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So how do you start a consulting business, if you're technically a programmer with a degree n' all but not much experience spread over 7-8 years. All I do is fi

by sown 11y ago

So how do you start a consulting business, if you're technically a programmer with a degree n' all but not much experience spread over 7-8 years. All I do is fix bugs; that's all they trust me with. For example, I didn't know that Design Patterns were a thing. I'm learning about it now. I don't know what I don't know, yada yada. Not sure what to do. I really do aspire to make new code, but it seems like if I never give up and I never win, then I'm wasting my precious remaining years. Recently I've been writing a ruby grape-based api server and I thought I had a handle on it. Then I had the privilege of seeing a similar project for real and I wasn't even close. Theirs was so much better. Maybe I can get to that level but these guys are young, half my age, and they know 4x what I do. I don't want to get negative but it feels like my career has just stalled and is at risk of never starting up again. I'm at a loss as to what to do exactly. What would you do?

toxicFork 11y ago
I'm not a super expert on consulting, and my advice is going to be specifically about doing things other than "bug fixing": I would recommend contributing to open source projects, find some that may interest you and are at an early stage. If none exist, you can also just use a couple hours every day, and some at the weekends, to create something from scratch on your own. You will run into problems and you will have questions, use the internet (e.g. stackoverflow)! Also - it will help me too - could someone recommend some books please?
- sown 11y ago
  > you can also just use a couple hours every day, and some at the weekends, to create something from scratch on your own That's what I've been doing. :) I've pitched a couple of patches but they usually get turned down. I'm wondering if I should take a break or just accept that I won't be a good engineer. > Recently I've been writing a ruby grape-based api server and I thought I had a handle on it. Then I had the privilege of seeing a similar project for real and I wasn't even close. Theirs was so much better. Maybe I can get to that level but these guys are young, half my age, and they know 4x what I do.
  - toxicFork 11y ago
    > That's what I've been doing. :) I've pitched a couple of patches but they usually get turned down. I'm wondering if I should take a break or just accept that I won't be a good engineer. Don't blame yourself, there may be many reasons for that, I would try to find out why they were turned down, and then look at some patches that weren't turned down. I know it's hard not to feel bad about being rejected, even if it's just a patch to a project, but at least you'll have the benefit of learning from it. > Then I had the privilege of seeing a similar project for real and I wasn't even close Sure, there will always be competition, but is the project made to be sold, or is it made to have more experience apart from fixing bugs? If it's the latter, I don't think there's any way to lose. Study the other project and see what they did better, then try to implement them yourself :) "they are younger and better", that doesn't matter. Just try to get yourself better, there's always someone who's better than someone else! Edit: formatted the response to be a bit more readable
- amorphid 11y ago
  This may sound too simple, but if you wanna make the big bucks as a well paid consultant, learn how to be a consultant. The simplest option might be joining a successful consulting company, and learn to play the game they play. You can also get your own clients and work your way up. Just push yourself to figure out what you don't know, and then go after it. Finding one or more mentors can be pretty strong, too. Source: I taught myself to be a recruiting consultant, and then taught myself to be a software developer. Neither was easy. Now I'm growing as a software developer, and that's going pretty well.
  - toxicFork 11y ago
    You may need to reply to the above message and not this one so that it can reach the intended recipient easier :)

by sown 11y ago

toxicFork 11y ago

I'm not a super expert on consulting, and my advice is going to be specifically about doing things other than "bug fixing": I would recommend contributing to open source projects, find some that may interest you and are at an early stage. If none exist, you can also just use a couple hours every day, and some at the weekends, to create something from scratch on your own. You will run into problems and you will have questions, use the internet (e.g. stackoverflow)! Also - it will help me too - could someone recommend some books please?

sown 11y ago
> you can also just use a couple hours every day, and some at the weekends, to create something from scratch on your own That's what I've been doing. :) I've pitched a couple of patches but they usually get turned down. I'm wondering if I should take a break or just accept that I won't be a good engineer. > Recently I've been writing a ruby grape-based api server and I thought I had a handle on it. Then I had the privilege of seeing a similar project for real and I wasn't even close. Theirs was so much better. Maybe I can get to that level but these guys are young, half my age, and they know 4x what I do.
- toxicFork 11y ago
  > That's what I've been doing. :) I've pitched a couple of patches but they usually get turned down. I'm wondering if I should take a break or just accept that I won't be a good engineer. Don't blame yourself, there may be many reasons for that, I would try to find out why they were turned down, and then look at some patches that weren't turned down. I know it's hard not to feel bad about being rejected, even if it's just a patch to a project, but at least you'll have the benefit of learning from it. > Then I had the privilege of seeing a similar project for real and I wasn't even close Sure, there will always be competition, but is the project made to be sold, or is it made to have more experience apart from fixing bugs? If it's the latter, I don't think there's any way to lose. Study the other project and see what they did better, then try to implement them yourself :) "they are younger and better", that doesn't matter. Just try to get yourself better, there's always someone who's better than someone else! Edit: formatted the response to be a bit more readable
amorphid 11y ago
This may sound too simple, but if you wanna make the big bucks as a well paid consultant, learn how to be a consultant. The simplest option might be joining a successful consulting company, and learn to play the game they play. You can also get your own clients and work your way up. Just push yourself to figure out what you don't know, and then go after it. Finding one or more mentors can be pretty strong, too. Source: I taught myself to be a recruiting consultant, and then taught myself to be a software developer. Neither was easy. Now I'm growing as a software developer, and that's going pretty well.
- toxicFork 11y ago
  You may need to reply to the above message and not this one so that it can reach the intended recipient easier :)