Hi all, I''m 27 and worked in the sysadmin field for about five years now. I''ve been using Ruby to help me for the past two-three years, and I started with Ruby on Rails, albeit slowly, over a year ago. I''d like to make the switch to becoming a full-time Rails dev, but I can''t devote much free time to developing the skills and experience required to comfortably say "Take me for a Senior position". Most of my free time is spent studying and teaching martial arts, something which I would not trade for the world. If location could be a concern, I live on Long Island, so I''m not too far from NYC. My question to you is, how would you recommend going about effecting this transition? Any steps, ideas, advice? -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk+unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en.
> > I''d like to make the switch to becoming a full-time Rails dev, but I > can''t devote much free time to developing the skills and experience > required to comfortably say "Take me for a Senior position".So, just to ensure I''m clear - are you asking for shortcuts to be able to get you straight in to a senior position - or just after hints to improve so you may take a non-senior position and work up to it?> Most of my > free time is spent studying and teaching martial arts, something which I > would not trade for the world. >I feel you, I love teaching Taekwondo...> My question to you is, how would you recommend going about effecting > this transition? Any steps, ideas, advice? >Practice. Start thinking of small, useful ideas and launch sites for them. They could be small sites (dynamically generated) with documentation, or search engine automation/mashups. You then get to practice automated testing, deployment, development. Set up a github account and make some gems/plugins and put them on there for potential employers to find. Start trying to help people on here - I always found that in putting forward help to those just coming in helped solidify my own learning, sometimes I was right (and got a hearty thanks), sometimes I was wrong (and got the chance to learn when a more senior developer chimed in). Either way, you''re getting value. Soon you''ll be at a point when you can do everything and easily answer questions in interviews (and then you can give more back). It boils down to learn, practice, teach - the same as in martial arts, each stage has it''s own learnings and each is important. Cheers, Andy -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk+unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en.
Andy Jeffries wrote:> So, just to ensure I''m clear - are you asking for shortcuts to be able > to > get you straight in to a senior position - or just after hints to > improve so > you may take a non-senior position and work up to it? >Well, if you happen to know black magic, I''ll buy a shortcut for 400; otherwise, the proper way to do things would suit me just fine :-)> >> Most of my >> free time is spent studying and teaching martial arts, something which I >> would not trade for the world. >> > I feel you, I love teaching Taekwondo...Ooh.. Where do you teach? (I know, we''re going off-topic!)>> > > Practice. Start thinking of small, useful ideas and launch sites for > them. > They could be small sites (dynamically generated) with documentation, > or > search engine automation/mashups. You then get to practice automated > testing, deployment, development.*nod*> > Set up a github account and make some gems/plugins and put them on there > for > potential employers to find.http://github.com/Trevoke :-)> > Start trying to help people on here - I always found that in putting > forward > help to those just coming in helped solidify my own learning, sometimes > I > was right (and got a hearty thanks), sometimes I was wrong (and got the > chance to learn when a more senior developer chimed in). Either way, > you''re > getting value. Soon you''ll be at a point when you can do everything and > easily answer questions in interviews (and then you can give more back). > > It boils down to learn, practice, teach - the same as in martial arts, > each > stage has it''s own learnings and each is important. >Understood :) And as far as the search for a position, it''s .. Standard operating procedure? -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk+unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en.
> > > I feel you, I love teaching Taekwondo... > Ooh.. Where do you teach? (I know, we''re going off-topic!) >I''m an assistant instructor at a club in Stevenage, Herts, UK. I used to have my own club for a few years, but now just help out/deputise.> Understood :) And as far as the search for a position, it''s .. Standard > operating procedure? >Yep, contact the pimps (agencies). Cheers, Andy -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk+unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en.
Andy Jeffries wrote:>> >> > I feel you, I love teaching Taekwondo... >> Ooh.. Where do you teach? (I know, we''re going off-topic!) >> > > I''m an assistant instructor at a club in Stevenage, Herts, UK. I used > to > have my own club for a few years, but now just help out/deputise. >Very nice :) Wish it were on my side of the pond, I love meeting fellow martial artists. Thanks for the advice. I''ll just keep digging! -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk+unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en.
Given your sys admin skills you could join a small company and be a sysadmin / developer and use that to get you skills then either become full time developer or move on with a CV that says developer. I seem to be going the other way :) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk+unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en.
I have to agree here; your strongest skill is one that is often lacking in Rails developers. You should be building an online ''portfolio'', but if I were you, I''d focus on deployment and testing for value add to companies. -- Jeremy Chase http://twitter.com/jeremychase On Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 10:58 AM, Peter Hickman < peterhickman386-gM/Ye1E23mwN+BqQ9rBEUg@public.gmane.org> wrote:> Given your sys admin skills you could join a small company and be a > sysadmin / developer and use that to get you skills then either become full > time developer or move on with a CV that says developer. > > I seem to be going the other way :) > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. > To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > rubyonrails-talk+unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org<rubyonrails-talk%2Bunsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en. >-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk+unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en.
I don''t know about NYC, but in Romania there is a great need for senior RoR developers, and one year could be enough, specially with your sysadmin background. If you have a few big(ish) projects in your portfolio, I''m sure you will have no trouble in US. Also try to find a small company with challenging projects. Even if you get slightly less, the experience you gain could make you a sought for RoR expert in the near future. Good luck with it, and I hope you find your dream job soon. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk+unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFF+G/Ez6ZCGd0@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en.