Looking to get my foot in the door as a Python developer

You've had a formal developer job, you can get another one. Just because you got it through a friend doesnt mean it was any more valid. Remember that startups go under all the time, most of us who have worked for a startup have also worked for one that went under.

- Freelance work is a good way to build out your resume. Getting Python-specific work probably isn't as easy as something like web development but its out there.

- Does your local area have a startup-focused Facebook group? Join it and pay close attention to companies advertising for devs or make a post offering your services. Just don't offer them for free.

- Check out things like UN Volunteer[1], plenty of web dev stuff on there so I'm sure something Python related would eventually come up.

- Build some things with the Python web frameworks like Django and Flask. Many companies are still using them (Flask for data science, Django more for web app backends). You're far more useful with these tools under your belt.

Like someone else said, don't focus too much on being Python developer - languages come and go. You should definitely get to know at least one language inside out but don't become too attached to it.

Definitely don't work for free for other people, it never ends well for either part.

[1] https://www.unv.org/

In regards to struggling to get interviews,

Look for devs who have the job you want, start talking to them asking for advice, ask them for advice on what to learn next, ask them to look over a personal project of yours for advice, i would also suggest you talk to someone about your resume, if you arent getting any hits with your resume, you need to improve it and some people are really good at providing advice here to make you look more appealing as a candidate despite your lack of 50 years of experience,

you should be applying to lots of jobs on a daily basis. when i was job hunting i would spend half the day studying and half of the day applying to jobs.

in regards to working for free:

i would look for established companies' or open source library tutorials, look for bugs by completing the tutorials, look for low hanging fruit open issues that you are able to fix, fix them, thats your free work and you will learn in this process

i made minor PRs on tutorials on oktas website, microsoft, and netlify,one big company said thats why they invited me to interview overbother candidates.

Youll deal with lots of no's, but remember all you need is one yes, so just keep studying and improving in the meantime

I transitioned from telemarketing into software development so i feel your pain :)

Best of luck

Why do you want to be a Python developer and not A developer ? Serious question. Is it because you like data science and Python is big in data science ? Or are you open to be a general Web Developer who builds web applications ? Then, you don't need to stick with Python only but I am just trying to understand your thought process.

I wish I could offer you some advice, but I don't have much first hand experience with data science roles.

However, I can shine some light on the below:

> I would love to make myself useful for free

When I was trying to get my foot in the door, I made this offer and was always shot down. I couldn't understand why (free work is free -- is everyone insane?).

After a bit of experience (and receiving this offer regularly) I realized why my offer was always declined. The process of onboarding a dev is long and takes a toll on the existing teams productivity (it's often a worthwhile toll). The process to onboard an intern/free worker is roughly the same as a "normal" employed dev (unless the dev you're employing has identical past experience, which is very rare).

From the employer's perspective, it's often not beneficial to onboard someone that's explicitly looking for a full-time role elsewhere.

I agree with this.

Also, if you have some experience and side projects already, I think it's mostly a credential issue. You're probably being screened out on criteria like work history, or degree, etc. I think if you can get an interview with someone who will listen, then you probably have a shot at entry level. I honestly don't see many entry level jobs out there though - everyone wants seniors.

I too have had a similar experience during my career change and would like to learn what recommendations and resources you learn from the HN community.

One thing to do is to keep applying consistently as if it were your job. Read a bit about the company, and if you'd like to work there, send them your résumé, and a nice email about how you may help and why you would be interested.

Don't bullshit. It's insulting. We received emails from candidates who'd tell us how they admire our work or that they were impressed by our projects: we didn't communicate on what we did because of an understanding with our clients for long periods of time, and having candidates send us emails claiming they were inspired by what we did demonstrated a lack of general intelligence.

Whenever someone asks how to freelance or land projects, I point to this mini-roadmap[0]. Essentially, it advocates to do it as a business instead of an individual, and try and work with companies. That could be useful for you if you decide to have a small company or consultancy as a vehicle for your output.

I replied to someone a couple of days ago asking about how to better stimulate their mind for business[1]. I give a few examples of projects I had worked after listening to people's problems, and then solving those problems. That could be useful for you if you want to leverage your life experience and your problem solving and programming skills.

There is an "index reply"[2] that contains links to many other replies that could help you be more employable, be more effective, improve faster, grok code effectively, build products, solve problems, etc. That could help you whether you choose to join a company or go on your own.

>Unfortunately, that company ended up going under right about the time corona-virus hit and I have yet to formally work as a proper software developer.

Did you develop software for your employer? You have formally worked as a proper software developer

>I've been looking through employment sites and things have been difficult for me because I'm coming from such a different work background (I have been professionally cooking for 4-5 years after graduating college).

Interesting. Can you draw a graph from food production and sourcing to waste in the toilet? During these five years, was it all perfect? What would be something you used to rant about? What would be inside jokes on an aspect in your sector that sucked? Things that if I told them to you, you'd know that I had been there and done that in the field? Things that kept people at night, got people fired, or sank down businesses?

Did you like the people in that sector and would gladly have conversations with them?

>I'd like to figure out how to get my foot in the door in order to get a proper start on becoming employed. I'm completely willing to work for free in order to gain experience and to learn what it takes to become employable.

Not to tell you what to do, but I'd be wary of someone who takes you up on your offer.

>If there is anyone here that can benefit from having helper for Python-related work, I would love to make myself useful for free. My goal is to learn and work towards becoming employed in this new field.

One step towards that direction would be to include contact information in your profile, and links to your projects so people could get in touch.

- [0]: https://twitter.com/jugurthahadjar/status/131066829330549965...

- [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25636535

- [2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25367011