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Ask HN: How to get web development career on track from being homeless?

• shams93 8y ago
  I would start off looking at things to do with the mozilla project, even if you don't do c++ there are a lot of things to work on with them, its going to start improving your ranking on github. You also want to make sure you're on linkedin even if you're going for your first job linkedin is a good way to connect with recruiters.
• sincerely 8y ago
  Just to be clear, you are looking for jobs outside of Craigslist right?
  • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
    Yes, I am looking many places.
• dharness 8y ago
  You could apply to recurse: https://www.recurse.com/ https://www.recurse.com/ and use that time to learn react You could look for contract work to rebuild your skills
• pytyper2 8y ago
  Accept the senior level gig if you get an offer, even if they fire you you will get a few months of paychecks and your toes back in the water. Don't tell anyone you are homeless.
• dylanhassinger 8y ago
  build a portfolio microsite using React. Go to meetups. hand out resumes. repeat.
• spraveenitpro 8y ago
  Learn React and work on some applications for portfolio. This is important, watch https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454921/?ref_=nv_sr_1 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454921/?ref_=nv_sr_1
  • crawf 8y ago
    What is important, learning React or watching the film? Also, what is in the film that makes it important (if it is)?
    • nobody271 8y ago
      It's a film about a homeless guy who worked really hard and made it as a stock trader. ...It is not like your life at all. Get back to work, lol.
      • paulcarroty 8y ago
        Agree, this movie is GREAT for this case. 100k for motivation.
• Hadock 8y ago
  Make a GitHub profile and set it up as a portfolio, just make something beautiful and arranged so your new potential job may be waiting for you!
• Theodores 8y ago
  Maybe don't work for The Man. It is no easy ride and ten years experience counts for nothing in a world that prefers inexperience and youth to seasoned ability. You could end up working yourself very hard just to pay rent with all your time taken and nothing to show for it. Consider using the skills you do have to solve a real world problem, provide a service that people do want and create something new. You can do this with PHP, Ubuntu loaded onto the laptop and Apache running on localhost. With progressive web apps your legacy PHP code with a bit of Google demo code could pass as a reasonable app. But what to write in a world where everything has been written already? Why write yet another Facebook with deluded dreams that it is to take on the world with 4 billion subscribers before teatime? This is where you have to be you. Maybe in your recent healthcare there has been a problem whereby the advice you have needed has not been so easy for healthcare practitioners to get to you. Perhaps this could be solved with regular emails and an app, neat usable templates so that the patient can provide the required feedback so the doctors know if progress (or lack of) can be put down to any identifiable factor, e.g. not doing the exercises, taking the pills or eating the right food. If you find a solution that works for you and people like you in the medical practice that you have been processed by then maybe there can be a proper trial in this mystery patient communication app that keeps people and their recovery on track. Maybe this app that has not been written yet has not been written yet as the people in big pharma don't understand the problem space, the patient perspective and the medical practice perspective. Go joint venture with a doctor who wants to scratch the same itch as you do, a doctor with a thousand other patients in the same boat, maybe make the thing a paid for service, perhaps based on a kind of 'dollar shave' model where what is being sent out in the post is not a medicine but maybe an applicator that costs pennies, a test kit that can be done at home, whatever it may be. But then make the product not whatever gets sent out in the post, make it so that Mr Doctor is more Football Coach, giving pertinent advice in a email type of way, virtualised and sent out to help however many patients on to the next step of their recovery. Maybe tailor this to different profiles - kids, mid life crisis folk, pregnant mums, the elderly, whomever is a sub-target demographic. Make the product not the bits of plastic that get sent in the post but a wider service that includes the emails. Heck, you could even run such a thing for smoking cessation, giving the support and patches needed to get people through it 'dollar shave club' style, where people ultimately end up paying for the support not the patches. Most of your code could be 'if statements' and beautiful prose, words tightened and given UX goodness in a way your doctor partner could not do. Make the consent form like a cookie notice, make payment easy with the new payments API. Get the doctor to get the medical practice on board, providing support for forming a legit company, legal advice and accounting service during the 'trial period'. You might have to dumpster dive and put up with the sheltered accomodation for six months to get such a thing together, plus you might only have five customers on day one, six months down the line. But put incentives as per affiliate marketing to the thing, make it white-labelable and get every medical practice in the land to want to take up whatever this mystery service is to be based on the solid results of your initial trial. Make your design for the project be about solving the itch that has led you to suffer three years of whatever the medical problems have been, look inside your self and the harsh experience you have had, how would you make it better for the next guy, the next girl, their kids and their grandparents? What can you with your skills and experience bring to the table that those medical professionals with their 7 year degrees and lack of IT not even imagine? There need not be an exit strategy for your project, no need for big pharma or venture capital to want to take you over. Put together a product that sells itself by word of mouth, a service people are prepared to pay for out of pocket without big insurance getting involved. There are plenty of pills in medicine, not enough love and care automated by emails and PHP 'if' statements, tailored with a few simple forms to a given practice and a given doctor/patient combo. After the thing is built, after the initial trials are rolling then you should only need patient care content on an on-going basis, this you will need to nabble out of the doctor you joint venture with. If the project is stable and in a reasonable successful, value giving state then you can then get another job or another project showing the world that you can pull something remarkable out of the bag for the good of mankind rather than your bank balance. You won't have to learn the flavour of the day 'React' code, you could go further up the pecking order into delivering projects, albeit ones of a less than normal nature. Perhaps the code base you build could actually be used for other projects, maybe other patients with other conditions could do with their own tailored email-automated virtual healthcare help that has a human angle with kind words rather than high tech snake oil voodoo. The above may be wishful thinking and you might just want a job working for The Man but working for The Man is no panacea. You won't be likely to be working on a project you believe in and you might forever be grafting extra hours to please some jumped up project manager that still blames you for everything. Maybe go fully ramen noodle, do some dog walking to pay for the noodles, maybe tell lies to the shelter as to why you isn't moving on yet. But, if you can formulate a genuine project that genuinely helps people then you should be able to find a partner in e.g. the medical field and a patron e.g. a medical practice manager, that can make miracles happen. Just an idea, obviously could be many miles off. But you did ask.
• nobody271 8y ago
  Those skills tests do a poor job of measuring your skill level. That said, you should be spending all of your free time programming. Knowing a little React is a heck of a lot better than knowing no React, right? Right. Just make programming your life until you land a job. No one cares about your personal life if you can get the job done. Don't let it hold you back.
• darkhorn 8y ago
  I'm not in the USA, so I don't know what recruitment sites are popular there but you should find these web sites and create a profile, like in Linkedin. And then apply to some jobs there. May be you can send friend request to reqruiters, but there I think you have 3000 requst limit. If I were in your shoos I would accept any programming jobe, and after a year may be you can change your jobe. Some work places may not ask you for skill tests. If I were in your shoos I would apply to all of them. Go to the the interview even if you have very low chance to be recqruited. At least you will learn what is asked and next time you will have some idea about how to reply. You can accept low salary if you want to increase your chace.
• jmunsch 8y ago
  Was homeless when I went to a dev boot camp. Had no industry experience, just a bunch of python scripts to automate my old job, and a few years of linux usage from not liking windows. Focused really heavily on several SPA frameworks, and javascript/nodejs. The biggest help was the hiring network, whiteboarding practice, and resumé critiques. Also that I submitted like 5 applications per day to anything even partially related for a solid month. I never mentioned my dire straights, since there appears to be a social stigma in the industry, although there doesn't seem to be a stigma against the happily ever after finding work. If they ask why there's gaps in your work timeline, don't tell a sob story, just tell them it was health related and move along. Also try to schedule groups of interviews a few weeks out, it gives you very real leverage in the labor markets, instead of appearing/sounding desperate let them show their hand, since you're already surviving you dont need the job/career, if anything they need you, the labor markets are seriously strapped for talent, so take on some part time minimum wage work that you'd like, and take as much time finding the right fit team/culture/project that you would enjoy. Don't give up, never stop learning, you can do it. Edit: imo, Also don't deal with recruiters they'll plug anything/anyone for a CTO position if they can pull the commission, although I guess maybe as a way to practice interviewing.
  • PopeDotNinja 8y ago
    My feeling is that recruiters are a great resource if you learn how to use them properly. I agree that you can waste a lot of time talking to recruiters if you allow them to suck up your time.
    • t3hprofit 8y ago
      you can also get a lot of free lunches...
    • PopeDotNinja 8y ago
      > My feeling is that recruiters are a great resource if you learn how to use them properly. Calling myself out here. I was half asleep when I wrote the parent comment. Nicer language would be: My feeling is that recruiters can be great partners is you learn to work with them effectively.
• pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
  Hey guys/gals, I just noticed all the comments, I will read them in the morning. I have to get to the shelter by a certain time each night and it takes a bit of time to get from campus to the shelter. Thanks for the input and I will respond tomorrow in the morning. I am usually online from 7a - 5p or 6p PST.
  • leesalminen 8y ago
    I commented elsewhere on this thread and think that we could both benefit from chatting. I’m around tomorrow.
  • flomo 8y ago
    Can't directly help, but I work with some freelancers who aren't homeless, but have a quite vagabond lifestyle. The good ones know when they are "on" a project they really need to be "online" during business hours. Get a good cellular data connection so you aren't relying on mooching free wifi. Be responsive and turn shit around. Get shit done and people will sing your praises no matter where you are.
    • PopeDotNinja 8y ago
      And protect your electronics at the shelter. Those things have a tendency to disappear when you aren't protecting them.
      • merinowool 8y ago
        And make sure your stuff is encrypted with good password. I wouldn't worry about stolen electronics as much as about stolen data. I wouldn't care where you live, but I would care if my data is safe with you.
        • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
          It is encrypted and backed up regularly. Thanks for the comment. :)
      • 8y ago
• jstarfish 8y ago
  I think you're shooting yourself in the foot looking for 'web developer' jobs in the homeland of hipsters. Of course all the postings are going to be for trendy technologies. Look for more boring jobs that require web development skills, unless you're really stuck on the title. You know PHP. I did too, once. I made the mistake of taking on a Magento project a decade ago, suffered through it, and I still get hounded by recruiters desperate for PHP developers who know Magento. That fucking platform still powers 99% of the entire e-commerce space; version 2 was released recently and by many accounts it's even worse than v1, which means people who made the mistake of using it are going to need support for it. The demand for PHP developers is still very much there. You know Python. You can get jobs knowing just that. There are lots of relaxed junior-level *-analyst positions in many domains requiring nothing more than scripting skills and a brain, which you clearly have. I see job postings all the time looking for Django devs. Lots of businesses need reporting-type stuff done, business analytics, ETL, that sort of stuff. Shady businesses always want web scrapers written. With 10+ years in web development, you might also want to take a shot at jobs involving web application security-- either securing or breaking it. Just to put it in perspective-- my job title has nothing to do with web development, yet it is an incidentally significant portion of what I do. Best job of my life, and I never would have found it looking for "web developer" jobs, since that's not what they thought they needed when they hired me. Crawl LinkedIn, not Craigslist. All you'll get from Craigslist are couches, crabs, and people who want you to build out scalable PCI-compliant e-commerce solutions with a full complement of product photography for their hobby business for $500, payable upon delivery. And when they sense your desperation, they'll withhold even that until you go away. Best of luck to you.
  • ryan-allen 8y ago
    I think this is good advice. There is loads of work in PHP that require his kinds of skills. You might not go to the local ECMAScript meet up and do a talk about it but it's gainful employment and there ain't nothing wrong with that. I share office space with a company that does SME consulting work and they do heaps of Magento, Wordpress and the like. Everyone's getting paid and nobody is complaining.
  • t3hprofit 8y ago
• inktvis 8y ago
  Instead of focusing on Craigslist, have you tried Silicon Florist (https://siliconflorist.com/ https://siliconflorist.com/)? The site has a jobs board and posts about tech/startup related news which can help you familiarize yourself with the local 'scene'. If you're looking for events, there are a number on meetup, but also check out https://calagator.org/ https://calagator.org/. As you've worked contract jobs recently, I agree with the sentiment others have already mentioned regarding working on applications or open source projects to build a portfolio.
  • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
    Yea, I am browsing through those resources. I just do not want to apply to so many without being fully prepared. Most of the meetups happen during the time I have to be back at the shelter unfortunately.
• delbel 8y ago
  I would go to Labor Ready they open at 5am or 6am, and have coffee and I think wifi. Most days they won't have a job for you but when they do, that's $60-70 paid at the end of the day cash. When they don't have a job for you, you'll know by 8:30 and can head over PSU campus they should have open wifi, I would study Python and write a project and put it on github. And start an account on Upwork and start bidding at $1 over what labor ready pays (minimum wage), work your butt off -- go the extra extra mile for every client, get 5 star ratings. It'll take 3 weeks to get paid from them. Meanwhile, labor ready, PSU, hard boiled eggs and coffee at the shelter. After you get some ratings on upwork, increase your rate to $40-60/hr. The whole time I would be sending out 5-10 resumes a day. Also there is a bank near labor ready I think wells fargo or US bank, open account and use that for bank transfers from upwork. You can go from zero to hero in 3 months if you do this, this is what I did (and I wasn't poor, just bored and wanted a challenge :)
• ApolloRising 8y ago
  This may get some money in your pocket starting out: https://www.upwork.com/i/how-it-works/freelancer/ https://www.upwork.com/i/how-it-works/freelancer/ PHP skills are needed on that site quite a bit. It may not be posh but it will get some money in your pocket and give you something to do. Look at ziprecruiter and see if there are any jobs in your area that you would fit. Also check linkedin and see if any of your old workmates can throw you some freelance.
  • skinnymuch 8y ago
    For you or anyone with experience, how many hours can you realistically average working per week and what would the avg hourly wage be? This is all assuming you’re new to the site since that would be the case for OP most likely.
  • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
    I have tried upWork and have gotten a job from there back when it was called oDesk. But I have not had any luck recently.
• mattferderer 8y ago
  If you have code you can share, put it on GitHub. Put your resume on LinkedIn. Please share the links & many of us we'll re-share them on social media.
• leesalminen 8y ago
  I am looking for a PHP Developer. We’re located in a Colorado, but are open to remote and other options. My email is me at my username dot $mostCommonTld or myusername at gmail. Email me. Seriously.
  • oneplane 8y ago
    Not sure if you (or the poster) wants to share this, but did the email happen?
    • leesalminen 8y ago
      I haven’t heard from OP yet, but I’ve gotten messages from several others. Still hoping to hear from him/her.
      • andromedavision 8y ago
        Hope OP reaches out. It's important not to let opportunities like this one if they're to succeed in getting out of this slump.
      • tobyhinloopen 8y ago
        Maybe you shouldn't have made your email address a cryptic puzzle
        • leesalminen 8y ago
          I heard from him! First test passed ;).
  • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
    Just now getting on the internet today. Sent you a reply to your email you sent me. Thank you.
• karaokeyoga 8y ago
  One idea is to look at Vue over React. I think there are some advantages. First, PHP/Laraval has adopted Vue. Second, it's a bit easier to get into than React (and better suited for smaller/incremental projects). Third, it's easier to stand out as a Vue developer due to its smaller (but growing) market. This isn't a technical critique … I think Vue and React are very similar … just a suggestion in terms of job searching. Best of luck!
• steve_taylor 8y ago
  React itself is quite small and can be learnt in a weekend. The other stuff such as Redux, Webpack, Babel, etc. will take a bit longer, but overall it shouldn’t take that long to get up to speed. If you’re able to go at it solidly for a month, I recommend training yourself in these things.
• PopeDotNinja 8y ago
  My thoughts: - Take advantage of any opportunity that sounds legit, like reaching out to leesalminen from this comment => https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17685318 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17685318 - Work out a detailed, simple, and clear plan for you're going to practice coding as if it were your full time job, because you may need to ask people for help (access to a computer, a safe place to store a computer, a place to clean up & prepare for interviews, etc.) - Never, ever get down on yourself for doing what you gotta do to survive & get back on your feet - To the extent that you can, be careful about who you choose share the realities of your situation with, especially during interviews, as you need employers to think that hiring you is a good business decision, and being homeless (in my opinion) has nothing to do with that - Despite the fact that many people might suggest you get a minimum wage job, that's going to be a big time suck, and if you can find a way to survive without the job, you may wanna use that time to practice coding & interviewing instead (it might be possible to work out a deal with a employer where you can work on a flexible schedule, but don't lose sight of the fact that flipping burgers will not do much to make you better at interviewing for coding jobs) - Stay positive when telling your story, because the more people are blown away by how you can stay upbeat as you deal with some tough stuff, the more they're going to want to help you - If you want to practice interviewing, hear some thoughts on how to attract recruiters, or just have someone listen while you vent, I'd be happy to carve out some time for you (personal info is in my profile) - Go forth and kick ass
  • gt_ 8y ago
    I absolutely agree a minimum wage job would be a bad idea, even for someone who is homeless. Shouldn’t we all be collectively and utterly ashamed about this? Honestly, how do we sleep at night?
    • jeffmould 8y ago
      The really bad thing about minimum wage jobs (and even some lower wage jobs) is they can actually hurt an individual who is struggling. Often times the wages they make will just barely meet the minimum thresholds to lose their government benefits (i.e. healthcare, food stamps, access to shelter, etc...). They start work thinking they are getting back on their feet and next thing they know they lose their food stamps, healthcare, etc... Before everyone goes crazy, I am not saying that people should milk the benefits, but when you are struggling to make ends meet and don't have alternatives those benefits can be crucial to not only survival, but overall general happiness and feeling of security.
• jv22222 8y ago
  FYI: I think there are a fair amount of PHP jobs available. Especially if you learn the Laravel framework. https://weworkremotely.com/remote-jobs/ipresence-php-developer-invision-powerboard https://weworkremotely.com/remote-jobs/ipresence-php-develop... https://weworkremotely.com/remote-jobs/x-team-php-developer-1 https://weworkremotely.com/remote-jobs/x-team-php-developer-... https://weworkremotely.com/remote-jobs/onthegosystems-senior-php-developers https://weworkremotely.com/remote-jobs/onthegosystems-senior... https://www.upwork.com/o/jobs/browse/?q=%22php%22 https://www.upwork.com/o/jobs/browse/?q=%22php%22 https://www.indeed.com/q-PHP-jobs.html https://www.indeed.com/q-PHP-jobs.html (Just a few examples)
• intralizee 8y ago
  I hope things work out for you! Keep at the React studying. I find it a skill more valued than just being a good programmer these days.
  • deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
• twblalock 8y ago
  It's going to be difficult for you to get a junior-level job if recruiters think you are senior. You'll be competing with new grads who got out of college in June. I think your best course of action is to spend time preparing for interviews and take any that you can get. Part of this preparation includes learning the popular JS frameworks, but a lot of companies need PHP developers too. Hopefully you will interview well, but if you don't, word doesn't "get around" between companies as much as you think -- they are afraid of being sued if they talk about why they passed on a candidate. There are other upsides to interviewing, even if you fail. One is that you get some practice. Another is that you got your foot in the door, and even if you weren't suited for a job you interviewed for, someone at the company might know of another opening that is a better fit. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you should get in touch with any connections you have in tech, such as old coworkers, and let them know you are looking for a job. A personal reference is by far the best way to get your foot in the door.
• k_sh 8y ago
  If you decide to pick up React and need some pointers, email me - mine is in my profile, I work in React full-time at the moment.
• gigatexal 8y ago
  lambdaschool.com Super immersive and effective. They put you up in housing, give you a laptop, work with you to master every subject, and help you get placed. When you find you first 100k/year job then you pay back at 15% you salary for 2 to 3 years and that’s it.
  • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
    Interesting, but it says the classes are live from the comfort of your own home. I do not see where they mention putting you up in housing. Can you point me to that?
    • gigatexal 8y ago
      Reach out to their website. They just released housing in SF. https://mobile.twitter.com/AustenAllred https://mobile.twitter.com/AustenAllred Reach out to him he’s one of the founders. I heard about the housing from his Twitter.
  • gigatexal 8y ago
    Shoot I should have mentioned it’s 50k or more. I think. Not 100k
    • gigatexal 8y ago
      Yeah 50k with tuition capped at like 30k — apologies for the misinformation
  • gigatexal 8y ago
    Looks like Lambda school’s charity arm is handling this. And he will be on his way to a better life in no time. https://mobile.twitter.com/AustenAllred/status/1027170602031796224 https://mobile.twitter.com/AustenAllred/status/1027170602031...
• smilesnd 8y ago
  This might sound like a stupid question, but can a homeless person even get a job? Isn't the whole cycle of becoming homeless evil because you need a residents to apply for a job? Just like all those freelance website require you to link a bank account which you need a address to get a bank account.
  • samatman 8y ago
    Getting an address for these purposes is substantially easier and cheaper than obtaining steady housing.
    • smilesnd 8y ago
      How do you get a address?
      • jdietrich 8y ago
        A homeless shelter, a day center, a church, a sympathetic friend. My local indie book store allows homeless people to use their mailing address. Finding someone who will hold your mail is a lot easier than finding somewhere to live.
  • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
    I am not having too many problems with that yet. And yes, I can use the shelter as a mailing address. Though I just use the address on my ID, which I no longer live at, for fields where they just need an address but won't mail anything to me.
• zenexer 8y ago
  You're a programmer. You have a skill the world wants, so don't sell yourself short. Nobody expects you to be perfect; you're not a brain surgeon. It doesn't matter what language it is: companies want you. Companies need you. <insert Uncle Sam recruitment poster> You see a job you like, you apply. Maybe you get an offer, maybe you don't. If you do, great! If you don't, free practice and maybe even a free lunch. Companies aren't gossiping about candidates, so get that thought out of your head. It just doesn't happen.
• kureikain 8y ago
  Besides great information from people. I would suggest looking into these 2 platforms: - https://hired.com/ https://hired.com/ - http://alist.co/ http://alist.co/ You should also spend time practice https://leetcode.com/problems/ https://leetcode.com/problems/ Practice extensively and in 30 days you will be able to pass any interview because from my experience, a lot of company pick some random medium/hard questions from there. When people asks about what you do in 3 years, just say you do free lancing work or that you take the time to travel and learning. I will also see what my current company can do and will put you in contact.
• typehuman 8y ago
  Shoot me an email too; we have some work you might be interested in. Nick [at] <hackernews username>.com
• dsc_ 8y ago
  High-school dropout here. I was homeless for ~16 months around 2010. I knew I wanted to get into IT but I figured I should not pursue HTML, PHP or .NET jobs, as most schools and educations here taught exactly that. I knew I couldn't beat the competition, even though I had experience using those languages. I went into *nix, Python and C instead. Hanging on IRC taught me hacker ethos and the lingo that comes with the work. Made friends, embedded myself in various communities. Got job offers through some communities. First job was doing 50% support (servicedesk) and 50% Python. It was horrible at times. But I did have a job. I met a guy there that went out of his way to personally get me up to speed with Python/Linux - like a mentor. I worked there for a year but we always kept in touch since. Fast-forward 8 years later; I can now actually code some decent stuff and that mentor just joined my team and we're reunited again. But that's off-topic. TL;DR: Learn something that is in demand and be prepared to make sacrifices.
• neya 8y ago
  I can give you some immediate actionable advice if you need cash - Write an email describing your situation (possibly with some photos) to tech agencies around you, there are usually plenty and let them know that if they require an extra helping hand, or take on additional projects, you'll be able to do it. You'll be surprised how many agencies will get back to you. It worked for me when I was in a similar situation where I had to quit my day job as the company I worked for was on the edge. Also, start a blog, update your LinkedIn, cold message people on email. LinkedIn really works if you don't listen to haters. Good luck, my friend. Please let us know once everything's back to normal.
• JamesAdir 8y ago
  Have you tried getting any remote jobs? WeWorkRemotely for example is a great resource for this positions. It will allow you to earn money, and maybe save a little while still working from the libary and staying at the shelter.
  • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
    I will look there, I have currently been looking on http://remoteok.io http://remoteok.io
• 12j129312a12d12 8y ago
  "I have 10 years of web dev experience". You are really hard on yourself and it sounds like your expertise in development is probably not the issue that you are facing in order to get a job. You need to rebuild your confidence. Providing that you are reasonably competent at development (which I assume you are), I would focus on learning React and applying for mid-level jobs related. Don't apply for a junior role, you are selling yourself short. You are not a junior. - I wouldn't be too afraid of "Word getting around" - that sounds like fear driving you rather than faith. - Try to find a family or friend who will allow you to register at their address for tax/banking purposes. You will need to get paid and you need these systems in place in order to do so. - If you can get a registered address (even if you aren't officially living there), I wouldn't even tell them about your current situation of being homeless, unless of course you have no choice. - Look for 'nearly' successful startups. From my experience startups generally have less weighted interviews, more casual recruitment processes, my last two contracts I have landed have paid really well but I didn't even have my references examined. Most people in the startup scene (at least in Europe) don't care about references, they just look at the work you do after a couple of weeks and let that be the deciding factor on if you worth the money or not. - Become a great React developer (or Vue.js) if you want to get involved in startups, this is because its the 'coolest' technology going around and most CTO's choose the most popular tech stacks. Familiarize yourself with the related technologies so you know what you are talking about in an interview. I would get familiar with Redux, but I would personally use Mobx for state management. I would also look at Next.js and know about SSR apps. Formulate opinions of these technologies so you can talk about these to your interviewer. - Formulate opinions about emerging technologies, such as Rust and its implementation in Firefox, hence which is why i use firefox over chrome today. - Familiarize yourself with basic AWS, gcloud, k8s, so at least you have touched on these technologies and you are aware of them. You don't need to be an expert. - Setup a portfolio website! You can get free 1 year hosting with AWS. I would setup AWS with SSL and host a next.js React application on it, using the latest design ideas etc. Look at other developers portfolios for inspiration. This is a great way to have a nice portfolio piece using the latest tech, it illustrates that you can do your job. Believe in yourself. The biggest obstacle in this world, is no other, is no grand oppressive state, it is yourself. You must redefine who you THINK you are. You are not a homeless person, but a person in transition. You are not poor, but a person about to find truth and wealth. Be thankful and grateful for what you have, however little that may be. Be thankful that you have a skill that is highly sought after and highly lucrative. You can make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year if your redefine the image of yourself. Use your experience on the streets as a strength, rather than a weakness. You are a versatile person. I have no doubt you will make it to where you need to go.
• ebbv 8y ago
  Craigslist isn’t the place to go for jobs. Lots of people are looking for PHP developers. There’s job counseling services out there, go talk to a professional who specializes in cases like yours. Don’t listen to a bunch of HNers who have zero experience in your situation.
  • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
    I have talked to a job services placement place. It is state ran and I am in touch with the IT/Software placement manager for the state of OR. Thanks for the comment.
• evantai 8y ago
  Hey, I teach a very popular online course for web developers... would like to help you out and offer it to you for free. If you google Complete Web Developer in 2018, you can message me if interested.
  • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
    I will look into it. Thank you for the offer and reaching out. It means a lot. :)
  • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
    I sent you a linkedin request.
• Kagerjay 8y ago
  Isnt PHP still in huge demand for companies looking to migrate legacy apps? Have you tried going to tech meetups, every other meetup I go to there is always someone that says "We're hiring for XYZ talk to me after the meeting". In my area tech companies are always having a hard time hiring Did you have a portfolio site as well? Update linkedin make a blog etc? If you take a minimum wage job aim for it to be only temporary Also, reach out to your local community centers I do nonprofit work the resources they have for the homeless is phenomenal. This must be true for oregon as well
  • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
    Yes, I am attending tech meetups when I can. Though most of them are difficult to make because they start after business hours around 6p. I have to be back at the shelter by 7p otherwise I lose my bed. I am redoing my website as well as working on some demo pieces. Thank you for your comment. :)
    • Kagerjay 8y ago
      By the way one of the best investments you can make is a gym membership to get access to showers, wifi, and workout equipment. You can still look professional while homeless. If you have a YMCA they might be able to waive your monthly fees. Also check out your local library, they usually have free subscriptions to pluralsight and lynda.com among others so you can learn places other than youtube. There should be like 10 to 15 in your city given its size. Checkout couchsurfing.com to potentially have someplace to stay on someones couch. Portland is full of hipsters that would probably be more liberal and open to this kind of thing too. I didnt think about curfew times but yeah thats something too. If you need other essentials checkout any nonprofit community centers that can help you out there. Usually you'll get assigned a case manager who can help you stay on track too, or redirect you to other resources you may need. Lastly local churches are really helpful too. Consider reaching out to them even if you arent religious, most churches have meal outings once or twice a week
• codingdave 8y ago
  Think about it from the other point of view - the hiring manager has 20 people in front of them who can do the job. You need to tell them a story that shows it is better for that manager to hire you vs. the other 19. You being homeless and not having steady work for the last three years is a big negative (perhaps unfair, but true), so you need to not just show you can code, but show that you have better work ethics, can be more productive, or something else that puts you above and beyond the other 19 guys. Admittedly, that will be tough. So if you aren't able to do that, then you need to build up a history of good, recent work. Take advantage of being homeless, and offer your services to local non-profits who work with the homeless. They almost all need some tech help, even just to organize and report on their data. Helping out will build up a track record of getting things done, and a network of people who can give you references for your capabilities, as well as let you know who else need help. It is possible that starting a small consulting service doing such things is easier than landing a full-time coding gig.
  • sigfubar 8y ago
    Let's get real: it's 2018 and we're in the depths of a programmer shortage. No hiring manager has 20 capable people in front of them. A typical hiring manager will have hundreds of garbage resumes that came from people who aren't programmers, or from offshore outsourcing shops that rely on resume spam to get attention. Eventually, after lots of weeding and puffing, the pile is shrunk to maybe three people who are worth interviewing. Of these two lied about their experience, and the last is great, but is difficult to close because they're looking at four other offers all of which are more competitive and interesting. Outside of weeding out garbage, hiring managers spend most of their time in sales mode, desperately trying to close candidates. In times like this, any reasonably competent programmer who doesn't come off as a total a-hole during the interview will have a job. It might not be the most glorious job in the world, but our OP doesn't seem to care because homelessness.
    • homelessdev 8y ago
      Part of the problem is convincing people that you are legit. I face a few challenges these days first off, I don't have a degree so that's one battle, but i'm an isolationist so that's battle #2 and its much harder to win. During the first half of my career it was easy to find work because i was green and not charging much. towards the middle part i relied on a network of contacts and finding work was super easy. then i decided to isolate myself - i dropped all my contacts, deleted everything i had ever created (several websites that i ran for years), removed myself from social media and now work is very difficult to get. I didn't even realize this was the issue until recently. In order to fix this: 1. I have started to rebuild my social network and have set up references 2. I now view social media apps as Personal Branding applications and use them as such 3. I built a portfolio site and added a bunch of my old projects to it 4. Look for little projects i can knock out in a few hours or days, work on them, and add them to my site
• claydavisss 8y ago
  Cast yourself as a digital nomad searching the Earth for adventure. No one needs to know your transient state is something you want to change. See if you can land some of the typical tools of nomads...a PO box, a mobile #, then be the person they are looking for
• m0rphy99 8y ago
  https://nypost.com/2018/07/28/homeless-man-hands-out-resumes-gets-hundreds-of-job-offers/ https://nypost.com/2018/07/28/homeless-man-hands-out-resumes... Have you tried doing what David did? Anything that could help you stand out would attract employer's attention.
  • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
    No, but funny enough. I jokingly have though about writing a sign that says 'Will H4x f0r f00d' I am a little too anxiety ridden by that idea, but not completely against it. Obviously worked out well for David. Thanks for the link. :)
    • pressurefree 8y ago
      get some LEDs from marvac or radio shack & make a W1LL H4X 4 F00D sign... and put techmech4hire.com on it. i just sent your email 7 dollars to paypal. for 1 hrs work sign flipping if you want. let me know how much you earn but you dont have to do nothin if you dont want... good luck dogg! i can send you stuff to amazon lockers... list some stuff you need/want. im broke, but my parents are pretty well off so i can help a little. you dont seem like a black hole of poverty... like my lost Attic/Kitchen miller high life... i will add oregon HomeDepots right now to tech mech 4 hire...
• homelessdev 8y ago
  I am the homelessdev poster from CO. pxdHomelessDev reached out to me for an update which I gave him, but here's a more detailed run down of what I did to start getting out of my situation. I was able to avoid becoming homeless by using services the city offers (food stamps, a one shot service that helped with rent during the month it mattered most, unemployment until it ran out), borrowing a small amount of money from family, wife was able to get a part-time job -- this got us out of our immediate scenario of living on the streets or in a car but we were literally 1 week away from that happening. Finally after months of applying for jobs I was able to land one a week ago. What I have done to get back on track: 1. put together a good portfolio: i built a few react sites, made some 2d games and converted a few interesting problems found on hackerrank into little applications so that I would have some diverse projects to show off. created social media accounts to showcase my work as well and linked all of those from my portfolio site. 2. prepared mentally: with each job interview that I failed I paid close attention to what went wrong and what I could have done to prevent it from failing and then adjusted my next interview based on that information. 3. put in 15 resumes per day: there are lots of job sites (angel.co weworkremotely.com and remoteok.io to name a few) -- once i ramped up to 15 resumes a day I had at least 3 calls a week with prospective employers. I also didn't limit myself to CO -- i now have a remote job. 4. don't kill yourself or give up: for me this was the hardest part of the process. i suffer from bipolar disorder and was on the verge of suicide for the better part of this year. each failure during the process made me sink further into depression, though keeping my mind occupied with my own projects helped immensely. staying positive through this sort of thing, even if you're lying to yourself and faking it, seems to be one of the keys to success because other people can pick up on your mood. --- I am assuming that you have very limited funds and thus might not know where to host a website for cheap -- this can be accomplished for 1 or 2 USD per month on AWS using a serverless infrastructure. You can also host free static sites on github pages with custom domains (get one on namecheap for $9 per year). Whatever you choose has the added benefit of being something you can talk about in a job interview and showcase on your site. --- i don't know how your javascript skills are, but if you have extensive front end experience: 1. update your knowledge if need be to the latest JS syntax 2. spend a weekend learning react 3. start playing with node javascript is in demand and i have seen Jr devs (1 or 2 years of react and node experience) being billed as either "fullstack developers" or even worse "senior fullstack developers". With your current skill set and a bit more knowledge you should be able to land a JS job pretty quickly.
• agentile 8y ago
  We are hiring Senior Full Stack Engineers. We care about hiring engineers that have experience solving problems across the stack, have a willingness to learn, will bring something to the table and fit into our culture. If we see that you have that, teaching you React is not a big deal. It is more important to us that you know the core languages well and their best practices than framework X. Feel free to apply to https://boards.greenhouse.io/followupboss/jobs/84965 https://boards.greenhouse.io/followupboss/jobs/84965 or reach out to me directly at anthony at followupboss and we can chat further. While you may be senior level to a recruiter, what we consider senior is usually quite different. Regardless of your situation, you would be competing against other potentially more qualified candidates.
  • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
    Thank you for reaching out. I will take a look and let you know. :)
• deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
• cs02rm0 8y ago
  I am afraid if I apply and fail skills tests at too many places word will get around. Word won't get around. You won't get a job you don't apply for though. And if they just do skills tests without any other consideration they're probably not an ideal workplace. Everyone wants senior level guys in React and other frameworks I do not have. (Though I am currently teaching myself React and do know a good bit now.) Of course they do. Everyone wants React guys with 20 years experience in it, Java guys with 120 years experience. And they'd like to pay in aspiration and a twice yearly packet of macadamia nuts. But they can only choose from those who apply with all their varying experience and salary demands. If you've got 10 years experience you've got enough to apply for a senior role (arguably more than enough in many places) and if you've got your head around the basics of React you can tick that box too. Just be honest that you've looked at it outside of work, understand it but haven't had the chance to use it professionally yet. Senior roles may be preferable to you, where there's less emphasis on churning out code and more on getting the most out of the team as a whole, as well as rewards commensurate with your experience. I saw a guy interviewing on YouTube the other day for a React job who didn't know the difference between componentDidMount and componentWillMount and the interviewer seemed to think he did well - so if you've got that far, you're good to go! Just apply for enough roles and you'll find one that works for both sides. Don't be put off by barriers in your own mind, make employers tell you you're not the right fit and ideally why, then move on until you land one. Good luck.
  • homelessdev 8y ago
    > Just be honest that you've looked at it outside of work, understand it but haven't had the chance to use it professionally yet I can confirm this is true - explained this exact thing to the place i'm working at now... also, react is just a framework. if you understand JS, then you just need to wrap your head around the way it is being used in this particular case... just build a few small sites with it and you'll be further along than a lot of other people.
  • Treegarden 8y ago
    I watched that same guy (just discovered his channel through that video) and its hilarious to me that I see him mentioned here and how you have the same reaction to that part like me. His videos are actually a good resource to the OP. This video is kinda the exact answer to the queston: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Wcm5c7AF0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Wcm5c7AF0
• desireco42 8y ago
  I think your thinking of getting a somewhat junior role and enjoy it is good thinking. Just learn React. With PHP stuff you will get is kind of terrible. Find place that will get you and give you space to learn what you need. It is strange that recruiters doesn't want to profit from you. I would ping startups, go with what you are good at, don't focus too much on your woes. On other hand, ideal for you would be huge corporation, those usually have showers and spaces to relax, they are do things slow and care about your wellbeing. Wish you luck. Consider another city as well if you can find good opportunity.
  • desireco42 8y ago
    Man this is so illiterate :) I am ashamed of myself for writing like this. I was distracted but still...
• CodeWriter23 8y ago
  A wise friend of mine tells people looking for jobs: There’s a magic number of applications and interviews you have to do before you get a job. Unfortunately I can’t tell you what that number is.
• readme 8y ago
  Are you letting the potential employers know that you are homeless or letting them see any indication of it? It's probably not going to help if you are. People will judge you for being homeless. Don't let your prospective employers find out, even through inference. Have you figured out what you're doing for your address? Do you have a nice set of clothes, haircut, and shave before interviews? If you don't put a residential address on your resume, it isn't going to help you. I am sure you're already getting enough advice on the technical aspect of finding a job in this thread. You can know anything, but if you can't get through the door because humans are superficial you're still screwed. I would do this: hit up freelancing websites and make enough money doing small gigs online to get an apartment or rent a room with somebody. Those sites have a bad rap, but I promise you I've done well enough on them to say it's worth your time. Accept a low rate at first to get feedback and ratings on whatever site you choose. Better freelancing companies also poach people from those sites. If you have a good profile, someone will ask you to come work with their clients instead. It happened to me. Worry about creating a marketable image: your online profiles personal website, github, stack overflow, linkedin etc, your appearance (fitness will make you more marketable), and your sales pitch. Write a pitch and rehearse what you're going to say in interviews. They're going to ask you what you've been doing! My advice: don't tell them about your recent misfortunes. It might be true, but would you want to buy a car that had mechanical problems and was found abandoned on the side of the road, three years later? You'd want to buy a shiny new car. You need to become a (good) used car salesman and you will find yourself in a job. Good luck in your search.
  • jl2718 8y ago
    I second this. Do not, under any circumstances, do anything that would evoke sympathy from others. The fact that you are posting this indicates to me that you are in the danger zone of feeling sorry for yourself. I’ve been in your situation too, and who knows, might be again; the most important thing to internalize is that nobody cares about you. I wish I had someone to slap me in the face every time I mentioned any hint of misfortune.
    • prgsocdem 8y ago
      This fellow has been abandoned by a society and by a government that doesn't invest in its own people. It's not a law of nature that no one cares about him (OP's situation would be different in almost any other "developed" country) and what you call self-pity is a natural human reaction to misfortune. Unfortunately, though, @jl2718 is right that many employers won't look upon OP's situation positively, and it's hard to tell if any will (except @leesalminen, who apparently will). Therefore some strategic non-disclosure of circumstances is advised.
• remoteorbust 8y ago
  I was once in a similar situation. I was a first generation college student and I moved away from home right around the time my mom started having grand Mal seizures from a brain tumor. She also was having problems and into meth. She also was getting foreclosed on and she wasn't filling her taxes. During that time I took it on myself to get into a college and find some scholarships. I had to do multiple years of back taxes for her to complete the fafsa. When I finally moved away I had about 2 garbage bags full of clothes to my name. I wish I would have done great at school, but a wave of depression hit me and I stopped going to classes. I eventually got evicted and was homeless. My scholarship was put on hold and I couldn't register for classes. I was still a curious person and I guess not very practical. So rather than fix my problems I just read books at the library and used their computers to learn things. I worked my way through Feynman lectures on physics and TAOCP. Eventually I did get a job at a electronics factory so I wasn't homeless anymore. I bought some library surplus books for 0.50 (including "the c programming language" and a book on XHTML). I used that to get a part time web dev job for $10/hr. It was actually a higher rate but less hours. I was on food stamps for a couple months. I still feel kind of bad about that. I learned alot, worked my way up to $14/hr. I used that knowledge to get a "real" full time dev job for $50k/year around 2008. After that my story isn't really affected much by how I started. I switched jobs every few years. I'm now pretty highly paid and work remote for a bay area company. I'm not sure if this is helpful. The fact that I was just starting out helped me get that stepping stone student job. If you already have the experience I'd say it's like riding a bike. Just build a couple projects on your own and you'll get up to speed pretty fast. I hope it's helpful knowing that you can go from homeless and learning in the library to highly paid engineer.
  • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
    Yes it does. Thank you for the comment. I am currently at the library. On weekends it is a little harder to get started early as the library does not open till 10a, but I am working with what I have. :)
• nojvek 8y ago
  If you have paypal, email me at hello at (my username) dot com. I know most people are giving technical advice and it’s very sound. I also know the value of money to unblock certain things. Seriously if you need a couple of hundred dollars to get yourself some nice clothes, and put yourself together and remove the “homeless” label while you hunt for a well paying job, it’ll be my pleasure. I don’t know how we’ll verify your identity but hopefully HN isn’t full of imposters. Think about it as interest free loan that you pay in good faith whenever you’re back on your feet. It’s absolutely a shame for us as a nation that well educated and qualified people have to go through this bull in the world’s wealthiest nation that is producing trillion dollar companies, but can’t have a decent safety net for it’s citizens.
  • sdiq 8y ago
    So very kind of you.
  • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
    That is a very kind offer sir. I emailed you. This resource I tapped into called WorkSource Oregon has already purchased me brand new and nice interview/work clothes. So I am covered there. I could use a haircut however and new headphones.
    • nojvek 8y ago
      got it :)
    • kureikain 8y ago
      Email me vinh@axcoto.com as well. I'll paypal you some money.
      • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
        I really appreciate the offer, but I am not asking for charity. What has been monetarily donated to me so far, and job leads is more than enough. I can not possibly accept. I hope you take this as a respectful decline.
• clumsysmurf 8y ago
  One of the hardest parts about all of this is the safety and stability of a home. Apartments usually require proof of income. Searching for rooms on Craigslist / roomster is dicey — and I have found many desirable listings are for females only. Being asthmatic, I had to ask about roommates smoking tobacco and weed indoors. Seems like everyone in CO smokes weed! As Dostoevksy wrote "...I am incapable of living in the same room with anyone for two days together. I know from experience. As soon as anyone is near me, his personality disturbs me and restricts my freedom. In twenty-four hours I begin to hate the best of men..." Another option you may consider is workaway. Volunteer some time, work for a few hours a day, in exchange for a room. You can read reviews / comments of the host so there is information to help make a decision. The ones I have seen require working 5 hours a day, that should leave enough time to do some tech work (project, finding a job, etc). If things go well with the host, you can ask them for a recommendation. Even if its not tech, its demonstrates character and ethic.
• kyledrake 8y ago
  My best advice is to show up at tech meetups and ask if people are hiring. Portland has a very large and cohesive tech community, and there's plenty of work out there right now for devs. http://calagator.org http://calagator.org I'm not sure if they still do it, but there's a dry cleaning place in Portland that will clean your clothes for free for interviews, if that's an issue. I'm spacing out on the name, but I saw the sign downtown once while walking by. Best of luck.
• pressurefree 8y ago
  what about making menus like mcDonalds, where the video of the steam coming off the food and coffee you can take professional photographer quality photos with your phone, why not jsut make some demo-prototypes & sell it? use my twilio scripts and make some modern bleeding edge demos/prototypes here is all my work www.techmech4hire.com >>> click ShellTR.org link, then click on little bird for my scripts. i learned SQL from w3schools. i use their layouts. build your github with little projects that you can combine later and become a web-dev powerhouse. team up. get an arduino & r/c servos, dc motors & $2 ESC and start making shit and selling it. tiny homes could use DPDT switches & 12V batteries/motors to open close things... go hiking often, collect 1 rock at a time, and build a gabion bench to sell.
• meej 8y ago
  Some places to look for postings besides Craigslist: http://portlandtech.org/ http://portlandtech.org/ - this is a great resource, job listings are categorized along a number of facets (by language, by experience, by focus), they have a calendar of events, and they link to lots of other job hunting resources. http://www.indeed.com/ http://www.indeed.com/ - Indeed is my go-to search engine when job hunting. I've found my last three jobs using it. You can create alerts and get emails when new positions matching your criteria are posted. Also, there is never any harm in applying for a job. Let the recruiters submit your resume for senior positions. Consider roles with "lead" or "engineering manager" in the title, where your experience will assist you but your focus will be more on coordinating the work of your team rather than on your own technical chops. Or, apply for QA jobs, which are often a good gateway into developer or UI/UX roles. There are lots of ways to get your career back on track if you broaden your focus.
• deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
• fma 8y ago
  If you cant get a Dev job, try something else. I am thinking maybe QA. In my 10 years experience the only good QA people are peogeammers. My enterprise software experience...the companies have dedicated QA people and they suck. I just use them for sign off. Just read up on some QA terminology/buzz words and I'm sure you'll be hired in a heart best. It's not a minimum wage job, you'll be around development and this will buy you time and sanity till you get a development job...you would be able to easily automate QA and make yourself valuable there too. I'm a senior developer with a crap load of Dev and non Dev responsibilities. Sometimes I just want to be QA so I just test crap all day long, and have no prod issues or other accountability.
  • wyclif 8y ago
    I think this is great advice. I've seen it work for some people. It's a lot easier in some cases to transfer from a QA or Testing role into a dev role when one opens up. People have already worked with you and know you, and they feel more confident about your ability to get the job done. It's a smart move if you know anything at all about QA.
    • fma 8y ago
      Yes and a lot of companies are going automated. Much easier to have a programmer write automated tests, than to teach QA how to program. Guess who would be in high demand once they get that experience? OP!
  • fma 8y ago
    Read back on my comment...tons of typo. Sorry, I was typing it on the fly on mobile and autocorrect stinks. I swear I give better advice than I type :)
• chipuni 8y ago
  Getting a programming job has only one secret: passing the whiteboard interview. The questions in a whiteboard interview have little in common with real world experience. But they're one of the hoops you have to jump through. Sign up with a website like LeetCode (https://leetcode.com/ https://leetcode.com/) or hackerrank (https://www.hackerrank.com/programming-interview-questions/ https://www.hackerrank.com/programming-interview-questions/) that give you technical problems, let you practice them, and show how well your programs work. Practice one of those exercises every day while you look for work. Good luck.
• yosito 8y ago
  I'm not suggesting that you lie on your resume or in your interviews. But there may be ways to frame your situation more positively that don't raise red flags for potential employers. Instead of saying the last three years were "spotty contract work", say you were self employed. And if you're worried about your skills being rusty, start working on a side project or contributing to open source. That will boost your own confidence, help you get back into the swing of things, and give you something to talk about when interviewers ask you what you've been working on lately.
• _cereal 8y ago
  Hi, apart from programming you could add a remote part-time job, look at positions available at: https://appen.com/ https://appen.com/ or http://www.ai-media.tv/ http://www.ai-media.tv/
• jimnotgym 8y ago
  I'm in no position to offer anything but moral support (and disgust at the way rich countries are willing to let their citizens fail when with a little help they could be productive again). But I wanted to add my best wishes, and say there is a ton of php in the wild that needs the support of a good programmer. I really hope you can get things back together, and come back and tell us how you got on.
  • lettergram 8y ago
    Agreed, sounds like most of what he needs is moral support anyway. He said the state or organizations helped him get a bed, shelter, food, medical attention, and even nice work clothes. He also has a laptop and has been trying to get back up to speed. I think in this case, it's mostly just putting himself out there. If you have 100 interviews, and 99 are unsuccessful, the one win is enough that the expected value of applying is worth it. Good luck!
• pvaldes 8y ago
  > I am often on a university campus This is very obvious, but science faculties often need python programmers. If not done yet, you could use the bulletin board to start building a small local net of contacts.
• eduardomoroni 8y ago
  My first advice would be: If possible use your time to learn React / Redux. As you yourself said, this is what the market is looking for. This will increase your chances of being successful. Although this seems like a bad idea because languages and technologies change, but you need it NOW, and NOW and what the market wants. 2 - Prepare your linkedin and set up a curriculum that will understand what you want at this point in your career, an idea would be in the summary part of what you are looking for to return to the area. 3 - Look for freelance jobs to get money and get some experience, this is a time to prepare your portfolio. There are platforms that provide this support. 4 - Make as many interviews as you can, but do with the thought of this re-learning to be interviewed. Study about selective processes, and celebrate failures. You probably will not be hired at the first chance.
• whatswrongwitu 8y ago
  I need work on a website so I have a job for you.
• pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
  UPDATE: Everyone has been great and I had many emails with job leads and support. Thanks to a very kind donation, I am on my way to get my haircut that is desperately needed. High chances I will be offline the rest of the day. I met a person irl today from this thread and we talked tech which was nice to have some normalcy back in my life. Thanks again!
• austenallred 8y ago
  Hey my name is Austen and I’m the cofounder of Lambda School (https://lambdaschool.com https://lambdaschool.com), a YC company that trains software engineers in live online classes for no cost until they’re hired making $50k+. We actually have a nonprofit fund dedicated to helping homeless software engineers land jobs. If you’ll email me austen@lambdaschool.com I would love to put you up in an Airbnb and connect you with our career services department. We have a full-time program called “Lambda Next” that steps you through what it takes to get a job step by step with full support, code reviews, interview practice, salary negotiation, etc. Normally it’s reserved for our students (since we don’t get paid until students are hired), but we can have you participate at no cost. Let’s see how fast we can get you hired! Happy to take care of housing and help you focus. PS. if anyone at airbnb has a way to let us buy gift certificates bigger than $500 it would save me a ton of time
  • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
    Emailing now.
  • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
    Sent from my personal email.
    • austenallred 8y ago
      Got it. Will get you in housing by the end of the night. I know what it’s like to be homeless, keep your head up.
      • anyssh 8y ago
        If this actually happened, this is the most awesome interaction on HN I’ve seen so far. Kudos to you kind sir
        • austenallred 8y ago
          It did indeed happen https://imgur.com/a/KZ5AeGo https://imgur.com/a/KZ5AeGo
• james1071 8y ago
  You need to understand that asking for advice doesn't mean you will get helpful answers. It would be a mistake to ask people about problems they can't comprehend. You have some things to do - sort your life out, get a job, any job, then progress your career. The people who can help you with your career might not be the people who can help you with the other stuff. Learning technologies, getting a position, moving up are all things that take time. Sorting your life out, earning some money, having fun are what you can do immediately.
• thethought 8y ago
  Hi - was in same rut few years back where I had taken up a non-dev role and suffered for a while to land the right dev role. To get back on track for interview and eventual hire as a dev I did a) Develop good skills in static typed programming lang (scala) b) Latest dev test deploy tool chain e.g mvn, sbt, intellij, ci/cd , and Docker c) The what part of data structures in standard libs d) developer level best practices in security , auth and authz method e.g oauth c) AWS d) improve interview programming skills i.e demonstrate interactively to solve small problems in scala or whatever e) learn the vocab used today .. not 4 years ago. Note - All of above is what applied to my situtation. And I apologize for not posting links for references. Thought I must share my experience.
• bausshf 8y ago
  I don't have much to contribute with, but I wish you my best of luck and may life turn around for the better for you. I was in a similar position about a year ago, having no home, but landed a job and found my way!
• pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
  UPDATE: Hi all, I am giving everyone an update. Today was actually a rough day as I had to have out patient surgery, and this is completely unrelated to what I was struggling with for the past few years. I had an operation because I had a 7mm kidney stone that was stuck in the tube from my kidney to the bladder. On a much better note. Austen from Lambda School has been in contact with me and has been so great about getting me out of the shelter so I can concentrate on getting the next job. With that being said, and I am a bit embarrased to do this, but I put together a GoFundMe campaign as I still need a few extra things that would really help me out. Please read the summary at the page here: https://www.gofundme.com/homeless-dev-support https://www.gofundme.com/homeless-dev-support P.S. I have an interview with a startup on Friday (8/10). Thanks for any and all support.
  • kureikain 8y ago
    Wow, great news in the interview. Everyone, let's make it happen so he can get ready for interview on Friday.
    • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
      Thanks, they are a new startup with 1st round funding. I also have sent out tons more resumes as I am feeling more confident and prepared as things come together.
• pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
  UPDATE: I have a phone call with a hiring manager from Amazon tomorrow. Sent out 20 resumes/emails so far this week. And going to dinner with someone here in Portland that is on this thread. Feeling better about potential jobs everyday. Thanks again from everyone here for advice/support!
  • akulbe 8y ago
    It was great to meet you, man. Let's plan on doing that again, real soon.
    • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
      Likewise, thank you for talking with me and hanging out.
• pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
  UPDATE: I am well into my way of interviews. I currently have to provide a small VueJS demo, which I am trying to hammer out this week. Lambda School has been very generous and I am part of there program called Lambda Next where I am speaking with their career coach which will help with interview practicing, resume rebuilding, etc. I just did a phone screen with Amazon today as well in which I am going to have a follow up phone interview that will last 60-75 minutes. If that goes well I have to prepare for a whiteboard interview. I am still very much in need to reach the final $200 of my campaign located here -- https://www.gofundme.com/homeless-dev-support https://www.gofundme.com/homeless-dev-support Thank you again for everyone reaching out and all of the feedback. I am almost there!!
  • karmicthreat 8y ago
    Good work with finding all these interviews!
    • pdxHomelessDev 8y ago
      Thank you. I had a phone screen with Amazon today. Have to hit the books. Please, if you or anyone you know can get me to the the threshold of my campaign which is $200 more, it would finally put so many things back in order. Thank you for keeping up with me. -- https://www.gofundme.com/homeless-dev-support https://www.gofundme.com/homeless-dev-support