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Ask HN: starting a career in software dev in my thirties, am I nuts?

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Re: Ask HN: starting a career in software dev in my thirties, am I nuts?

#41
As a manager I can tell you that I am looking for any clues I can find to mitigate the risk of bringing on a new person. "Experience' means very little if I have no way of assessing what a prospective employee/contractor did in those previous jobs. You need 'evidence' more than you need experience; evidence of your language and problem solving skills; evidence of your communication skills; evidence of your motivation and interests.

Eric

Re: Ask HN: starting a career in software dev in my thirties, am I nuts?

#43
post #5

I don't have enough experience to get started, and I can't get started without experience. Horsepuckey. Can you FizzBuzz? If so, you're experienced enough to get a job as a developer. What you need to work on is not your programming ability -- that is what professional experience is for -- but your competence at marketing yourself. You will probably not be hired to fill a hole labeled "I need a developer who does RoR…

I'd go a step further than you on #3: forget about job postings altogether. Instead, make a list of companies you'd like to work for and for whom you think you'd made a good fit. Eliminate all game companies from that list. Then, make a project of finding people in that company to contact and ask if you can stop by and talk about how you can help. Then, don't let up. Nobody you'd ever want to work for is going to say "don't talk to me again".

We have hired people who did this to us. People who are extremely, pointedly, relentlessly interested in working for your team are much more attractive than job ad respondants.

Re: Ask HN: starting a career in software dev in my thirties, am I nuts?

#45
post #43
post #5

I don't have enough experience to get started, and I can't get started without experience. Horsepuckey. Can you FizzBuzz? If so, you're experienced enough to get a job as a developer. What you need to work on is not your programming ability -- that is what professional experience is for -- but your competence at marketing yourself. You will probably not be hired to fill a hole labeled "I need a developer who does RoR…

I'd go a step further than you on #3: forget about job postings altogether. Instead, make a list of companies you'd like to work for and for whom you think you'd made a good fit. Eliminate all game companies from that list. Then, make a project of finding people in that company to contact and ask if you can stop by and talk about how you can help. Then, don't let up. Nobody you'd ever want to work for is going to say…

This is especially good advice in our industry, since they people you want to talk to are trivially discoverable, spend upwards of 12 hours a day connected to publicly accessible communication channels, and are often very good about writing people back. (It would never have occurred to me several years ago that I could just, you know, write the CEO an email, and he might very well write back and would almost certainly not send out a company-wide memo saying that I was an idiot who should never be spoken to again. It would also not have occurred to me that the Product Leader in charge of X will practically fall over themselves in a rush to talk to you about their baby, and they also can almost certainly figure out a way to get you hired if they want you to be hired.)

Re: Ask HN: starting a career in software dev in my thirties, am I nuts?

#47
post #43
post #5

I don't have enough experience to get started, and I can't get started without experience. Horsepuckey. Can you FizzBuzz? If so, you're experienced enough to get a job as a developer. What you need to work on is not your programming ability -- that is what professional experience is for -- but your competence at marketing yourself. You will probably not be hired to fill a hole labeled "I need a developer who does RoR…

I'd go a step further than you on #3: forget about job postings altogether. Instead, make a list of companies you'd like to work for and for whom you think you'd made a good fit. Eliminate all game companies from that list. Then, make a project of finding people in that company to contact and ask if you can stop by and talk about how you can help. Then, don't let up. Nobody you'd ever want to work for is going to say…

Out of curiosity, why no game companies?

Re: Ask HN: starting a career in software dev in my thirties, am I nuts?

#48
post #43
post #5

I don't have enough experience to get started, and I can't get started without experience. Horsepuckey. Can you FizzBuzz? If so, you're experienced enough to get a job as a developer. What you need to work on is not your programming ability -- that is what professional experience is for -- but your competence at marketing yourself. You will probably not be hired to fill a hole labeled "I need a developer who does RoR…

I'd go a step further than you on #3: forget about job postings altogether. Instead, make a list of companies you'd like to work for and for whom you think you'd made a good fit. Eliminate all game companies from that list. Then, make a project of finding people in that company to contact and ask if you can stop by and talk about how you can help. Then, don't let up. Nobody you'd ever want to work for is going to say…

This is basically how I got my first internship in college as a freshman with only a year of programming experience. It takes a bit of dedication to get the first gig to build up your resume, but if you just keep following up with the same people hopefully you can get an interview.

Re: Ask HN: starting a career in software dev in my thirties, am I nuts?

#49
#1 most important thing to understand: programming will consume your life, if you let it. And if you want to be good, you need to let it.

#2 most important thing to understand: people-networking is important, though you probably know that by now. The rub is that #1 has a tendency to prevent #2. It's good to work hard and program and make stuff, but don't neglect to tell people about it and find other people who share your interests. Without them, you'll never learn about the good jobs because you'll be lost in the sea of recruiters and contract jobs.

Re: Ask HN: starting a career in software dev in my thirties, am I nuts?

#50
post #47
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd go a step further than you on #3: forget about job postings altogether. Instead, make a list of companies you'd like to work for and for whom you think you'd made a good fit. Eliminate all game companies from that list. Then, make a project of finding people in that company to contact and ask if you can stop by and talk about how you can help. Then, don't let up. Nobody you'd ever want to work for is going to say…

Out of curiosity, why no game companies?

The law of supply and demand.
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