I have a degree in social sciences and after several years of unfullfilling employment at various jobs I started learning some programming and found I really enjoyed it. I taught myself some basic python and django and have been getting some freelance work to pay the bills however I would much rather get a full time programmer job. I have been applying but have not been having any success. I have a github account and developed a site however I do not seem to be gaining any traction. What technologies/skillset should I focus on to get an entry level job? What is the best way to demonstrate proficiency in a technology? Any help would be much appreciated.
Best approach for self-taught developer looking for job?
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Re: Best approach for self-taught developer looking for job?
#2I was in the same boat. I graduated from a liberal arts college with a degree that no one has ever asked about. After lots of non-profit work after school I was tasked with 'updating the website' one day. Cut to 3 years and $100+ in library fines later and I've been the lead developer on Fortune 50 websites and now work for for a 'rent a Rails shop' company. Here's the advice:
Learn how to interview well. Knowing what github is, having actually launched a site, and wrangling some freelance work together puts you ahead of 90% of the people I worked with at my Big Co. job, you just need to be able to prove it and convince people of it. The competition for most positions consists of bored CS grads from Java schools who never learned how to use version control and for whom programming is just a job. You have passion it appears, and that can't be overrated.
I was willing to be aggressive with my first interview, noting that I would be able to accept a lower-than-market rate if they would do a salary review shortly after I started. Not everyone is in the position to do so, but I took a 'whatever it takes' attitude to get started, with the confidence in myself that once people saw how effective I could be, things would get better. Programming is as close to a meritocratic profession as exists, so get in a position to prove yourself.
Re: Best approach for self-taught developer looking for job?
#3I was in the same boat. I graduated from a liberal arts college with a degree that no one has ever asked about. After lots of non-profit work after school I was tasked with 'updating the website' one day. Cut to 3 years and $100+ in library fines later and I've been the lead developer on Fortune 50 websites and now work for for a 'rent a Rails shop' company. Here's the advice: Learn how to interview well. Knowing wha…
Thanks for the reply, always nice to hear about liberal arts majors that have walked the road ahead of me. I think I need to improve on the confidence as I feel less sure of myself now than I did six months ago, something of a more you learn less you know scenario. I do have a ton of confidence in my abilities to get a job done however so maybe I should tap that part of my psyche during interviews.
Re: Best approach for self-taught developer looking for job?
#4Assuming that this project on GitHub is yours https://github.com/cirsteve/courseslate and you show it to potential employers, I would recommend you to learn pip/virtualenv, read about django best practices,
(http://lincolnloop.com/django-best-practices/)
Also I would recommend to cleanup your repository from files that are not completely necessary (varios .tar.gz files, .ssh folder, .bash_history, etc.) Those things give you away as a beginner.
Re: Best approach for self-taught developer looking for job?
#5Go to conferences and meet people! Make a network in your city/closest metro area and use it.
Having a github is a great start, that's one thing I want to see before I bring you in for an interview. andrew_k has good advice as well.
Re: Best approach for self-taught developer looking for job?
#6Assuming that this project on GitHub is yours https://github.com/cirsteve/courseslate and you show it to potential employers, I would recommend you to learn pip/virtualenv, read about django best practices, ( http://lincolnloop.com/django-best-practices/ ) Also I would recommend to cleanup your repository from files that are not completely necessary (varios .tar.gz files, .ssh folder, .bash_history, etc.) Those thing…
Thanks Andrew, virtualenv is next on my list as my system is starting to get mucked up with different packages and you are absolutely right that I need to clean everything up. Thanks for the input.
Re: Best approach for self-taught developer looking for job?
#7[deleted]
Re: Best approach for self-taught developer looking for job?
#8Where are you geographically located now? From your prior comments, I've seen NY and SFO.
Re: Best approach for self-taught developer looking for job?
#9Where are you geographically located now? From your prior comments, I've seen NY and SFO.
Thats where I spend most of my time. NY right now for the holidays.
Re: Best approach for self-taught developer looking for job?
#10Help us build the Permabank project for #occupywallstreet! https://github.com/FLOSolutions/permabank
It's a Django gifting platform that will be pretty well-trafficked once we launch it in a couple weeks, that we hope to turn into a full-blown alternative economy platform one day soon. We could use dev help and have lots of people down here who could offer pointers for dev job opportunities to good coders. We're on irc.freenode.net #nycga-iwg. Best of luck!