I've been a hobbyist programmer since I was about 6 years old. I had done just about every other job in IT besides sling code. Reading HN and conversing with a

I've been a hobbyist programmer since I was about 6 years old. I had done just about every other job in IT besides sling code. Reading HN and conversing with a friend of mine in a CS program at Uni are what motivated me to turn my hobby into a new career, at 31 years old. It was through HN that I realized that I knew a heck of a lot more relevant job skills than I thought I did. Threads on HN also connected the dots for what it would take to make this my profession. The career change itself only took me about 3 months, but reading HN was years of time invested. I've also had some constructive interviews, on both sides, as a result of the monthly job threads.