Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: How does a hobby programmer get hired?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 259 posts

Re: Ask HN: How does a hobby programmer get hired?

#81

Post by irjustin »

There's a lot of good advice here, but to add - this is a very tough job market and probably will be for the next year.

Freelancing is another entry point and it'll teach you a lot about shipping features/products. Take small jobs initially and scale outwards. Obviously you can't charge top dollar but I recommend listing your hourly rate at slightly below market and then during the negotiation giving a discount to try and seal the deal.

If you find yourself being forced to do very low priced/almost-free work, keep the projects really small to limit being exploited but still being able to build your initial resume.

Re: Ask HN: How does a hobby programmer get hired?

#83

Post by spacemadness »

yellow_lead wrote: post #47
tejohnso wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Passing a coding challenge is easy Something must be wrong with me then because I've been programming for decades in multiple areas productively, but successfully completing three leetcode medium/hard within 45 minutes while also talking through my thought process is not something I'd call easy. > so don't focus on them at all I'd suggest most people aren't going to get past the first level if they follow this advi…

I think three in 45 mins is a bit hyperbole. Interviewing at Google I got 45 mins for each. At Amazon I got an hour for each. (Both mediums)

Yes, most places it’ll be one question with follow ons related to it if you do well.

Re: Ask HN: How does a hobby programmer get hired?

#85

Post by turdprincess »

yellow_lead wrote: post #47
tejohnso wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Passing a coding challenge is easy Something must be wrong with me then because I've been programming for decades in multiple areas productively, but successfully completing three leetcode medium/hard within 45 minutes while also talking through my thought process is not something I'd call easy. > so don't focus on them at all I'd suggest most people aren't going to get past the first level if they follow this advi…

I think three in 45 mins is a bit hyperbole. Interviewing at Google I got 45 mins for each. At Amazon I got an hour for each. (Both mediums)

Reportedly Facebook asks two mediums in 45 minutes.

Re: Ask HN: How does a hobby programmer get hired?

#86

Post by rubberband »

Late to the party, but maybe I can help. I've helped in the hiring of many developers.

(grain of salt, just my opinion, etc...)

* Don't do bootcamps. It's a red flag for me. This can be said for any 100% online college. (again, I'm just being honest). Community colleges are fine.

* You having a Github that you've committed stuff to often-ish will most interest me. I don't give a crud if you contribute to open source. But just the fact that you're coding is what I care about. Yes, I will snoop around and see how good it is. No, I won't care if your code sucks. (side note: if your code is actually good, than that's better than a four-year degree at a college I've heard of imo)

* Don't get discouraged. I remember I searched for a programming job for two years before I got hired. The 70-ish times I was told "no" didn't matter after the one "yes".

* Be honest about where you are at (not programming professionally). I've always been open to hiring people outside the industry for entry-level programming jobs.

* Coding challenges are beyond useless to me. I will concede that they are valuable to some.

Hope that helped some. 80% of the advice given here is helpful as well.

Good luck. Please don't get discouraged <3.

Re: Ask HN: How does a hobby programmer get hired?

#88

Post by warent »

rubberband wrote: post #86

Late to the party, but maybe I can help. I've helped in the hiring of many developers. (grain of salt, just my opinion, etc...) * Don't do bootcamps. It's a red flag for me. This can be said for any 100% online college. (again, I'm just being honest). Community colleges are fine. * You having a Github that you've committed stuff to often-ish will most interest me. I don't give a crud if you contribute to open source.…

I've been a hiring manager for a couple of years now, and have nearly 10 yrs professional dev experience in the industry.

Bootcamps are a red flag for you? What? Do you have any rationale for that? Makes zero sense to me. If someone has done a bootcamp, that's a big plus. Online college is neutral.

The rest I agree with.

Re: Ask HN: How does a hobby programmer get hired?

#89

Post by hahamrfunnyguy »

I faced the same problem breaking into the job market right after the early 2000's .COM bust. I didn't get any calls back for full-time opportunities. Even entry level ones.

What I did find was available were freelance gigs. I found these on job boards and started to build out my experience with individual projects. I also went to networking events and ended up getting a few jobs this way as well. I also did some free work for non-profits to round out my experience. I did this freelance work while I was in school and for about a year and a half after I graduated.

It took hundreds and hundreds of hours and hundreds of inquiries to get my first few jobs. It's a numbers game, but you still need to be competent and confident. After my first few freelance gigs I was "experienced" and was able to fill up my resume with the projects I worked on. I did good work so my clients introduced me to their friends, customers and clients and I got more work. One of my clients extended a full time offer to me, so that was my first FT job out of school.

Putting on my hiring manager hat for a moment, I really don't want to hire someone with no experience unless they are exceptional. Contributing to an open-source project would count as experience, but I would prefer experience in a business setting. Personally, I don't care as much about a degree.

To land your first freelance gig, I 2nd the advice about contributing to an open-source project, setting up a website portfolio and having business cards printed. You're trying to show your competency.

Re: Ask HN: How does a hobby programmer get hired?

#90

Post by pizza234 »

wturner wrote: post #51

If you can pass employer coding challenges as easily as you say, the rest is low hanging fruit. It’s hard for me to imagine what the problem is on your end. I have the complete inverse problem. Here’s what I would do: Make up a name for your own personal company and get a matching domain. Make a basic website with your domain. Under the resume/CV entry for this make-believe-company write that you perform contract wor…

Not sure this is an effective strategy (but who knows, it may work in some cases).

As a dev who's been on the hiring side, it's very easy to spot people who adopt this strategy (where devs even define themselves as CEOs/CTOs... of fictitious companies), and for me it's a yellow flag.

I personally prefer somebody who's very explicit (that is, looking for a junior position), but has considerable projects to showcase.

Post reply on HN