Category Archives: Progress

help wanted

How I Landed a Job Offer After 18 Weeks Learning to Code

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tl;dr:
127 days of intensive self-study + pair programming = Programmer Job Offer.

Note: In September 2012, I set out full time to learn to code. This article is the culmination of my experience, which resulted in a job offer in January 2013. 

My background is in working with amazing startups and technology companies focusing on sales and marketing. But, I wanted to do more, to build and to be at the core of building a product. On September 10, 2012 I began an adventure, a mission to teach myself to code.

Before I started my journey, I considered myself a very computer savvy, non-technical person; I understood the basics of the web, front-end design, and had run through a few Codecademy tutorials. But, I couldn’t code up a web page from scratch, had never interacted with a database, nor did I fully grasped the web stack.

Why Learning to Code Full Time?

Why did I decide to drop everything and learn to code full time? Learning to code part-time, in my free time, wasn’t sufficient for where I wanted to take my skills and understanding. I didn’t gain the breadth of knowledge or tool set I needed to do anything meaningful, while learning to code at night and on the weekends.

Also, the timeline didn’t make sense to me. Patience is not one of my virtues. To push myself above a novice programmer, I was looking at grinding away slowly in my spare time. I’m results driven and need to see a more immediate impact to keep me motivated.

Going full time removed time and work hurdles from my learning to code experience. I was fortunate to have built a business to a place where I had a financial cushion.

While it was successful, I was running full steam and exhausting myself. As a result, I either needed to expanded the business (hire more people) or refocus the strategy. After carefully analyzing the opportunity, I wasn’t attracted longterm to a B2B services business.

So I took the money and invested it in myself, paying myself a salary for three months while I dedicated 100% time to learning to program.

My Learning to Code Plan

I crafted my own plan to learn to code, with lots of help and insight from others. I learn by doing.

Therefore, I utilized a project based approach to learn to code. The first seven weeks I spent reading and completing various online tutorials. In week 8, I started working on a web app project of my own. This important step was to force me into more critical thinking.

I should have started writing my own code earlier. Starting on my first project was a rush. This euphoria was quickly followed by the realization of how lost I was.

But these mini-panic moments were actually helpful. Hitting a moment when I don’t know how to move the app forward, was actually learning opportunities (disguised as error messages) literally popping up on my screen.

This is as a good time as any to emphasize how much I relied on other people to learn. I was very fortunate to meet amazing developers who gave up time to help me out. Discussing code, pair programming, and line-by-line code reviews were the single most important steps in my entire process.

Big props to my mentor, Joe Goldberg, who guided me throughout the entire process.

Entering the Job Market

Heading into the 12th week, I felt my best opportunity for growth would require me to work full-time as a developer. My biggest strides occurred working alongside other developers.

Finding a suitable job opportunity was the most difficult aspect of this experience. I applied to entry-level jobs listed on job boards. I used my network extensively; I spoke to developer friends, folks from meetup groups, recruiters, and I responded to 63 Hacker News job listings. Companies in which I was interested simply didn’t have the resources or desire to train me. I was turned down many times.

As weeks passed, I was beginning to lose hope. I contacted Originate in Los Angeles, and they too didn’t have a place for me. I reached out directly on LinkedIn to Rob Mallery, an executive at Originate.

We jumped on a 20 minute call and he referred me to the recruiter who would ultimately find me the job offer. She knew of a few companies looking for junior developers. One comapny, a web development agency with 12 engineers, had an opening that in particular grabbed my attention. I was very under qualified as compared to the required skills, but the recruiter encouraged me to apply anyway.

The Interview

Based on my resume, I was invited in to interview. I spent the 24 hours leading up to the meeting prepping for questions.

Funny side story: When I arrived, there was a buzzer to enter the office space. However, when I hit it, there was no sound nor response. I knocked and hit the buzzer several more times without any response. I could see lights on inside and started to panic.
Wait. Was this my first test? I had read harrowing “Google-Amazon-style” interview tests that potential engineering hires underwent. My mind raced. Was I being tested right out of the gate?
Well, no it turns out the buzzer was just broken and another employee happened to appear and let me in.

To minimize this already growing post, I’ll cut short details regarding the interview process. If you’d like more specifics about the interview process, let me know in the comments.

Job Offer Result

I spoke to the recruiter that same afternoon, told her I thought it went well, and was told I would either way soon. The next morning she sent me email saying I was offered a junior developer role with a strong base salary, 401K match, 17 vacation days, and medical/dental/vision benefits.

Conclusion

So I’m a Junior Developer Engineer now, right? Well, the story isn’t that simple. After much contemplating, discussion with family, friends, and trusted mentors, and a serendipitous set of circumstances, I ultimately turned down the job offer. I’ll save my reasons for that decision for my next post.

aha moment

Learning to Program and When to Start Building Your Own App?

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After completing 8 weeks, I have hit a critical point in my learning to program journey – I’ve begun coding my first app. I feel a new excitement because this is what I’ve been working towards for almost 2 months now. But, how did I arrive at the point where I was comfortable enough to start programming my own app?

tl;dr: I didn’t feel comfortable. I felt nervous and unsure of my abilities. But, to make my learning process more targeted, I needed a project to direct what to learn next.

Where’s My ‘Aha’ Moment?

If we wait until we’re ready, we’ll be waiting for the rest of our lives. -Lemony Snicket < Tweet This>

Remember those standardized tests we took throughout elementary and middle school in which we proved our arithmetic and reading comprehension was sufficient to move us on to the next grade? There’s no equivalent competency test in computer programming (at least that I’m aware of). So what did I use to evaluate my own proficiency, in that I had acquired the necessary foundation to begin programming on my own?

Here’s the funny part – there was never a moment when I hit a particular milestone or understood “enough” technique that told me I was ready to begin building. Interestingly, it was more a specific moment at which I felt continuing the tutorials and intro lesson were no longer beneficial.

It occurred to me while reading about cookies and storing sessions in Action Controller in the Rails Guides. At that moment, it struck me; how can I understand the impact of cookies with no frame of reference? I realized I’d hit the point where I needed to build an application in order to guide what is relevant for me to learn.

Additionally, my mentor through this process assured me that I’d never get to a point where I felt perfectly comfortable building on my own. Part of learning to program adventure is diving into unknown territory.

Hitting Highs and Lows

tea cups dizzy

My brain starting to program. Photo courtesy of Andy Castro.

Starting on my first project was a rush. This euphoria was quickly followed by the realization of how lost I am. Staring at a blank project made my brain feel like it had been on the tea cups ride at DisneyLand.

But these mini-panic moments are actually helpful. Hitting a moment when I don’t know how to move the app forward, are actually learning opportunities (disguised as error messages) literally popping up on my screen.

With my foundation from 8 weeks of tutorials, I’ve built a simple app. Each step in the app’s functionality that I can’t execute sends me a quest for answers. Using StackOverflow, blogs, and Twitter, I’ve found help and overcome obstacles.

This is the essence of project-based learning. Rinse and repeat this break-learn-build process a few hundred times and I’ll have built a functional web app while learning Ruby.

At least, that’s the plan.

Update: Join the discussion thread on Lobste.rs

Featured image courtesy of Rishi Bandopadhay

Ruby Nuby Project

Rogues Ruby Nuby Project Video

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The team at Ruby Rogues is putting together a show, Ruby Nuby Project, based on learning Ruby. They’ve requested Ruby noobs, like myself, to submit a video describing their experience. You can see my video and written response below. Here are the specifics of the request:

Have your Nuby record a 5 minute video talking about their experience learning Ruby. They should answer these questions:

  • Who are you?
  • What do you use Ruby for?
  • How have you gone about learning the language? What resources did you use? E.g. books, videos, blog posts, online courses, one-on-one tutoring, etc.
  • What has been the most difficult, surprising and/or delightful aspect of learning Ruby?
  • What do you appreciate most about the Ruby community?

Here is why I’m learning to program Ruby.

Who are you?

I’m an entrepreneur, digital marketer, and founder of the digital marketing agency Face The Buzz. I’m on a mission to learn to code. I’m dedicating myself full-time for 18 weeks to transform myself from a non-technical person into a beginning programmer. I’m 7 weeks into journey so far and having a blast.

What do you use Ruby for?

I don’t have an engineering or computer science background. I’m learning Ruby so I can use it to develop web apps. My background is in working with technology startups, but never as part of the technical team. My role has always been in marketing. I’ve been extremely fortunate to work with many great entrepreneurs. I want to be part of the early stage development and building of a product.

How have you gone about learning the language? What resources did you use? E.g. books, videos, blog posts, online courses, one-on-one tutoring, etc.

I learn by doing. Therefore, I’ve focused on online tutorials. I’ve used a few online courses, including Code School’s Rails for Zombies, Treehouse, Codecademy for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I’m also using a project based approach to learn to program and I’ve begun to work on a web app project of my own. This important step and I hope will help me transition between simple repetition into more critical thinking about programming.

What has been the most difficult, surprising and/or delightful aspect of learning Ruby?

Ruby and Rails have an amazing amount of functionality built into the language/framework. This feature is powerful, but can also be difficult and confusing for trying to understand exactly what’s going on inside an app.

What do you appreciate most about the Ruby community?

I appreciate how receptive and helpful the Ruby community is. Whether it’s sending out a tweet, using online communities, or a meetup, developers have been very friendly and happy to help – you just have to ask.

measuring

How I Measure My Progress to Learn to Code

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Taking the plunge to go full-time to learn to code was exhilarating. I knew what I wanted to accomplish and began laying out a project plan.

I also knew it would be important to measure my progress along the way. I definitely didn’t want to simply throw up my hands after 18 weeks and shout “Ta-Da!”

Receiving this Tweet from @mdbenner prompted me to write out specifically how I’m measuring my progress.

Think About The End First

In order to track my progress, I had to have an end goal by which to gauge. I struggled with coming up with a specific, tangible achievement goal.

My initial thought was to base it on finding a short, contract job as a developer. My rationale was that if someone else believed in my abilities enough to hire me, then this was validation enough that I’d achieved a certain level of knowledge and understanding.

After much thought and consideration, I abandoned the “job goal” for two reasons. First, my decision to learn to code is not motivated by finding a job or improving my career opportunities. I’m going down this path because I want to be able to build and execute interesting products. Thus, making my success dependent on a job felt counterintuitive.

Second, I sought out input from talented developers and tech people that I admired. Several, especially Tara Brown and Buster Benson, helped me realize that if I made the job the end goal, then this outcome would influence me and my plan. It would be easy to make decision about languages, tools, and platforms based off an employment motivation; ultimately, I didn’t want unnecessary external influence finding it’s way into my plan.

At this point, I took a step back and realized I was making it too complicated. If my goal is to increase my technical skills to build a product, then it makes sense to create a product as the end goal.

If you’re inexperienced, create goals based on learning the code necessary to build a product. <Tweet This>

Obviously I couldn’t build a product from day one. So, I’ve divided the 18 weeks into two halves. In the first 9 weeks, my focus is on completing as many tutorials as possible, reading Ruby on Rails Guides, and getting familiar with developer basics, such as RubyGems, Bundler, Rake, and version control (Git). The second 9 weeks will be dedicated to a project-based learning style, where I’ll be learning by building.

Learn to Code Tracking Progress

I do track my progress and what I’ve completed. For one I want to keep myself honest and ensure I’m completing ample work each week. Second, I want to have a record of the work I’ve completed.

I use Pivotal Tracker to record each tutorial or lesson I complete. Using Agile development mentality, tutorials and lessons are logged as “stories“. I score each story as either 1,2,4, or 8 points based on difficulty and time required to complete. I also log my time for each story, in order to understand how long a story took to complete.

Note: I’m not Agile nor Pivotal Tracker expert; I simply adopted these systems in a manner to meet my own needs.

Pivotal Tracker

My hope is that I complete as much or more points each week. However, I’m mindful not focus too much on simply churning out stories each week. If a tutorial isn’t helpful, I’m not afraid to abandon it before completing it. These aren’t homework assignments; my focus is on learning. Therefore, I try to balance the importance of completing a steady pace of work each week, with ensuring that my time is dedicated to learning.

How do you track progress on your goals? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

Featured image courtesy of Louise Docker.

progress

Learning to Code Progress – 3 Weeks Completed

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I’m now three weeks or 1/6 into my learning to code process and my progress to date can be summed up in one word: slow

slow moving

Photo courtesy of Ian Britton

Alright that’s probably being a little harsh on myself. But, when I first started out this process, I thought I could be plugging away and building something after three weeks.

Instead, my time has been spent completing lessons and Ruby on Rails tutorials, but I’m not yet to the point where I feel I could begin building a project or web app on my own. That’s a frustrating current state because I have ideas that I want to execute.

Maintaining Perspective

I’m staying positive and my Teach Me Stuff mentor, Joe Goldberg, is very helpful in this area. Here’s a snippet of our reacent phone conversation discussing my progress:

Me: “I feel that I’m learning, but it’s going much slower than I imagined at the onset.”

Joe: “I’d be surprised if you told me any different.”

It’s incredible how reassuring it was for me to hear this simple phrase. Learning to code is foreign territory to me and I have no point of reference by which to judge my progress. On the other hand, Joe is experienced with Ruby and development. This support is a large benefit of having a web development mentor.

Adjustments Moving Forward

I’m not planning any major changes. However, one very important takeaway for me has been the idea that I need to focus more specifically on learning Rails, a framework for building with Ruby, than Ruby itself.  My focus for this 18 weeks needs to be moving to where I can build a product. As a result, my comprehension of Ruby will, understandably, not be as strong.

In the future, I may have to backtrack or dive further into Ruby because I’ve missed something in this first 18 weeks. That’s a short-term sacrifice that seems reasonable. I don’t want a preoccupation with learning every facet of Ruby to hinder my ability to create an app.

Leave your thoughts about my progress, focusing more a Rails, or any other thoughts in the comments below. Also, for those interested, here are the specific tutorials and lessons I’ve completed to date.

Completed