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22 and no life

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Re: 22 and no life

#112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Saving up $5000 is simply not feasible for a lot of people.

For some, yes. A single mom with 3 mouths to feed perhaps. A kid with no real responsibilities? As I see it, he (presuming here, I know) has as much as 100 hours of free time per week. As much as he dislikes home, if you're living there rent free (which is a luxury if you're over 18, IMO) then work is pure gravy. You're not entitled to free time to entertain yourself. If you want it, freaking work for it. Or spend yo…

Thanks for sharing your story. I have massive respect for people like you. Keep going brother.

Re: 22 and no life

#114
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No you can't. 40 * 8/hour = 320 @ 4 weeks (3) = $3,840. How in the world could anyone save $5,000 in a summer when they're not even pulling in that amount? EDIT: Even working 80 per week only brings in $7,680. Factor in bills and you're still not hitting 5k, guy.

Hacker News definitely attracts geniuses these days. You have to work more than 40 hours a week. Edit: What bills does he have? Food is free, because you work in food service. Rent in a place like Yakima is < $400/m. Summer starts in May. Also, after 40 hours a week you get overtime.

One of the problems the poor have is shifting schedules that keep them from working multiple part-time jobs to get to 40 hours a week.

I've never heard of a food server job that hired fulltime workers or allowed those reaching 40 hours to go beyond that.

Re: 22 and no life

#116
post #28

I've been where you are right now. Only I was married with 4 kids and one on the way. No job, No home, No degree, and what looked like No future. I don't know what your exact circumstances are but here is how I went from there to working for Google. 1. I got exposure. I hung out online with open source developers and participated. I did stuff in perl and blogged about it. 2. I did whatever I needed to to survive and…

How does one find an (appropriate) open source project to contribute to, especially as a C#, Asp.Net or Java developer?

I was never really that into the Microsoft world but others have mentioned places to look for OpenSource projects for those platforms.

There is no reason you can't move platforms or languages though. If you know C# or Asp.Net you know enough to get started in ruby, python, perl, or any other language. You don't have to limit yourself in this industry.

Re: 22 and no life

#117
post #55

I know how you feel, I am 19 and I feel like crap, but I am chronically depressed, so I might be in a different position. Did you try seeing if you suffer from depression? I have/had self loathing issues and depression, which lead to procrastination (I wasn't lazy , I would be genuinely busy doing a billion things void of any productive outcome). The procrastination lead to obvious under performance, etc etc. It was…

Something has to replace the pills, so why not exercise? Start running or powerlifting. Get active though. This is coming from a guy who has wicked-bad spells of depression that border on madness. It's scary, but I feel better after identifying what my keystone habits are and then DOING IT: http://zerotosuperhero.com/mindhack/find-your-lifes-last-kno...

See, that's the thing. We live in a pill generation. An era of instant gratification and 3 minute microwave meals. The pill is symbolic of our mass illusion that nothing requires effort anymore. Don't succumb to the lie. Take the time and do the work to take care of yourself

Re: 22 and no life

#118
post #72

I don't have a degree and I consider myself pretty successful. I'm no Zuckerberg but I haven't been unemployed since 18 (I'm 26). And, like others who've posted, I have to beat recruiters off with a stick. There is a lot of work out there if you have a good online presence. Those are my credentials, now here's my advice: build a portfolio. And I don't mean a portfolio site or physical portfolio per se (though that wo…

Udacity is another great online learning tool for your list. It's extremely approachable and I really appreciate the structure of each course.

http://www.udacity.com

Re: 22 and no life

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does one find an (appropriate) open source project to contribute to, especially as a C#, Asp.Net or Java developer?

Your lack of ability to google or search on your own is a bit worrisome, but I spent a few minutes doing your work for you. =) There 18k+ open source repos on github for c#: https://github.com/search?l=C%23&q=c&type=Repositori... There are 44k+ open source repos on github for java: https://github.com/search?l=Java&q=c&type=Repositori... I'm not even gonna bother for Asp.Net. Now, for some real advice. 'Open Source' a…

I think: By saying "appropriate" he wasn't really asking how to find open source projects in his language of choice, but how to know which ones will eventually get him noticed, or how to pick the open source project that seems to have meaning to other people, etc.

It appears that the op may have had a stroke of good luck by picking the perfect OS projects. It would be a bummer to extend yourself in an area that nobody cares about if the whole purpose were to get noticed.

If using Open Source as a self-promotion tool, it's important to choose wisely.

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