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Hungry Academy - get paid to learn Ruby
- bdunn 15y agoAwesome idea! I'm very interested to see how this plays out, as my shop (along with quite a few others that I'm aware of) are combating the shortage through apprenticeship programs. This looks like to be a super-structured version of just that. Congrats to Chad Fowler, Jeff Casimir, and everyone else involved.
- j3 15y agoI'll do my best to answer questions as they pop-up here today, but please feel free to email me at (contact at jumpstartlab) dot com if you want to know more.
- elomar 15y agoSounds like a great opportunity. Is it open to non-US citizens? :)
- j3 15y agoYes! We can work on the visas for exceptional candidates.
- elomar 15y agoThat's good to hear. I can't apply this time due to visa issues, but I hope the program is a success for both LivingSocial and the candidates so that more editions are done :) J-1 "two years restriction"
- nassosdim 15y agoWhat about the relocation expenses? Are you offering a relocation package? As someone who has attempted a country switch a year ago I got myself into trouble when I had to arrange a place to stay - a proper place to stay, because the company back then could arrange me a room in a small apartment with 6 other people sharing a kitchen and due to issues that forced me to pay 3 nights in a hotel. Luckily I found a room to rent through a colleague, right on the first day in the office. Point being, as much as I adore the idea of dedicating my whole life into learning software engineering and web development, get hands-on experience in a real company and do what I consider meaningful impact in the world, abstract things in the offer like "money", "relocation package" (if any) and apartment are going to keep me "trapped in Greece" for now. Can you confirm or deny if my worries are legit?
- Mikushi 15y agoThis is awesome, more companies need to show this kind of initiative. I'll be applying, we'll see if i qualify as an "exceptional candidate"
- nassosdim 15y agoAfter contacting with the HR in the email that you gave me they told me that they don't offer visas for this program. :(
- viandante 15y agoSame here. Too bad.
- j3 15y agoI'm sorry, I was mixed up about this. It's still possible for future iterations of the program, but for this one they've decided "no."
- nassosdim 15y agoThat's alright. I keep hearing a lot about how hard it is for a company to sponsor someone and, given the short notice, I was struck surprised by it.
- j3 15y agoI think the calendar/rush is a bigger problem than the will/funding. I will do my best, for future iterations, to invite the world.
- viandante 15y agoj3, I just wanted to say that I find your approach inspiring anyway. At least you and LS are doing something about this. Becasue it is an issue. All the companies want perfect candidates, but none is willing to take passionate people and just plain teach them.
- Croaky 15y agothoughtbot runs a similar program and we do offer visas: http://apprentice.io http://apprentice.io Prem Sichanugrist was a former apprentice of ours. He's from Thailand and is now a full-time thoughtbot employee. Please apply if it interests you!
- darushimo 15y agoWhen does the five-month program start?
- chadfowler 15y agoEarly March
- gexla 15y agoDang, you guys had to mention being hungry. I'm hungry, but that's because the GF hasn't come home with our food yet. When is the deadline for the applications? Edit: Downvoters, seriously? Isn't this a legit question? Just ignore the part about me being hungry. I'm just reading through hacker news while waiting for my GF to get back with my cheeseburger.
- gyardley 15y agoThe deadline, January 9th, is in a rather large font on a big blue button in the middle of the linked page.
- dzohrob 15y agoAre you paying people regardless of whether they receive/accept a job offer from you?
- j3 15y agoI'm not privy to all the HR details, but you're paid during the program, expected to join the team afterwards, and to stay for 18 months. I don't know what happens, exactly, if you finish the program then say "Seeya suckers!" But I'll probably cry, and that's mean :p
- Inufu 15y agoYou mentioned that people will be payed during the training - what range are we talking about? About the mandatory 18 month work - how is pay worked out for that? Before training starts? I'm currently considering to apply, as I'm completely bored here with my CS and Economics bachelor. (Europe) I'd love to finally have some challenge :)
- j3 15y agoI don't have permission to talk specific numbers in public and it's not really my part of the program -- but expect the during program salary to be a reasonable living wage in our expensive city and the full post-academy salary to be at or above other beginning developer positions.
- exim 15y agoDo you have an option for remote commitment? (outside USA and not willing to relocate during learning period) Also, is it possible to learn only Ruby, without Rails? While I find Ruby a very interesting language, I'm not really interested in web development.
- j3 15y agoThe program is onsite-only and the content is directed by what you need for the LivingSocial engineering team, which means Ruby, Rails, and many other related technologies. Sorry!
- taytus 15y agoHi there, I love this initiative. I'll apply but my English is not perfect :S Should I be worried?
- sdoering 15y agoIs it just me, or is it just the cultural difference (I am from germany, where we - god be blessed - have laws against these kind of hours)- but if I am expected to work 70h+/week in this thing, I belive, the same would be expected if anyone gets that job. Well done. slavery seems back at last.
- jeremymcanally 15y agoThey're being paid. I think the slavery charge is a bit much. Plus, you don't know the program structure. That may include homework/group sort of stuff in addition to work and instruction. It'll be like 5 months of college with a job. It's no different if you actually calculate the time investment.
- oinksoft 15y ago18-month commitment required
- j3 15y agoThat's pretty short, no? Get an unparalleled education in modern software development, step into a high-paying job, and we ask you to stay just 18 months?
- oinksoft 15y agoNo guarantee it will be high-paying, and the word "required" implies that at some point in this process you become beholden to your educators. They certainly don't want any applicants taking the paid education and leaving, so I can imagine some print, fine or otherwise, indemnifying a worthy student (one who is offered a job) should they not fulfill this 18-month requirement.
- tibbon 15y agoStill sounds better than dumping 4 years and $160K on a normal degree and then finding no jobs afterward. I've got a friend now who is a cook in a kitchen. I've been trying to convince him to learn Ruby. This is a killer thing for him. He's making like $12/hr now. Even a "bad" paying programming gig will surely beat that.
- alexanderberman 15y agoI absolutely love this idea - a very Silicon Valley way to deal with the shortage of quality developers!
- enry_straker 15y agoI used a similar approach when i wanted Windows internals programmers in the early 90's. I just called it a internal training program, though. Irrespective of the number of hours put up, i still think a person new to rails will get a chance to pick up a lot of knowledge and be mentored in the proces - and is a good deal for collage kids.
- j3 15y agoIn a week, or so, you'll find out how this is very different from an internal training program. We're going to make this very external, a learning experience for whoever wants to be involved.
- watmough 15y agoThis sounds really promising. Hopefully, and it would be silly not to, you'll have something in place to detect smart people following along outside.
- enry_straker 15y agoApologies if this came across negetively. My goal, at the time i started my company, was to build a really hard-core team. I am sure that is one of your goals too, aside from providing a really intensive training program for your participants. I would suggest focusing on good habits and good attitude to learning and problem-solving and having fun in the process. Don't allow them to burn out short-term.
- j3 15y agoTotally agree. I'm taking a lot of lessons from my time in Teach for America where they pushed us hard but still fostered the love for each other, the program, and of course our students.
- twelvedigits 15y agoVery exciting. Are you going to livestream everything?
- jeffclark 15y agoIs the job salary negotiated before the program? I feel like it must be hard to accurately judge someone's programming value before they learn how to program. What happens if, at the end of the 5-month program, they offer you a desperately low-paying salary? Have you wasted 5 months and moved to DC for nothing?
- john_p_wood 15y agoSomething tells me that after making it though a program like this, you'll have plenty of job options, with the one from Living Social just being one.
- thematt 15y agoThose others don't matter though because by going through the class you've signed on for an 18 month stint with LivingSocial.
- nik_0_0 15y agoIn reply to you and smountcastle, here is the text verbatim: If you survive the five-month program, you’ll be offered a position on LivingSocial’s elite engineering team (18-month commitment required). I read this as, if you TAKE the position on the elite engineering team after the five-month period, the contract is for 18-months. I don't think it is necessarily tied to the 5-month learning period.
- john_p_wood 15y agoI thought the same thing. However, it looks like this was cleared up in another thread. It seems as though you are expected to join Living Social at then end of the training. So, it's not really an "offer" after all.
- jackowayed 15y ago"expected" doesn't necessarily mean "required". Unless one of the things they have participants sign when they agree to do the program lays out specific penalties for refusing the job offer or leaving before 18 months, they're not required to do anything. And if such a clause does exist, there absolutely should be a lower bound on the salary, benefits, etc. in that contract, so that they know they're not agreeing to work for minimum wage for 18 months.
- pitdesi 15y agoThis is pretty smart recruiting by livingsocial, certainly one way to bridge the talent shortfall, but i wonder what happens if someone wants to leave? Will be interesting to see how it all plays out Another similar program but without the lock-in is Code Academy (http://codeacademy.org http://codeacademy.org) in Chicago. It is different than hungry academy in that you pay up front ($6k) but my understanding is that most of their students are going to be offered a job with Groupon (where it is hosted) or another LightBank company, but under no obligation to do it. I think some of the current students might be starting their own companies instead. Feefighters did a guest lecture, and i know theyve had a bunch of other a-list guest speakers, including dhh and harper (cto for obama). I met some of the students at an hn meetup, and they were pretty awesome, motivated and bright. Pretty cool that both of these exist though, I think they'll continue to grow. There are a lot of people who didnt do comp sci in school and don't want to do it on their own
- jvanderwal 15y agoI just interviewed with them and they stressed very heavily that they do not guarantee any sort of job.
- j3 15y agoCodeAcademy is totally awesome. I'm the instructor for Hungry Academy and an advisor for Code Academy (http://codeacademy.org/staff http://codeacademy.org/staff). CA is an awesome program where you can get a great start and be independent. HA is a larger scale (20 weeks), you're paid during the program, then expected to join the engineering team full time. You're not guaranteed a job, but if you aren't ready for the team then I haven't done my job. I think the programs serve a slightly different audience and the community is better off having BOTH.
- scarmig 15y agoIs Hungry Academy effectively an internship program that offers a guarantee of some dedicated training time instead of the intern being thrown to the wolves?
- rpwilcox 15y agoExcellent! I'm glad a big presence in the startup community is willing to train people, instead of demanding: "OMG I CAN'T FIND ROCK STARS I R D00MM333ED!!!!!!" like I see so many other companies do :)
- sequoia 15y agoI want to second this. Given the shortage of qualified developers, I actually find it baffling that more companies aren't taking this step. Kudos to Living Social to being proactive rather than whining about lack of talent!
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- tibbon 15y agoJan 9th
- araneae 15y agoDamn, that's really awesome. It seems like a cool way to get into web programming from other fields since they don't require RoR or even a programming background. I might have considered it if my due date wasn't in May...
- mattetti 15y agoI'm almost sure we will run more sessions in the future.
- maccylo 15y ago:( Darn. Too bad I'm not american. Nevertheless, good effort! Let us know how it works out.
- richardburton 15y agoWell that is one way to solve the shortage of programmers. Find hungry people and teach them to code in return for food!* *Obviously I am kidding. This is definitely cool recruiting experiment.
- idiot900 15y ago"Not a programmer? Apply." How do you expect to turn someone into a decent programmer in five months when they are starting from scratch?
- agentultra 15y agoI suspect by specializing them in developing with a specific language (Ruby) on a specific framework (Rails). I doubt candidates will come out knowing how to approach computing models, implement algorithms, explain sequent calculus type systems, and write compilers.
- j3 15y agoI've been teaching programming for eight years now, and I'd say "What we do isn't that hard." If we were writing 3D game engines, yes we'd need insane levels of math, theory, etc. But writing web applications is mostly about following smart patterns, getting something done, done quickly, then improving the hotspots that need it. I can teach you to do that in five months, no problem. Then it just takes a lifetime of practice to be, truly, good.
- pixeloution 15y agoj3 is right -- developing web apps, 95% of the time, is a trade and not something that requires a four year CS degree. I've taken several people from scratch and taught them enough to be useful to me over a 4-5 month period; years later some of them are holding down very highly paid web development jobs.
- danberger 15y agoThis is the kind of site that people want to share and can go viral quite quickly. You should add the usual suspects of share buttons: Twitter, Fb and LinkedIn.
- JonnieCache 15y agoI've always disliked the term "hungry," usually it seems to be meant literally, ie. "we know you currently can't afford to eat, and we're going to exploit your weak position mercilessly." Not to say this is necessarily what's going to happen here of course, but be careful boys and girls.
- j3 15y agoLivingSocial started with the name "HungryMachine" and one of the company's core values is "Live Hungry" -- that's the inspiration. We don't want to exploit anyone, hah. In fact, it's quite the opposite -- we want to bring more people into this ridiculously bountiful world of software development.
- vaksel 15y agothat application is terrible I can see it being fine as a step 2...but it's way too big as a first step. And you want someone for a job as a programmer...and yet your "filter" for this is essays and videos? Anyone who'd bother to waste a day writing all those essays and making the videos, can learn RoR on their own...especially if they are already a programmer since RoR is not that different from the other languages
- cjoh 15y agoI don't work for Living Social, but I think it's a huge risk that they're taking. The form is burdensome because it needs to be. The only people that they should get are people that really want to learn and that's exactly what they'll get here. Remember, the entrepreneurish techie on HackerNews is likely not their audience. The 19 year old fixing Mom's computer who just failed organic chemistry and might not want to go through with their Marine Biology degree is.
- vaksel 15y agothe 19 year old wouldn't hear about the opportunity in the first place
- safetyscissors 15y agoI'm gonna give this a shot. I've been worried for a while about my skills as a developer and felt that I wasn't up to the same standard as other people (Just like everyone I guess). I think this is a perfect avenue for anyone who wants to get some more experience. Good luck to those entering :)
- rookah 15y agoWhy not film all the lessons? It would make the perfect X-Factor for nerds!
- smountcastle 15y agoNew revenue stream for LivingSocial!
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- switz 15y agoI'm curious how you are contractually obligated to join the team for 18 months. What about salary, benefits, etc. While this could be a great opportunity, I would feel uncomfortable not knowing what package I would be getting after the 5 months. For all I know, they could pay us 10K for 18 months of work with no benefits.
- j3 15y agoI wish I could say more about the salary. Let's say that I taught middle school and high school for five years, and both the training period and job afterwards pay WAY more than I ever got.
- edw519 15y agoHow much do you get paid to fill out the application? I love the idea that you're "edgy" and thinking outside the box, but honestly, have you really thought your application process through? As an ugly introverted nerd who still has trouble getting a date, but builds killer software apps and loves doing it, the last thing I ever want to do is spend multiple days in order to enter your beauty contest. So you'll end up choosing the prettiest people who present the best and write the prettiest code regardless of how important or influential it is. You'd just be better off bringing everyone in for the first week of the class. By the end of that week, you'd have a much better idea of who would succeed in your program than your seemingly random method of choice. I've written lots of cool stuff and would love to learn Ruby in what appears to be a great program like yours, but I'm just not hungry enough to subject myself to more superficial rejection. There are already plenty of women around for that.
- j3 15y agoWe're engineers -- not pretty people. We don't care what your face looks like, but watching you explain who you are and what you're good at can give great insight into your personality. The application is more about whether you feel like a good fit for the team than it is your programming skills. It doesn't mean "do you look good", it doesn't mean "is your English great," and it doesn't mean "Does this look like I 'expect' a programmer to look?" We're trying to find out "is this a person I want to spend every day of my career with?" We'd LOVE to bring everyone out for one of our in-person sessions, but are expecting a thousand applications for our 24 spots. Getting all those people in one place would be a massive undertaking and a huge waste of time for the 976 who aren't selected.
- vaksel 15y agoNo it doesn't...you honestly think anyone would record a video off the top of their head? Those answers will be calculated to sound the way you want to hear. "Of course I enjoy working, if I can't get 90 hours of work in, I feel depressed that I'm not living up to my potential...taking days off is also completely unacceptable, since I don't want to let my coworkers down." And getting a feel for a person from a video is not too smart either. In one case, you are friends with the person just talking. In another they are trying to essentially beg for a job talking into a camera, alone in a room. And if you are getting 1000 applications, it's completely dishonest to require all those people to spend days creating their applications. You are not going to watch 8000 hours worth of video and read all those essays...so why do you require people to do busy work? And if you are going get 1000 applications, you won't be picking non-programmers either(well maybe one). So why get all those people's hopes up and waste their time? There is no way I'd believe you'd pick someone with a biology degree over someone who already has the basic programming knowledge, where you don't have to explain what an IF statement is or how to create a variable.
- yayadarsh 15y agoAh, if only this was more realistic to us full-time students out there. Nonetheless, the concept sounds very fresh and exciting, and I hope this spawns a Summer variant for people my age!
- SilasX 15y agoThis is similar to another Ruby development training opportunity posted last month, Dev Bootcamp http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3267133 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3267133 http://devbootcamp.com http://devbootcamp.com Summary of differences I see so far are that Hungry Academy: - has a different tuition sign (they pay you rather than you pay them). - is for one employer rather than whoever they can connect you with. - is in DC rather than the Bay Area. - is 5 months rather than 2. Both promote themselves as being compatible with those who have no programming experience, and have an ambitious learning schedule. (Sidenote: I was accepted for the Feb-March cohort to devbootcamp.)
- otrofimo 15y agoSilasX, it would be great to hear your comments of this bootcamp. These programs are awesome. I got accepted to devbootcamp but because I just moved out to SF(OCT) I don't have enough funds to do it in Feb-Mar(hopefully this summer). The Hungry Academy is an awesome idea which I would totally do if it wasn't in DC. Why are more companies not doing something similar?
- SilasX 15y agoSad to hear it was money that kept you out. You couldn't even have paid on the 5-year schedule? I would have lent you the money to cover the first few months (albeit at interest) once I confirmed you were accepted. I think we'll see more of this general kind of thing in the future, where organizations "cut the fat" out of getting people into software development.
- cvander 15y agoI loved the program and the proposal. As for the form, how about asking for HN users or githut accounts. They say more than a cover letter. And was I the only one that didn't really got excited with the video? I rather get more leadership from the mentors when selling the idea.
- j3 15y agoCheck out the instructions for the application and you'll see that, if you're a developer, we specifically ask for a project posted on Github. Sorry you didn't dig the video. I'm happy to have one where I don't say "Damn, I look stupid/fat/messy/blah" :)
- yawn 15y agoThis sounds like a great opportunity--for those of us without mortgages, families and golden handcuff salaries. If I were younger or debt-free, you could see what someone who's hungry can accomplish.
- j3 15y agoAs a mortgage man and father of two, I totally agree. If you have ideas on how we can make this work for people in your position, please let me know. I thought about it being similar to one spouse working crazy hard while the second goes to law school for the eventual payoff future. Five months is a lot easier than three years, especially thinking about the $150K you'd owe. So it's not easy, but I think it will be possible. I really hope that some join us, because there's no one hungrier than a person working to provide for the ones they love. Families teach you so much about work/life balance, how to do things efficiently, and how to smile -- things I'm looking for in our applicants.
- phaus 15y agoI'm in a similar situation, but I live in the D.C. area. Even though things would probably be tough, I plan to apply as soon as I get back home to my computer.
- hexis 15y agoAssuming one made it through the 5 month training in DC and was offered a job, would that job be based in DC or would it be remote-compatible?
- j3 15y agoThis detail is still under discussion, but I anticipate people will fan out to some of the other LivingSocial offices like Seattle, Boulder, or other up-and-coming spots. It's unlikely that you could remote from home / some other place because we want to keep the in-person mentorships alive.
- replicatorblog 15y agoj3, This is a bit of an aside, but who produced your video? It is very well shot, In-house or a production agency?
- j3 15y agoThe LivingSocial in house team knocked it out in a couple hours -- they're crazy good. I couldn't believe we used "found light" in a hallway and had respectable results.
- replicatorblog 15y agoYeah, the lighting was what struck me. My kudos to your video team!
- mangostein 15y agowould submitting both a gist as well as code be cheating? I'm kind of a math person making the transition to programmer..
- j3 15y agoI would say do the Gist essay, and at the close of the essay say "And I'm getting started with programming, here's a Github repo". That way you'd get past the person who's checking "Did this applicant follow the directions (submitting only two URLs)?" But we can (likely) check out the code during the in-depth review.
- dragthor 15y agoWho do these people think they are?!?!
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- hkarthik 15y agoAsk around your work place and find some of the grey beards that got their start as programmers in the early 90s. You'll find quite a few that didn't study programming or CS in school, but got their start via company training programs in COBOL, RPG, or Visual Basic in the late 80s and early 90s. This was back when most universities didn't have a CS Program and programming was just a skill in high demand (much like today). Some of these folks went on to management, system admin work, or kept pursuing the craft and still work side by side with us today. So what Hungry Academy is doing isn't completely new, but it's a new idea with a fresh face.
- C_ 15y agoJust wondering, are opportunities like this for college grads fairly common? Either way, I love the idea.
- j3 15y agoI don't think they're common, at least not in the dev world. One of my training clients runs a six month "get familiar with the company" program where new hires do different jobs -- it's the same spirit but totally different intensity. Theirs is like "hey, it's better than an intership" and ours is like "this is more valuable than college. Work hard, learn hard."
- idleworx 15y agoGreat idea. It seems that the program is more targeted to people with little programming experience/fresh grads/etc? (but I may be wrong since I skimmed through the initial post). I was wondering if you have or are planning similar programs/incentives for developers with significant prior experience (eg 5+ years of development) but not in the ruby/rails world who are interested in moving towards ruby/rails development?
- j3 15y agoI expect there will be many "technology switcher" applicants and am working to have diverse skill sets represented -- including those of us who've been developing for awhile.
- doktrin 15y agoDo developers with 5+ years of professional experience really need a program like this to become proficient with RoR? This is a genuine question and not a snide remark.
- rdouble 15y agoWhen I worked at ArsDigita in 1999 we did something like this but it was only 3 weeks.
- NHQ 15y agoI already got companies trying to pay me to learn Ruby. I say no thanks!
- venturebros 15y agoHmm I have just started working with RoR. Would jump at this but the DC part is turning me away. I know you guys said you had an office in Seattle any chance of a similar program there? Edit: And I also would like to add that I wish there were more programs like this. So many companies want to hire elite,rockstar,jedi,ninja,etc programmers and not willing to give people like me with no CS background a chance. I can't even get an entry-level/junior position since they all require a strong skills these days.
- overgryphon 15y agoNo offense intended, but why should entry level software development jobs be available to people without a CS skill set? Many people spend four years studying CS specifically to earn an entry level job in software development. Shouldn't those without a CS background spend time developing a comparable amount of skills before expecting a software development job? Why should candidates without a CS degree be held to a lower standard? Why would such a candidate deserve the same opportunities as someone who did devote a significant time to learning CS?
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- overgryphon 15y agoSure, it is possible to find a school to give you a CS degree without learning any useful skills. But most people who get a CS degree are required to write quite a bit of code to earn it, take classes in data structures, algorithms, math, and operating systems. While degree programs may be more theoretical than just learn to write code, a solid background in theory can be very useful. Why should someone expect a software development job if they have not spent a significant amount of time studying software development? I don't care if they self-study instead of going to school, but it is reasonable to expect a certain skill set before someone is hired to write software.
- venturebros 15y agoNever said I was looking to be a software developer. I'm a Front-end web developer. It's tough to get my foot into the door outside of the interactive agency realm because most companies require 2+ years experience and some form of testing just for a junior position.
- mkramlich 15y agoanytime you make it easier to do a thing, or lower the bar a person must meet, there are consequences, not all of them good.
- doktrin 15y agoOn a purely humorous note, did anyone else watching the video hear Chad say that LS scales to "bazillions" or "zillions" of transactions? edit : downvoted, really? I thought it was a funny slip
- omouse 15y agoYou have to go "onsite"? Which century are we living in? -_-'
- sabj 15y agoCertainly a very interesting program - many props to the Living Social team for setting this up. I'm curious about the logistics involved - both the questions about the commitment / expectation piece, and the actual program itself. Would be good to have some contact information on the page, or some FAQs. But, great idea, hope it works out well and others follow!
- j3 15y agoSend more details questions to hungryacademy at livingsocial dot com.
- trifu 15y agoI know someone earlier said this program isn't available to non americans, but is there some special policy set up for Canadians (since we're so close....and have been bffs for so long! :D) Myself (web applications developer) and my gf (band teacher) were thinking of throwing in an application, but if Canadians also don't qualify then there's really no point?
- FlyingTryangle 15y agoThis is my fucking dream. I don't mean to sound unprofessional since I will apply for this but in this case it is necessary to use the strongest word available. This is what I want so badly it almost brings tears to my eye.
- j3 15y agoAwesome!
- ratzzak 15y agoIs there any such programs available online instead of attending inplace?
- JaretManuel 15y agoI get a kick out of some of the replies to this post. Hungry Academy is pretty clear what they are looking for. Don't like it? Don't apply. Don't like Hungry? Too bad. They want people who will work their tail off. If you're that good of a programmer or think it is a waste of time you can still apply to living social or elsewhere. Nobody is forcing your hand here and they are simply extending their hand to a broader market and teach a skill set that is in demand (both to Living Social & elsewhere). I think Hungry Academy is an awesome program for someone like myself who is interested in learning Rails but could benefit from a taught environment. Also, I believe this is brilliant marketing. Just as you see more articles saying programming is becoming the "2nd" language to know, so to are traditional introverted programmers (and of course, I am not suggesting all are like this) will benefit from rounding out their personal skills. Living Social and other companies don't want a code monkey, rather they want people who can work with others and hold a reasonable presentational skill set while cutting it as a solid "rails" developer. I would have applied and encourage others in my "not so technical" shoes to jump at this, however I have already invested in and will be attending the January Code Academy class in Chicago. It is a better & more "independent" path for me despite of how awesome I think Hungry Academy is. Sure, it is not certainly cheap but it was my decision. Further, the Code Academy gang is very up front about their cost to participate ($6,000USD for the Dev (Rails) & $6,000 for design). Also, I have never once been promised a job or a comment close to that effect. I view this as a vehicle to launch my rails development (I have been prepping for the course). Many can learn this on their own. Go ahead and great on you. I think the output of this program as well as hungry academy is the result of your input and how are you network the class and surrounding communities. To J3 & the Hungry Academy / Living Social Crew --> Brilliant! CodeAcademy --> Brilliant (I wouldn't be surprised Heroku/Salesforce & Marc @Benioff doesn't get involved somehow). @JaretManuel
- JaretManuel 15y agoI get a kick out of some of the replies to this post. Hungry Academy is pretty clear what they are looking for. Don't like it? Don't apply. Don't like Hungry? Too bad. They want people who will work their tail off. If you're that good of a programmer or think it is a waste of time you can still apply to living social or elsewhere. Nobody is forcing your hand here and they are simply extending their hand to a broader market and teach a skill set that is in demand (both to Living Social & elsewhere). I think Hungry Academy is an awesome program for someone like myself who is interested in learning Rails but could benefit from a taught environment. Also, I believe this is brilliant marketing. Just as you see more articles saying programming is becoming the "2nd" language to know, so to are traditional introverted programmers (and of course, I am not suggesting all are like this) will benefit from rounding out their personal skills. Living Social and other companies don't want a code monkey, rather they want people who can work with others and hold a reasonable presentational skill set while cutting it as a solid "rails" developer. I would have applied and encourage others in my "not so technical" shoes to jump at this, however I have already invested in and will be attending the January Code Academy class in Chicago. It is a better & more "independent" path for me despite of how awesome I think Hungry Academy is. Sure, it is not certainly cheap but it was my decision. Further, the Code Academy gang is very up front about their cost to participate ($6,000USD for the Dev (Rails) & $6,000 for design). Also, I have never once been promised a job or a comment close to that effect. I view this as a vehicle to launch my rails development (I have been prepping for the course). Many can learn this on their own. Go ahead and great on you. I think the output of this program as well as hungry academy is the result of your input and how well you network the class and associated groups. To J3 & the Hungry Academy / Living Social Crew --> Brilliant! CodeAcademy --> Brilliant (I wouldn't be surprised Heroku/Salesforce & Marc @Benioff doesn't get involved somehow with something like this). @JaretManuel
- daimyoyo 15y agoThere's a problem in the application process that I am not sure I can overcome. I can upload a youtube video fine, but the only camera I own takes 240p. Which I really doubt will do anything besides convince the people running this program I'm not a good candidate. I might as well snail mail a VHS. So, if I can get around this step, I'd love to apply(and if I'm accepted I'd move heaven and Earth to make sure I completed the course) but the fact is it doesn't matter how "hungry" you are if the first impression you make tells people you don't have two nickels to rub together.
- j3 15y agoMaybe a library with a webcam-equipped computer? Friend with a camera phone? Volunteer somewhere for a few hours in exchange for using their equipment?
- will_lam 15y agoFrom a high level view, I'm totally for this idea. However, I'm skeptical of the viability of this sort of pilot program. Having more info about the "fine print" would be a good start. It would be interesting to see if other companies start similar programs to meet the short-fall of engineering talent as well.
- somecallmediego 15y agoI'm more of a fiddler than a developer. Should I submit some basic code sample, or would I be better off applying as a non-developer ?
- j3 15y agoGo the non-developer route.