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Ask HN: I'm lost in my journey to become a developer

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Re: Ask HN: I'm lost in my journey to become a developer

#11

Post by goorley »

pacaro wrote: post #10
goorley wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Several web applications, three of which are served. Some websites. A lot of coding challenges - some take a few hours, some days.

Good! It's worth pushing that as much as, maybe more than, the bootcamp. Do you have a mentor? Someone in the industry who can give you feedback? There may be something simple that you can change

I have a few people in my life who have been giving me advice. I've been given mostly minor resume changes, and then "you should find something soon". Most people I've gotten advice from sympathize because it is difficult getting the first job - but also tell me they are shocked that I haven't found anything yet. I'm always trying to change what I'm doing if it can help.

Re: Ask HN: I'm lost in my journey to become a developer

#12

Post by digikata »

Just a bit on my background so you know what perspective is behind my advice. I came from an Aerospace Engineering degree and transitioned early into Aerospace systems engineering and software, eventually moving to more traditional software positions (still systems oriented I guess, but different system domains).

It sounds like you're applying for web-industry type jobs which I think you should continue to apply for in your situation. However, with your background, you should have a great advantage for industry + software type positions which would play to your experience as well as your new skills. I would expand my search beyond just "software category" jobs, and search for companies which have products/services in in oil & gas, find companies in that sector, (also companies building software tools for that sector) then go look for listings on their individual websites to see if they have openings of software jobs (look for networking for friends who might be in that industry too - maybe an instance where Linkedin is very useful). I would suspect that there is a lot of software work for embedded, industrial controls, data collection, analysis, even project mgmt, calculation/coordination widget software in that field. I might even expand to searching companies looking chemical, and construction companies from what I can glean from the description of your experience.

What I'm terming "Industry" jobs here are likely culturally different than your standard HN software work, but even if it's not what you're aiming for over the long term, it might be a stepping stone to more "software" archetype software positions.

Re: Ask HN: I'm lost in my journey to become a developer

#14

Post by goorley »

taway_1212 wrote: post #13

As an aside, what's wrong with petroleum engineering? Is it the drop in oil prices, or something wrong with the profession in general?

Nothing wrong with it - actually I wanted to eventually combine the two. I thought that due to the drop in oil price, now would be the right time to leave and gain the skills that would help me build tools for the oil industry in the future.

Re: Ask HN: I'm lost in my journey to become a developer

#15

Post by pacaro »

goorley wrote: post #11
pacaro wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good! It's worth pushing that as much as, maybe more than, the bootcamp. Do you have a mentor? Someone in the industry who can give you feedback? There may be something simple that you can change

I have a few people in my life who have been giving me advice. I've been given mostly minor resume changes, and then "you should find something soon". Most people I've gotten advice from sympathize because it is difficult getting the first job - but also tell me they are shocked that I haven't found anything yet. I'm always trying to change what I'm doing if it can help.

If you have been growing/honing your skill set, is your code available on github? Has anyone reviewed it for you?

One of the challenges with growing in isolation is the lack of feedback from peers.

Re: Ask HN: I'm lost in my journey to become a developer

#16

Post by DrNuke »

digikata wrote: post #12

Just a bit on my background so you know what perspective is behind my advice. I came from an Aerospace Engineering degree and transitioned early into Aerospace systems engineering and software, eventually moving to more traditional software positions (still systems oriented I guess, but different system domains). It sounds like you're applying for web-industry type jobs which I think you should continue to apply for…

I strongly second this, you may be more lucky with your search by combining both of your expertises for industrial / petroleum / similar engineering jobs. Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: I'm lost in my journey to become a developer

#17

Post by stevenwu »

You only mentioned Foursquare as one of the companies you've applied to, so without more info from you I'm going to take a shot in the dark here: are you only applying for those types of companies that are very well known? It's pretty rare for your first job out of education (whether it's a degree, or a bootcamp) to be "SWE at ". There's a whole world of companies out there that aren't as sexy but can be amazing stepping stones to the job you want.

To add personal experience to this comment, I've worked at two places before landing such a "dream" job - a < 50 person startup, and a company with businesses around its satellites that employs ~5000 people but I guarantee your average citizen hasn't heard of it. Some former coworkers at that startup were there as their first job, and went on to work for Google/Palantir/themselves. These less sexy companies and startups are waiting for great applicants.

Re: Ask HN: I'm lost in my journey to become a developer

#18

Post by soneca »

I am in a similar position (career transition at 37yo to software development), mostly self-taught through the internet (freeCodeCamp and building my own stuff following documentation and tutorials online).

I still haven't got a job, so I can't say I have a good answer for you. I am just speculating from a similar position.

I don't think I would even apply to fancy, well-known companies that lots of developers coming from strong branded college education in computer science. I am not diminishing myself, I believe I can deliver more than any young talent on a range of software development positions (not all of them, I think some places like security demand a more solid theoretical knowledge that a CS graduate has and I am not even close to having). I just think these companies have the luxury to nitpick and they value a good college and a young age more than anything that I have an edge on.

So, I am trying to find jobs on more 'humble' places that match the work environment I want, ie, companies with tech as a core product and a strong tech culture, where I can learn from more experienced developers. This leaves out agencies where software is seen as just an operational department and developers just have to endless do 'transform Photoshop in css+html' stuff.

As I am kind of focusing my learning in React and React is hyped right now, I am optimistic with my ability to land a job. But... I could be in the same position that you are now in a year! Who knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: Ask HN: I'm lost in my journey to become a developer

#19

Post by ayb »

Have you worked with any recruiting agencies? I'm a big fan of Mondo - the folks there are great and have been incredibly helpful and responsive. Feel free to drop me a line if you want an intro. (I mainly work in Rails but I'm sure they can help you find something in Python.)

(There are a lot of great technical recruiters, but I've personally only used Mondo. I'm sure others have some they love as well.)

Re: Ask HN: I'm lost in my journey to become a developer

#20

Post by dhruvkar »

goorley wrote: post #14
taway_1212 wrote: post #13

As an aside, what's wrong with petroleum engineering? Is it the drop in oil prices, or something wrong with the profession in general?

Nothing wrong with it - actually I wanted to eventually combine the two. I thought that due to the drop in oil price, now would be the right time to leave and gain the skills that would help me build tools for the oil industry in the future.

Don't know where you're located or if you're open to relocation, but check out osisoft.com

They make software to handle real time data (since the 80s), and a majority of their clients are oil companies. I worked in IT department for a couple years. On their client support side, they hire a lot of chemical engineers, and I'm sure petroleum engineers fall in the same category for them.

If you have a resume, I can forward it to a contact of mine. email in profile.

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