5 ms·

I don't have an answer to your question. I am suspicious that you have zero measurable experience. Are you sure? You are familiar with multiple web stacks, but

• derefr 16y ago
  > You are familiar with multiple web stacks, but don't have a single website you can point people to? Only my own homepage, which isn't proof of anything at all, since it's about as visibly complex as an FTP directory (despite doing some neat things with Heroku, Sinatra, and a makeshift Dropbox API underneath.) It used to be a byzantine mess with its own forums and wiki and project hosting—and utterly no reason for anyone to use any of it, but for the fact that I wanted to have those things, and so I made them. Now it's just pages. I've built web-apps as personal projects, but have long taken them all down or thrown them out due to loss of momentum (I had no users, ergo no one cared, ergo no reason to develop in any particular direction...) The few that I've held onto, I would never want to be publicly viewable, as they have absolutely horrible graphic design (by me, who is most definitely not a designer.) > You were a sysadmin for years and don't have a reference? I have sysadminning skills—but I was never a sysadmin (except for a non-profit community center, in a volunteer capacity, as an unofficial side-job to the normal duties of tutoring old folks in Internet skills, and which shut down soon after I left....) I read articles and books about it, I download and figure out how to use $20k/seat software that is utterly useless on the single computer I install it onto, I figure out solutions to problems posted online by people who seemingly have 100x the experience I do, I tinker with machines and networks that aren't my own... but no one's ever paid me for doing any of that. I see it as a hobby. > You have zero contributions open source projects (others or your own)? Yup, absolutely nothing. I probably have twenty or thirty things I could declare open-source, but none of which I'm proud of—in fact, the amount of technical debt in each is enough to make me ashamed that they have my name on them (though I doubt others would see it that way—I'm somewhere between perfectionism and extreme social anxiety when it comes to work done as anything other than a direct request.) --- An aside: Now, I'm not saying that, with a year or so of work, I couldn't build a really damn awesome portfolio, something I could be proud of and that would show off every one of my skills. But is that what I'm supposed to do? Is that better than just working my way up from an entry-level job, pretending I have no skills? I honestly have no idea; that's what I've been doing up until now. I should mention that currently, I'm unemployed, and very quickly running out of money. Obviously, I don't have a year to put in right at the moment, even though I do have the skills right now :) I ask my parents what to do, and they tell me to get a job for minimum wage in a grocery store. They're simply happy that I'll be able to make $50k/yr once I graduate (they've made that much, combined, for their entire lives.) In school, every class I'm allowed to register for, I pass without having to learn anything; and all the classes I'm interested in, I've learned by the time I qualify for them. Basically, I'm coasting, and I've gotten really good at it. I don't have any mentors or role-models to pull me forward, so I just drift. --- Sorry, that became more therapeutic than technical near the end—but the answer is yes: right now, I'm quite sure that I have no proof of anything.
  • mehtastic 16y ago
    For what it's worth, having single server sysadmin skills is not the same thing as actually being a sysadmin. It might be enough to hire you as a junior admin, but certainly nothing more. As for the web-dev skills, that's a fixable problem with a relatively small level of effort. If you started using your free time to start shitting out web applications with small, well-defined scopes, you'd have a portfolio in no time flat. It wouldn't take a year. If you need them shined up, maybe you can try to meet a graphic designer who needs a portfolio as well, and work together to create a showcase for your skills. If your classes don't challenge you, perhaps you're taking the wrong classes. This might be something that fixes itself as you get further into your degree, or maybe you want to consider getting a degree in something where you're currently weaker. No matter what though, and this is going to sound harsh, you probably aren't nearly as great as you think you are. Nothing personal there, it's just that it's really, really hard to get great at something without spending a decade doing it full-time.
  • alexwyser 16y ago
    Hi. I am a freelance web designer, and I am looking for a web developer to partner with. You will need to create websites and web apps for local clients, which will give you the experience and the references. At the same time you'll be able to make some money. And the flexible hours you get as a freelancer means it wont interfere with you studies like a regular job might. If you are interested, email me at alexwyser@gmail.com
  • jackolas 16y ago
    You really should consider releasing your work. It's a great motivator to do more and release often.