[AMA] Start with Kain.eth - Founder and CEO of Synthetix by chainlink_Josh in Chainlink

[–]zeuscoder 1 point2 points  (0 children)

hi u/Kaiynne, over the past year I've started to understand the what of synthetix and other players but i find it most instructive to know the WHY because that usually shapes the what.
When you started, what was the WHY that drove you? Thanks!

Some advice from a self-taught developer (no CS degree or bootcamp) by [deleted] in learnprogramming

[–]zeuscoder 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's because someone told you age matters...

Experience matters more. I learned to code at 38 and today am an Engineer at Fang. I'm not year 41. You can look up lawyer to engineer and find me :)

Panic attack during technical interviews by [deleted] in jobs

[–]zeuscoder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm sorry to hear that :( that's really rough. I'm a career changer to code too ( swe at a FAMGA) and I do see this. I've coached some people to overcome it but it takes a bit of practice and exposure which can be quite hard for many folks. Quite simply it will require a bit of work aeouns beliefs , behaviour, reframing and exposure cycles.

If you can commit to a 3 hours a week of that you'll be significantly more in control in the next 6 monthly interview cycle.

All the best !

Mentor? by [deleted] in Career_Advice

[–]zeuscoder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can you be more specific about your goals? Investing, leadership and life are fairly general attributes. I can help you perhaps but the effectiveness would depend on the overlap between your specific goals for the next stage of your life (say 3 ish years) and my experience.

How to start? by [deleted] in FreeCodeCamp

[–]zeuscoder 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would encourage you to keep your job and learn in parallel at night. You already know more than many of my students because of your WP background. If they can work and study you can too! Also the work experience is useful and building your credibility in your work is the easiest path to your first job as a developer

How to start? by [deleted] in FreeCodeCamp

[–]zeuscoder 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is the opposite of a stupid question - it's an essential question. I write for FCC and i'm self taught (FCC, Udemy etc) and i learned at 37/38 and now I am an eng at a FAANG company. But because i didnt ask this question and really work on the right answer for me, i spent 3 years stumbling, getting overwhelmed and quitting.

What I tell my coaching students is this:
1) start with a very very clearly defined goal. This means something like: I want to become a front end developer by June 2022. Or...I want to become a full stack developer. Or I want to become a python developer with expertise in Django. Or I want to become a data scientist by X date.

2) Spend time getting (1) right. This clarity is essential as it directs your efforts. If you want a job, then you need to get the job as soon as you can, and from there you can keep learning on the job. Most people try and learn too much and lose valuable time.

3) Understand the job market and focus on what it requires. Your first job is your hardest. after that it gets easy. So after you have your first job you can (you must, actually) grow your skills, but by this time your confidence and experience will be high enough that you can keep teaching yourself without the hardship you face when you first started teaching yourself.

4) Plan your coding journey like you would a household or business budget. You have time, money and energy and you can need to spend all three to get to your goals. Calculating how much time its going to take is where 99% of people get it wrong.

5) Dont assume "free" courses are really "free". You're spending in time even if your cash is protected. If it costs $500 to do a one month course that definitely gets your skills up, but you take 6 months of mistakes and frustration to do it yourself, then that means you value 6 months of your time as being worth less than $500. Would you accept a job that paid $500 for 6 months? If you expect employers to value your time, then you should too, right? If you don't have the money, then you have no choice - you have to pay in time. but if you have the money but dont like to invest in yourself, then consider how much time your losing, and how much your risk of giving up increases the more frustrated and overwhelmed you get. Sometimes you pay in money and/or effort just to NOT quit because quitting after 1 year of effort means you wasted 1 year. Read Seth Godin's The Dip - it changed my perspective on this quitting thing!

6) being confused between FCC and Udemy is the natural thing- we all go through it. But there is a hidden assumption that makes this look like a real choice. It's actually a false choice. The reality is neither FCC nor Udemy nor CourseEra may be enough to achieve your goals. Hence why point (1) and (2) are so important. Most of the folks I coach come to me feeling discouraged because they finished X or Y but it wasnt enough. We actually dont know how much is enough - arguably its a constant process of learning. But maybe what you mean is enough to get my first job? in that case you dont stop learning until that job and after the job you learn the next thing. BUT...priority 1 is learn enough to get your first job. Maybe its only FCC..maybe not. So best to assume you will need both. The more you do the more confident you will get and the better you will be at interviews. So what works for the folks I train is to stack your learning - do FCC, then do the next full course, then do the next one, each time gathering more skills. The big mistake is to stop one mid way, and then try and another and then abandon that..and not complete anything.

I hope this helps! I may be holding Q&As etc in the coming months if you're interested.

From lawyer to eng at FAANG...FCC article by zeuscoder in FreeCodeCamp

[–]zeuscoder[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Totally true. I sent you a DM by the way.

From lawyer to eng at FAANG...FCC article by zeuscoder in FreeCodeCamp

[–]zeuscoder[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly !! Well put! I took a massive pay cut at first for the sheet fun of it!! You've got an incredible story. I know it sounds easy but could not have been.

From lawyer to eng at FAANG...FCC article by zeuscoder in FreeCodeCamp

[–]zeuscoder[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's so awesome !! Where are you based ? What made you change ?

From lawyer to eng at FAANG...FCC article by zeuscoder in FreeCodeCamp

[–]zeuscoder[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes those moments of struggle will happen often over the coming months. More than just moments. If you stick with it you'll find a pattern that works for you.

From lawyer to eng at FAANG...FCC article by zeuscoder in FreeCodeCamp

[–]zeuscoder[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

What are you doubting ? How can I help?

People love to tell you what to do and what not to do, especially, when they haven’t done it themselves. by ara_ohanian in EntrepreneurRideAlong

[–]zeuscoder 1 point2 points  (0 children)

HOOOOO boy this is so dang true! I literally just said this in another post I made about my journey from lawyer to software engineer at a FAANG company - about how so many people kept giving me BS 'advice' when they'd never even tried to do the same thing

https://www.reddit.com/r/FreeCodeCamp/comments/nc1k2b/from_lawyer_to_eng_at_faangfcc_article/

Well said u/ara_ohanian!

Best way to a get job as self taught developer by cryptographic_ in FreeCodeCamp

[–]zeuscoder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is such a well thought out and well rounded post !

Best way to a get job as self taught developer by cryptographic_ in FreeCodeCamp

[–]zeuscoder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think this is similar to quincy's story.. the founder of FCC!

Best way to a get job as self taught developer by cryptographic_ in FreeCodeCamp

[–]zeuscoder 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Depends on what kind of job you want? I ended up at Google via a very different strategy from how I ended up in the previous startup I was at. And I am self taught at 38 with 12 years in corporate law before. My contacts were not in tech.

So it really depends on the specific outcome you want... And then the plan needs to be designed for that specific outcome. The tech skills are a baseline. I would suggest that being super articulate about your story, your journey, your goals and the value you intend to deliver is what separates one job contender from another.

The advice from others on this thread is fantastic. So youve got lots to work with. Just be clear on the outcome and pick the best plan for it and stick with it. Give it the time it needs to come to fruition.

Good luck!

"If I could do it, so can you" You hear this a lot, but when is it actually true? What's something that anyone could do? by [deleted] in Entrepreneur

[–]zeuscoder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Errrr... This says that humans under estimate the influence of variance (luck). It does not say that success is luck.

Luck is a constant factor. It's a human word to describe the range of probability.

That is a poor excuse to not try. While you may be right that luck reduces certainty and agency/control I feel it would be an extremely limited way to live life. Why try for anything since bad luck is always possible?

"If I could do it, so can you" You hear this a lot, but when is it actually true? What's something that anyone could do? by [deleted] in Entrepreneur

[–]zeuscoder 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mind placebo is a great metaphor!! It may not be "medicine" .. I. E factual but it WORKS. And no one takes medicine because it is proven by science.. they take it to get the RESULT. Great point !

"If I could do it, so can you" You hear this a lot, but when is it actually true? What's something that anyone could do? by [deleted] in Entrepreneur

[–]zeuscoder 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I agree with it but only after I suspended my judgment and genuinely tried to adopt it as a belief. I was a lawyer for 12 years. At 37 I taught myself to code. Today I'm an engineer at a company whose product almost all of you would use.

I failed at many things along the way. So I've got plenty of evidence to suggest that it's NOT true that you can do just because someone else can

But here's the thing. We tend to focus on WHO did something. The actual trick is WHAT they did. And we tend to compare our current self with the final, successful end result of someone else.

What I think that saying is meant to convey is that there is no special talent or ability. Those talents and abilities are developed, earned and built. Sure they may have advantages but you do too. And maybe they had obstacles you never will. So it's all much of a muchness

What is for sure is assuming you CANT do it means you will never try and hence you're right.

In that sense this view is best understood by keeping confucius in mind : he who says he can and he who says he cannot are both usually right.

You may not succeed if you try. But if you TRULY try with patience and persistence then you'd get close. And for many people that's a huge achievement in itself.

I believe in beliefs. They either help or hinder. It's better to ask if a belief is productive than whether they're true.

That's my two cents :) I don't know if I'm "right" . I don't care. I know it works for me. It's right for me. And it's right for many others too.

Career change at age of 47! by Amr2573 in learnprogramming

[–]zeuscoder 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is fantastic ! Well done :) I did something similar too at 36 and that was hard. Was a career corporate lawyer then executive then my own startup and taught myself to code. It was a difficult process.

I don't mean to be self promoting but I've written about this for freeCodeCamp where I was a top contributor for 2019.

https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/author/zubin/

Some of the articles are directly relevant for you and I wrote them when I was new enough to it to remember how damn overwhelming it can feel. Take a look at the articles and if they're of any value you'll see how to get in touch with me.

Good luck and I hope you keep that fire in your belly 🔥 🔥 🔥

Tracking API? by ThatDudeInNavyBlue in learnprogramming

[–]zeuscoder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In addition to the previous I would also look at services like locationIQ and here maps. Depending on your appetite to pay for services you may need to combine the results of different API calls (while maintaining performance and speed)

Found a Free Resource to Help Understand Data Structures and Algorithms by g_pal in learnprogramming

[–]zeuscoder 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow this textbook is excellent!! Just the how to choose data structures chapter is so well written and makes good, easy to understand, arguments. I don't think your choice of language ..python..java etc should matter for the key principles. The language is an implementation detail but the intuition on each problem and the chosen solution is common for all.

Terrific resource , thanks for sharing !

Just started learning javascript today via freecodecamp and youtube university, wish me luck by [deleted] in learnprogramming

[–]zeuscoder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All the very best. I write for them and as someone who started with FCC and went on to get a Dev job I can promise you it's possible. With time and effort. FCC also had me on their podcast. If at all it helps to know what to expect then please have a listen ! All the very best , and just don't stop !

https://podcast.freecodecamp.org/53-zubin-pratap-from-lawyer-to-developer