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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

#111

Post by sequoia »

edw519 wrote: post #73
j3 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're engineers -- not pretty people. We don't care what your face looks like, but watching you explain who you are and what you're good at can give great insight into your personality. The application is more about whether you feel like a good fit for the team than it is your programming skills. It doesn't mean "do you look good", it doesn't mean "is your English great," and it doesn't mean "Does this look like I 'e…

Thanks for the quick response, j3. I sure didn't mean to be snarky and it looks like you didn't take it that way. I believe you just added more data to my argument. Let me explain... If there's only a 3% chance of getting accepted into something so important and life-changing (for both of us), then as an applicant, I want to make damn sure I put my best foot forward into a process that gives me the best possible chan…

So no videos, no essays, no code ("underwear") reviews; those all just tell how well you "present"... I'm struggling to figure out what you do think a good way to measure your suitability for a programming job is. Just hire you and see how it goes?

I hope this doesn't come off as callous, but I think you need to grow a thicker skin (heyoo!). Like someone said above, you are getting sounding defensive and hurt before anyone has "hurt" you.

Perhaps living social is not looking for a basement dwelling hacker who doesn't feel comfortable on video. In that case, weeding out people who don't feel comfortable presenting themselves is an asset, not a liability. Perhaps they want people with the right motivation and attitude, and then they'll make them programmers (some of them). This seems to be exactly what they want. I think the insistence that you be able to communicate and have the confidence to sell yourself is intentional, not accidental.

Re: Hungry Academy - get paid to learn Ruby

#113

Post by venturebros »

Hmm I have just started working with RoR. Would jump at this but the DC part is turning me away.

I know you guys said you had an office in Seattle any chance of a similar program there?

Edit: And I also would like to add that I wish there were more programs like this. So many companies want to hire elite,rockstar,jedi,ninja,etc programmers and not willing to give people like me with no CS background a chance. I can't even get an entry-level/junior position since they all require a strong skills these days.

Re: Hungry Academy - get paid to learn Ruby

#114

Post by j3 »

drunkenmasta wrote: post #97
rauljara wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you are making a lot of assumptions about what they are going to be using the info for, particularly the video section. They pretty explicitly state they want to hear your communication skills (those matter) / passion (most people would argue that matters too). You go from them telling you that to "So you'll end up choosing the prettiest people..." You also have the "... who present the best and write the pre…

I would argue that the brain processes verbal communication skills and written communication skills in different locations and so, while I may be able to write well, I may come across as Timmy from South Park in front of a camera. In addition, while they are thinking outside the box, maybe they should consider other ways of selection other than the same old stuff like resume. My first impression when looking at the s…

One big motivation for the video is that it's much harder to fake. It's easy to have my friend write some BS essay for me and submit it for a job, it's a lot harder to do it on camera.

Effective development teams are powered by communication in code, writing, and face-to-face. To be a really excellent candidate, we need all three.

If face-to-face is something people feel uncomfortable with, there are still SO MANY great opportunities to be a developer -- they're just not the right fit for our team.

Re: Hungry Academy - get paid to learn Ruby

#115

Post by Mikushi »

j3 wrote: post #10
elomar wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like a great opportunity. Is it open to non-US citizens? :)

Yes! We can work on the visas for exceptional candidates.

This is awesome, more companies need to show this kind of initiative. I'll be applying, we'll see if i qualify as an "exceptional candidate"

Re: Hungry Academy - get paid to learn Ruby

#116

Post by SilasX »

otrofimo wrote: post #101
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?

Sad to hear it was money that kept you out. You couldn't even have paid on the 5-year schedule? I would have lent you the money to cover the first few months (albeit at interest) once I confirmed you were accepted.

I think we'll see more of this general kind of thing in the future, where organizations "cut the fat" out of getting people into software development.

Re: Hungry Academy - get paid to learn Ruby

#117

Post by encoderer »

j3 wrote: post #78
scarmig wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Hungry Academy effectively an internship program that offers a guarantee of some dedicated training time instead of the intern being thrown to the wolves?

I wouldn't say internship, because to me that means "some learning, some stapling / paper folding." Our dream is that this program is "better than college." There are people out there that want to do what we do, we want them, so we need to help them build the skills to do it.

I like this a lot because it respects software engineering as a craft, best taught by craftsmen in a real world environment.

I hope non-engineers that you accept will eventually gain a solid foundation of algorithms, maths, notations, etc. But I've always believed that a setting like the one you seem to have created here is the right alchemy for building successful engineers.

Re: Hungry Academy - get paid to learn Ruby

#118

Post by nassosdim »

j3 wrote: post #10
elomar wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like a great opportunity. Is it open to non-US citizens? :)

Yes! We can work on the visas for exceptional candidates.

After contacting with the HR in the email that you gave me they told me that they don't offer visas for this program. :(

Re: Hungry Academy - get paid to learn Ruby

#119

Post by Kittynana »

j3 wrote: post #77
vaksel wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No it doesn't...you honestly think anyone would record a video off the top of their head? Those answers will be calculated to sound the way you want to hear. "Of course I enjoy working, if I can't get 90 hours of work in, I feel depressed that I'm not living up to my potential...taking days off is also completely unacceptable, since I don't want to let my coworkers down." And getting a feel for a person from a video…

To be honest, if it were up to me I'd take only people who didn't have a programming background. If you look at our community, so many great people don't have the traditional background. Chad was a professional saxophone player. Others studied philosophy, education, economics, or didn't study at all. We're trying to solve the single biggest problem in our industry: talent shortage.If we accept only programmers, then…

I want to thank you for this. I hadn't ever tried programming until I watched some videos for a Stanford Java course a year ago, and I've been working my ass off at it ever since. It turns out this is something I really enjoy and want to continue doing. I'll definitely be applying.

Re: Hungry Academy - get paid to learn Ruby

#120

Post by vaksel »

cjoh wrote: post #92
vaksel wrote: post #45

that application is terrible I can see it being fine as a step 2...but it's way too big as a first step. And you want someone for a job as a programmer...and yet your "filter" for this is essays and videos? Anyone who'd bother to waste a day writing all those essays and making the videos, can learn RoR on their own...especially if they are already a programmer since RoR is not that different from the other languages

I don't work for Living Social, but I think it's a huge risk that they're taking. The form is burdensome because it needs to be. The only people that they should get are people that really want to learn and that's exactly what they'll get here. Remember, the entrepreneurish techie on HackerNews is likely not their audience. The 19 year old fixing Mom's computer who just failed organic chemistry and might not want to…

the 19 year old wouldn't hear about the opportunity in the first place
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