career backgrounds

I had been learning for a few years, through books, blogs, and most recently Treehouse. I finally made the big plunge into the Web field, because stalling wasn't going to get anything done for me.

Right now, I'm working freelance, but my immediate goal is to work with some more seasoned Web designers and developers, in order to soak in knowledge from people who have been in the trenches longer than myself.

My one year goal is to be exceeding what I was making before in civilian life through the Web.

My longer term goals - do great work, earn great money, know and work with other great people in this industry.

I have worked in IT for 14 years. It has been the last two years that I switched from fixing things to making things. I went back to college two years ago to obtain a degree in computer science engineering. I have been doing Treehouse, reading books, and following other tutorials online.

My current situation. I Design and Code during twilight whilst holding down a full time job. I love doing what I do. Totaling around 20-25 hours in a 7 day week. Last year was more development of my skills, paid client work and building portfolio.

This year for me is to save up my 3 months buffer money to go freelance. I used to think I was secure working for a big company but we all know this simple not the case.

I want to make stuff.

I've been working in I.T. for 15 years and I'm burned out with the fixes. I was majoring in CS but dropped out due to the tuition costs. TreeHouse has been a blessing and it couldn't of had come at a better moment. Creating is definitely more rewarding than fixing especially when the world (WWW) is your audience.

I've been working in IT for 6 years.

I'm using Treehouse among other resources to learn about web design to help me move into UX.

I'm seriously thinking of going to grad school for Information Architecture & Interaction Design.

Treehouse, structures "Self" learning, into a manageable curriculum. Enhanced with "Game Mechanics" to make it fun, and "Competitive" against ones self, or others. (A big improvement to "Grades!") - I study all forms of Computer Science. From Networking at University of Phoenix (UoP), Computer Science/Business at Western Wyoming Communty College (WWCC), Self study, encounters with random people that have knowledge, etc... My "Dream Job," is not having a job at all. In that, I see computer science as an unlimited playground. So, I guess my "Goal", is to enhance the lives of people like me, and TreeHouse is a valuable resource to gain the tools to achieve that goal. ;-)

Professionally, I actually started out in content. I studied writing in high school and college and went to work for a web startup as the Editorial Assistant, which actually involved more customer service and moderation than editing and writing. Just after losing that job -- laid-off, unfortunately, when the startup failed -- I found out about a new graduate program at the University of Florida, and now I'm working on my masters degree in Web Design and Online Communication. I'm supplementing my work there with additional lessons through Treehouse, Lynda and a growing list of blogs I read daily.

Ultimately, I want to go into UX design. Sometimes I feel like I've got a long way to go, but I know it's what I want to do, so I'll make it happen eventually. This spring, I'm doing an internship here in Jacksonville to focus specifically on improving my design skills. I'm also looking right now for a summer internship in UX design, web design, and/or front-end development. I have twelve months until I graduate, and I'm going to cram as much learning and experience into that year as I can.

I used to work in banking before getting laid off which prompted me to pursue a new career. I have been trying to teach myself computer programming starting off with Python and then dabbling in Java. I heard about treehouse which has been quite a discovery. I love the challenge and freedom that technology brings. I'm still thinking about pursuing my Masters in information Systems or Computer Science. Currently, I am hoping to secure employment as a Junior Ruby on Rails developer (if anyone needs a junior guy on your team, I'm available).