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>You list the trifecta of red flags for employers: Incredibly I never went out of my way to do everything as wrong as possible. It just kind of happened withou

>You list the trifecta of red flags for employers: Incredibly I never went out of my way to do everything as wrong as possible. It just kind of happened without thinking about what is really bad, for the first couple years of my career. I would have assumed that to have so many red flags you'd have to actively work to get them, but here we are. I've been following point 1 by making side projects that make more use of modern web development. Have some on Github and one on Heroku as well. What is unclear to me is which kinds of topics are usually taught in on-boarding and which are left to the candidate to learn for themselves. I don't have experience with mentoring or on-boarding situations which is why I ask. As for the next point, I am trying to avoid companies with no IT staff as I've heard many times that they are not well suited to grow your career in tech. I also know from experience, been there, done that, hasn't worked for me, so it's time to move away from them. They are more "cost center" than "profit center" jobs and am following different advice to choose companies where software is at the core of their business. I'll see what I can do with socializing with others for professional talk. The only people I speak with face to face are the places I grab a bite or coffee, etc. and typically otherwise just converse and chat with people in tech focused communities like this one.

gregjor 4y ago
I didn't mean to imply you tried to raise these red flags, but as you say, here you are. I wouldn't expect to get taught anything during onboarding. The days of companies hiring juniors and trainees and mentoring them and building their skills seem long-gone. Now companies only want to hire people who exactly match their specs and can start contributing (or appearing to contribute) from the first day. The vast majority of programming jobs are with companies that don't produce software as their main product, so focusing only on software companies severely limits your options. Those jobs are the most likely to demand solid experience and demonstrated expertise. I prefer companies that make a profit and depend on technology but aren't in the technology business: logistics, law, finance, retail, education, etc. You will get a wider exposure to different languages and tools in that world, and more focus on business problems as opposed to technical problems. Software companies are often not profitable and volatile, and very focused around a small number of languages and tools. I've been there and done that too and got tired of the "pivots" and "runways" and layoffs. The companies that do make money in the software business have their choice of top experienced people so they're harder to get into. Try talking to a stranger every day, just something casual to start a conversation. I have done that for years and have met some great people that way, and got leads on freelance opportunities. People you know are always the best source of job leads.

gregjor 4y ago

I didn't mean to imply you tried to raise these red flags, but as you say, here you are. I wouldn't expect to get taught anything during onboarding. The days of companies hiring juniors and trainees and mentoring them and building their skills seem long-gone. Now companies only want to hire people who exactly match their specs and can start contributing (or appearing to contribute) from the first day. The vast majority of programming jobs are with companies that don't produce software as their main product, so focusing only on software companies severely limits your options. Those jobs are the most likely to demand solid experience and demonstrated expertise. I prefer companies that make a profit and depend on technology but aren't in the technology business: logistics, law, finance, retail, education, etc. You will get a wider exposure to different languages and tools in that world, and more focus on business problems as opposed to technical problems. Software companies are often not profitable and volatile, and very focused around a small number of languages and tools. I've been there and done that too and got tired of the "pivots" and "runways" and layoffs. The companies that do make money in the software business have their choice of top experienced people so they're harder to get into. Try talking to a stranger every day, just something casual to start a conversation. I have done that for years and have met some great people that way, and got leads on freelance opportunities. People you know are always the best source of job leads.