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Hungry Academy - get paid to learn Ruby

hungryacademy.com

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Re: Hungry Academy - get paid to learn Ruby

#101

Post by otrofimo »

SilasX wrote: post #55

This is similar to another Ruby development training opportunity posted last month, Dev Bootcamp http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3267133 http://devbootcamp.com Summary of differences I see so far are that Hungry Academy: - has a different tuition sign (they pay you rather than you pay them). - is for one employer rather than whoever they can connect you with. - is in DC rather than the Bay Area. - is 5 months rat…

SilasX, it would be great to hear your comments of this bootcamp.

These programs are awesome. I got accepted to devbootcamp but because I just moved out to SF(OCT) I don't have enough funds to do it in Feb-Mar(hopefully this summer). The Hungry Academy is an awesome idea which I would totally do if it wasn't in DC. Why are more companies not doing something similar?

Re: Hungry Academy - get paid to learn Ruby

#102

Post by replicatorblog »

j3 wrote: post #93
replicatorblog wrote: post #85

j3, This is a bit of an aside, but who produced your video? It is very well shot, In-house or a production agency?

The LivingSocial in house team knocked it out in a couple hours -- they're crazy good. I couldn't believe we used "found light" in a hallway and had respectable results.

Yeah, the lighting was what struck me. My kudos to your video team!

Re: Hungry Academy - get paid to learn Ruby

#103

Post by thebrokencube »

j3 wrote: post #9
sdoering wrote: post #6

Is it just me, or is it just the cultural difference (I am from germany, where we - god be blessed - have laws against these kind of hours)- but if I am expected to work 70h+/week in this thing, I belive, the same would be expected if anyone gets that job. Well done. slavery seems back at last.

That's fair. We wanted to make sure people know this isn't just "show up at 9, leave at 5." There are significant outside of the workday tasks like hacking on projects, reading books, meeting with colleagues, and teaching Ruby to kids. But I'm not chaining anyone to a desk for 70 hours because _I_ don't want to live that way, either.

Wait, you'd get to teach Ruby to kids? I'll be honest, all of the things for the program sound really awesome, but this is by far the most appealing point for me. I remember hearing a saying/quote which went along the lines of "if you can't explain something to someone else, then you don't really know the material", and I tend to agree with this sentiment for the most part.

I think this is a great opportunity you guys are providing for the community, and I look forward to applying to the program.

Re: Hungry Academy - get paid to learn Ruby

#105

Post by j3 »

idleworx wrote: post #100

Great idea. It seems that the program is more targeted to people with little programming experience/fresh grads/etc? (but I may be wrong since I skimmed through the initial post). I was wondering if you have or are planning similar programs/incentives for developers with significant prior experience (eg 5+ years of development) but not in the ruby/rails world who are interested in moving towards ruby/rails developmen…

I expect there will be many "technology switcher" applicants and am working to have diverse skill sets represented -- including those of us who've been developing for awhile.

Re: Hungry Academy - get paid to learn Ruby

#106

Post by pixeloution »

j3 wrote: post #64
idiot900 wrote: post #39

"Not a programmer? Apply." How do you expect to turn someone into a decent programmer in five months when they are starting from scratch?

I've been teaching programming for eight years now, and I'd say "What we do isn't that hard." If we were writing 3D game engines, yes we'd need insane levels of math, theory, etc. But writing web applications is mostly about following smart patterns, getting something done, done quickly, then improving the hotspots that need it. I can teach you to do that in five months, no problem. Then it just takes a lifetime of p…

j3 is right -- developing web apps, 95% of the time, is a trade and not something that requires a four year CS degree. I've taken several people from scratch and taught them enough to be useful to me over a 4-5 month period; years later some of them are holding down very highly paid web development jobs.

Re: Hungry Academy - get paid to learn Ruby

#107

Post by j3 »

C_ wrote: post #98

Just wondering, are opportunities like this for college grads fairly common? Either way, I love the idea.

I don't think they're common, at least not in the dev world. One of my training clients runs a six month "get familiar with the company" program where new hires do different jobs -- it's the same spirit but totally different intensity. Theirs is like "hey, it's better than an intership" and ours is like "this is more valuable than college. Work hard, learn hard."

Re: Hungry Academy - get paid to learn Ruby

#108

Post by phaus »

j3 wrote: post #81
yawn wrote: post #74

This sounds like a great opportunity--for those of us without mortgages, families and golden handcuff salaries. If I were younger or debt-free, you could see what someone who's hungry can accomplish.

As a mortgage man and father of two, I totally agree. If you have ideas on how we can make this work for people in your position, please let me know. I thought about it being similar to one spouse working crazy hard while the second goes to law school for the eventual payoff future. Five months is a lot easier than three years, especially thinking about the $150K you'd owe. So it's not easy, but I think it will be po…

I'm in a similar situation, but I live in the D.C. area. Even though things would probably be tough, I plan to apply as soon as I get back home to my computer.

Re: Hungry Academy - get paid to learn Ruby

#109

Post by doktrin »

idleworx wrote: post #100

Great idea. It seems that the program is more targeted to people with little programming experience/fresh grads/etc? (but I may be wrong since I skimmed through the initial post). I was wondering if you have or are planning similar programs/incentives for developers with significant prior experience (eg 5+ years of development) but not in the ruby/rails world who are interested in moving towards ruby/rails developmen…

Do developers with 5+ years of professional experience really need a program like this to become proficient with RoR?

This is a genuine question and not a snide remark.

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