Ask HN: How did you get to your current job/startup?

#1

Post by arsalanb » Mon, Nov 23, 2015, 1:29 PM UTC

We all see "success stories" featured on internet blogs (basically every website with the "tech" prefix) and some trends tend to distort how we perceive how people arrived at where they are.

I want to know — How did you get your current job or startup? Did you go to college? Dropout? If your did go to college, have you ever failed a course? Did you have to move to a different country? How did you manage that and what was (in general) the biggest obstacle/low-point of your journey so far?

Note — Why I'm asking this: Because many of the people in this community may be in a low-point themselves, and reading about how other people persevered and what they did might just make things seem a bit easier for them.

Thank you all :)

Re: Ask HN: How did you get to your current job/startup?

#2

Post by J-dawg » Mon, Nov 23, 2015, 1:39 PM UTC

I'm looking forward to the responses to this. I came to programming later than most (early 30s), and it's been a real struggle to break into it professionally. I have occasional low points when I wonder what I could have achieved if I'd started on this path in my teens or 20s. It's a waste of time and brain power to dwell on regrets, but it's hard not to sometimes. It would be cool to read some success stories from people who have persevered through difficult times.

Re: Ask HN: How did you get to your current job/startup?

#3

Post by bholdr » Mon, Nov 23, 2015, 2:07 PM UTC

Feels like a Quora question to me :)

Re: Ask HN: How did you get to your current job/startup?

#4

Post by martiuk » Mon, Nov 23, 2015, 2:12 PM UTC

I'm 23 and I started out as an IT support apprentice 4 years ago after dropping out of college (high school?) twice here in the UK, then after working a few different jobs, working up from application support to build/release engineer. I'm now a contract software engineer with a significant day rate. I'm now working in the evenings and weekends to take the next step and create a product to sell, just don't have a "good" idea yet.

Re: Ask HN: How did you get to your current job/startup?

#5

Post by Apreche » Mon, Nov 23, 2015, 2:13 PM UTC

Applied on Craigslist.

Re: Ask HN: How did you get to your current job/startup?

#6

Post by will_be_ironman » Mon, Nov 23, 2015, 2:15 PM UTC

22 years old, Did a startup in college, it failed, took the learnings from the failure (coding skills mostly) and applied for a job at a large e-commerce company that had just IPO'd. I've now been a software engineer there, for a little over a year

Re: Ask HN: How did you get to your current job/startup?

#7

Post by wilwade » Mon, Nov 23, 2015, 2:17 PM UTC

Apreche wrote: post #5

Applied on Craigslist.

I also found my startup job on Craigslist. I was looking for other interviews in the area after I found one.

Re: Ask HN: How did you get to your current job/startup?

#8

Post by Dachande663 » Mon, Nov 23, 2015, 2:20 PM UTC

Tweeted I was looking for a job over Summer between Uni semesters. Had my interview on CoD4. Worked there over Summer.

They liked me enough they offered me an intership. Used it to build my dissertation project.

When I finished Uni I looked around at who was hiring. The guys I'd worked with offered more than anyone else and were working on some seriously cool projects compared to anyone else.

Re: Ask HN: How did you get to your current job/startup?

#9

Post by arsalanb » Mon, Nov 23, 2015, 2:24 PM UTC

Dachande663 wrote: post #8

Tweeted I was looking for a job over Summer between Uni semesters. Had my interview on CoD4. Worked there over Summer. They liked me enough they offered me an intership. Used it to build my dissertation project. When I finished Uni I looked around at who was hiring. The guys I'd worked with offered more than anyone else and were working on some seriously cool projects compared to anyone else.

What's CoD4? (I may have rather stupidly assumed this is the fourth call of duty video game)

Re: Ask HN: How did you get to your current job/startup?

#10

Post by robgibbons » Mon, Nov 23, 2015, 2:24 PM UTC

Almost failed high school (wasn't interested). Never went to college (didn't even apply).

Eventually, after coding through my teens, I founded a web development agency with some friends to build websites for money, while bootstrapping the development of a few web apps. All of them failed. I had severe imposter syndrome. Didn't help that my family had to sell our house while I was bootstrapping a startup, so I was basically homeless for a year.

Ultimately, one day I just realized that through all that hard work, I had somehow already made it, and that I was in fact a real developer, as knowledgeable as even my most CS-pedigreed friends coming out of school. It's about the learning, not the piece of paper.

Once I realized the true value that my skills and experience bring to the table, I began interviewing more confidently and negotiating more aggressively.

Fast-forward a few years, a few positions and companies later, and I am making over six figures with virtually no degrees or certifications, or student debt.

Uncertainty and doubt are not things to be feared; they keep you on your toes, hungry, and constantly learning, and that's how you beat college graduates in the job market. Don't succumb to imposter syndrome.