Tell HN: I want to teach you web development. In 8 weeks. For free (sort of)
Want to become a web developer?
Are you based in the Bay Area?
Can you take next February and March off?
I want to teach 6 people Ruby on Rails from scratch. Hands on. In person. 5 days a week, for 8 weeks. No computer science background required.
There is such high demand for good ruby devs right now. I'm willing to invest my time, money and energy upfront to get you in good enough shape to land a job as a Junior Rails Developer.
I will line up several companies that would be very interested in interviewing you. If you get a job with any of them, they'll pay me your tuition, so you get the training for free.
What do you think?
149 comments
[ 7.6 ms ] story [ 160 ms ] threadAlso as a sidenote, codecademy, is a great tool for learning code from anywhere in the world. It's not bad, probably not as good as a hands on instructor, but it's certainly a worthwhile endevour to explore if you are really interested in learning how to code.
I haven't asked the companies' permission to publicize yet. Sending them emails now, and will get right back to you once I get their ok.
I'll forward this to someone I know.
Where do you want to get to after 8 weeks? Would the "students" be ready to take junior RoR jobs straight after 8 weeks in your vision OR do you expect it will take longer?
The goal is to have people job-ready after 8 weeks. A big part of the program will be focussed on learning how to learn. And students will be learning and building software in an environment very similar to a work environment.
A junior rails developer should have - A good grasp of Ruby - A good grasp of the rails framework - Experience pair programming - An understanding of the Agile Software Development, and Test Driven Development - Basic HTML, CSS, and Javascript skills - Basic git (source control)
More importantly, they need to know how to reach out to the ruby community, and have developed the skill of getting stuck and learning their way through the stuckness.
Our program is project-based and centered around pair programming with Ruby on Rails as our web framework. It has been amazing to see the progress of our students in the first 8 weeks of the 12-week program.
While we may have a different focus and a different business model, if you want to talk to us about our experience it could be helpful in what you are trying to do. You can contact me at mike at codeacademy dot org
I'm a rails guy, who really enjoys being around people. And I'm asking companies to pay me to train devs, instead of find devs.
Good luck to you!
Not sure about Android.
If it is web based, or weekends, then I'd be very interested.
I look forward to hearing from you.
btw, it's 8 weeks, not six.
I got my first job/internship involving programming with zero (literally 0.00 hours) programming experience. It's quite possible.
Of course, there's a lot to recommend learning from a good, dedicated teacher instead of a couple stolen minutes everyday from another developer in a production environment.
Did friends help you land the job, or did you just wow them in an interview? Did you have an impressive portfolio or degree?
A friend helped land me the job in a corporate IT department (an advertised but effectively fake-competitive position, bypassed HR), plus I have a strong technical degree from a brand-name university. No portfolio or design experience. I'd like to say I wowed them in an interview, but it was really just sitting down in a bar on a Friday night, shooting the shit, and then getting a programming book to study over the weekend so I could start on Tuesday.
I was very lucky, of course, so it should be said that one size never fits all. I also think it was totally inappropriate for me to get hired. But when you're unemployed with dwindling savings and have been homeless for 2 months straight, a $45k/year internship is something you jump for, no matter how unqualified you are for it or how unfair it is that you're getting that opportunity.
I sincerely apologize for anyone who's had to read the code I wrote back then. Though, all things considered, it's probably not as bad as many of the monstrosities I see regularly in my current position.
Companies pay up to 25% of first year salary to head hunters (or as a referral bonus), that's the budget we are after.
But you raise a very good point. We need to spell that out. Not sure how to enforce it though. Any ideas?
If anyone would consider a similar arrangement suitable for remote participants I'd take them up on the offer. I think this would have huge demand.
Personally I don't mind if it was RoR or Python - whatever. Having someone experienced to answer my questions would make for greatly accelerated learning.
If anyone has an interest in putting something similar together please mail me. I'm my username on gmail.com