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Niall Maher
16,985 PointsHas anyone got a job as a result of Treehouse? :)
Hey everyone! I have been on this for just over 2 weeks, I am hoping to change industry over the coming months and have been cramming hours of learning in where possible outside of my current 12 hour working days (for peanuts). What I really wanted to know is CAN IT BE DONE? :P Without a degree will I be just fighting a losing battle? I'd love if to talk to people who have done similar to make sure all this learning will be valuable at some point.
7 Answers
Brian Wassel
22,171 Pointsdoubt it. maybe in result of their experiences on treehouse... but i dont think an employer would dish out a job because you "earned some badges" lol
Sage Elliott
30,003 PointsYes, I have gotten a job with the knowledge I learned from treehouse. I even listed it as an education/cert source and that employer liked it(Not sure if all would). I have not used their career program though if that's what you're asking about.
Niall Maher
16,985 PointsAny other side certs that helped boost you in that case? What you mean their career program like their "tracks"? What is your current job role do you mind me asking?
Sage Elliott
30,003 PointsI don't have any other certs that are web related. I think it's really more about showing you have experience and you're continuing to learn. Having a portfolio is a good start if you don't have any other experience. The position was for a basic web design position doing mostly HTML and CSS. I did end up creating a PHP system with another developer to help the company internally. But in their case they had a programming test which I passed easily. I actually quit after a few months and moved to a different city. Now I'm focusing on building a portfolio to get a Ruby on Rails job.
Niall Maher
16,985 PointsDid you make a webpage portfolio and how do you present it in the interview? Excellent well bookmark this and get back to me when you get your new job I'd like to hear about the interview process! Best of luck in the hunt too :)
Travis Joyner
14,553 PointsWhat was on the programming test that you needed to pass?
jordans
1,609 PointsIt sounds cliche, but it's only as valuable as you make it. It isn't hard finding work in this industry as long as you have confidence, dedication, and of course skill. I can't think of a bigger industry where you can find and do freelance work from home.
When you feel confident in your ability to code, I suggest you start off creating small time HTML / CSS pages for, well, anyone you can. Your portfolio will either make or break you. That's what differentiates this industry the most. The jobs you'll find, whether they're professional or freelance gigs, will most likely hire you on experience alone. If someone has a portfolio with all their greatest work, why even worry about a degree if you can see their actual potential first hand?
When I first started out, I decided to move to New York for inspiration and was so surprised by how little professional companies care for merit. I applied for a Linux Systems Administrator position and majority of te job application was fixing some errors on a temporary server remotely through a service called TrueAbility. They're awesome. Check them out if you're interested in learning hands on experience with Linux servers.
Once you get your first job, whether it be freelance or professional, it's gonna be stressful and overwhelming. Keeping your mind in a constant creative cycle for multiple projects at once isn't for everyone. Try not to look at the big picture and focus solely on little steps. Try thinking about first successfully creating something for yourself that you're not afraid to represent who you are. This can be a portfolio, an application for personal reasons, an ambitious exercise, etc. Once you lose sight of the little accomplishments you make today, you feel like you're getting know where.
Niall Maher
16,985 PointsYou are a gent! Thank you for such a detailed reply :)
I am working on a few small personal projects and looking forward to poking around the back-end too! I really enjoy coding and as much as I want to slam my head against the keyboard at times the satisfaction of solving a problem far outweighs that.
How much I need to know to land my first job is what I am trying to figure out at this stage. How d you present a portfolio and your skills during an interview processes? Did you carry a tablet with your work or have print outs and examples?
jordans
1,609 PointsA lot of the applications you fill out for jobs in this field give you the option to include a link to your portfolio. That can be a link to a personal portfolio website of yours or most commonly, GitHub. If you don't understand GitHub very well, start learning ASAP. It's extremely common for jobs to ask for a link to your GitHub page. This is also true for StackExchange as well. Although, StackExchange isn't as popular as GitHub, I have had the option to include a link to my StackExchange profile, as well.
They ask for GitHub not only for projects you have created personally, but to see all of your commits you've made for other open source applications to get a feel for where your mind is at. GitHub also gives employers a better idea on your ability to work with groups, which is essential. Providing an employer with an idea of what you can do isn't a challenge when given the opportunity. What is difficult is actually getting the point where you're confident in your portfolio, which I doubt will ever happen.
When you're creating a portfolio, it's so hard to ever be happy with what you create because by the time you finish anything worth displaying, you've seen that project inside and out for extremely long hours and days on end. I've started projects where I lost interest at some point, only to come back a few months later blown away by what I did. It sucks because, by the time you realize that you had something with potential, there's been so much time in between, you don't even know where to begin.
Timothy Bramlett
6,609 Pointsjordans,
That is why you need to instantly add even in-progress projects to your portfolio. Just add a little note that says "in active development". Having it out there on display will motivate the crap out of you.
And you should be practicing agile development philosophies. Basically get a working product out there ASAP!! Who cares what it looks like or how bad it is. Get it out there and then let users slowly shape the end product over time. Read the book The Lean Startup for more info: http://amzn.to/1d0IWoN
etern Mistolo
1,200 Pointsyou can defo get a job in a few months. we had a girl come in and work as a designer and all she had done were some online courses. start small and the rest will come naturally. check out freecodecamp also, really nice community there.
Jeff Lemay
14,268 PointsLike someone else mentioned, you probably won't get a job just because you've earned some badges. But the skills you learn here and the projects you build with those skills can definitely land you a job. It did for me.
Niall Maher
16,985 PointsWhat did you apply for and what skills had you got to get the job?
Jeff Lemay
14,268 PointsFront-end Developer
- Proficient in HTML and CSS
- Solid understanding of javascript/jquery (more than just taking a plugin and dumping it on the site)
- Solid understanding of php w/ sample projects showing how I utilize server-side programming
- Some experience with MySQL
- Experience with WordPress and Joomla! and other common platforms
- Responsive Design (this should be a must at this point)
Having multiple projects under your belt is a huge benefit. Maybe you don't have clients yet, but you definitely know somebody who wants a new website (everyone does these days). Go build a small site for them and add it to your portfolio.
At first I felt like I wasn't prepared to have a development job because I learned through Treehouse and then on-the-fly while building my first sites. But as long as you have a good grasp of the fundamentals and don't require google/stackoverflow for every little task you need to do, you should be alright to dive right in.
Niall Maher
16,985 PointsThanks a million! Great I already have about half of those things really need to learn some back end stuff though cause I really don't know a thing in that department.
Geoff Parsons
11,679 PointsThere are already a lot of great stories in here but if anyone is interested in some more you can always check out our success stories. We love hearing what you guys do with the knowledge you learn here!
Niall Maher
16,985 PointsOoooh great :P you should place a link to this in your footer nothing! It's great motivation to see what has been achieved.
Timothy Bramlett
6,609 PointsYou can definitely get a job from what you have learned on Treehouse and other sites like it. Check out Riley Hilliards website for his story:
Use Treehouse as a way to start your learning and just NEVER STOP LEARNING!
Niall Maher
16,985 PointsNiall Maher
16,985 PointsHahaha with all my badges already even Ash Ketchum would be jealous :L And I know that the badges wouldn't stand up as qualifications I just meant do you need a degree or is experience enough in some cases?