Landed a Developer Job After Four Years on the Bench

FCC was a significant encouragement when it came to refreshing and updating my skills after leaving software development for almost four years. A lot has leapt forward in that time and I had generally been more of a backend developer than an enthusiast for the front-end. Inspired by FCC I’ve really learned to enjoy working in Node/JS and have rediscovered several other languages along the way.

At first I thought I was going to remain a hobbyist–or maybe possibly finish the full stack cert and eventually do some volunteer coding and see where to go from there. Some severe weather intervened and I needed some extra money pronto for repairs. Long story short I now work for a healthcare software company with an amazing work environment.

When I applied I didn’t have much of a portfolio, so I was asked to code a little something as part of the interview. The app I came up with is available on github.

I used Knockout and Bootstrap. It’s nothing too impressive but it mainly served as a vehicle to talk about coding during the second interview. I was sure to point out some of the things I would have done differently if I knew at the outset some of what I learned during the process.

By the way the company I now work for is looking for one or two more developers. We’re in Gainesville, FL. I would say that creativity, intelligence, and passion play a greater role than experience with any particular technology or stack. But if you want to know what you’d be getting into we work in JavaScript (React, Immutable and Redux), VB.net, C sharp – send me a message if you want to know more.

A final tip – for developer job hunting in general we are definitely judged a lot by our Github presence. I’ve seen this now from the other side of the mirror. Stay active and show your best. Even if your best is beginner.

Best wishes everybody!

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Congratulations on getting back into professional software development!

I enjoyed checking out your app. It seems quite relevant to healthcare, and I can imagine a lot of situations where a tool like this might be useful to a doctor, nurse, or a physical therapist. Props for tailoring your app to the field you were applying in.

We have a highly active study group in Gainesville, FL with a charismatic leader named Duncan Kabinu. They might have a few campers worth interviewing for these open positions.

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If you don’t mind, can I ask what motivated you to leave software development for four years? There could of course be very personal reasons that you don’t want to discuss here and that’s of course fine. I am curious since I, like many other people here on fcc, aspire to move into web- or software development. But it is maybe healthy to look at it from the other side of the coin as well: The reason why one would want to either leave software development, either permanently or temporarily.

Anyway congratulation for getting back to your profession and to a job you enjoy.

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Congratulations on getting a job! :smile:

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Thanks for the kind congratulations and a good question. I wanted to try a different lifestyle by living off the land and solar power – hunting, fishing and growing our own food. I really enjoyed it and learned a ton!

Also when I moved away from the city to a very remote rural area Internet access became very expensive, less reliable and at times impossible. This meant that my job market for software development was much smaller. Today I work in one of the four closest cities which is almost two hours away from the land where I live. But using what I’ve learned I am able to live comfortably and well while travelling anywhere in the U.S. So in a way, going primitive has expanded my range greatly!

Best wishes in all your endeavors, @Magwit

Thanks, @QuincyLarson I will definitely drop by the Gainesville camp sometime soon. I was there once when I first started FCC and I know a few of my colleagues at the new job have attended at times as well.

All, I spoke to management last week and they ARE open to REMOTE WORKERS for the right person. So don’t hesitate to reach out.

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Thanks for sharing that experience @tdreid I am very much a believer in excluding unnecessary comforts and still live well and I am glad that is working out well for you.

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