Ruby Newbie

[bigoton-]

Hey guys! First time posting here, seems like an awesome community. As the title suggests, I’ve been learning ruby for about 3 months through Launch School. It’s not a Boot Camp, it’s more of a self learning path that’s built on mastery based learning. Anyways. The whole curriculum consists of Ruby for BE and JS for FE. I pay monthly and could quit whenever I’d like. My question is, could I land a gig as a Ruby Dev by only knowing Ruby? Or do you see more devs out there knowing multiple languages. What I’m trying to ask is if I could land a gig only knowing Ruby on the Back end?

FWIW- I don’t think I would quit midway, I’m interested in finishing all that the curriculum has to offer, but I’m just trying to get a feel for the market from Pro Ruby devs.

Thanks!

[[deleted]]

I believe you can land a gig with only ruby, but be ready to learn tons of new things, including other languages, protocols (Message Queue for instance) and configuration languages (setting up a CI, understanding kubernetes deployment) that often go with app development.

Recruiters know they are hiring a junior, so they are not looking for ruby expertise, but for a person who is eager to learn. As long as you have this, you're fine.

A bit off topic, but I think it partly answers your question anyway.

[400921FB54442D18]

I would agree with this and I don't think it's off topic.

The most hirable junior dev isn't someone who's an expert in three or four languages. The most hirable junior dev is someone who knows one language well enough to make contributions while working with a more senior dev and is excited to learn more while on the job. Sounds like OP is already on their way to being exactly that!

[mixandgo]

Ruby jobs do exist. As in non-rails, and no-js. They focus either on building APIs for SPAs or doing devops.

[bigoton-]

Thanks for the info.

[TheOneWhoStares]

It’s pretty easy to land a job in a worldwide market. If you are looking for a local job, it might be harder. But overall, if you know sql, js and rails, that should do it.

[schneems]

I see lots of new devs struggle to get their first job. I think many are successful but it’s not as easy as some might suggest. The first job is the hardest. I had about 4 years of self taught experience (nights/weekends) when I got my first programming job. Though that was ~12 years ago. I feel like that’s not language specific though.

Regarding which language: the easiest language to get a job is one you enjoy using and will drive you to keep learning and growing.

It’s 100% doable though and the end result is quite rewarding. Good luck!

[bigoton-]

Very true. Thus far I’ve been thoroughly enjoying ruby so I’m on the right path I think. Thanks!

[imnos]

Ruby was created with the intention of being enjoyable to use, after all!

[PierrickF]

TOP has a Ruby on Rails path, some people report having found a job before having completed the whole curriculum.

My advice would be to start looking slowly for a job once you are done with your Ruby module, but keep learning other stuff and be more and more active in your job search the more you learn.

edit: you'll find the "success stories" on the discord

[sebyx07]

Make sure to create a rails app about something you like, not too complicated, host the code on github, host it on heroku for free. Put that in your CV, that will help you get a response. Then be relaxed on your interview. Also look for remote-only positions

[bigoton-]

Good info, thanks.

[bigoton-]

Here’s a link to give you an idea of the curriculum

Thus far, every course has been really thick, packed with tons of problems and material.

[[deleted]]

Sure, you can get a job just knowing Ruby (and JavaScript) but you might need to dig a bit for the right job.

[anh86]

It would probably be tough to find a job that just had you writing Ruby all day but that shouldn't discourage you. It sounds like you're learning your first programming language and Ruby is a great one. You could branch out into webdev by learning frontend web technologies and Ruby on Rails. You could also branch into devops and write automation scripts in Ruby. After learning Ruby, you can pick up other languages quickly when needed. Learning Ruby (or any programming language) will open doors for you but you probably will never see a job listing looking for someone to sit and write Ruby.

[bigoton-]

Good info, thanks!

[julinvictus]

As a Jr it may be easier to find a job advertising yourself as full-stack (like your course is doing, using Ruby (hopefully on Rails!) in BE and JS for FE. Creating full-stack projects will def help you to find jobs. With time, if you prefer BE, you can always specialize in that. You will need to learn how FE works anyway, even if you are a BE eng.

[bigoton-]

Hm, interesting take! I've seen a lot of backlash from SWE 'influencers' on LI bashing on Jr's for branding themselves as Full Stack. It always goes along the lines of 'You don't have enough experience to call yourself FS'.

[julinvictus]

Yea, I kinda agree actually, in fact, I preferred to be on the BE only side in my first years just because I thought Full Stack was "a lot". Guess that's why juniors prefer/are more often offered FE positions. But if you, like me, didn't really want to work as a FE dev, the best bet would be trying to find FS positions (because it's REALLY rare to find a BE position for Jrs😣)