Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

After 10 years here I feel extremely rusty. What are some good resources to sharpen my coding skills and raise my confidence again?

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| 2501 views | | 31 replies (last February 16, 2020) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+13ug1AYU

31 replies (most recent on top)

Buy the right cereal at your local market because some come with coder and decoding rings. They are more useful than nano degrees.

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Post ID: @3kak+13ug1AYU

I find it extremely frustrating when people judge other people as not taking initiative and think they want to do the same thing until they retire when they don't even know what they are talking about. I find the training at att insulting and pretty much a joke. hope you don't put any of those micro or nano degrees on your resume. but keep believing what you are told and spend all your time at work applying for new jobs on career path every two years. the surplus train will eventually hit you and you will have all those nano degrees to put on your resume.

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Post ID: @3lnq+13ug1AYU

I don't think I'm defending the company, I think its clear that things are going down the tubes... fast. However, I've been around for over 20 years, and I've never failed to get out of a mismanaged organization. I don't dispute there are pockets of nepotism. I just think there are plenty of things about AT&T to complain about; but the education and training initiatives are actually not terrible.

It is true that 99% of jobs on career path are progressions or slated for someone else; but if you literally apply for EVERYTHING (ignoring location) even remotely aligning with your skills, you will eventually get interviews and eventually get offers. It may take months and hundreds of apps, but it can be done. If you are skilled enough, hiring managers will often ignore location. I know, because I move jobs every two years this way, and have never relocated for a job.

The thing that I have found endlessly frustrating (with few exceptions) about my coworkers over the years is their lack of willingness to adapt, lack of initiative and the expectation that you can just do the same things forever until you retire. It is one of the few things that are wrong with this company that isn't a direct failure of the c-suite.

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Post ID: @3lpv+13ug1AYU

@2fvr+13ug1AYU The jobs on career path are already taken and are posted because they have to for legal. Nepotism is rampant in more than one organization. Why do you defend a company that is a cesspool of inbred talent.

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Post ID: @3iec+13ug1AYU

I don't see what applying and maintaining skills has to do with nepotism in the workplace. If your org has a nepotism problem. Apply for a couple hundred other gigs and get out, that is what I've done over and over through my career. No one is trapped. You can always leave, or bust your a– on career path to find something else.

Everyone is cutting headcount. Nearly everyone is releasable.

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Post ID: @2fvr+13ug1AYU

but if you APPLY and MAINTAIN the skills you learn during the process, Tell me how to do that when I see people’s nieces and nephews get jobs right out of college. Att does nothing by the rules when it comes to employees. I see favoritism all the time and managers that couldn’t manage themselves out of a wet paper bag. Att is a cesspool from top down and deserves what it gets.

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Post ID: @2svm+13ug1AYU

Just get a masters degree and get a job in cso. Cso seems to be the safe place and you can do no wrong in cso.

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Post ID: @2fel+13ug1AYU

Went through the computer science python class and it did nothing and was a waste of my own time. It had everything I had twenty years ago in my so called useless degree. Brushed up my python but who cares python Perl bash.

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Post ID: @2jhc+13ug1AYU

@2pjz+13ug1AYU - you don't know what you are talking about. you learn how to program with your degree. it does not matter what language you learn the concepts and the logical way of thinking.
my degree from 20 years ago had me compiling c program on unix and linux when it came out.

you are going to sit there and tell me that isn't relevant today. and yet att tells me I have to take a computer science class that just uses python and is 60 hours on my own time that will do nothing for me but repeat what I learned twenty years ago . what a joke.

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Post ID: @2loz+13ug1AYU

"People moan about the nanodegrees around here. But, when you account for the fact that they cost you nothing, they are a good way to learn some tech skills. "

They are only good if they can get you a job.
You will rarely see any entry level IT jobs available. So it must mean that most of those IT people out there got their jobs with fake resumes.

With all the outsourcing at AT&T, I don't see how getting a nano degree is going to help you within AT&T. Hopefully I am wrong. I got a certification and found out that any possible employment with AT&T had been outsourced. It is run by a bunch of MBAs who could code their way out of a paper bag.

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Post ID: @2kxt+13ug1AYU

Simply attaining the degree or certification is not a ticket to an everlasting job. If you work in technology and expect your degree from 20 years ago to be in any way relevant, you don't understand the industry. Continuous learning, skill improvement and applying those skills in a valuable way is the expectation.

If you use the education and training programs AT&T provides for FREE you may still get laid off, but if you APPLY and MAINTAIN the skills you learn during the process, it gives you a hell of a lot better chance of finding a new job.

Is it fair that you have to spend a lot of your free time staying relevant? Probably not. Do you want this to change? Then stop supporting free market capitalism.

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Post ID: @2pjz+13ug1AYU

Yeah the nano degrees and tu was used to get rid of people by telling them their college degree were useless and they had to retake what they had in college on their own time with nothing to show for it except a nano degree that was uses less to the outside world and I would be embarrassed to put it on my resume.

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Post ID: @2gjp+13ug1AYU

@1zqk+13ug1AYU All great suggestions anything I took that att offered I already took in college. TU was a joke.

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Post ID: @2snh+13ug1AYU

TU is a joke, don't waste any of your time there.

Leetcode
Linux Academy/acloud.guru (they are merging)
(some) of the CELLs are worth doing

On AT&T's dime, grab a nanodegree or two but don't waste your money paying for this yourself. A nanodegree is the closest to any kind of real training you'll ever get out of AT&T these days.

And don't ever let yourself become the go-to person for a single technology because it probably means you're not going to get to even touch the next technology. Always be looking for projects you can get involved with that are different from what you're doing now once what you're doing now is established.

Otherwise, consider consulting.

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Post ID: @1zqk+13ug1AYU

Here’s the thing though. You should never stop learning. Too many people get complacent. Even though I hate T with a passion, they are not the problem with your training. T provided training or not, it is up to the individual to keep the skills sharp and updated. It’s a requirement nowadays. Hit up reddit or stackoverflow for more advice not here.

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Post ID: @1zad+13ug1AYU

People moan about the nanodegrees around here. But, when you account for the fact that they cost you nothing, they are a good way to learn some tech skills.

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Post ID: @1nka+13ug1AYU

Last year I completed a Front End Web Developer nanodegree at Udacity. I highly recommend their programs and the best part is that AT&T footed the bill. Before I started the course, I knew HTML, a little CSS, and no Javascript. By the end of the course, I had created five projects and learned more than I ever dreamed possible. I'm not saying I could go out and get a web developer job at this point, but it would be doable with more practice. I think Udacity is a great place to start.

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Post ID: @1dok+13ug1AYU

Learn to become a coal miner. They're going to retrain those to right code! :)

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Post ID: @1spx+13ug1AYU

Get more AT&T flare badges for your vest.

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Post ID: @1wgc+13ug1AYU

TUniversity

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Post ID: @1xsu+13ug1AYU

Besides tech skills, try reading the Harvard Business Review (www.hbr.org) for perspective on a wide range of leadership, management, technology knowledge, if you plan on being more than a programmer.

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Post ID: @1lgy+13ug1AYU

RE: "Leetcode:;"

See https://leetcode.com/

"LeetCode is the best platform to help you enhance your skills, expand your knowledge and prepare for technical interviews."

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Post ID: @1mab+13ug1AYU

Now you only need skills to manage vendors.

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Post ID: @zrx+13ug1AYU

Leetcode

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Post ID: @hsw+13ug1AYU

Checkout hackerrank.com

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Post ID: @ptp+13ug1AYU

the typical att worker wont fare well in the technology world. try interviewing at amazon or microsoft. panel interviews - 6 of them –att has not challenged their workforce in 4 years. but gl

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Post ID: @pzo+13ug1AYU

Filling out job apps?

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Post ID: @uwa+13ug1AYU

Repeat after me: Would you like fries with that?

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Post ID: @vyq+13ug1AYU

Although much maligned, you can grab some of those nano-Degrees offered by the company. They force you to use the new technology as well as new programming methodologies. Not a bad way to get free training on what you want to learn.

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Post ID: @unh+13ug1AYU

Treehouse for coding, acloud.guru for cloud skills

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Post ID: @ely+13ug1AYU

I'm feeling the same way. Being dumbed down over the years has taken a toll on my skill set and overall confidence. It speaks to the culture of the company and it's a shame they don't do a better job of fostering the skills that exist internally.

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Post ID: @kkz+13ug1AYU

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