Ask HN: How does a hobby programmer get hired?

I've been tinkering with code since a young age and I like thinking my way through problems and understanding the way computers work, but I've never had a programming job. For the longest time, I went in other directions even though I enjoy it a lot, because I was told that I shouldn't spend my life in front of a computer. It turns out that I do that anyway, just not being paid for it.

Without any programming jobs on my CV, what is a good way to penetrate into the market? I've had job interviews where I did a bunch of coding challenges (and passed), but didn't get accepted because of lack of experience. I considered that maybe I need to do a bootcamp as an initial way to back my skills up.

I found a local placing hiring Ruby developers, and applied. They had a take home project, so I went to Borders and bought Hartl's Rails book and ended up getting hired.

I had used a few other languages before but hadn't done much in the way of web stuff (this was almost 15 years ago)

I'd say try to find places that are looking for people that know things that you've been playing around with. Bring code to show them and be prepared to demonstrate what you know but don't pretend to know anything you don't.

Good luck!

Two ways in I have witnessed:

1) Ship something. "App Stores" make that easy. Interviewer can easily download your app(s) and have plenty of material to ask you about during the interview.

2) Get hired into "QA" — preferably for a position that allows you to write (code) tests. Many of our "testers" where I worked moved into engineering when they were seen as willing and able to make the move.

This was me years ago. The short answer is: contract work. Consulting or freelance. This is the way to get experience without having to struggle with finding a salaried position.

How do you find opportunities?

Go to LinkedIn, search for staffing companies, and message their recruiters letting them know you are available. They will ask for a resume. However, a contractors/consultant resume is different than a salaried resume. You are open to include projects you’ve worked on in detail without them being part of a “job”.

Do you have a portfolio? If not, a small simple one works.

Bootcamps won’t help.

Feel free to email me. Happy to support you through the process.

The same way everyone else does: have a compelling offer (towards the people that have the vacancy). Sometimes your offer can only be compelling if you pass some gates like having a certification or having studied a specific subject etc. If those were the types of jobs you'd like to have, then getting hired means getting a certification/diploma.

The other way around applies too: if a job simply needs you to show them that you can do the work, a portfolio can be enough, just like getting a contract job with a supplier can be (technically that'd be like a portfolio with internal stuff they already know about).

For jobs where you primarily need to be able to do the work:

  - Showing off technical skills in various ways and shapes
  - Showing off interpersonal skills in various ways and shapes
  - Build up experience in non-hiring areas (communities, FOSS, contract work)

That last bit can be hard since contract work usually doesn't allow you to talk about what you did in detail.