In 2009, the financial crisis happened while I was in college. I had a great engineering internship in 2008 that went well, but amid the crisis they halted their entire internship program for 2009, so I couldn’t go back to that. I sent out applications to other places but wasn’t getting great results.

Then I finally got a call back when it was already into June 2009 internship season. He was a PhD computer scientist at a big organization hiring for a programmer intern, whereas I was an electronics engineer. He said, “your resume is great. I’ve got a big stack of them here and yours is one of the two best.” And I was like, “I mean, not for programming...”

He asked, “What classes have you taken on it?” I said, “I took literally computer science 101. And uh, microcontrollers which had some programming. Most of my classes were on electronics.” He was like, “Well, we need someone to write a program that analyzes the accuracy of radio signals propagating through the atmosphere, so your electromagnetics knowledge could be helpful.” So I asked, “I’m willing to learn, but literally I barely know how to write a ‘Hello World’ program, so would there be mentorship there for when I run into issues?” and he said yeah, he’d be happy to. So I was like, “Alright, if you want me onboard compared to that other resume, let me know.” Then went back to assuming that I wouldn't get it, obviously.

I barely even wanted the job, because it was already early June and I had no time to relocate. So I wasn't nervous at all, just chill and brutally honest in the interview. I approached the interview like the guy in Office Space with the Bobs, and it went the same way: the Bobs loved it. Apparently the other applicants were like, "here are ten reasons why I'm the best for the job!" while I was like, "wait, why do you even want me for this?"

So I got the job, and commuted 90 minutes to work and back (3 hours round trip daily, which is why I barely wanted it at that late stage since I didn't have time to get a 3-month lease in the city, but now had to grind). I got a C++ textbook and figured out how to write the program I was hired for, with an array of linked lists that collected data and ran some custom sorting algos on it and then spat it back out. He mentored me when I had questions, as promised. My program worked well, except it took too much RAM since I’m not a good programmer and didn’t account for certain backend details, but for a v1 draft it was great and provided the results they were after. He brought me on as an intern again for a different project, which went well, and then it led to a decade-long enjoyable career there under a different manager (this time focusing on my electronics background) until I retired early to focus on my love of finance.

Sometimes it pays to be like the guy from Office Space and shoot from the hip.

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