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Ask HN: Python Enthusiast – How to get my foot through the door?

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Re: Ask HN: Python Enthusiast – How to get my foot through the door?

#51

Post by joshuaFW »

Walkman wrote: post #26

I did open source, put everything up to GitHub, participated in public discussions and I never applied for a job (except for one), they found me. You should build something biggish in a topic you love and make it open source. It doesn't matter what it is. I did this for example: https://github.com/pokerregion/poker Also, filling out your LinkedIn profile can help.

Seconding this. We find our functional guys through their commits and public repos. Just the bare bones on your LinkedIn helps. Even adding related frameworks, in addition to the languages, makes you much more findable. [dropwizard + Scala etc]

Re: Ask HN: Python Enthusiast – How to get my foot through the door?

#52

Post by joshuaFW »

joeld42 wrote: post #45

I got my first Python job by going to a user group meeting where there was an interesting presentation, and afterwards introducing myself to the speaker and handing him a resume. As far as portfolio, I'm sure you can find someone in your friends or networks that would love for you to build a small website for them, or move their current site to Flask. If you don't know anyone looking for a site, approach local non-pr…

Mockups into prototypes is a solid suggestion

Re: Ask HN: Python Enthusiast – How to get my foot through the door?

#53

Post by phantom_oracle »

I disagree with some of the suggestions of "building up a github profile".

There is a catch-22 there, in that you will only get found "per-chance" or "if someone is actually looking".

You can build sites but you don't need to open-source them either.

Build up a portfolio of legitimate work by taking scraps is the best way and then advertise yourself far and wide with your portfolio of legitimate work.

Hiring a code-monkey is easy and plenty of $5 workers in India can probably churn out code. Being a professional and delivering high-quality work is how you will stand out and warrant a $40-$50 per-hour rate

It looks like you're American, so finding work as a contractor won't be that tough for you.

I'd aim for mid-size non-tech companies that need processes automated. Do great work for them and referrals will become your prime marketing go-to.

[1] I did all that github bullshit myself and

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