. I have several "impressive" projects (e.g. compiler, OS kernel, GB emulator) that were instrumental in me getting my foot in the door, here and at previous companies, that I still actively work on. But I can't shake the feeling that an MS from a top school (assuming I could get in) would open doors to places I haven't yet been able to crack (mostly FAANG). I also think it could improve my chances for promotion within my current org.

Anyways, if you've made it to the end, thanks a lot for reading. Any response is appreciated.