

Ask HN: Would you hire me as a junior programmer? - feybay

	Hello everybody, this is a rephrased version of an earlier posting I ended up editing I hope this doesn&#x27;t constitute spamming. I&#x27;m finishing up my A.S. degree at a CC in the US. I have all A&#x27;s in my computer related classes (Basic Java, Advanced Java, Basic C++, Database Administration, Systems Analysis and Design) and a few B&#x27;s in other non-computer classes. I have also learned AS3 and Haxe. I am creating a social media site in Ruby that will demonstrate knowledge of Rails[0], and have created a few games (some used XML and JSON) using said Haxe and AS3.<p>The above examples show that I am a capable learner. However, I&#x27;m not quite sure how to best approach putting together a portfolio and contact potential employers. I&#x27;m in NY right now but will most likely be moving to SC for a year at least.<p>I understand that this is a bit of an open ended question, but I would love advice what to do at this point (I graduate in the spring and will be moving out to SC in late July).<p>[0]I&#x27;m currently using a private repo on bitbucket and developing on Arch Linux.
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xyclos
What area of SC? If it is the Charleston area there are quite a few good
opportunities for junior programmer. If you are planning on looking in or
around Charleston be sure to take a look at the Charleston Digital Corridor[1]
for some good leads. Also, I would be happy to speak with you as I have worked
as a programmer in Charleston for the last 2 years and I love it. Feel free to
get in touch: hello [at] jakejohnson [dot] me

[1][http://www.charlestondigitalcorridor.com/](http://www.charlestondigitalcorridor.com/)

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feybay
It's going to be very close to Charleston. Thanks for commenting. I'll be
emailing you soon!

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monroepe
Unless you really have intentions of selling your site, you should just open
all your code. There isn't much of a reason to keep it private, because
potential employers can't view it.

But more to the point, you would have a better chance of getting a job in NYC
than in SC. Just keep coding. Finish your projects too. Finish that site you
are making. I would be more likely to hire you if you showed passion and
interest in coding. And a big part of that for me is finishing the projects
you start.

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feybay
Thanks for the great response! I'll most likely make the code for my site open
once I'm finished with it, as I think it will make more sense once I have it
all documented and tied together.

As far as finishing my projects goes, I have finished multiple small games.
That said, the code is very sloppy since I worked on most of them before any
formal training. Here are three games I've made for android using Haxe (for
"Turnt" as a proof of concept) and Adobe Air (the other two games)
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Zenkman](https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Zenkman)

Here is also another game I created using Haxe:
[http://indiegames.com/2013/05/browser_pick_stockholm_adds_to...](http://indiegames.com/2013/05/browser_pick_stockholm_adds_to.html)

Once again, thanks for taking time out of your day to reply.

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mathgeek
While your degree and grades count for something, it's more important that you
build a solid understanding of programming concepts. You should also write
code every day, for any reason that you can think of. Build up that skillset.

Relevant: [http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/26191/what-
ar...](http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/26191/what-are-the-
skills-you-look-for-when-hiring-a-fresher-newbie-for-developement)

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feybay
Thanks, that link is an interesting read.

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rajacombinator
The HN community is a bit unusual in that they're willing to consider
programmers with no degree. But you should really just put in the extra 2
years, transfer to a state school and get a BS. It will pay off in the long
run for your career. For most employers you would be at a big disadvantage
having only an AS. Also keeps your options open for returning to grad school.

~~~
feybay
Thanks for the comment. I'm under the impression that once you have your foot
in the door so to speak, (a job that you perform well in) that a degree is for
the most part a formality. Am I incorrect?

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geoelectric
Speaking as part of the Bay Area/Silicon Valley software industry, -if- you
can show a good Github portfolio and have a reasonable amount of prior
experience, and both display obvious talent, you should be able to get in
somewhere. Demonstrable experience > theoretical education.

Networking is important there, since recruiting tends to be much more about
buzzwords and degrees than hiring managers are. Being able to get your resume
straight to a hiring manager can be make or break.

That changes if you're talking software jobs incidental to other industries
(financial, corporate IT, etc.) which is honestly most of them, statistically
speaking. It definitely changes if you're talking consulting or field work,
since clients want to be impressed by your credentials and your parent company
will select on that. It also probably changes if you're talking outside an
area that's already heavy in software industry.

Rule of thumb: jeans ok? You can probably manage without the degree if you're
good. Khakis required? Not so much.

What the degree buys you, aside from access to the more conservative jobs, is
some degree of assumption that you have some degree of training, as well as
that you have enough follow-through to finish a degree. But even then,
speaking for myself as a frequent hiring team participant, I'd be looking
towards your internships, side projects, that Github portfolio, so forth.

Still, if you have the luxury of doing so, get the degree. It does make things
easier.

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feybay
Thank you very much for the nuanced reply. My current plan is to go for my BS
in CS at RPI or RIT next year if I don't find solid employment with a tech
company before then.

Until either of those two things happen, I will be contributing to open source
projects and creating my own projects while working other jobs in order to
boost both my resume and skill level.

Great reply, thank you for your perspective.

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brudgers
I have some invites to StackOverflow Careers [1] that are just sitting. If you
shoot me an email...you'll have to figure it out from my profile...I will send
you one. It's a good place to post a CV.

[1]: [http://careers.stackoverflow.com](http://careers.stackoverflow.com)

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feybay
I sent you an email, thanks.

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feybay
I got it all set up, thanks!

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brudgers
Good luck.

