

Ask HN: Would you hire an entry-level candidate with unrelated experience? - shrikant

Specifically, someone who has industry experience, but very little by way of programming experience.<p>Take the case of a 30 year old who has been in various white-collar roles. She's been dabbling in code for a few years, and one fine day decides this is her cup of tea, and is alright with working her way up the ranks from entry-level and rebooting as a rookie coder.<p>Do people of this sort stand a chance?
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bartonfink
I would hire that sort of person, but again, at an entry level. Experience
outside of a technical job isn't going to translate as well to experience
interfacing directly with a computer, and so I don't see it as terribly
applicable. However, I'd hire that person above many college applicants. A 30
year old who's been in the work force is likely to understand the rules of the
working world (e.g. just because the workplace allows for ping-pong breaks
doesn't absolve you of responsibility to produce) better than someone right
out of college.

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iambot
I suppose it depends what industries (specifically), I did that from
retail/advertising design -> web design -> font-end development. Now I can
safely do a "fair" amount of server side development as well.

