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How To Live The New American Dream

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Re: How To Live The New American Dream

#11

Post by swombat »

ericgibbons1 wrote: post #6
jzwinck wrote: post #4

Is this some sort of ad for Codecademy? It seems like it, and not a very good one at that. The sidebar says "Codecademy can teach you the skills you need to get a solid, well-paying technical job." The article says "And after 800 hours of hard work, Liz has just been hired full-time as an Administrative Coordinator at the University of Washington, where the skills she honed in Codecademy will be central to her succes…

So I actually don't work for Codecademy, and Liz's job allows her to support her husband and son. She's not an office clerk, and her job does in fact mostly rest on her technical ability with Java and PHP. They hired her because she was the most skilled person. So ... yeah.

In 8 paragraphs, you repeat "Codecademy" 13 times... and once more in the sidebar.

This would have made, perhaps, a decent article about the benefits of sticking to it and persevering in teaching yourself stuff, but the over-emphasis on Codecademy takes away from it.

Re: How To Live The New American Dream

#12

Post by ericgibbons1 »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #9
ericgibbons1 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So I actually don't work for Codecademy, and Liz's job allows her to support her husband and son. She's not an office clerk, and her job does in fact mostly rest on her technical ability with Java and PHP. They hired her because she was the most skilled person. So ... yeah.

You don't work for Codecademy , you were just found the parent comment so compelling you had to sign up a HN account just to reply to it?

@jiggy2011 I wrote the piece because I legitimately find Codecademy admirable. I've never met the founders, I don't know them in any way. It's just a service that helps people for free that I find to be fantastic. Not sure what's so hard to believe about that.

Re: How To Live The New American Dream

#13

Post by up_and_up »

> Lost amidst the non-stop chatter of tech rockstars and billionaire twentysomethings is the fact that not all technical jobs require in-depth knowledge of complex algorithms, machine learning, and whatever new programming language that’s currently trending on Hacker News. A lot of them simply require hard work, patience, an easy facility with certain core languages, and close attention to detail.

This is a great point. Most companies dont use bleeding edge tech nor need complicated algos. Instead they use run of the mill technologies and need solid, dependable workers that deliver value and will stick around for more than 6-12. months.

Re: How To Live The New American Dream

#14

Post by JonnieCache »

fmstephe wrote: post #5

Is this really the new American Dream? "work as hard as you possibly can, and you will be able to raise a family" That is an enormous come down.

That's always been the old one apparently. And she thinks it's more of a promise, although tbh it sounds a bit like a warning.

Meanwhile in europe they eat chocolate for breakfast and sleep in the afternoon.

Re: How To Live The New American Dream

#15

Post by kailuowang »

I do feel the fact that human society relies more and more on software and digital assets could make the labor market a fairer one.

First, anyone can learn almost all the skills he need from online (especially with the free online open course programes provided by reputable universities). Then she can prove her capability by writing a small software and showing it to potential employers.

So if you like being a software developer, there is very little excuse not being a successful one. You can say that living the American dream is almost guaranteed.

Re: How To Live The New American Dream

#16

Post by up_and_up »

fmstephe wrote: post #5

Is this really the new American Dream? "work as hard as you possibly can, and you will be able to raise a family" That is an enormous come down.

As an a startup engineer with 3 kids, its more like:

"Want a family in addition to work demands? Get ready to work as hard as you possibly can."

Re: How To Live The New American Dream

#17

Post by jiggy2011 »

ericgibbons1 wrote: post #12
jiggy2011 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't work for Codecademy , you were just found the parent comment so compelling you had to sign up a HN account just to reply to it?

@jiggy2011 I wrote the piece because I legitimately find Codecademy admirable. I've never met the founders, I don't know them in any way. It's just a service that helps people for free that I find to be fantastic. Not sure what's so hard to believe about that.

I'm guessing you haven't met the founders of Venmo , Timbre or any of the other companies you have written gushing articles about either.
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