Hey everyone! I know that it doesn't really matter what programming language you learn because in the end learning the concept is important. But I can't help to notice that in a lot of job postings, mastering a specific language is a requirement.

From your experience, does it really matter when you can learn on the go? Have you been rejected because you didn't know the language that is used by the company? If you're accepted regardless, what did you do/say to be convincing in the interview?

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It depends on the company and their stage/needs usually. Nowadays a lot of companies will let you interview in your preferred language (for the technical interview). If you’re interviewing for a position at an early stage startup that wants to move fast and deliver features/products rapidly, for example, then they might want you to already know the specific stack they’re using.

If you interview at a more stable company, they are usually setup with more formal onboarding/training. Some of that training is to get you familiar with existing architecture/products. But it’s also sometime for you to pick up/learn the language you’ll be using.

Also, if a company at any stage is hiring for a specific product they want to build in a particular stack, the more senior roles will probably require you to have years of experience in that technology. Mainly so they know someone leading that project isn’t learning on the go and already has made the mistakes and learned from them before they show up on day 1.

Hope that helps!

likesmarthelpful

Yes, because depending on the languages you know it can vary how difficult picking up specific ones can be. E.g if you know C++, picking up Java is easy, but the reverse is not true. If you know Java Python should be easy but not the reverse. Different languages have trade offs with difficulty vs capability, going from a more difficult to a less difficult one in those terms is straightforward but not the reverse. IMHO, if you learn C++ well, there is no language that is higher in difficulty in the difficulty vs capability spectrum.

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I get what you’re saying, but there’s rust :) it’s wildly different. But I’m just being difficult.

C++ is kind of overkill unless you’re really trying to go for like a top 1% job. Java is much much easier and is sufficient for the other 99%

Rule of thumb, know an OOP language, preferably Java, helps in interviews. Rest of technologies and languages can be job specific, like, python, sql for data analytics, JS for web development etc.

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Agreed, OO languages can help you learn CS fundamentals and develop good habits.

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Speaking from the entry-level perspective here

To be honest, it’s really going to depend on a company by company basis. For example, in the data analyst roles, most teams are just really adamant about knowing Python, when most of my experience was in R.

A few things that have helped me was bringing those Python experiences to the forefront of the conversation because some hiring managers will just assume you don’t know Python if they’re only going by your resume if you were to just have a couple experiences using it

I also talk about specific projects on the side I might have used Python with and even just communicate how I break down coding assignments from my experiences in general

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It doesn't really matter, as long as you know that in practice you're able to pick it up as you go along. In your interview, just focus on what you do know and mention how you approach unfamiliar tasks.

helpful

I’ve noticed that a lot of business roles now require SQL. In some cases, even Python

I have about 8 YoE. You’re right that the concepts are what matters, but there’s also the spectrum of breadth of knowledge vs depth of knowledge. Different roles requires moving towards different extremes. At entry level, I’d prefer juniors to have depth that match the language, because it’s easier to bootstrap when there’s more familiarity. I personally don’t mind breadth that doesn’t match the job description as positions become more senior. Java and C# aren’t the same language. A dev proficient in one may not know idiomatic parts of the other, but the two share many enterprise patterns

Let me clarify. I’m not looking for juniors to have language mastery. However, I would prefer a junior to know the language that they’re applying for (some depth) rather than one adjacent (breadth). A junior is going to have a tougher time learning CRUD principles in Spring if they only know C#. A mid-level dev can likely hop over to Spring without issue coming from a .NET background.

You're going to need to be able to prove that you can fully understand and utilize a language, even if it doesn't end up being one you'll be using on the job. In a lot of ways. it comes down to showing your capacity to learn a programming language in the first place. I would put in the time to make sure you know one completely before the technical interview.

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