
Ask HN: How to get web development career on track from being homeless? - pdxHomelessDev
I am a current homeless web dev living in Portland, OR<p>I saw another post by a homeless dev in CO after doing some searches to see if there were others out there like me.<p>I got here due to medical issues that have finally come to being managed after 3 years.<p>I currently have zero cash, I am fairly new to Portland so I do not have friends and I have no family to lean on for support. I have 10 years of web dev experience, the last 3 years being very spotty; only a few contract jobs in and out.<p>I have a bed in a shelter for now.<p>I have tapped into the public health insurance so I can continue my medical visits.<p>I have food stamps.<p>I have a good laptop<p>I am often on a university campus using the library for charging and net.<p>My main problem is getting a job. This is where you come in HN community, please let me know what you all think or if you can relate.<p>My main languages are PHP and Python. I have extensive front end experience with Javascript as well.<p>No one is really looking for a PHP developer right now. And all the front end jobs want React&#x2F;Redux experience or Angular. I have looked up and down on gigs and postings on Craigslist every single day.<p>Question: What do I do? All the recruiters think I am fit for a senior level position, but with 3 years of on and off programming I am a bit rusty and I am afraid if I apply and fail skills tests at too many places word will get around.<p>I really just want a relaxed junior level position, but those are hard to find. Everyone wants senior level guys in React and other frameworks I do not have. (Though I am currently teaching myself React and do know a good bit now.)<p>I just want to get my career back on track and get out of this shelter<p>Any advice for work, besides getting a min wage job. What do I do to get my web dev career back on track?<p>Thanks for any and all comments and my email is in my profile
======
nojvek
If you have paypal, email me at hello at (my username) dot com.

I know most people are giving technical advice and it’s very sound. I also
know the value of money to unblock certain things. Seriously if you need a
couple of hundred dollars to get yourself some nice clothes, and put yourself
together and remove the “homeless” label while you hunt for a well paying job,
it’ll be my pleasure. I don’t know how we’ll verify your identity but
hopefully HN isn’t full of imposters. Think about it as interest free loan
that you pay in good faith whenever you’re back on your feet.

It’s absolutely a shame for us as a nation that well educated and qualified
people have to go through this bull in the world’s wealthiest nation that is
producing trillion dollar companies, but can’t have a decent safety net for
it’s citizens.

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
That is a very kind offer sir. I emailed you. This resource I tapped into
called WorkSource Oregon has already purchased me brand new and nice
interview/work clothes. So I am covered there. I could use a haircut however
and new headphones.

~~~
kureikain
Email me vinh@axcoto.com as well. I'll paypal you some money.

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
I really appreciate the offer, but I am not asking for charity. What has been
monetarily donated to me so far, and job leads is more than enough. I can not
possibly accept. I hope you take this as a respectful decline.

~~~
nojvek
Keep on hustling champ. Fortune favors those who take chances. Keeping your
chin up and being confident about who you are is your biggest strength. HN is
cheering for you :)

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
It's 'Fortune favours the bold' just fyi ;) Thanks for the support nojvek.
Hope to meet you IRL along the west coast one day.

------
PopeDotNinja
My thoughts:

\- Take advantage of any opportunity that sounds legit, like reaching out to
leesalminen from this comment =>
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17685318](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17685318)

\- Work out a detailed, simple, and clear plan for you're going to practice
coding as if it were your full time job, because you may need to ask people
for help (access to a computer, a safe place to store a computer, a place to
clean up & prepare for interviews, etc.)

\- Never, ever get down on yourself for doing what you gotta do to survive &
get back on your feet

\- To the extent that you can, be careful about who you choose share the
realities of your situation with, especially during interviews, as you need
employers to think that hiring you is a good business decision, and being
homeless (in my opinion) has nothing to do with that

\- Despite the fact that many people might suggest you get a minimum wage job,
that's going to be a big time suck, and if you can find a way to survive
without the job, you may wanna use that time to practice coding & interviewing
instead (it might be possible to work out a deal with a employer where you can
work on a flexible schedule, but don't lose sight of the fact that flipping
burgers will not do much to make you better at interviewing for coding jobs)

\- Stay positive when telling your story, because the more people are blown
away by how you can stay upbeat as you deal with some tough stuff, the more
they're going to want to help you

\- If you want to practice interviewing, hear some thoughts on how to attract
recruiters, or just have someone listen while you vent, I'd be happy to carve
out some time for you (personal info is in my profile)

\- Go forth and kick ass

~~~
gt_
I absolutely agree a minimum wage job would be a bad idea, even for someone
who is homeless. Shouldn’t we all be collectively and utterly ashamed about
this? Honestly, how do we sleep at night?

~~~
jeffmould
The really bad thing about minimum wage jobs (and even some lower wage jobs)
is they can actually hurt an individual who is struggling. Often times the
wages they make will just barely meet the minimum thresholds to lose their
government benefits (i.e. healthcare, food stamps, access to shelter, etc...).
They start work thinking they are getting back on their feet and next thing
they know they lose their food stamps, healthcare, etc...

Before everyone goes crazy, I am not saying that people should milk the
benefits, but when you are struggling to make ends meet and don't have
alternatives those benefits can be crucial to not only survival, but overall
general happiness and feeling of security.

~~~
gt_
This sounds like a system that incentivizes _not working_ and the only
solution I can imagine is remove these requirements. Removing the benefits
would be a nightmare.

If you can’t make enough to live on otherwise, by all means milk the benefits.
I’ll say it.

~~~
jstarfish
It's really not that way though; the concept of "welfare queens" is entirely a
myth. Even those who manage to game the system don't exactly lead enviable
lives. The only way to truly "beat" the system while living off the proceeds
is to commit outright fraud, like claiming benefits for multiple/dead people.

Basically, the benefits are so poor and inconsistent that you can't
realistically aspire to live off of them.

I never qualified for welfare but had to claim 4 dependents and lie about my
income (120% of which went to rent or late payment thereof) just to collect
$600 a month in food stamps (which included 2 infants requiring non-dairy
formula not covered by WIC), and they did their damndest to find a reason to
kick me off the payroll every 3 months by constantly post-dating requests for
documentation or conveniently losing documents I did send in on time. It
worked quite a few times and we got nothing in those months. But the idea is
that the benefits are enough to keep you/dependents from starving to death.
You can't just collect benefits and not expect to supplement it with your own
labor.

~~~
jeffmould
100%! Without hijacking this thread and/or turning it into a political rant,
the propaganda of people "abusing" welfare is a 99% political agenda. Like you
pointed out, unless you are committing "outright fraud" there is really no way
to live a lavish lifestyle off food stamps and other government benefits. In
most cases, even if you are able to get the full amount for food stamps each
month you are left with little. The people who complain the loudest about
"food stamp fraud" often don't understand the slightest how food stamps work
or what you can use them for. They don't understand it is not some bottomless
grocery money each month or that you can't buy toiletries, paper products, or
related items.

~~~
mmt
> Without hijacking this thread and/or turning it into a political rant,

Too late :)

> the propaganda of people "abusing" welfare is a 99% political agenda.

I agree that this sort of message is crafted to create moral outrage and,
thereby, an outsized negative response to welfare as a whole. I initially
responded in this way, but I quickly changed my mind when I heard the message
that it's just so _little_.

That is, even accepting the likely-inflated numbers claimed for the abuse,
it's such a small percentage of overall tax revenue (and even of social
programs), partly because the benefits are so meager to begin with, that it's
simply not worth consideration or discussion.

The far more interesting (political/economic) question, to me, is whether it
does more good than harm.

In this particular case, I absolutely agree with ancestor-comments that
"milking" the benefits rather than risking losing them by working a low-wage
job is best, and not just for the OP, but for society and the economy as a
whole. The faster the OP gets back "on his feet" and is producing near full
capability and is earning (and paying taxes on) full wages, the better it is
for everyone.

Neither society nor the economy are a zero-sum game, after all.

------
jstarfish
I think you're shooting yourself in the foot looking for 'web developer' jobs
in the homeland of hipsters. Of course all the postings are going to be for
trendy technologies.

Look for more boring jobs that require web development skills, unless you're
really stuck on the title.

You know PHP. I did too, once. I made the mistake of taking on a Magento
project a decade ago, suffered through it, and I still get hounded by
recruiters _desperate_ for PHP developers who know Magento. That fucking
platform still powers 99% of the entire e-commerce space; version 2 was
released recently and by many accounts it's even worse than v1, which means
people who made the mistake of using it are going to need support for it. The
demand for PHP developers is still very much there.

You know Python. You can get jobs knowing just that. There are lots of relaxed
junior-level *-analyst positions in many domains requiring nothing more than
scripting skills and a brain, which you clearly have. I see job postings all
the time looking for Django devs. Lots of businesses need reporting-type stuff
done, business analytics, ETL, that sort of stuff. Shady businesses always
want web scrapers written.

With 10+ years in web development, you might also want to take a shot at jobs
involving web application security-- either securing or breaking it.

Just to put it in perspective-- my job title has nothing to do with web
development, yet it is an incidentally significant portion of what I do. Best
job of my life, and I never would have found it looking for "web developer"
jobs, since that's not what they thought they needed when they hired me.

Crawl LinkedIn, not Craigslist. All you'll get from Craigslist are couches,
crabs, and people who want you to build out scalable PCI-compliant e-commerce
solutions with a full complement of product photography for their hobby
business for $500, payable upon delivery. And when they sense your
desperation, they'll withhold even that until you go away.

Best of luck to you.

~~~
t3hprofit
This. Don't follow the advice of "Learn {X} new technology". In this day and
age, a new language, framework, etc show up every 3 minutes. You may be a bit
rusty, but stick to what you know for now. Maybe start a blog about your
situation and what you're doing to get back in the game. There are definitely
jobs out there that need your skills. Job hunting is usually a numbers game,
so keep sending out resumes.

~~~
frontout
I think this is bad advice, many if not most of the frontend jobs right now
ask for React, which means that a lot of future legacy code also will be React
code. More importantly, it shows you're ready to adapt to "new" technology.
With PHP, all you have is legacy.

Think about it, if two or more applicants have experience, but one also has
experience in the exact technology already used at the place, that person is
ahead in the game.

I frankly would keep quiet about the personal situation, I think everybody
understands if you do. He's not looking for charity because he's homeless, he
wants a job because he's a professional developer.

~~~
yayana
If your experience is python and php then you should look at how one of them
has progressed and maybe consider a job that has some use for JavaScript for
future marketability..

The idea that you should learn modern JS and then react to apply for react
jobs with no real world experience is a bad one for someone with work history
in 2 languages that are in the top 10.. Particularly if they are in a rather
desperate situation.

~~~
frontout
To quote the OP:

"I have extensive front end experience with Javascript as well."

"No one is really looking for a PHP developer right now. And all the front end
jobs want React/Redux experience or Angular."

So, _not_ learning React doesn't seem like a good call unless he wants to stay
in the backend. No matter what he will be learning now, he will not have "real
world experience" with it. All he can do between jobs is learn. What's your
advice exactly? What does "looking at how Python has progressed" even mean?

~~~
yayana
> What does "looking at how Python has progressed" even mean?

Take an existing project you wrote in python and modernize it for newer style,
maybe it was in legacy 2.X for compatibility with something and needs to be
updated. Maybe convert to a python framework that is popular now (there's not
so much churn in python so a past framework might just be updated.)

I'm sorry that isn't as dramatic as taking some knowledge of past JavaScript,
learning additions that introduce a different paradigm and then an entire new
style of development complete with transpiling and maybe typescript.. and then
trying to keep it running with churn in the whole bunch of libraries and tools
that are in that bizarre front end process.. While not seeming to have any
previous experience with compiled languages and related development processes.

Taking a past project and modernizing it allows you to mix discussion of real
world experience with your understanding of new things. Where things are just
updates you blur perception and significance of the age of your real world
experiences.

But switching completely to patterns, code and development processes you have
never used before even by analogy is taking that to the most tenuous extreme..

Who knows maybe the OP's past JS experience was in SPAs in a functional style
using node tools and an IDE and react is almost reasonable.. But that seems
unlikely if python and php were the first languages the OP thinks of.

It makes more sense to milk and refresh past connections to Python to find a
new subfield than to try to stay in web development by switching to JS (if it
was your 3rd language from 3 years ago) to move from Backend to frontend in
the months right before almost every language will get an opportunity on the
frontend..

------
cs02rm0
_I am afraid if I apply and fail skills tests at too many places word will get
around._

Word won't get around. You won't get a job you don't apply for though. And if
they just do skills tests without any other consideration they're probably not
an ideal workplace.

 _Everyone wants senior level guys in React and other frameworks I do not
have. (Though I am currently teaching myself React and do know a good bit
now.)_

Of course they do. Everyone wants React guys with 20 years experience in it,
Java guys with 120 years experience. And they'd like to pay in aspiration and
a twice yearly packet of macadamia nuts. But they can only choose from those
who apply with all their varying experience and salary demands.

If you've got 10 years experience you've got enough to apply for a senior role
(arguably more than enough in many places) and if you've got your head around
the basics of React you can tick that box too. Just be honest that you've
looked at it outside of work, understand it but haven't had the chance to use
it professionally yet. Senior roles may be preferable to you, where there's
less emphasis on churning out code and more on getting the most out of the
team as a whole, as well as rewards commensurate with your experience.

I saw a guy interviewing on YouTube the other day for a React job who didn't
know the difference between componentDidMount and componentWillMount and the
interviewer seemed to think he did well - so if you've got that far, you're
good to go!

Just apply for enough roles and you'll find one that works for both sides.
Don't be put off by barriers in your own mind, make employers tell you you're
not the right fit and ideally why, then move on until you land one.

Good luck.

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
Thanks for the comment. That all makes sense.

~~~
kuripa12323
Hey email me. I have a nice idea. bobsadino@inbox.ru Lets collaborate :)

------
austenallred
Hey my name is Austen and I’m the cofounder of Lambda School
([https://lambdaschool.com](https://lambdaschool.com)), a YC company that
trains software engineers in live online classes for no cost until they’re
hired making $50k+.

We actually have a nonprofit fund dedicated to helping homeless software
engineers land jobs. If you’ll email me austen@lambdaschool.com I would love
to put you up in an Airbnb and connect you with our career services
department.

We have a full-time program called “Lambda Next” that steps you through what
it takes to get a job step by step with full support, code reviews, interview
practice, salary negotiation, etc. Normally it’s reserved for our students
(since we don’t get paid until students are hired), but we can have you
participate at no cost.

Let’s see how fast we can get you hired! Happy to take care of housing and
help you focus.

PS. if anyone at airbnb has a way to let us buy gift certificates bigger than
$500 it would save me a ton of time

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
Sent from my personal email.

~~~
austenallred
Got it. Will get you in housing by the end of the night.

I know what it’s like to be homeless, keep your head up.

~~~
anyssh
If this actually happened, this is the most awesome interaction on HN I’ve
seen so far. Kudos to you kind sir

~~~
austenallred
It did indeed happen
[https://imgur.com/a/KZ5AeGo](https://imgur.com/a/KZ5AeGo)

------
leesalminen
I am looking for a PHP Developer. We’re located in a Colorado, but are open to
remote and other options. My email is me at my username dot $mostCommonTld or
myusername at gmail.

Email me. Seriously.

~~~
oneplane
Not sure if you (or the poster) wants to share this, but did the email happen?

~~~
leesalminen
I haven’t heard from OP yet, but I’ve gotten messages from several others.
Still hoping to hear from him/her.

~~~
tobyhinloopen
Maybe you shouldn't have made your email address a cryptic puzzle

~~~
leesalminen
I heard from him! First test passed ;).

------
jmunsch
Was homeless when I went to a dev boot camp. Had no industry experience, just
a bunch of python scripts to automate my old job, and a few years of linux
usage from not liking windows. Focused really heavily on several SPA
frameworks, and javascript/nodejs. The biggest help was the hiring network,
whiteboarding practice, and resumé critiques. Also that I submitted like 5
applications per day to anything even partially related for a solid month. I
never mentioned my dire straights, since there appears to be a social stigma
in the industry, although there doesn't seem to be a stigma against the
happily ever after finding work. If they ask why there's gaps in your work
timeline, don't tell a sob story, just tell them it was health related and
move along. Also try to schedule groups of interviews a few weeks out, it
gives you very real leverage in the labor markets, instead of
appearing/sounding desperate let them show their hand, since you're already
surviving you dont need the job/career, if anything they need you, the labor
markets are seriously strapped for talent, so take on some part time minimum
wage work that you'd like, and take as much time finding the right fit
team/culture/project that you would enjoy. Don't give up, never stop learning,
you can do it.

Edit: imo, Also don't deal with recruiters they'll plug anything/anyone for a
CTO position if they can pull the commission, although I guess maybe as a way
to practice interviewing.

~~~
PopeDotNinja
My feeling is that recruiters are a great resource if you learn how to use
them properly. I agree that you can waste a lot of time talking to recruiters
if you allow them to suck up your time.

~~~
PopeDotNinja
> My feeling is that recruiters are a great resource if you learn how to use
> them properly.

Calling myself out here. I was half asleep when I wrote the parent comment.
Nicer language would be:

My feeling is that recruiters can be great partners is you learn to work with
them effectively.

------
delbel
I would go to Labor Ready they open at 5am or 6am, and have coffee and I think
wifi. Most days they won't have a job for you but when they do, that's $60-70
paid at the end of the day cash. When they don't have a job for you, you'll
know by 8:30 and can head over PSU campus they should have open wifi, I would
study Python and write a project and put it on github. And start an account on
Upwork and start bidding at $1 over what labor ready pays (minimum wage), work
your butt off -- go the extra extra mile for every client, get 5 star ratings.
It'll take 3 weeks to get paid from them. Meanwhile, labor ready, PSU, hard
boiled eggs and coffee at the shelter. After you get some ratings on upwork,
increase your rate to $40-60/hr. The whole time I would be sending out 5-10
resumes a day. Also there is a bank near labor ready I think wells fargo or US
bank, open account and use that for bank transfers from upwork. You can go
from zero to hero in 3 months if you do this, this is what I did (and I wasn't
poor, just bored and wanted a challenge :)

------
pdxHomelessDev
Hey guys/gals, I just noticed all the comments, I will read them in the
morning. I have to get to the shelter by a certain time each night and it
takes a bit of time to get from campus to the shelter. Thanks for the input
and I will respond tomorrow in the morning. I am usually online from 7a - 5p
or 6p PST.

~~~
flomo
Can't directly help, but I work with some freelancers who aren't homeless, but
have a quite vagabond lifestyle. The good ones know when they are "on" a
project they really need to be "online" during business hours. Get a good
cellular data connection so you aren't relying on mooching free wifi. Be
responsive and turn shit around. Get shit done and people will sing your
praises no matter where you are.

~~~
PopeDotNinja
And protect your electronics at the shelter. Those things have a tendency to
disappear when you aren't protecting them.

~~~
merinowool
And make sure your stuff is encrypted with good password. I wouldn't worry
about stolen electronics as much as about stolen data. I wouldn't care where
you live, but I would care if my data is safe with you.

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
It is encrypted and backed up regularly. Thanks for the comment. :)

------
codingdave
Think about it from the other point of view - the hiring manager has 20 people
in front of them who can do the job. You need to tell them a story that shows
it is better for that manager to hire you vs. the other 19. You being homeless
and not having steady work for the last three years is a big negative (perhaps
unfair, but true), so you need to not just show you can code, but show that
you have better work ethics, can be more productive, or something else that
puts you above and beyond the other 19 guys.

Admittedly, that will be tough. So if you aren't able to do that, then you
need to build up a history of good, recent work. Take advantage of being
homeless, and offer your services to local non-profits who work with the
homeless. They almost all need some tech help, even just to organize and
report on their data. Helping out will build up a track record of getting
things done, and a network of people who can give you references for your
capabilities, as well as let you know who else need help. It is possible that
starting a small consulting service doing such things is easier than landing a
full-time coding gig.

~~~
sigfubar
Let's get real: it's 2018 and we're in the depths of a programmer shortage. No
hiring manager has 20 capable people in front of them. A typical hiring
manager will have hundreds of garbage resumes that came from people who aren't
programmers, or from offshore outsourcing shops that rely on resume spam to
get attention. Eventually, after lots of weeding and puffing, the pile is
shrunk to maybe three people who are worth interviewing. Of these two lied
about their experience, and the last is great, but is difficult to close
because they're looking at four other offers all of which are more competitive
and interesting. Outside of weeding out garbage, hiring managers spend most of
their time in sales mode, desperately trying to close candidates.

In times like this, any reasonably competent programmer who doesn't come off
as a total a-hole during the interview will have a job. It might not be the
most glorious job in the world, but our OP doesn't seem to care because
homelessness.

~~~
homelessdev
Part of the problem is convincing people that you are legit. I face a few
challenges these days

first off, I don't have a degree so that's one battle, but i'm an isolationist
so that's battle #2 and its much harder to win.

During the first half of my career it was easy to find work because i was
green and not charging much. towards the middle part i relied on a network of
contacts and finding work was super easy. then i decided to isolate myself - i
dropped all my contacts, deleted everything i had ever created (several
websites that i ran for years), removed myself from social media and now work
is very difficult to get. I didn't even realize this was the issue until
recently.

In order to fix this:

1\. I have started to rebuild my social network and have set up references

2\. I now view social media apps as Personal Branding applications and use
them as such

3\. I built a portfolio site and added a bunch of my old projects to it

4\. Look for little projects i can knock out in a few hours or days, work on
them, and add them to my site

~~~
ccajas
Are you the same person as the OP? Just checking since account names are
similar, but different.

Your story hits close to me. I have never been homeless but I have been
through excessive dry spells of no work (I think taking a remote job 5 years
ago was a mistake in some ways because it killed my interviewing skills) and
had to move back to living with one of my parents. At my mid-30s it feels like
your life is a shit show. The jobs I get now have been via "non traditional"
means, that is very informal chats instead of lengthy interview processes, and
only for short gigs and not long term arrangements.

When I have been out of work for over a year, I too just stopped everything,
shut myself in more, thinking that going into "silent mode" and avoiding most
contact with friends was gonna help me concentrate more on the job hunt. But
it doesn't.

I can tell you to continue what you're doing, building a network and finding
ways that people can refer you.

You might think that referrals are a cheese way to short-list your way into an
interview, but think of referrals as a trust metric- a quantity that convinces
people that you're worth the words you speak.

Can you show us your portfolio site? Honestly I got some of my interviews just
from things I had on Github that caught soemone's interest. But I believe they
need some kind of novel quality to them- a rehashed tutorial app won't cut it.

~~~
homelessdev
I am not OP, I'm the person who posted my own story several weeks ago that OP
refers to in his own story.

------
zenexer
You're a programmer. You have a skill the world wants, so don't sell yourself
short. Nobody expects you to be perfect; you're not a brain surgeon. It
doesn't matter what language it is: companies want you. Companies _need_ you.

<insert Uncle Sam recruitment poster>

You see a job you like, you apply. Maybe you get an offer, maybe you don't. If
you do, great! If you don't, free practice and maybe even a free lunch.

Companies aren't gossiping about candidates, so get that thought out of your
head. It just doesn't happen.

------
neya
I can give you some immediate actionable advice if you need cash -

Write an email describing your situation (possibly with some photos) to tech
agencies around you, there are usually plenty and let them know that if they
require an extra helping hand, or take on additional projects, you'll be able
to do it.

You'll be surprised how many agencies will get back to you. It worked for me
when I was in a similar situation where I had to quit my day job as the
company I worked for was on the edge.

Also, start a blog, update your LinkedIn, cold message people on email.
LinkedIn really works if you don't listen to haters.

Good luck, my friend. Please let us know once everything's back to normal.

------
twblalock
It's going to be difficult for you to get a junior-level job if recruiters
think you are senior. You'll be competing with new grads who got out of
college in June.

I think your best course of action is to spend time preparing for interviews
and take any that you can get. Part of this preparation includes learning the
popular JS frameworks, but a lot of companies need PHP developers too.

Hopefully you will interview well, but if you don't, word doesn't "get around"
between companies as much as you think -- they are afraid of being sued if
they talk about why they passed on a candidate.

There are other upsides to interviewing, even if you fail. One is that you get
some practice. Another is that you got your foot in the door, and even if you
weren't suited for a job you interviewed for, someone at the company might
know of another opening that is a better fit.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you should get in touch with any
connections you have in tech, such as old coworkers, and let them know you are
looking for a job. A personal reference is by far the best way to get your
foot in the door.

------
inktvis
Instead of focusing on Craigslist, have you tried Silicon Florist
([https://siliconflorist.com/](https://siliconflorist.com/))? The site has a
jobs board and posts about tech/startup related news which can help you
familiarize yourself with the local 'scene'. If you're looking for events,
there are a number on meetup, but also check out
[https://calagator.org/](https://calagator.org/).

As you've worked contract jobs recently, I agree with the sentiment others
have already mentioned regarding working on applications or open source
projects to build a portfolio.

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
Yea, I am browsing through those resources. I just do not want to apply to so
many without being fully prepared. Most of the meetups happen during the time
I have to be back at the shelter unfortunately.

------
pytyper2
Accept the senior level gig if you get an offer, even if they fire you you
will get a few months of paychecks and your toes back in the water. Don't tell
anyone you are homeless.

------
yosito
I'm not suggesting that you lie on your resume or in your interviews. But
there may be ways to frame your situation more positively that don't raise red
flags for potential employers. Instead of saying the last three years were
"spotty contract work", say you were self employed. And if you're worried
about your skills being rusty, start working on a side project or contributing
to open source. That will boost your own confidence, help you get back into
the swing of things, and give you something to talk about when interviewers
ask you what you've been working on lately.

------
pdxHomelessDev
UPDATE: Hi all, I am giving everyone an update. Today was actually a rough day
as I had to have out patient surgery, and this is completely unrelated to what
I was struggling with for the past few years.

I had an operation because I had a 7mm kidney stone that was stuck in the tube
from my kidney to the bladder.

On a much better note. Austen from Lambda School has been in contact with me
and has been so great about getting me out of the shelter so I can concentrate
on getting the next job.

With that being said, and I am a bit embarrased to do this, but I put together
a GoFundMe campaign as I still need a few extra things that would really help
me out. Please read the summary at the page here:
[https://www.gofundme.com/homeless-dev-
support](https://www.gofundme.com/homeless-dev-support)

P.S. I have an interview with a startup on Friday (8/10).

Thanks for any and all support.

~~~
kureikain
Wow, great news in the interview.

Everyone, let's make it happen so he can get ready for interview on Friday.

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
Thanks, they are a new startup with 1st round funding. I also have sent out
tons more resumes as I am feeling more confident and prepared as things come
together.

------
remoteorbust
I was once in a similar situation. I was a first generation college student
and I moved away from home right around the time my mom started having grand
Mal seizures from a brain tumor. She also was having problems and into meth.
She also was getting foreclosed on and she wasn't filling her taxes.

During that time I took it on myself to get into a college and find some
scholarships. I had to do multiple years of back taxes for her to complete the
fafsa.

When I finally moved away I had about 2 garbage bags full of clothes to my
name. I wish I would have done great at school, but a wave of depression hit
me and I stopped going to classes. I eventually got evicted and was homeless.
My scholarship was put on hold and I couldn't register for classes.

I was still a curious person and I guess not very practical. So rather than
fix my problems I just read books at the library and used their computers to
learn things. I worked my way through Feynman lectures on physics and TAOCP.

Eventually I did get a job at a electronics factory so I wasn't homeless
anymore. I bought some library surplus books for 0.50 (including "the c
programming language" and a book on XHTML). I used that to get a part time web
dev job for $10/hr. It was actually a higher rate but less hours. I was on
food stamps for a couple months. I still feel kind of bad about that.

I learned alot, worked my way up to $14/hr. I used that knowledge to get a
"real" full time dev job for $50k/year around 2008.

After that my story isn't really affected much by how I started. I switched
jobs every few years. I'm now pretty highly paid and work remote for a bay
area company.

I'm not sure if this is helpful. The fact that I was just starting out helped
me get that stepping stone student job. If you already have the experience I'd
say it's like riding a bike. Just build a couple projects on your own and
you'll get up to speed pretty fast.

I hope it's helpful knowing that you can go from homeless and learning in the
library to highly paid engineer.

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
Yes it does. Thank you for the comment. I am currently at the library. On
weekends it is a little harder to get started early as the library does not
open till 10a, but I am working with what I have. :)

------
jv22222
FYI: I think there are a fair amount of PHP jobs available. Especially if you
learn the Laravel framework.

[https://weworkremotely.com/remote-jobs/ipresence-php-
develop...](https://weworkremotely.com/remote-jobs/ipresence-php-developer-
invision-powerboard)

[https://weworkremotely.com/remote-jobs/x-team-php-
developer-...](https://weworkremotely.com/remote-jobs/x-team-php-developer-1)

[https://weworkremotely.com/remote-jobs/onthegosystems-
senior...](https://weworkremotely.com/remote-jobs/onthegosystems-senior-php-
developers)

[https://www.upwork.com/o/jobs/browse/?q=%22php%22](https://www.upwork.com/o/jobs/browse/?q=%22php%22)

[https://www.indeed.com/q-PHP-jobs.html](https://www.indeed.com/q-PHP-
jobs.html)

(Just a few examples)

------
nobody271
Those skills tests do a poor job of measuring your skill level. That said, you
should be spending all of your free time programming. Knowing a little React
is a heck of a lot better than knowing no React, right? Right.

Just make programming your life until you land a job. No one cares about your
personal life if you can get the job done. Don't let it hold you back.

------
agentile
We are hiring Senior Full Stack Engineers. We care about hiring engineers that
have experience solving problems across the stack, have a willingness to
learn, will bring something to the table and fit into our culture. If we see
that you have that, teaching you React is not a big deal. It is more important
to us that you know the core languages well and their best practices than
framework X.

Feel free to apply to
[https://boards.greenhouse.io/followupboss/jobs/84965](https://boards.greenhouse.io/followupboss/jobs/84965)

or reach out to me directly at anthony at followupboss and we can chat
further.

While you may be senior level to a recruiter, what we consider senior is
usually quite different. Regardless of your situation, you would be competing
against other potentially more qualified candidates.

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
Thank you for reaching out. I will take a look and let you know. :)

------
pdxHomelessDev
UPDATE: I am well into my way of interviews. I currently have to provide a
small VueJS demo, which I am trying to hammer out this week. Lambda School has
been very generous and I am part of there program called Lambda Next where I
am speaking with their career coach which will help with interview practicing,
resume rebuilding, etc.

I just did a phone screen with Amazon today as well in which I am going to
have a follow up phone interview that will last 60-75 minutes. If that goes
well I have to prepare for a whiteboard interview.

I am still very much in need to reach the final $200 of my campaign located
here -- [https://www.gofundme.com/homeless-dev-
support](https://www.gofundme.com/homeless-dev-support)

Thank you again for everyone reaching out and all of the feedback. I am almost
there!!

~~~
karmicthreat
Good work with finding all these interviews!

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
Thank you. I had a phone screen with Amazon today. Have to hit the books.
Please, if you or anyone you know can get me to the the threshold of my
campaign which is $200 more, it would finally put so many things back in
order. Thank you for keeping up with me. --
[https://www.gofundme.com/homeless-dev-
support](https://www.gofundme.com/homeless-dev-support)

------
fma
If you cant get a Dev job, try something else. I am thinking maybe QA. In my
10 years experience the only good QA people are peogeammers. My enterprise
software experience...the companies have dedicated QA people and they suck. I
just use them for sign off.

Just read up on some QA terminology/buzz words and I'm sure you'll be hired in
a heart best. It's not a minimum wage job, you'll be around development and
this will buy you time and sanity till you get a development job...you would
be able to easily automate QA and make yourself valuable there too.

I'm a senior developer with a crap load of Dev and non Dev responsibilities.
Sometimes I just want to be QA so I just test crap all day long, and have no
prod issues or other accountability.

~~~
wyclif
I think this is great advice. I've seen it work for some people. It's a lot
easier in some cases to transfer from a QA or Testing role into a dev role
when one opens up. People have already worked with you and know you, and they
feel more confident about your ability to get the job done. It's a smart move
if you know anything at all about QA.

~~~
fma
Yes and a lot of companies are going automated. Much easier to have a
programmer write automated tests, than to teach QA how to program. Guess who
would be in high demand once they get that experience? OP!

------
kureikain
Besides great information from people.

I would suggest looking into these 2 platforms:

\- [https://hired.com/](https://hired.com/) \-
[http://alist.co/](http://alist.co/)

You should also spend time practice
[https://leetcode.com/problems/](https://leetcode.com/problems/)

Practice extensively and in 30 days you will be able to pass any interview
because from my experience, a lot of company pick some random medium/hard
questions from there.

When people asks about what you do in 3 years, just say you do free lancing
work or that you take the time to travel and learning.

I will also see what my current company can do and will put you in contact.

------
gigatexal
lambdaschool.com

Super immersive and effective. They put you up in housing, give you a laptop,
work with you to master every subject, and help you get placed. When you find
you first 100k/year job then you pay back at 15% you salary for 2 to 3 years
and that’s it.

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
Interesting, but it says the classes are live from the comfort of your own
home. I do not see where they mention putting you up in housing. Can you point
me to that?

~~~
gigatexal
Reach out to their website. They just released housing in SF.
[https://mobile.twitter.com/AustenAllred](https://mobile.twitter.com/AustenAllred)
Reach out to him he’s one of the founders. I heard about the housing from his
Twitter.

------
Kagerjay
Isnt PHP still in huge demand for companies looking to migrate legacy apps?

Have you tried going to tech meetups, every other meetup I go to there is
always someone that says "We're hiring for XYZ talk to me after the meeting".
In my area tech companies are always having a hard time hiring

Did you have a portfolio site as well? Update linkedin make a blog etc?

If you take a minimum wage job aim for it to be only temporary

Also, reach out to your local community centers I do nonprofit work the
resources they have for the homeless is phenomenal. This must be true for
oregon as well

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
Yes, I am attending tech meetups when I can. Though most of them are difficult
to make because they start after business hours around 6p. I have to be back
at the shelter by 7p otherwise I lose my bed.

I am redoing my website as well as working on some demo pieces.

Thank you for your comment. :)

~~~
Kagerjay
By the way one of the best investments you can make is a gym membership to get
access to showers, wifi, and workout equipment. You can still look
professional while homeless. If you have a YMCA they might be able to waive
your monthly fees.

Also check out your local library, they usually have free subscriptions to
pluralsight and lynda.com among others so you can learn places other than
youtube. There should be like 10 to 15 in your city given its size.

Checkout couchsurfing.com to potentially have someplace to stay on someones
couch. Portland is full of hipsters that would probably be more liberal and
open to this kind of thing too.

I didnt think about curfew times but yeah thats something too. If you need
other essentials checkout any nonprofit community centers that can help you
out there. Usually you'll get assigned a case manager who can help you stay on
track too, or redirect you to other resources you may need.

Lastly local churches are really helpful too. Consider reaching out to them
even if you arent religious, most churches have meal outings once or twice a
week

------
clumsysmurf
One of the hardest parts about all of this is the safety and stability of a
home. Apartments usually require proof of income. Searching for rooms on
Craigslist / roomster is dicey — and I have found many desirable listings are
for females only. Being asthmatic, I had to ask about roommates smoking
tobacco and weed indoors. Seems like everyone in CO smokes weed!

As Dostoevksy wrote "...I am incapable of living in the same room with anyone
for two days together. I know from experience. As soon as anyone is near me,
his personality disturbs me and restricts my freedom. In twenty-four hours I
begin to hate the best of men..."

Another option you may consider is workaway. Volunteer some time, work for a
few hours a day, in exchange for a room. You can read reviews / comments of
the host so there is information to help make a decision. The ones I have seen
require working 5 hours a day, that should leave enough time to do some tech
work (project, finding a job, etc).

If things go well with the host, you can ask them for a recommendation. Even
if its not tech, its demonstrates character and ethic.

------
readme
Are you letting the potential employers know that you are homeless or letting
them see any indication of it? It's probably not going to help if you are.
People will judge you for being homeless. Don't let your prospective employers
find out, even through inference.

Have you figured out what you're doing for your address? Do you have a nice
set of clothes, haircut, and shave before interviews? If you don't put a
residential address on your resume, it isn't going to help you.

I am sure you're already getting enough advice on the technical aspect of
finding a job in this thread. You can know anything, but if you can't get
through the door because humans are superficial you're still screwed.

I would do this: hit up freelancing websites and make enough money doing small
gigs online to get an apartment or rent a room with somebody. Those sites have
a bad rap, but I promise you I've done well enough on them to say it's worth
your time. Accept a low rate at first to get feedback and ratings on whatever
site you choose. Better freelancing companies also poach people from those
sites. If you have a good profile, someone will ask you to come work with
their clients instead. It happened to me.

Worry about creating a marketable image: your online profiles personal
website, github, stack overflow, linkedin etc, your appearance (fitness will
make you more marketable), and your sales pitch. Write a pitch and rehearse
what you're going to say in interviews. They're going to ask you what you've
been doing! My advice: don't tell them about your recent misfortunes. It might
be true, but would you want to buy a car that had mechanical problems and was
found abandoned on the side of the road, three years later? You'd want to buy
a shiny new car. You need to become a (good) used car salesman and you will
find yourself in a job.

Good luck in your search.

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
I do not let anyone know I am homeless hence the pseudonym. Since I am in this
ultra-liberal city. This resource bought me very nice and new interview/work
outfits. I am working on the haircut part, but I can shave.

I have never had a problem with my address not being on my resume. Though I am
having problems making contact via phone as 1) My phone is an old junk
Android. 2nd Gen 2) I can only make and receive calls over wifi (had to cut
cell service)

I am planning to work on my stackoverflow and other online profiles.

Thank you for all of the advice.

~~~
prgsocdem
I'm not on any social media, but found a good job. Probably the social media
advice is sound, and you can pursue it, but also focus on just being very fast
and accurate in technical interviews. Consider making an account on hackerrank
(not linked to your main email, so recruiters don't find it) and doing the
python and javascript Cracking the Coding Interview or other problem sets for
just a couple days of study. This is a fast way to ramp up! This way you focus
on actual technical skills, and not on your appearance (at meetups) or
recruiter spam (linkedin).

Also, don't worry about companies or recruiters bad-mouthing you to one
another. It rarely happens for legal reasons.

About phones:

For phone issues, consider using google voice on your laptop with a headset
($10) and fixed Google voice number instead- this will be hard when you're on
the move (can forward calls), but it will make sure you can occasionally have
high-quality phone calls. I almost never needed to accept or make non-
scheduled phone calls during my job search. To sign up unfortunately you'll
need at least temporary access to get a verification call on a mobile or
landline (but hopefully the shelter or a public phone can help with this).

Depending on how big a volume of possessions you need to carry with you, scout
out all the Starbucks (which now allow use of their wifi and bathrooms without
purchase) in a reasonable distance, to find one or two with quiet corners
where you could take an interview. If the interviewers hear sound in the
background, tell them you're in a Starbucks. If they ask why, say your
roommates are loud so you tend to work from Starbucks. There shouldn't be any
further questions about that.

~~~
nowayhose
Many libraries have study rooms where you should be able to take phone calls
without disturbing anyone.

------
m0rphy99
[https://nypost.com/2018/07/28/homeless-man-hands-out-
resumes...](https://nypost.com/2018/07/28/homeless-man-hands-out-resumes-gets-
hundreds-of-job-offers/)

Have you tried doing what David did? Anything that could help you stand out
would attract employer's attention.

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
No, but funny enough. I jokingly have though about writing a sign that says
'Will H4x f0r f00d'

I am a little too anxiety ridden by that idea, but not completely against it.
Obviously worked out well for David. Thanks for the link. :)

------
steve_taylor
React itself is quite small and can be learnt in a weekend. The other stuff
such as Redux, Webpack, Babel, etc. will take a bit longer, but overall it
shouldn’t take _that_ long to get up to speed. If you’re able to go at it
solidly for a month, I recommend training yourself in these things.

------
chipuni
Getting a programming job has only one secret: passing the whiteboard
interview.

The questions in a whiteboard interview have little in common with real world
experience. But they're one of the hoops you have to jump through.

Sign up with a website like LeetCode
([https://leetcode.com/](https://leetcode.com/)) or hackerrank
([https://www.hackerrank.com/programming-interview-
questions/](https://www.hackerrank.com/programming-interview-questions/)) that
give you technical problems, let you practice them, and show how well your
programs work. Practice one of those exercises every day while you look for
work.

Good luck.

------
desireco42
I think your thinking of getting a somewhat junior role and enjoy it is good
thinking.

Just learn React. With PHP stuff you will get is kind of terrible. Find place
that will get you and give you space to learn what you need.

It is strange that recruiters doesn't want to profit from you. I would ping
startups, go with what you are good at, don't focus too much on your woes.

On other hand, ideal for you would be huge corporation, those usually have
showers and spaces to relax, they are do things slow and care about your
wellbeing.

Wish you luck. Consider another city as well if you can find good opportunity.

~~~
desireco42
Man this is so illiterate :) I am ashamed of myself for writing like this. I
was distracted but still...

------
evantai
Hey, I teach a very popular online course for web developers... would like to
help you out and offer it to you for free. If you google Complete Web
Developer in 2018, you can message me if interested.

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
I will look into it. Thank you for the offer and reaching out. It means a lot.
:)

------
kyledrake
My best advice is to show up at tech meetups and ask if people are hiring.
Portland has a very large and cohesive tech community, and there's plenty of
work out there right now for devs.
[http://calagator.org](http://calagator.org)

I'm not sure if they still do it, but there's a dry cleaning place in Portland
that will clean your clothes for free for interviews, if that's an issue. I'm
spacing out on the name, but I saw the sign downtown once while walking by.

Best of luck.

------
meej
Some places to look for postings besides Craigslist:

[http://portlandtech.org/](http://portlandtech.org/) \- this is a great
resource, job listings are categorized along a number of facets (by language,
by experience, by focus), they have a calendar of events, and they link to
lots of other job hunting resources.

[http://www.indeed.com/](http://www.indeed.com/) \- Indeed is my go-to search
engine when job hunting. I've found my last three jobs using it. You can
create alerts and get emails when new positions matching your criteria are
posted.

Also, there is never any harm in applying for a job. Let the recruiters submit
your resume for senior positions. Consider roles with "lead" or "engineering
manager" in the title, where your experience will assist you but your focus
will be more on coordinating the work of your team rather than on your own
technical chops. Or, apply for QA jobs, which are often a good gateway into
developer or UI/UX roles. There are lots of ways to get your career back on
track if you broaden your focus.

------
typehuman
Shoot me an email too; we have some work you might be interested in.

Nick [at] <hackernews username>.com

------
dsc_
High-school dropout here. I was homeless for ~16 months around 2010. I knew I
wanted to get into IT but I figured I should not pursue HTML, PHP or .NET
jobs, as most schools and educations here taught exactly that. I knew I
couldn't beat the competition, even though I had experience using those
languages.

I went into *nix, Python and C instead. Hanging on IRC taught me hacker ethos
and the lingo that comes with the work. Made friends, embedded myself in
various communities. Got job offers through some communities.

First job was doing 50% support (servicedesk) and 50% Python. It was horrible
at times. But I did have a job. I met a guy there that went out of his way to
personally get me up to speed with Python/Linux - like a mentor. I worked
there for a year but we always kept in touch since.

Fast-forward 8 years later; I can now actually code some decent stuff and that
mentor just joined my team and we're reunited again. But that's off-topic.

TL;DR: Learn something that is in demand and be prepared to make sacrifices.

------
shams93
I would start off looking at things to do with the mozilla project, even if
you don't do c++ there are a lot of things to work on with them, its going to
start improving your ranking on github. You also want to make sure you're on
linkedin even if you're going for your first job linkedin is a good way to
connect with recruiters.

------
eduardomoroni
My first advice would be: If possible use your time to learn React / Redux. As
you yourself said, this is what the market is looking for. This will increase
your chances of being successful. Although this seems like a bad idea because
languages and technologies change, but you need it NOW, and NOW and what the
market wants.

2 - Prepare your linkedin and set up a curriculum that will understand what
you want at this point in your career, an idea would be in the summary part of
what you are looking for to return to the area.

3 - Look for freelance jobs to get money and get some experience, this is a
time to prepare your portfolio. There are platforms that provide this support.

4 - Make as many interviews as you can, but do with the thought of this re-
learning to be interviewed. Study about selective processes, and celebrate
failures. You probably will not be hired at the first chance.

------
thethought
Hi - was in same rut few years back where I had taken up a non-dev role and
suffered for a while to land the right dev role. To get back on track for
interview and eventual hire as a dev I did a) Develop good skills in static
typed programming lang (scala) b) Latest dev test deploy tool chain e.g mvn,
sbt, intellij, ci/cd , and Docker c) The what part of data structures in
standard libs d) developer level best practices in security , auth and authz
method e.g oauth c) AWS d) improve interview programming skills i.e
demonstrate interactively to solve small problems in scala or whatever e)
learn the vocab used today .. not 4 years ago.

Note - All of above is what applied to my situtation. And I apologize for not
posting links for references. Thought I must share my experience.

------
darkhorn
I'm not in the USA, so I don't know what recruitment sites are popular there
but you should find these web sites and create a profile, like in Linkedin.
And then apply to some jobs there. May be you can send friend request to
reqruiters, but there I think you have 3000 requst limit.

If I were in your shoos I would accept any programming jobe, and after a year
may be you can change your jobe.

Some work places may not ask you for skill tests. If I were in your shoos I
would apply to all of them. Go to the the interview even if you have very low
chance to be recqruited. At least you will learn what is asked and next time
you will have some idea about how to reply.

You can accept low salary if you want to increase your chace.

------
dharness
You could apply to recurse:
[https://www.recurse.com/](https://www.recurse.com/) and use that time to
learn react

You could look for contract work to rebuild your skills

------
ApolloRising
This may get some money in your pocket starting out:
[https://www.upwork.com/i/how-it-
works/freelancer/](https://www.upwork.com/i/how-it-works/freelancer/)

PHP skills are needed on that site quite a bit. It may not be posh but it will
get some money in your pocket and give you something to do. Look at
ziprecruiter and see if there are any jobs in your area that you would fit.
Also check linkedin and see if any of your old workmates can throw you some
freelance.

~~~
skinnymuch
For you or anyone with experience, how many hours can you realistically
average working per week and what would the avg hourly wage be? This is all
assuming you’re new to the site since that would be the case for OP most
likely.

------
james1071
You need to understand that asking for advice doesn't mean you will get
helpful answers.

It would be a mistake to ask people about problems they can't comprehend.

You have some things to do - sort your life out, get a job, any job, then
progress your career.

The people who can help you with your career might not be the people who can
help you with the other stuff.

Learning technologies, getting a position, moving up are all things that take
time.

Sorting your life out, earning some money, having fun are what you can do
immediately.

------
jimnotgym
I'm in no position to offer anything but moral support (and disgust at the way
rich countries are willing to let their citizens fail when with a little help
they could be productive again). But I wanted to add my best wishes, and say
there is a ton of php in the wild that needs the support of a good programmer.

I really hope you can get things back together, and come back and tell us how
you got on.

~~~
lettergram
Agreed, sounds like most of what he needs is moral support anyway.

He said the state or organizations helped him get a bed, shelter, food,
medical attention, and even nice work clothes. He also has a laptop and has
been trying to get back up to speed.

I think in this case, it's mostly just putting himself out there. If you have
100 interviews, and 99 are unsuccessful, the one win is enough that the
expected value of applying is worth it.

Good luck!

------
intralizee
I hope things work out for you! Keep at the React studying. I find it a skill
more valued than just being a good programmer these days.

------
pdxHomelessDev
UPDATE: Everyone has been great and I had many emails with job leads and
support. Thanks to a very kind donation, I am on my way to get my haircut that
is desperately needed. High chances I will be offline the rest of the day. I
met a person irl today from this thread and we talked tech which was nice to
have some normalcy back in my life. Thanks again!

------
mattferderer
If you have code you can share, put it on GitHub.

Put your resume on LinkedIn.

Please share the links & many of us we'll re-share them on social media.

------
smilesnd
This might sound like a stupid question, but can a homeless person even get a
job? Isn't the whole cycle of becoming homeless evil because you need a
residents to apply for a job? Just like all those freelance website require
you to link a bank account which you need a address to get a bank account.

~~~
samatman
Getting an address for these purposes is substantially easier and cheaper than
obtaining steady housing.

~~~
smilesnd
How do you get a address?

~~~
jdietrich
A homeless shelter, a day center, a church, a sympathetic friend. My local
indie book store allows homeless people to use their mailing address. Finding
someone who will hold your mail is a lot easier than finding somewhere to
live.

------
pdxHomelessDev
UPDATE: I have a phone call with a hiring manager from Amazon tomorrow. Sent
out 20 resumes/emails so far this week. And going to dinner with someone here
in Portland that is on this thread. Feeling better about potential jobs
everyday. Thanks again from everyone here for advice/support!

~~~
akulbe
It was great to meet you, man. Let's plan on doing that again, real soon.

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
Likewise, thank you for talking with me and hanging out.

------
_cereal
Hi,

apart from programming you could add a remote part-time job, look at positions
available at:

[https://appen.com/](https://appen.com/) or [http://www.ai-
media.tv/](http://www.ai-media.tv/)

------
JamesAdir
Have you tried getting any remote jobs? WeWorkRemotely for example is a great
resource for this positions. It will allow you to earn money, and maybe save a
little while still working from the libary and staying at the shelter.

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
I will look there, I have currently been looking on
[http://remoteok.io](http://remoteok.io)

------
dylanhassinger
build a portfolio microsite using React. Go to meetups. hand out resumes.
repeat.

------
bausshf
I don't have much to contribute with, but I wish you my best of luck and may
life turn around for the better for you.

I was in a similar position about a year ago, having no home, but landed a job
and found my way!

------
CodeWriter23
A wise friend of mine tells people looking for jobs: There’s a magic number of
applications and interviews you have to do before you get a job. Unfortunately
I can’t tell you what that number is.

------
pvaldes
> I am often on a university campus

This is very obvious, but science faculties often need python programmers. If
not done yet, you could use the bulletin board to start building a small local
net of contacts.

------
sincerely
Just to be clear, you are looking for jobs outside of Craigslist right?

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
Yes, I am looking many places.

------
Hadock
Make a GitHub profile and set it up as a portfolio, just make something
beautiful and arranged so your new potential job may be waiting for you!

------
k_sh
If you decide to pick up React and need some pointers, email me - mine is in
my profile, I work in React full-time at the moment.

------
karaokeyoga
One idea is to look at Vue over React. I think there are some advantages.
First, PHP/Laraval has adopted Vue. Second, it's a bit easier to get into than
React (and better suited for smaller/incremental projects). Third, it's easier
to stand out as a Vue developer due to its smaller (but growing) market.

This isn't a technical critique … I think Vue and React are very similar …
just a suggestion in terms of job searching. Best of luck!

------
12j129312a12d12
"I have 10 years of web dev experience". You are really hard on yourself and
it sounds like your expertise in development is probably not the issue that
you are facing in order to get a job.

You need to rebuild your confidence. Providing that you are reasonably
competent at development (which I assume you are), I would focus on learning
React and applying for mid-level jobs related. Don't apply for a junior role,
you are selling yourself short. You are not a junior.

\- I wouldn't be too afraid of "Word getting around" \- that sounds like fear
driving you rather than faith.

\- Try to find a family or friend who will allow you to register at their
address for tax/banking purposes. You will need to get paid and you need these
systems in place in order to do so.

\- If you can get a registered address (even if you aren't officially living
there), I wouldn't even tell them about your current situation of being
homeless, unless of course you have no choice.

\- Look for 'nearly' successful startups. From my experience startups
generally have less weighted interviews, more casual recruitment processes, my
last two contracts I have landed have paid really well but I didn't even have
my references examined. Most people in the startup scene (at least in Europe)
don't care about references, they just look at the work you do after a couple
of weeks and let that be the deciding factor on if you worth the money or not.

\- Become a great React developer (or Vue.js) if you want to get involved in
startups, this is because its the 'coolest' technology going around and most
CTO's choose the most popular tech stacks. Familiarize yourself with the
related technologies so you know what you are talking about in an interview. I
would get familiar with Redux, but I would personally use Mobx for state
management. I would also look at Next.js and know about SSR apps. Formulate
opinions of these technologies so you can talk about these to your
interviewer.

\- Formulate opinions about emerging technologies, such as Rust and its
implementation in Firefox, hence which is why i use firefox over chrome today.

\- Familiarize yourself with basic AWS, gcloud, k8s, so at least you have
touched on these technologies and you are aware of them. You don't need to be
an expert.

\- Setup a portfolio website! You can get free 1 year hosting with AWS. I
would setup AWS with SSL and host a next.js React application on it, using the
latest design ideas etc. Look at other developers portfolios for inspiration.
This is a great way to have a nice portfolio piece using the latest tech, it
illustrates that you can do your job.

Believe in yourself. The biggest obstacle in this world, is no other, is no
grand oppressive state, it is yourself. You must redefine who you THINK you
are. You are not a homeless person, but a person in transition. You are not
poor, but a person about to find truth and wealth. Be thankful and grateful
for what you have, however little that may be. Be thankful that you have a
skill that is highly sought after and highly lucrative. You can make hundreds
of thousands of dollars a year if your redefine the image of yourself. Use
your experience on the streets as a strength, rather than a weakness.

You are a versatile person. I have no doubt you will make it to where you need
to go.

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
This is all great advice, I will certainly tackle some of the things you
mentioned. Thank you for taking the time for a information filled comment. :)

------
homelessdev
I am the homelessdev poster from CO. pxdHomelessDev reached out to me for an
update which I gave him, but here's a more detailed run down of what I did to
start getting out of my situation.

I was able to avoid becoming homeless by using services the city offers (food
stamps, a one shot service that helped with rent during the month it mattered
most, unemployment until it ran out), borrowing a small amount of money from
family, wife was able to get a part-time job -- this got us out of our
immediate scenario of living on the streets or in a car but we were literally
1 week away from that happening.

Finally after months of applying for jobs I was able to land one a week ago.

What I have done to get back on track:

1\. put together a good portfolio: i built a few react sites, made some 2d
games and converted a few interesting problems found on hackerrank into little
applications so that I would have some diverse projects to show off. created
social media accounts to showcase my work as well and linked all of those from
my portfolio site.

2\. prepared mentally: with each job interview that I failed I paid close
attention to what went wrong and what I could have done to prevent it from
failing and then adjusted my next interview based on that information.

3\. put in 15 resumes per day: there are lots of job sites (angel.co
weworkremotely.com and remoteok.io to name a few) -- once i ramped up to 15
resumes a day I had at least 3 calls a week with prospective employers. I also
didn't limit myself to CO -- i now have a remote job.

4\. don't kill yourself or give up: for me this was the hardest part of the
process. i suffer from bipolar disorder and was on the verge of suicide for
the better part of this year. each failure during the process made me sink
further into depression, though keeping my mind occupied with my own projects
helped immensely. staying positive through this sort of thing, even if you're
lying to yourself and faking it, seems to be one of the keys to success
because other people can pick up on your mood.

\---

I am assuming that you have very limited funds and thus might not know where
to host a website for cheap -- this can be accomplished for 1 or 2 USD per
month on AWS using a serverless infrastructure. You can also host free static
sites on github pages with custom domains (get one on namecheap for $9 per
year). Whatever you choose has the added benefit of being something you can
talk about in a job interview and showcase on your site.

\---

i don't know how your javascript skills are, but if you have extensive front
end experience:

1\. update your knowledge if need be to the latest JS syntax

2\. spend a weekend learning react

3\. start playing with node

javascript is in demand and i have seen Jr devs (1 or 2 years of react and
node experience) being billed as either "fullstack developers" or even worse
"senior fullstack developers". With your current skill set and a bit more
knowledge you should be able to land a JS job pretty quickly.

~~~
leesalminen
I was just reading your original post. I’m glad you found work and were able
to work a plan to avoid eviction.

I’m also in Colorado and have seen evictions happen in just days. It’s pretty
appalling.

~~~
homelessdev
The rent laws are terrifying and slanted for the landlord. Here's how
everything went down:

1\. quit job for ethical reasons

2\. run out of savings very quickly

3\. run out of unemployment after that, can't afford rent

4\. After being 3 days late on rent a notice was posted on my door saying that
I had 5 days to pay in full or face eviction

5\. After those 5 days were up, another notice was posted on my door that I
had to appear in court the following week

6\. Show up to court, make my way to the assigned room, multiple other people
going through the same thing show up

7\. Judge explains what is happening: you can speak to the plantif's lawyer to
settle, and you can speak to some free lawyers who will help you sort your
rights, and you can choose to settle that day or file a response.

a) settling with the landlord would have meant that I had to pay in full and
then move out 1 week later but would not be evicted (basically self eviction)

b) file a response and take it to court a week later and then get evicted a
week after that by a sheriff

8\. I chose option B

9\. In the meantime I signed up for a service (and ended up being approved)
which helps with situations such as these by paying 80% of your rent (one-time
service)

10\. A few days before court I was able to pay rent and they dropped the case

11\. sold some things to keep paying for rent and borrowed some money

12\. finally got a fucking job

I was also slapped with:

1\. $250~ in legal fees

2\. $300~ in late fees

3\. $100~ prematurely canceled rental insurance fee (rental insurance,
utilities etc. are all in the same rent payment)

~~~
homelessdev
why is my comment being downvoted?

------
ebbv
Craigslist isn’t the place to go for jobs. Lots of people are looking for PHP
developers. There’s job counseling services out there, go talk to a
professional who specializes in cases like yours. Don’t listen to a bunch of
HNers who have zero experience in your situation.

~~~
pdxHomelessDev
I have talked to a job services placement place. It is state ran and I am in
touch with the IT/Software placement manager for the state of OR. Thanks for
the comment.

------
claydavisss
Cast yourself as a digital nomad searching the Earth for adventure. No one
needs to know your transient state is something you want to change.

See if you can land some of the typical tools of nomads...a PO box, a mobile
#, then be the person they are looking for

------
spraveenitpro
Learn React and work on some applications for portfolio.

This is important, watch
[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454921/?ref_=nv_sr_1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454921/?ref_=nv_sr_1)

~~~
crawf
What is important, learning React or watching the film? Also, what is in the
film that makes it important (if it is)?

~~~
nobody271
It's a film about a homeless guy who worked really hard and made it as a stock
trader. ...It is not like your life at all. Get back to work, lol.

~~~
paulcarroty
Agree, this movie is GREAT for this case. 100k for motivation.

------
whatswrongwitu
I need work on a website so I have a job for you.

