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I make <$15/hr doing grunt work. I've been working on a code portfolio, but I don't think it's good enough yet to let me start applying for tech jobs, and I'm n

by 80386 8y ago

I make <$15/hr doing grunt work. I've been working on a code portfolio, but I don't think it's good enough yet to let me start applying for tech jobs, and I'm not great at algorithms or JS frameworks anyway. So I haven't been. I try to get at least one Git commit every day, but my job is pretty draining, so that doesn't happen. And sometimes all my projects get blocked on hard stuff that I don't have the energy to solve. For all I know, I might look alright on paper. I've co-authored a paper in a respectable journal, written a few Rails apps, a few desktop apps, and a crappy interpreter for an old language - which doesn't really use any compiler theory stuff except a simple hand-rolled lexer/parser, so that's probably a strike against me more than anything else. I'd delete it except I want there to be something that lets me step through programs in this thing so when my Project Euler problem attempts in this language fail I can figure out why, which is why I wrote it in the first place. But I keep revising my goals downward. I've been thinking I ought to go get an A+ cert and become an IT grunt - the pay would be a little better than what I'm doing now, I'd be able to afford the occasional steak...

exikyut 8y ago
All the other comments are very nice-looking hiring offers, which is awesome. But so far nobody's expressed interest in the interpreter for the old language. What language was it? I'm very curious!
wmeredith 8y ago
Dude start applying for jobs. Let the companies decide whether your good enough or not.
cimmanom 8y ago
Have you tried applying? You sound at least as qualified as most of the entry-level candidates we get. Maybe send out a dozen resumes and see what sort of response you get before you decide you're not qualified yet!
jklein11 8y ago
I can imagine that there are senior engineers that couldn't explain to me what a lexer/parser does let alone elaborate on the trade offs of a specific implementation. I'm not in the position to hire but send me an email if you want to connect.
- 80386 8y ago
  I'm not to the stage where I can elaborate on tradeoffs yet either - I just followed a tutorial. And the language it's for doesn't need much in the way of parsing. You can't quite just build an array of tokens and use it as your program stack, but that's only because you have to be able to handle definitions and library imports. Are there any good books on compiler theory?
- madeuptempacct 8y ago
  Guilty.
- xaranke 8y ago
  To piggyback off this comment, my company is always looking for all types of developers. If you're interested my email is in my bio.
newfie_bullet 8y ago
Nothing beats putting in the time, no one is a coding pro by default. Sounds like you're on the right path. Try finding a topic or area that interests you and dive in there a bit. Makes it easier to get those daily commits if it's interesting to you.
nwsm 8y ago
You should apply for some junior jobs. Finish up your portfolio and have your code (clean it up if you need to, but don't waste time re-architecting ) available on GitHub. Start applying at places with small software teams (<20) and something will stick. Maybe get some kind of online cert (AWS dev?). Good luck!
swatcoder 8y ago
Thanks for sharing this. It takes courage. You're being very hard on yourself. You're more than ready to excel at a tech job, and in fact you seem to be far more ready than most candidates. Rather than figure out what code you haven't written or what system you haven't studied, spend the time figuring out what's getting in your way emotionally. Then try to put those fears to the side for a few weeks and start hustling for jobs. Your life is going to change dramatically, and as soon as you're ready to let it!
daanlo 8y ago
Don't clean up anything. Just apply for the next 5 development jobs you see. See if you make it to the interview and how that goes. That will help you understand where you stand. Also see that other post on imposter syndrome above :) You don't need to be perfect to start your first job as a developer. You are supposed to learn on the job.
weaksauce 8y ago
There are people that I have interviewed that didn't even know the bare basics of programming. you are well higher on the list than you think you are. apply.
mkirschner 8y ago
I have a feeling you are selling yourself short (and being overly hard on yourself, something I'm well acquainted with but more easily recognize in others). Based on your technical focus, you're clearly (in my opinion) way above the "average" developer in technical ambition and appreciation for computer science. A bit of unsolicited advice: If you organize your preparations around the concept of providing value to a prospective employer, rather than merely getting hired to write code, then I bet your outlook will change. One book (and definitely not the only one) that can help with that is Bob Martin's The Clean Coder: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers: https://www.amazon.com/Clean-Coder-Conduct-Professional-Programmers/dp/0137081073 https://www.amazon.com/Clean-Coder-Conduct-Professional-Prog...
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
dantaylor08 8y ago
Shoot me an email (in bio). We're hiring.
xutopia 8y ago
I know of no other domain where it is expected that you learn on the job and don't come pre-built with all the necessary knowledge to perform on day one. If you are doing 15$ an hour ask for some place that will hire you for 20$ at the bottom of the barrel, knowing you want to learn on the job and ask if that salary can be reviewed every 3 months. Also where are you located? Some of us might be looking for interns or junior devs willing to learn.
citrablue 8y ago
Have you tried putting yourself out there for work? As patio11 recently said, try to fail out of 20 interviews. It's un-possible -- the hiring process is so broken, you'll get an offer. Then it's up to you to catch up to their expectations. If you fail in that, so what! You'll have your first gig on your resume, and I bet you'll have learned a lot about working as a dev in that time. You'll be miles ahead of grinding it on your own. Just have several strategies for coping with failure or disappointing yourself, otherwise it can be extra rough.
ronald_raygun 8y ago
Here is what I'd recommend - buy a copy of cracking the code interview (its maybe 20-30$), and do every single problem (or most of them) in there by hand on paper. Then reach out to some software devs you know and have them give you mock interviews (if you reach out to me I'd be more then willing to help). Then you will be prepared to ace any big tech co interview. Apply to as many of these jobs as you can (I applied to over 100 and got a job at one of the FAANG). Or if that's not working, you could try something like TripleByte to get in the door
- mkoryak 8y ago
  have you heard of interviewing.io for mock interviews? One of my friends is hooked on that site for giving interviews. If I ever have to interview again, I am going to use that site for a few weeks first.

by 80386 8y ago

exikyut 8y ago

All the other comments are very nice-looking hiring offers, which is awesome. But so far nobody's expressed interest in the interpreter for the old language. What language was it? I'm very curious!

wmeredith 8y ago

Dude start applying for jobs. Let the companies decide whether your good enough or not.

cimmanom 8y ago

Have you tried applying? You sound at least as qualified as most of the entry-level candidates we get. Maybe send out a dozen resumes and see what sort of response you get before you decide you're not qualified yet!

jklein11 8y ago

I can imagine that there are senior engineers that couldn't explain to me what a lexer/parser does let alone elaborate on the trade offs of a specific implementation. I'm not in the position to hire but send me an email if you want to connect.

80386 8y ago
I'm not to the stage where I can elaborate on tradeoffs yet either - I just followed a tutorial. And the language it's for doesn't need much in the way of parsing. You can't quite just build an array of tokens and use it as your program stack, but that's only because you have to be able to handle definitions and library imports. Are there any good books on compiler theory?
madeuptempacct 8y ago
Guilty.
xaranke 8y ago
To piggyback off this comment, my company is always looking for all types of developers. If you're interested my email is in my bio.

newfie_bullet 8y ago

Nothing beats putting in the time, no one is a coding pro by default. Sounds like you're on the right path. Try finding a topic or area that interests you and dive in there a bit. Makes it easier to get those daily commits if it's interesting to you.

nwsm 8y ago

You should apply for some junior jobs. Finish up your portfolio and have your code (clean it up if you need to, but don't waste time re-architecting ) available on GitHub. Start applying at places with small software teams (<20) and something will stick. Maybe get some kind of online cert (AWS dev?). Good luck!

swatcoder 8y ago

Thanks for sharing this. It takes courage. You're being very hard on yourself. You're more than ready to excel at a tech job, and in fact you seem to be far more ready than most candidates. Rather than figure out what code you haven't written or what system you haven't studied, spend the time figuring out what's getting in your way emotionally. Then try to put those fears to the side for a few weeks and start hustling for jobs. Your life is going to change dramatically, and as soon as you're ready to let it!

daanlo 8y ago

Don't clean up anything. Just apply for the next 5 development jobs you see. See if you make it to the interview and how that goes. That will help you understand where you stand. Also see that other post on imposter syndrome above :) You don't need to be perfect to start your first job as a developer. You are supposed to learn on the job.

weaksauce 8y ago

There are people that I have interviewed that didn't even know the bare basics of programming. you are well higher on the list than you think you are. apply.

mkirschner 8y ago

I have a feeling you are selling yourself short (and being overly hard on yourself, something I'm well acquainted with but more easily recognize in others). Based on your technical focus, you're clearly (in my opinion) way above the "average" developer in technical ambition and appreciation for computer science. A bit of unsolicited advice: If you organize your preparations around the concept of providing value to a prospective employer, rather than merely getting hired to write code, then I bet your outlook will change. One book (and definitely not the only one) that can help with that is Bob Martin's The Clean Coder: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers: https://www.amazon.com/Clean-Coder-Conduct-Professional-Programmers/dp/0137081073 https://www.amazon.com/Clean-Coder-Conduct-Professional-Prog...

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

dantaylor08 8y ago

Shoot me an email (in bio). We're hiring.

xutopia 8y ago

I know of no other domain where it is expected that you learn on the job and don't come pre-built with all the necessary knowledge to perform on day one. If you are doing 15$ an hour ask for some place that will hire you for 20$ at the bottom of the barrel, knowing you want to learn on the job and ask if that salary can be reviewed every 3 months. Also where are you located? Some of us might be looking for interns or junior devs willing to learn.

citrablue 8y ago

Have you tried putting yourself out there for work? As patio11 recently said, try to fail out of 20 interviews. It's un-possible -- the hiring process is so broken, you'll get an offer. Then it's up to you to catch up to their expectations. If you fail in that, so what! You'll have your first gig on your resume, and I bet you'll have learned a lot about working as a dev in that time. You'll be miles ahead of grinding it on your own. Just have several strategies for coping with failure or disappointing yourself, otherwise it can be extra rough.

ronald_raygun 8y ago

Here is what I'd recommend - buy a copy of cracking the code interview (its maybe 20-30$), and do every single problem (or most of them) in there by hand on paper. Then reach out to some software devs you know and have them give you mock interviews (if you reach out to me I'd be more then willing to help). Then you will be prepared to ace any big tech co interview. Apply to as many of these jobs as you can (I applied to over 100 and got a job at one of the FAANG). Or if that's not working, you could try something like TripleByte to get in the door

mkoryak 8y ago
have you heard of interviewing.io for mock interviews? One of my friends is hooked on that site for giving interviews. If I ever have to interview again, I am going to use that site for a few weeks first.