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My Story as a Homeless Developer

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Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#141

Post by [deleted] »

eric_b wrote: post #49
Avshalom wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean by many jobs. Outside of standing outside of home depot I don't know many jobs that don't require a permanent address and a phone number and an email. Entry level employment is like 99% massive corporations that make no allowances for the realities of hard lives.

You sound pretty out of touch. In Iowa there is an enormous agriculture industry - an industry not known for asking a lot of personal questions about origin or current status. If you can show up and do the work (and maybe pass a drug test), you're hired. And often paid cash. Outside of agriculture, there are the usual suspects. Bars, restaurants, cleaning jobs, roofing, painting, other forms of low skill construction…

[deleted]

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#143

Post by justinclift »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #127
Timmah wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can disagree without offering a solution. His comment was with the aim of addressing the underlying problem. OP could get a dev job tomorrow and lose it within a week if mental health issues impede his ability to function on a team. Your parade isn't as important as OP's predicament.

These two claims conflict: You can disagree without offering a solution. Your parade isn't as important as OP's predicament. You and the other commenter are offering nothing of help to the OP. Your entire focus is on taking me down for some reason. Meanwhile, my opening comment offered actual resources to try to help the OP. If you think that addressing his problem is the most important thing here, then you could do…

Hmmm, my reading of Scarface's comment was that it's more just trying to be constructive "He'll need to work out the mental health issues too..." kind of thing, rather than negging your comment.

But, maybe I just need more coffee. :)

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#145

Post by kraftman »

austenallred wrote: post #140

Hey Jesse, I'm also formerly homeless, and now the cofounder of https://LambdaSchool.com (YC S17). We have a nonprofit fund designed specifically to help out homeless software engineers looking for a job. I'd love to put you in a cheap airbnb or apartment, hook you up with Lambda School's career services team who will help review your resume, get your github and portfolio in shape, practice interviewing, and help you…

What about changing your model to take a cut of the jobs people end up with? Then you'd end up being self sustainable. Recruiters take about a 20%, so with your one guy getting 100k you could help 10 more.

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#146

Post by InitialLastName »

YawningAngel wrote: post #100
DenisM wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could have just purchased a UK phone number, couldn’t you?

It's hard to access most services in the UK without proof of a UK address

When I visited the UK (as a tourist), I walked into some phone company's store and walked out 10 mins later with a pay-as-you-go sim card and a UK number, no address or proof of anything other than "I have enough cash for this" needed.

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#147

Post by baby »

lozaning wrote: post #105
komali2 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The implication is that the majority of homeless are just lazy, yea? Just pick apples! I've been exactly there. You're not making minimum wage when you show up to the farm to pick apricots all day. Bars - need a bartender license. Yes, you do, nobody is risking it in 2018. Restaurants, sure, but again, you're not making minimum wage, and if you whiff of hobo you're not working front of house and getting tips. Cleanin…

At least in CA there is literally no such thing as a 'bartending license'. The requirements for getting a job as a bartender in california start and stop at convincing a bar owner to let you tend their bar.

I was there for a bit and I got carded in almost every bar I went. They are very anal with it.

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#148

Post by austenallred »

kraftman wrote: post #145
austenallred wrote: post #140

Hey Jesse, I'm also formerly homeless, and now the cofounder of https://LambdaSchool.com (YC S17). We have a nonprofit fund designed specifically to help out homeless software engineers looking for a job. I'd love to put you in a cheap airbnb or apartment, hook you up with Lambda School's career services team who will help review your resume, get your github and portfolio in shape, practice interviewing, and help you…

What about changing your model to take a cut of the jobs people end up with? Then you'd end up being self sustainable. Recruiters take about a 20%, so with your one guy getting 100k you could help 10 more.

That's generally Lambda School's model - we train people to be software engineers for no upfront tuition in exchange for a share of future income for two years. We also have experiments running with housing and living stipends in exchange for a share of future income for three years.

However, I consider recommending that to someone who is homeless and/or destitute exploitative. I can't put my finger on why, but knowing how desperate you can feel in that scenario I don't feel OK turning that into a money-making (or even transactional) scenario.

We've found that the folks who are hired and now-housed tend to donate enough to keep the fund alive once they're on their feet, but I don't feel right requiring it.

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#149

Post by justinclift »

jondubois wrote: post #96
DenisM wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could have just purchased a UK phone number, couldn’t you?

This would would only have helped me to get past the initial resume screening stage; but the face-to-face interviews are more important. I had to do a lot of face-to-face interviews in order to actually get a job so doing it all remotely while pretending to be a local would probably not have worked out. I did manage to line up a few interviews the week before moving to London; I was generally up front about my situat…

> Also, the prospect of ending up homeless in Russia without speaking the language was much more terrifying than being homeless in London;

Isn't that the kind of situation that you can turn up to the Aust consulate and say "Need ticket home!", which they'll generally make happen (for Aust citizens, in actual need).

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#150

Post by [deleted] »

drb91 wrote: post #88
istorical wrote: post #85

So it sounds like you'd rather be homeless and not lie to others than stay in the religious-affiliated shelter and lie to them about your belief. Have you thought about this deeply? Seems like perhaps the experience of being kicked out by grandma because of your atheism has perhaps poisoned religion to you to the extent that now you're so headstrong about denying it that you are missing a huge opportunity to get some…

It seems wrong that faith-funded organizations are allowed to discriminate based on religious belief. This also seems like a different scenario than, say, paying for birth control.

[deleted]
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