What is your field exactly?

Hey Nabren I have a gread idea.
Perhaps we can start our own project. This way we will have something to put in portfolio, learn a little about team work and share our knowledge. What do say? I'm programming in c++ and have intermediate knowledge about OpenGL, Win32 and other related stuff. Recently I'm develpoing my own interface exorting framework to facilitate work with dll's and networking.

I have a very extensive portfolio.

An in-depth Unreal 2004 mob. Extremely modified.
A 3D Breakout Game.
Numerous small projects through-out college.
Numerous projects i've been working on by myself.

The portfolio isn't the problem. I just can't figure out what I am doing wrong. I understand the stuff really well, I pick up things in a snap. It took me 3 minutes to understand the idea behind object oriented design having known nothing about it beforehand, including how polymorphism works.

I guess it really is the 1 year out of college hurting me, but even then, I have gotten interviews and most have told me they would call me even if I DIDN'T get it, and some it's been over a month and no word. I guess maybe I should of called them back but I didn't want to seem impatient since they said they would call me EITHER way and never did.

I am always looking for more experience, Mortilles and I think it would be fun to work on something with ya :)

I am weak on OpenGL as I have been trying to learn .NET and DirectX (since that is what it seems most employers want) but as I said I pick up things very easily so as long as I have documentation for OpenGL infront of me I am good to go. All the other logic/algortihms/etc stay the same, just the graphics/sound that is mainly different.

I think that you should call them. Perhaps they have someone and forgot to call you... or perhaps not.

So PM me if you are really interested in doing something with me. I'm excited about working with you too...

Quote:to get a job IN MY FIELD

Your field is point of sale retail.

Quote:Original post by Nabren
I have a very extensive portfolio.

An in-depth Unreal 2004 mob. Extremely modified.
A 3D Breakout Game.
Numerous small projects through-out college.
Numerous projects i've been working on by myself.

How many of those are commercial projects?

Quote:I just can't figure out what I am doing wrong. I understand the stuff really well, I pick up things in a snap. It took me 3 minutes to understand the idea behind object oriented design having known nothing about it beforehand, including how polymorphism works.

"Without prior knowledge of OO I was put in charge of design of Java point of sale application to manage 10 users, 9000 products in 250 categories. Application was completed and deployed in 2 month time. On this project I gained working knowledge of design patterns, UML modeling, unit testing and OO application development."

Quote:I guess it really is the 1 year out of college hurting me, but even then, I have gotten interviews and most have told me they would call me even if I DIDN'T get it, and some it's been over a month and no word. I guess maybe I should of called them back but I didn't want to seem impatient since they said they would call me EITHER way and never did.

This is common practice. When you test 500 people a year for entry level positions you don't call them back. There's simply too many.

The only people that get called back are those who could, for various reasons, use this against the employer. These are usually people who already have connections, or who already have a name in the same type of industry. Ignoring those could mean image smear. Ignoring everyone else however is a cost-saving measure - time is money. Harsh reality. Even in countries where law says otherwise - nobody is going to sue over something like this.

Quote:I am weak on OpenGL as I have been trying to learn .NET and DirectX (since that is what it seems most employers want) but as I said I pick up things very easily so as long as I have documentation for OpenGL infront of me I am good to go. , just the graphics/sound that is mainly different.

"Without practical experience in OpenGL I developed a 3D breakout clone. It won third place in a competition and was completed in only 2 days"
"Developed a Quake model viewer in C# using DX 9 that was used in development of a $NAME mod"."

Quote:All the other logic/algortihms/etc stay the same

No, not really. SimCity 4 made incorrect assumption about memory layout differences between nVidia and Radeon series, which resulted in poor performance on Radeons and required a patch. Quote:

Quote:"We recognize that ATI Video Cards do not scroll as fast as the game intended. This is an inherent conflict between the game scrolling technique and our memory tiling achitecture and not a hardware bug. We are working with Maxis to come to a better solution so please stay tuned."

The comments in "" are what you should be using instead of "I learn fast". Whenever you say something that cannot be backed up with actual work it not only carries little value, but has negative impact - it means you're over-estimating yourself, and aren't capable of estimating your true skill.

Unless you can put in a form of an actual project/work/task/sale, then it doesn't exist.

Even if someone provides you with a reference, it'll be something like this: "although he wasn't familiar with OO, he was assigned a design role on a FooBaz project which he completed on time, and demonstrated fast learning ability".

But until you actually do something with your skills, they don't exist.

BTW:
- what did you graduate in?
- what is the field you want to work in?
- which positions are you applying for?
- what are your technical skills (languages, APIs, tools, frameworks)?

Haha, can't believe I overlooked that and forgot to mention what my degree was in, sorry!

I have an associates degree in software engineering and a bachelors degree in game software development. I feel most comfortable with C++ although I have dabled in many other languages.

I understand employers not calling everyone back because of money and such, however, what I don't understand is why they tell me they will if they have no plan to. That is what is still confusing me. Maybe it is just as a formality? But since when is lying formal?

Either way, no none of my projects are commercial, but how can they be when I have yet to get a job in the industry?

I have been programming since age 11 and have always wanted to do it as a career so I am patient. I just figured maybe even after the five recent interviews I had someone would of atleast called back and said "Sorry, we went with someone else"

They all seem to of gone really well; in that they liked what I said and felt I was knowledgeable on the subject. I definately feel I am not making a fool out of myself in the interviews and that is what is causing the lack of calls...

Either way, maybe I just have been unlucky and opportunity is right around the corner! Thanks for all the input so far, everyone.

Quote:Original post by Nabren

I feel most comfortable with C++ although I have dabled in many other languages.

Quote:Either way, no none of my projects are commercial, but how can they be when I have yet to get a job in the industry?

How about you peek around this site a bit, and try to answer a few questions people ask? They are all real world examples, and they may give you a better insight into your actual experience.

And since you say you learn fast, even if you don't know the answer, you can look it up before answering.