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Ask HN: Would you hire an entry-level candidate with unrelated experience?
Specifically, someone who has industry experience, but very little by way of programming experience.
Take the case of a 30 year old who has been in various white-collar roles. She's been dabbling in code for a few years, and one fine day decides this is her cup of tea, and is alright with working her way up the ranks from entry-level and rebooting as a rookie coder.
Do people of this sort stand a chance?
- iambot 15y agoI suppose it depends what industries (specifically), I did that from retail/advertising design -> web design -> font-end development. Now I can safely do a "fair" amount of server side development as well.
- bartonfink 15y agoI would hire that sort of person, but again, at an entry level. Experience outside of a technical job isn't going to translate as well to experience interfacing directly with a computer, and so I don't see it as terribly applicable. However, I'd hire that person above many college applicants. A 30 year old who's been in the work force is likely to understand the rules of the working world (e.g. just because the workplace allows for ping-pong breaks doesn't absolve you of responsibility to produce) better than someone right out of college.