How Does a Self-Taught Computer Geek Get Hired? 523
An anonymous reader writes "I'm essentially a self-taught computer geek who started learning BASIC at age 12, but decided NOT to do the traditional computer-nerd thing (comp sci or physics, computer degree, etc.). I've essentially kept up with computers as a hobby, teaching myself web-design, Linux/LAMP, Javascript, and now Drupal. I've worked for a short time at a web dev shop but mostly have just done freelance projects and here-and-there stuff for websites or projects, many of which have gone under or are no longer accessible. I'm creative, have Photoshop/GIMP skills, I'm personable and self-motivated...and I'd like to get a 'real' job now but I don't really look like much on paper — how can I (specifically with Drupal) make myself look good on a CV and/or establish solid credentials that will make people more willing to take a chance and hire me? Will Drupalcon 2012 help me make inroads? Are there other ways to 'prove' myself to be a capable web admin/developer?"
Why do you want to be hired? (Score:5, Insightful)
It seems like most people, especially geeks, want to take the easy route and try get a job. Being self-employed or running a business isn't all that hard and it is much more rewarding, especially for a computer geek now in internet age.
Re:Why do you want to be hired? (Score:5, Insightful)
Instead of running your own business. Then you don't need to provide your quality and skills to anyone, and it can make more money in the long run as you are not limited to your salary and don't have to fear getting fired. If you know web-design and running Drupal, then start to work with those. Make your websites. Now, learning some information about other subjects will help. Learn things like marketing, SEO and in general running a business. Most of the information can be found on webmaster forums. Then it's up to you - you can even sell your services to local businesses. You also have the added benefit of working with your projects instead of someones else, which is always more boring.
It seems like most people, especially geeks, want to take the easy route and try get a job. Being self-employed or running a business isn't all that hard and it is much more rewarding, especially for a computer geek now in internet age.
In this economy I'd take a salary (certainty) over the kudos of being an entrepreneur (uncertainty) any day of the week. Competition is stiff in the web dev/design market. Makes much more sense to throw your lot in with a group of established designers and developers that have a client book.
As an alternative, I'd suggest looking at big corporates that have marketing/web dev teams and apply for those jobs instead. You're less likely to be as harshly scrutinised by people as clued up as yourself and your salary is not dependent on how many clients you secure or websites you build as your job will be focused on your own company's website. Whilst not a long-term solution, it may be the viable in road you are looking for.
Re:Why do you want to be hired? (Score:4, Insightful)
I'd suggest getting to know more open source projects, starting with Drupal was a good idea.
Get to know Open Atrium, design some nice themes for it or make a module to solve a problem someone has, then post it all online someplace that allows people to post comments or a download count.
Having a list of achievements on the Internet, with people giving feedback or allowed to see your progress, can be a resume in itself.
Get that degree (Score:5, Insightful)
Basically, it is not possible for any prospective employer to assess your skills. Programming skills, sure, but there is a lot of other important things you learn when getting a degree. These are hard to assess in your case. Sure, there are a lot of incompetent people _with_ a degree, but you can usually spot them, because they do not have the hands-on skills.
My advice would be that for the moment stay self-employed and start to work on getting that degree. I have taught several classes for people that were in your situation (i.e. already working for some years but no degree) and all that I met later though it was very much worthwhile getting it. This was for a BA in EE (with a lot of comp-sci) and some went on to get an MA in addition. The problem here is that until you are fairly advanced in your studies, you do not see that the work is indeed worthwhile. For example, if you are smart then one thing you learn is that concrete technologies are almost meaningless and there is a whole layer of meta-technology behind them, which is eminently worthwhile picking up.
So, no, a degree is not worth a lot by itself, but if you are already reasonably good in a field, it is what you need to advance. And I am not talking about the piece of paper here, although that also has some importance.
Re:Why do you want to be hired? (Score:5, Insightful)
Being self-employed or running a business isn't all that hard and it is much more rewarding, especially for a computer geek now in internet age.
Having worked in various sized companies, from self-employed through 10, 20 and 500-1000 people, it became apparent to me that all businesses need:
1) Sales and Marketing
2) Accounting
3) A product
If you have no interest in 1) or 2), being self-employed is not for you. Also, when taking into account what you get paid for your "Product" as a coder, bear in mind the hours invested in Sales, Marketing, and Accounting for essentially zero compensation..
Re:Why do you want to be hired? (Score:5, Insightful)
In this economy I'd take a salary (certainty) over the kudos of being an entrepreneur (uncertainty) any day of the week.
I would too. After seeing a program about successful entrepreneurs I think this means that neither of us are cut out for running a business. The ones who succeeded often did so after several attempts, putting in long hours, sinking their own assets into the business, failing and then doing it over again. They had a drive and ultimate confidence in themselves that meant that they would never be happy taking the safer option of a salary, unless it was short term during which they would scrimp and save what they needed to start another business.
Go to college (Score:5, Insightful)
You don't have to do the four year marathon. You can do contract work to pay for your tuition. In the end, you'll make up for the tuition spent by making more salary than possible without that degree,
Of course you could go the self employment route, the success stories are few and you'll get paid less than a college grad for your talents.
Re:Why do you want to be hired? (Score:5, Insightful)
Being self-employed or running a business isn't all that hard
I wish you had said that at the beginning of your post, so I could have stopped reading. This is absolutely false!
You can be the most brilliant technician in the universe, and still crater your business if you don't have the sales persistence to turn those technical skills into money, and the support team to handle users' invariably simple problems while you focus on the next big thing, whether that's the next version of your product, or a separate item with strong cross-marketing potential. Just because a handful of ethically-questionable teenagers won the dot-com lottery, does not mean the same will happen to anyone with basic web development skills they picked up from a few Youtube videos narrated by 12-year-olds.
To the OP: if you want to find work, contact staffing/contracting agencies near you. They will find you paying gigs, and the experience you gain there will be more valuable than any paper knowledge you have amassed up to this point. There are lots of hobbyists like you, but companies are interested in people who can efficiently solve business challenges. If you really want to stick with web development as a serious career, then start putting together a portfolio. Don't rely on web sites staying up indefinitely with your old code, take screenshots and document them, briefly explaining (to prospective clients) why you were the right person for the job and what kind of unique or high-level skills helped bring it together. Take a dozen of your best examples and arrange them into a nice sleek gallery page. Get stupid old business cards printed with an eye-catching design and a memorable URL to your portfolio, and pass them around. You want people to see your work, be wowed, and contact you because you're the designer/developer they want for their business. Sell yourself!
#1 thing to do ... (Score:4, Insightful)
First and foremost, don't convince yourself you're better than you really are. You need to be honest with yourself about your experience before you can be honest with a prospective employer.
Being self-taught doesn't suggest you don't know the technology, but *does* suggest you may not know a lot of other things that are critical that come from studying things in school -- process, teamwork, communication, etc ...
Basically, don't BS yourself into seeking jobs you really aren't qualified for, particularly in this market. You'll just waste your time, adn the time of those you're talking to. You're going to have to build up the credentials based on your work experience that you lack in formal education. (And, I can tell you as someone who has done a lot of hiring -- a lot of the comments here are wrong... you need actual *employment* exprience, not hobby projects to show your abilities, because as I said, doing something with a team, on a deadline, is very different than doing something by yourself.)
Re:Why do you want to be hired? (Score:5, Insightful)
I've eaten at restaurants that have failed, and sometimes I have no idea why they aren't a success. Price reasonable, food is good, location is about the same as the successful ones, but no customers.
I'm sure you've seen those books where one rich guy says he succeeded by not giving up. Then you have another book where a rich guy says he succeeded by knowing when to quit. Then you have another rich guy saying he succeeded by starting many different businesses at the same time and closing down the ones that don't succeed. Then you have yet another rich guy saying he succeeded by focusing on one thing... Another rich guy says "buy property", but if you bought the wrong property < 2008, you'd now be stuck paying off a loan that's a lot more than your property. So good luck figuring out what the real secret to success is.
Re:Why do you want to be hired? (Score:4, Insightful)
I think you'll find a common theme among successful tech entrepreneurs and among most entrepreneurs and small business owners is cash reserves. Businesses typically operate at a loss for the first 1-5yrs so if you are living paycheck to paycheck then forget it.
Re:Why do you want to be hired? (Score:5, Insightful)
Upbringing, networking, persistence, work and a hefty dose of luck.
Re:Why do you want to be hired? (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure, having loads of cash helps. But it isn't required, and certainly not something that guarantees success.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Sales and Persistence (Score:5, Insightful)
Want to get excellent at sales (even if you're going to stay with FT employment)? Read and re-read: Socratic Sales.
A lot of people believe that start-ups succeed or fail because of cash (enough or too little). Certainly cash flow is king when it comes to staying in business. However, the reality is: You either have time or you have money. It takes time to develop a clientèle through carefully crafted product fulfillment and good service. Or you can accelerate this process through expensive advertising. You can burn through a lot of cash if you solve everything with it. Or you can be more creative and leverage time, including other people's time, and spend from less to zero. Time and persistence can pay big dividends.
So, hone your skills. Sell them. Watch your cash. Develop relationships (clients vs customers). Bank!
Re:Why do you want to be hired? (Score:5, Insightful)
True. He should forget about a big company and go look for a job at a tiny operation. He might get hired at a small firm, but without credentials he won't get past HR in any company big enough to have an HR department.
Re:Why do you want to be hired? (Score:4, Insightful)
Some clients come to me having found me through my website - if *your* website developing company website ranks high in their search, is nice looking, easy to understand, etc..., then they already have an idea of your capabilities, and what you can do for them. This works better in rural areas with less competition, and localized searches, of course. Perhaps that should be my disclaimer - I am not in a big city environment, I deal with "small business", so my method may not work as well there, though I think it would still work fairly well - people are people, and small business revolves around them.
The larger percentage of new website clients have come to me through word of mouth from existing customers, some from the website side but even more from the 'tech support' business I do. Being someone's IT guy really puts your foot in the door of not only that business, but into those of the friends of that business. There is a definite lack of personable, available, quality tech people in the independent sector, and to most people not involved directly in some sort of computer technology business, websites and fixing systems/networking/etc... are pretty much all closely related variants of the same field. You and I and I'd expect most /. readers know different, but there it is, in my experience. And if you know your stuff, and are personable enough that your clients know they can ask and trust your answers, your existing clients are your sales force - and a powerful one at that.
Your last sentence was something I used to ask myself about 10+ years back; does my new buddy Joe Shadetree really need a website for his backyard radiator shop? There is no question about it any more, the answer is a resounding "Yes!". :) ***Every*** business needs a website these days - the 'net is the first place most people look to find out about a business, even in rural America. Not every business needs a $10K website, though, and certainly not "Joe's Hometown Radiators" - it would take him forever to recoup that kind of investment. I do well selling "mom-n-pop" businesses with small requirements a 4-5 page, modifiable brochure site in the $700-2K range, using a custom design built on a CMS, running on a LAMP stack via a reseller account. This allows me to keep their cost low enough that after that initial investment of $2-5/day for their website and first year of maintenance/hosting, their ongoing cost for the site is a bit less than $0.50/day (if I don't have to work on their site much). For the ones who want to, however, they can log on to their site and update content, add pages, etc etc..., and all I do is make sure there are regular backups and upgrades. In this price range they are getting me for about 1/2 of what I charge on an hourly basis for the time I will put in on their site, BUT - I get a new, happy client, and a relationship that will likely last years, and put more money in my pocket over time than if I had gone full price to begin with.
Re:Why do you want to be hired? (Score:5, Insightful)
That's a little like saying that Michael Jordan can jump really high, so if you work hard enough you can too. Most people aren't Michael Jordan, so no matter how hard they try they're never going to jump that high. But even if they were such a one-in-7-billion people, they're not in the right place at the right time. Golden opportunities are rare, and very minor changes in circumstance would have had Steve Jobs be a name we recognize only once we've looked it up on Wikipedia, and that's if he made the notability cut. He succeeded because all the big money bet in a different direction, and they lost that bet.
If you use Steve as an example that money isn't required for success, you might as well be advocating that people play the lottery instead, the odds are not as long, and you could then take your winnings and found a company with a respectable shot at success.
Re:Why do you want to be hired? (Score:4, Insightful)
Been there. Done that. Was ribbed about my suit for months.
The suit was not the problem.
Re:Why do you want to be hired? (Score:4, Insightful)
I remember the whole "Rich Dad/Poor Dad" craze that went on a few years ago. There were lots of seminars where every guy that made it big in real estate had his own "system" that you could use to get lots of $$$. (after buying your way in, of course) There was much talk about "dreams", "goals", and lots of other dog-and-pony show bullshit that was big on emotion but skimped on real substance. That whole thing mostly dried up after 2008 when the economy went to shit... people are mostly trying to stay solvent these days, not get rich.
After going to a few of these seminars in my younger days, I soon understood that there is no "big secret". Those guys probably made more money selling books/learning materials to people who wanted to be rich than they ever made in real estate. It's far easier to sell a dream to others than it is to produce real goods.