I'm trying to break into the tech industry but am having a hard time figuring out where to start. Where should I start?
Asked by
DrewJ (
436
)
June 14th, 2011
I went to New York University where I studied Film and Television. I moved out to Los Angeles and spent the last 3 years pursuing a career in the Entertainment Industry. During this time I’ve grown to dislike my industry. I’ve had enough. I’ve grown very interested in tech. I would LOVE to work for a company like Google or Facebook some day but for now I would be happy to start at any entry level position where my complete lack of experience is not a major issue.
I’ve been searching for a job for a very long time now but have had no luck. Some job descriptions I don’t even know what they mean, nor do I know half the lingo the use. I am feeling more and more like lost cause- but I’m not. I’m smart and I can learn if I’m put in the right situation.
I’m looking for advice on where to start. I’m training in Ruby on Rails at the moment and I plan on continuing my training into other areas of coding. However, this is not a “What should I learn?” question, this is more of a “What job should I be looking for?” question. Also, as side question, I’d like to know of as many job search sites as possible, I already know about Dice and the big ones like monster and careerbuilder.
I should mention that I live in Los Angeles but can relocate.
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8 Answers
PM me and I may have a lead for you.
Get more languages under your belt. Ruby is a great development framework for rapid development but it’s good to know some pure coding languages as well. Ruby is based on Perl with Smalltalk features, so studying this would make you a much more powerful programmer when it’s time to do things with Ruby that aren’t in the framework. Also PHP/MySQL, JavaScript, ASP if you want to work on the Microsoft OS. Once you master one programming language, additional ones come easier. They all involve similar ways of handing logic, with conditionals like if, or, when, and; and looping operation like for, por-each or for-in, while, etc. Each language has its own syntax; but the basic idea oif them is really all the same.
Wishing you fair weather and following seas in your journey to a new career.
Actually, i would very much like to know the response to this question. A public answer would be appreciated for anyone who gets here through google. I’ll PM anyways
I’d recommend going to the local user group: http://www.meetup.com/laruby/
Talk to people already using Ruby and Rails, find what interests you and ask them what they’d recommend.
@phaedryx Thanks for the response, I have signed up for the meetup and will be attending the next event.
@ETpro Thanks for the info, I kind of have a good understanding on what I should be learning, the thing is, I’d like to also be applying to jobs in the meantime. My trouble was that I’m not quite sure what a good, “In the meantime” job is. I’d like it to be something at a company I’d work for once I had the skills but also it needs to be something I qualify for without the skills. Could be anything really. Having a hard time finding my place.
I don’t know if you already solved this but I’ll post my answer anyways.
Apply thru an agency. They always invite you in to talk. Once there ask all kinds of questions, for instance, I know this and that which job description fits better? Or if you are lucky they might be looking for someone with your credentials, who knows! Once I saw an add at the Vancouver Aquarium where they were looking for someone with media and tech experience so there you are.
@DrewJ If your college counselor is worth their salary, they should be able to steer you toward jobs your current skill set would satisfy, but that would build an experience base for what you will be able to do after graduation. Good lucjk.
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