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Most of the time, you don’t really need another MOOC

eugeneyan.com

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Re: Most of the time, you don’t really need another MOOC

#111

Post by catacombs »

compacct27 wrote: post #79
squeaky-clean wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like this idea, obviously I couldn't afford it for every thing I want to learn, but there are some topics where I can't really find quality tutorials/MOOCs/whatever and would be willing to pay to learn. How would one go about doing this? Was that person listing their mentoring services somewhere, or did you contact them directly?

I made a post on the C++ subreddit (r/cpp) asking for a mentor. Talked about the project and said I was willing to pay. Some people pointed me towards others (those people were too busy), but one guy reached out and had an online presence I could check out before deciding. The mods removed my post btw :/ apparently it was against the subreddit rules to ask for help. Found the guy before they could remove my post thou…

> it was against the subreddit rules to ask for help.

Yes, as it says in the /r/cpp sidebar. You needed to post your request for help in /r/cpp_questions/

Re: Most of the time, you don’t really need another MOOC

#112

Post by bdcravens »

loosetypes wrote: post #92
bdcravens wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Codementor.io is good for this. (most there are in the $60-100/hour range, and you can work in as small as 15 minute intervals)

Oh wow, this could be interesting for discussing system architecture or database schema designs before committing a large chunk of time to an implementating a solo project. If it’s something you’ll spend a significant amount of time building that could be well worth the price.

Definitely. People also use it to learn a new skill, for help with parts of a task that they aren't an expert in, etc. (I do a lot of sessions there on the mentor side)

Re: Most of the time, you don’t really need another MOOC

#113

Post by louhike »

bilbo0s wrote: post #89
UncleOxidant wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> $150/hr in 10 hour chunks and get the most in-depth insight into what I'm doing Yeah, it's... an option, I guess, if you've got the dough. Many of us don't have that kind of budget so we look for some of those experts who have blogs and youtube channels.

I hesitate to throw this out here, because it goes against the "do it as a business" ethos here on HN. However, if you are really interested in some topic, why not trade your knowledge for the knowledge you seek? In centuries past, if there were a mathematician who wanted to know more about botany, it was the most normal thing in the world for him to contact a botanist interested in math and trade the knowledge. This…

Ivan Illich suggested having a system of credits for learning in his book Deschooling Society. Everybody would have a basic amount of credits to ask for help for his self-education. This amount will be more higher if you have a less privileged background. If you want more credits, you will have to gain them by educating other people.

Re: Most of the time, you don’t really need another MOOC

#114

Post by denver111797 »

Depends on your learning style. Simple, free online tutorials followed by years on the job practice with real data is what got me into Data Science/ML from scratch, ultimately running a ML team at a unicorn.

After reading thousands of Data Science/ML resumes and doing a lot of hiring, I find too many MOOCs to be a negative. They may be good for learning, but padding them on a resume isn't particularly valuable.

Re: Most of the time, you don’t really need another MOOC

#115

Post by virtualmachine7 »

catacombs wrote: post #110
compacct27 wrote: post #53

Anyone who's professionally coding right now has one super-effective option that's rarely talked about: Hire someone knowledgeable to walk you through what you're learning. I've been doing a heavy C++ project, and as a web developer, I was basically a walking footgun. I realized this early on, hired a total expert in the field (the guy has contributed to C++ standards committees before), and am Loving how smoothly th…

> I pay the guy $150/hr in 10 hour chunks $1,500 seems....excessive.

It might not be worth it for you, but it's definitely not greedy to charge that much. Always remember that your freelance rate should be double your full time rate (maybe more) so really it's like a $75/h job or $135k/y equivalent, and then there is the fragmentation of time mentioned, and the fact you have to mentor in real time (unlike coding you can wake up at 4am and get a bit done).

Therefore I think it's a reasonable price to charge. Whether it is worth $150/h to you (or your employer) I guess depends on the business. But if your company has say never used mongodb before (for example), it's not much to pay to get someone with all the battle experience to come in and get people up to speed rather than say have production outages as people didn't know what they were doing, or alternatively hiring someone full time at a cost of $200k just for their mongo expertise.

Re: Most of the time, you don’t really need another MOOC

#116

Post by catacombs »

virtualmachine7 wrote: post #115
catacombs wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I pay the guy $150/hr in 10 hour chunks $1,500 seems....excessive.

It might not be worth it for you, but it's definitely not greedy to charge that much. Always remember that your freelance rate should be double your full time rate (maybe more) so really it's like a $75/h job or $135k/y equivalent, and then there is the fragmentation of time mentioned, and the fact you have to mentor in real time (unlike coding you can wake up at 4am and get a bit done). Therefore I think it's a reas…

> Always remember that your freelance rate should be double your full time rate

Can you elaborate on this? I had always wondered what a baseline rate should be if one goes freelance.

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