4 ms·

You sound exactly like me - same age, same skill set, same people telling you to goto college. I prefer a full time steady job (and have one) but if your happy

You sound exactly like me - same age, same skill set, same people telling you to goto college. I prefer a full time steady job (and have one) but if your happy with contract work - great! Every programmer needs to continue to expand they're knowledge - it's a constant learning process. For the longest time I relied soly on systems administration and PHP - I've expanded into Objective C and AngularJS most recently - trying to teach myself React now as JS frameworks seam to be the "wave of the future" An example I always give and especially remind my godson who's 16: My wife is a very bright person - went to a private school for high school, full ride. She then went to a great college, full ride also graduated with a 3.9 and magna cum laude in Phycology. Wanna know the job she held after she graduated from college and for 9 years after that? Secretary. That's not to put my wife down; it's to explain that regardless of your education, it's all about your drive and motivation. Some people goto college and don't do much with it. Some of us didn't goto college; work our asses off and succeed anyways (I make more then both my brother and sister who both went to college and got they're MBA's) Work hard; focus on your goal and don't worry about the degree. (my wife is now back in school for dental hygiene - still with a 3.9 gpa)

robotkilla 11y ago
Thanks for the feedback. I didn't want to sway the question with too many of my own opinions but I have been feeling the same way. The biggest hurdle I've faced is that of proving my worth to others. Have you faced similar issues?
- lsiunsuex 11y ago
  Fortunately it hasn't been a problem in the last couple years, but I can absolutely remember a time when I had to "prove" myself. A great resume is key as well as a portfolio site. I always bring my laptop to an interview incase they want to see code; I always make sure I have examples on my portfolio site that are up to date and have to do with the job I'm applying for, etc... What was funny - my 2nd last job - they need a Wordpress developer and although I'm damn good with PHP, I hated Wordpress - so the weekend of the interview (interview was on monday) I spent about a day reading the WP docs and built a website on my portfolio site with a custom theme, custom plugin, made it responsive, etc... (stuff they would expect) - showed it to them during the interview and got the job (I like to think it helped) - it didn't come out until months later that I learned WP in a weekend (roughly) and everyone was pretty impressed. My current job - they were looking for a very specific skill set (Rackspace Cloud administration) and actually were more impressed with one of my side projects then any job I held. So you never know what someone is looking for - could be professional experience, could be a side project.
  - robotkilla 11y ago
    Things seem to have shifted on my end as of late. People are very skeptical when if I'm interviewing for a job, more than in the past (I tried recently a few times when work dried up bombed on the interview processes a few times... i have comments about it in my history). I need to get my resume cleaned up and put together a new portfolio site. I'm starting to become disinterested in full time gainful enslavement. Three reasons I keep contracting: 1. freedom (i make my own hours and jump between contracts every 3 months or so, taking a short break between... usually around a week). When I do work, I only take on fully remote contracts. 2. my "interviews" consist of asking how much I charge, asking what my availability is, asking a few simple tech questions, and then having me sign a contract. That's because I get my work through recommendations from other people so I no longer have a need to prove myself on this front. 3. i make more money than when i was employed.

robotkilla 11y ago

Thanks for the feedback. I didn't want to sway the question with too many of my own opinions but I have been feeling the same way. The biggest hurdle I've faced is that of proving my worth to others. Have you faced similar issues?

lsiunsuex 11y ago
Fortunately it hasn't been a problem in the last couple years, but I can absolutely remember a time when I had to "prove" myself. A great resume is key as well as a portfolio site. I always bring my laptop to an interview incase they want to see code; I always make sure I have examples on my portfolio site that are up to date and have to do with the job I'm applying for, etc... What was funny - my 2nd last job - they need a Wordpress developer and although I'm damn good with PHP, I hated Wordpress - so the weekend of the interview (interview was on monday) I spent about a day reading the WP docs and built a website on my portfolio site with a custom theme, custom plugin, made it responsive, etc... (stuff they would expect) - showed it to them during the interview and got the job (I like to think it helped) - it didn't come out until months later that I learned WP in a weekend (roughly) and everyone was pretty impressed. My current job - they were looking for a very specific skill set (Rackspace Cloud administration) and actually were more impressed with one of my side projects then any job I held. So you never know what someone is looking for - could be professional experience, could be a side project.
- robotkilla 11y ago
  Things seem to have shifted on my end as of late. People are very skeptical when if I'm interviewing for a job, more than in the past (I tried recently a few times when work dried up bombed on the interview processes a few times... i have comments about it in my history). I need to get my resume cleaned up and put together a new portfolio site. I'm starting to become disinterested in full time gainful enslavement. Three reasons I keep contracting: 1. freedom (i make my own hours and jump between contracts every 3 months or so, taking a short break between... usually around a week). When I do work, I only take on fully remote contracts. 2. my "interviews" consist of asking how much I charge, asking what my availability is, asking a few simple tech questions, and then having me sign a contract. That's because I get my work through recommendations from other people so I no longer have a need to prove myself on this front. 3. i make more money than when i was employed.