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I'm attending GA's WDI cohort this November - March. I can't yet speak to whether or not its worth the cost; though I can highlight my goals during and afterwar

by d2xdy2 11y ago

I'm attending GA's WDI cohort this November - March. I can't yet speak to whether or not its worth the cost; though I can highlight my goals during and afterward. I've been writing code and researching CS in various capacities since I was about 14 (I'll be 26 in a few weeks). I contribute to FOSS as much as I can, I occasionally push out personal FOSS projects, and occasionally make screencasts / blog posts highlighting things I find interesting or have learned. I get by at the moment doing freelance web dev for agencies in town, but its a dead market, and a lot of places have either gotten very complacent or segregated as far as design and development (we have lots of agencies that can make "pretty" things and lots of agencies that can make very "good" things, but no agencies that have a strong design _and_ development presence). I don't feel like I have an opportunity to advance myself beyond where I'm at. There aren't any start-ups, developers don't talk to each other, and we're being taken over by three-letter-agencies (We're now home to US Cyber Command). At the very least, from my perspective, I make serious improvements / contributions to local companies as a contractor, but get very little recognition / respect from the developers in those companies. Its my goal at GA WDI, to gain better connections with individuals / companies that I want to work with and do interesting things with, and to get better understanding of where I'm actionable (right now I work in a lot of various environments doing a lot of different things; the only time I really get to discover where my interests and my strengths converge is in the evenings and on the weekends). I learned from community college that you typically get out what you put in (at least in my limited experience)-- I'd like to think that if I'm able to put in what I already know and take advantage of an opportunity to learn more and be "in the right place", I'll be able to get a better and more stable job. I hope that makes sense; its been a long day.

EC1 11y ago
Just got to meetups and learn on your own time man. Save yourself a ton of cash too. See if you can mentor/teach/assist there instead of attend as a student, that way you get way more connections, and you don't pay + you still consume course material. I did that, and it was wonderful.
- d2xdy2 11y ago
  I think an opportunity to mentor/teach at a place like GA would be golden, and would probably land me some place I'd actually like to be-- I've just run into so many problems with not having something tangible saying I know what I know and can do what I can do (I've never once had an interview that asked me to share or describe my own code and work, even though I've provided it and asked to talk about it). It could just be isolated instances with the companies I've interviewed with, but its still a problem I've had.) The places I'm interested in working at probably wouldn't care much about me not having a degree in CS, but I would like the benefit of having someone outside of myself and my work stand behind my resume. I'd like to think GA will give me that benefit of the doubt when I go to apply for jobs I really want. I could be mistaken, however.
  - EC1 11y ago
    >The places I'm interested in working at probably wouldn't care much about me not having a degree in CS, but I would like the benefit of having someone outside of myself and my work stand behind my resume. Work remotely for someone, work for some clients. I honestly can't think of a reason to attend GA. It's like the anti hustler attitude. Everything prettily packaged in a nice little box to be "an epic programmer!"
    - d2xdy2 11y ago
      > Work remotely for someone, work for some clients. I do work with clients, every day, often times remotely (my office is at a co-op, almost never on premises). > I honestly can't think of a reason to attend GA. It's like the anti hustler attitude. I can see where you're coming from with that statement. > Everything prettily packaged in a nice little box to be "an epic programmer!" That might represent some people's attitudes on going into and coming out of something like GA; it doesn't represent mine. I tried to convey that in my original reply, but I might not have done as good a job as I had hoped.
      - EC1 11y ago
        Sorry I sounded like a bit of a dick there. >but I would like the benefit of having someone outside of myself and my work stand behind my resume Well it looks like you already solved that then.

by d2xdy2 11y ago

EC1 11y ago

Just got to meetups and learn on your own time man. Save yourself a ton of cash too. See if you can mentor/teach/assist there instead of attend as a student, that way you get way more connections, and you don't pay + you still consume course material. I did that, and it was wonderful.

d2xdy2 11y ago
I think an opportunity to mentor/teach at a place like GA would be golden, and would probably land me some place I'd actually like to be-- I've just run into so many problems with not having something tangible saying I know what I know and can do what I can do (I've never once had an interview that asked me to share or describe my own code and work, even though I've provided it and asked to talk about it). It could just be isolated instances with the companies I've interviewed with, but its still a problem I've had.) The places I'm interested in working at probably wouldn't care much about me not having a degree in CS, but I would like the benefit of having someone outside of myself and my work stand behind my resume. I'd like to think GA will give me that benefit of the doubt when I go to apply for jobs I really want. I could be mistaken, however.
- EC1 11y ago
  >The places I'm interested in working at probably wouldn't care much about me not having a degree in CS, but I would like the benefit of having someone outside of myself and my work stand behind my resume. Work remotely for someone, work for some clients. I honestly can't think of a reason to attend GA. It's like the anti hustler attitude. Everything prettily packaged in a nice little box to be "an epic programmer!"
  - d2xdy2 11y ago
    > Work remotely for someone, work for some clients. I do work with clients, every day, often times remotely (my office is at a co-op, almost never on premises). > I honestly can't think of a reason to attend GA. It's like the anti hustler attitude. I can see where you're coming from with that statement. > Everything prettily packaged in a nice little box to be "an epic programmer!" That might represent some people's attitudes on going into and coming out of something like GA; it doesn't represent mine. I tried to convey that in my original reply, but I might not have done as good a job as I had hoped.
    - EC1 11y ago
      Sorry I sounded like a bit of a dick there. >but I would like the benefit of having someone outside of myself and my work stand behind my resume Well it looks like you already solved that then.