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Ask HN: Is it too late to find a mentor after 30 for a software developer?
31–40 of 68 posts
Re: Ask HN: Is it too late to find a mentor after 30 for a software developer?
#32My best advice from a fellow 30 year old: Try to find an in-home caretaker that also knows programming. They're uncommon but invaluable when you find one. My caretaker is a young man currently in school for computer science. He comes by once a day to check on me and gives me brief programming lessons while heating up my soup, helping me up the stairs or doing jigsaw puzzles with me.
Thanks, Haruki Murakami.
Re: Ask HN: Is it too late to find a mentor after 30 for a software developer?
#33Not sure where you are in Turkey, but there are technical US military folks there in places like Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara, etc.
I suspect one of them would love to be a mentor in exchange for some guidance on local shopping, food, customs, etc.
Re: Ask HN: Is it too late to find a mentor after 30 for a software developer?
#34Trying to get a mentor is a little like trying to get a Significant Other. In theory, you can "just ask", but in practice you have to fundamentally understand the other person before you can 'ask'.
This article sums up how to get a mentor:
https://pindancing.blogspot.com/2010/12/answer-to-will-you-m...
Re: Ask HN: Is it too late to find a mentor after 30 for a software developer?
#35Not at all. Shoot me an email, it’s in my profile.
I dont see an email on yout profile
Re: Ask HN: Is it too late to find a mentor after 30 for a software developer?
#36My best advice from a fellow 30 year old: Try to find an in-home caretaker that also knows programming. They're uncommon but invaluable when you find one. My caretaker is a young man currently in school for computer science. He comes by once a day to check on me and gives me brief programming lessons while heating up my soup, helping me up the stairs or doing jigsaw puzzles with me.
I'm guessing this is a reference from something. What's it from?
Re: Ask HN: Is it too late to find a mentor after 30 for a software developer?
#37My best advice from a fellow 30 year old: Try to find an in-home caretaker that also knows programming. They're uncommon but invaluable when you find one. My caretaker is a young man currently in school for computer science. He comes by once a day to check on me and gives me brief programming lessons while heating up my soup, helping me up the stairs or doing jigsaw puzzles with me.
Generally, I find ageism wrong and a genuine form of discrimination. Regardless, I couldn't help but chuckle at this.
I think the point is no age is too old to start something new if you still have control of your faculties.
Re: Ask HN: Is it too late to find a mentor after 30 for a software developer?
#38Selamlar,
A friend of mine followed the path of doing mobile development, and finding a job in Amsterdam with a known travel/booking site. I was wondering if you could do similar path - he recently started working at Google Zurich. I believe coming to US on a visa without a CS background might be hard, but you might use your IOS skills in a EU based company.
Don't be too fixated on backend, I like it more than i do mobile, but eventually, most skills are transferable to different platforms. I'd first try to utilize what I have, and find stepping stones that are more-easily achieved.
Re: Ask HN: Is it too late to find a mentor after 30 for a software developer?
#39I'm ignoring the age question since it's irrelevant. "How to get a mentor" is to get a job working at a company alongside more-senior developers. Freelancing is better for people who are already senior, in charge... people who are the mentor. If you want a mentor then your best bet would be a structured work environment where you're in a position to benefit from someone else's knowledge on a day-to-day basis (as most of those learning opportunities will end up being random and occasional).
Re: Ask HN: Is it too late to find a mentor after 30 for a software developer?
#40There's a bunch of good advice here, but I'll add two other things.
One, look for a full-time job where you can learn from people. When freelancing, nobody has an incentive to invest in you. Go in house with the right people and they will.
Two, start mentoring. Learning to mentor well forces you to really master your technology, and it also teaches you a bunch of new things about people.