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Ask HN: Quickest path to a tech job in SF Bay Area?

2 points by skogsbonde ↗ HN
A friend wants to change careers and is interested in tech, but she's not sure what to start learning.

Which types of jobs are most in demand, that could be learned the quickest by a beginner? She's good at math. Should she start studying machine learning?

Or is Javascript/ReactJS frontend a safer bet? Backend? iOS SwiftUI?

A normal person obviously can't learn in a reasonable time the broad field of software engineering like the ins and outs of computer networks, TLS handshake, cpu out of order execution, avoiding branching, et cetera - but what is a vertical that could be learned in a reasonable time by a beginner that would be a good bet in terms of job prospects?

7 comments

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inphovore
Oh, that meat market.

There are the recruiters, whole offices full of these busy mellinials pecking at anything that looks like a worm.

These will put you in front of their churn and you sell it, kid.

Are you good enough? I said sell it!

gregjor
Demand is for people with experience and demonstrated skills who can add value to a business. Very few companies hire people they have to spend a lot of time training. Some will hire grads fresh from schools that have good CS programs.

Your friend can expect to spend several years of deliberate practice learning to program. There’s no shortcut, no best language or framework to learn. The fundamentals are the same for all of them.

skogsbonde
I'm sorry but this is plain wrong. Not all programming jobs are the same. Has every coworker you've worked with had a solid grasp of the complete set of computer science fundamentals? I'd be surprised if that was the case for you, because in my case it's a definite no. But they still had the job and completed tasks didn't they?
gregjor
Which parts exactly did I get plain wrong?

I wrote the fundamentals are the same for all programming languages and frameworks. I didn’t write that “a solid grasp of the complete set of computer science fundamentals” is necessary for programming. I didn’t mention computer science at all. I was referring to the fundamentals of programming.

Reading and writing are fundamental skills required to learn and communicate. What one chooses to read or write follow from the fundamental skills. You don’t ask “How can I learn to read Harry Potter?” because learning to read anything comes first.

skogsbonde
Ok so you were referring to the fundamentals of programing and not computer science. The term "fundamentals of" can mean different things depending on what you're referring to. The fundamentals of C programming could be said to encompass understanding the stack and the heap and how memory is allocated and operated on through pointers. Or the fundamentals of Python could be said to encompass understanding that the program is a made up of statements that are executed in order, and that there are loops, variables, and if statements. Learning to write basic Python program doesn't take years.
gregjor
I thought I was clear stating that the fundamentals are the same for programming languages and frameworks.

Someone can learn Python syntax in a short time. That’s not the hard part of programming, though. It takes considerably more time to learn how to solve real problems with code, to understand and implement requirements, to work with a team, to learn any database. No company needs someone to write 2,000 more lines of Python.

The OP is asking the wrong question, probably with good intentions. Carpenters need to know how to use a saw and a hammer, but that’s just the beginning, and which brand of hammer and saw makes no difference because those are necessary but not sufficient skills.

ipaddr
Is going to school part of the plan or is this a self taught push your way into the industry with a goal of a high salary goal?

Going for a pmp scrum master might be an easy transition.

See what sf bootcamps are offering because they understand the market

Next/React used to be the most popular bootcamp stack

For long career that intersects a love of programming learn whatever makes the most sense to start and keep learning new concepts.