Best job hunting & career guides according to redditors
We found 821 Reddit comments discussing the best job hunting & career guides. We ranked the 340 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
15. The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement
5 mentions
Used Book in Good Condition
Here's my list of the classics:
General Computing
Computer Science
Software Development
Case Studies
Employment
Language-Specific
C
Python
C#
C++
Java
Linux Shell Scripts
Web Development
Ruby and Rails
Assembly
Read the 2-hour job search - it gives step by step instructions and templates on how to do this. Basically, you strategically reach out to people on linkedin.
I'm getting my MBA now, and I spend more time networking (linkedin outreach, networking calls, meetups, coffee chat, etc) than I do on class and HW combined (but that's normal for MBA's).
Edit:
> I'm trying to remain steadfast and writing good cover letters, applying to as much as I can (10/wk or so), but I can't help but feel discouraged thinking there's someone with an in-house friend who's going to get at least an interview before me because of it.
Rather than applying to 10 jobs per week, you should aim to have about 5-10 coffee chats/networking phone calls per week with people in the industry that you're interested in.
Don't burn out. The world fell down around you, but you aren't responsible to bear it on your shoulders.
If you think you have a serious shot at the directorship, read The First 90 Days. Has some great information about promotions, gathering information on the situation, and building relationships up, down, and laterally.
CERN exerts a brain drain effect: many of the most promising experimental physicists are relocating to Europe because that's where the action is in their field. From the perspective of an American, it would be better for America to gain physicists from Europe rather than losing them. There are arguments that benefiting from scientific brain drain is excellent for the US economy.
The data from the LHC and the theories it's testing are arcane for now, but there's a chance it could be massively important down the road. The study of atomic fission used to be merely scribbles. Is there a guarantee that quantum field theory will be as pivotal as atomic fission? No. But there's a slight chance.
It's kind of like early exploration of Antarctica: was it useful at the time? No. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? Yes and No are both valid (depending on what you value), but I'd say yes.
edit: I meant to link this book instead
If you all havent read his [book] (https://www.amazon.com/How-Fail-Almost-Everything-Still/dp/1491518855) I highly recommend it. Nearly finished with it and its very inspiring and eye-opening
Congrats! If you feel like you're up for a challenge then I'd say go for it as long as you feel like you've got a good support structure in and out of the company. To answer your question, my transition was somewhat mentored by my old boss followed by an abrupt changeout of new-boss-for-newer boss. If I could do anything differently from that time period, it would've been to force the issue of getting performance metrics on my own terms rather than waiting for someone to tell me what my team's metrics would be.
In case any of these might help I'll offer a couple quick considerations/suggestions:
Best of luck!
I wish I’d read The Professor Is In. It is NOT to early for you to start focusing on what you need to do now to land the job you hope to land after you graduate.
I was in your position two years ago. Im 30 now and I couldnt be more happy.
It depends on what area you would like to expertice on but I think you should start with "Pragmatic thinking and learning" https://www.amazon.com/Pragmatic-Thinking-Learning-Refactor-Programmers/dp/1934356050
You will learn how to learn anything and how to schedule your learning. If your goal is web development I could tell you how I did It.
I would highly recommend everyone read The New Geography of Jobs by Enrico Moretti. It is an amazing book and not difficult to digest.
Here is a snippet and here is the link to buy it off Amazon.
Congratulations on striking out on your own!
Pick up a copy of Jay Foonberg's How to Start and Build a Law Practice. Foonberg's old and some of the information is outdated, but it's a pretty big book with a wealth of info for new solos. There's also Carolyn Elefant's Solo by Choice, and blogs such as Elefant's My Shingle, Lawyerist, and /u/KeithRLee's Associate's Mind.
I think standard advice for new solos is that networking is king. Your best business as a new solo comes from referrals from other attorneys. Build relationships early. Also, make connections with strong mentors in every area you practice in, especially if you have limited experience in that practice area.
If you haven't made an office-space decision yet, read up on the benefits/downsides of virtual offices (i.e. working out of home and meeting clients in Starbucks) or of office sharing (you don't have to partner up with another lawyer; just rent an underused corner of a larger office to save on rent).
Also, join/post on /r/lawyers. It gets more traffic than /r/lawfirm.
If you want to pick up some Cryptography, The Code Book is a great intro.
Pragmatic Thinking and Learning is good for learning to learn.
The Pragmatic Programmer is good for project code planning and learning how to write code in a well thought out way.
Ethernet: The Definitive Guide is a good read if you want to get up to snuff on your networking, though it can be a bit dry at times.
I just bought this book, which is less a narrative, but rather more of a hard, truthful, as well as insightful look into the problems of humanities academia, and how best you can survive them.
https://www.amazon.com/Professor-Essential-Guide-Turning-Ph-D/dp/0553419420/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494283261&sr=8-1&keywords=the+professor+is+in
My only tip for you regarding imposter syndrome, is that everyone has it. However, you keep that truth buried deep in yourself. When it comes time to talk about your work to others, or in a job interview, YOU PUT ON THAT IMPOSTER MASK AND NEVER BLINK OR TAKE IT OFF until you're back home.
We all wear masks to function. Learning to live with them is an essential life skill.
For other examples of why this is essential, I'd also like to cite Dr. David Chappelle:
https://vimeo.com/58226569
I liked Suze Orman's book for young people. But it sounds like your daughter has a spending problem, which isn't quite the same as "I'm ready to learn how to plan for my future".
It took me awhile to go "AHA - THOSE ARE SUBLUXATIONS?!??!".
My elbow is my most obvious - when I go to grab something, or move too quickly, I will feel (and sometimes hear) a click or pop and then for a moment I am in excruciating pain - until it slides back into place.
But I also sublux my left hip pretty often - which is usually more of a flash of confusion, discomfort, and it stops my world (but not nearly as painful as my elbow).
I do have other locations that sublux (my left shoulder and my ribs...ugh, the ribs) - but they are less frequent. Also, lately I have been experiencing a lot of pain in my feet - which I have started to maybe think are subluxations.
I think you'll find in responses from others - that subluxs can range from super painful to almost none based on how often they occur and where. Generally if it feels like a click or pop, or the joint catches - it may be a sublux.
The medication that helped me most was Diclofenac (anti-inflam) and Gabapentin.
Gabapentin was okay, but Diclofenac CHANGED MY WORLD. It's behaves differently than other anti-inflams (though, I don't know the technical reason why).
Flare ups - frankly, I just do whatever I can to get through them. Sometimes they last a few days, sometimes a few weeks - but I just ended what I essentially believe to be a two year flare up - or rather, two years of sequential flare ups as different parts of my body affected each other and caused problems. However - this was because no one knew what was wrong with me and I was doing all the wrong things and getting the wrong treatment.
Now that I know what is going on - I am more capable of reducing the length of time by doing the right exercises (Muldowney Protocol) and avoiding activities that cause me to injure myself further.
How bad will this get? No one can answer that, unfortunately. But the best thing is that now you know what you are experiencing, you have the knowledge to avoid the things that hurt you as best you can.
For example, I cannot cross my legs or twist my body if I want my SI Joint to stay in place. I just can't.
Strengthening your muscles is the #1 way to improve your odds. I just described why the other day in another thread.
One of the big things we also need to learn to do is pace ourselves. Have you heard of the spoon theory?
Gotta learn how to prioritize those spoons. It can be a tough pill to swallow - I started this journey in October of last year (still waiting on my geneticist appt) with a clinical diagnosis, and I am still coming to terms with certain things I want to do, but shouldn't.
As for using a cane or stick - a lot of people do. If you think it will help you, it may. For me, sitting still generally causes me more issues that getting up and doing some slow, calculated moving.
You may also want to look into bracing for your bad days - work with your physio on this, they should be able to help you establish if any braces help. For me, a lot of my pain stems from my SI Joint upslipping. Almost all of my pain radiates from that point (it has causes S Curve Scoliosis, Lordosis, which has my neck out of wack - which then causes nerve issues down my right arm and down my left leg).
There are braces for the SI Joint - but again, the best policy is core strengthening.
Lots of people go on disability (in the US, not sure what it is called elsewhere) for EDS. From what I understand - it is a long hard road, but if you have good doctors and patience, you can make it happen.
I actually just received a handicap placard (for disabled parking) last month, though - thankfully - I only need it occasionally when things are at their worst.
As for advice - read these books (they can be expensive, but in the grand scheme, they are great):
Joint Hypermobility Handbook- A Guide for the Issues & Management of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Hypermobility Type and the Hypermobility Syndrome - This was written by the "EDS Guru" Dr. Tinkle. It is awesome and will help you through a lot of what you are experiencing.
And personally, I really like the Muldowney Protocol - this is a Physical Therapy regimen specifically for EDS patients. I have had a lot of success with it - as traditional PT actually injured me further.
Feel free to reach out to me to talk. It is scary at first - but there are ways to manage it. At first you feel very uncomfortable and anxious - and you actually spend some time "mourning" the life you wanted to lead. But eventually you find a new normal, have some small successes, and realize that you'll survive - just in a different manner you anticipated before EDS because a part of your life. :)
When I transitioned to my last job -- from higher education to corporate finance, I used The First 90 Days. I thought there were some good points, and was able to apply a lot.
I think we may be looking for the same things. I read a book a few weeks ago called Pragmatic Thinking and Learning that I found really helpful and interesting. Its not too expensive and if you have the money I'd recommend it. Don't be intimidated by the programmer talk, none of it is really relevant.
Last week, I discovered a wiki that gave great advice on learning and memory techniques that seemed like it would have been extremely useful. I've spent the last hour searching for it but I just can't find it. When I come across it, I will let you know.
Another book that I found useful a few months ago was How to Read a Book. Don't let the title undermine the books value; its an awesome book. Definitely worth looking into. I don't follow the advice given in the book very rigidly, but since I've read it, I've found that I approach books much more methodically and absorb the information much more easily.
Its great to see that there is someone else out there looking for the same sort of resources I'm looking for. The way I look at it, learning is a skill that can be developed and mastered. It is an interesting pursuit in and of itself.
I haven't found any single resource for this sort of thing but maybe we can put together a subreddit where we can pool our resources for things that may be particularly helpful.
https://www.amazon.com/First-90-Days-Strategies-Expanded/dp/1422188612
Karen Kelsky's, The Professor is in is quite good once you realize you have to read past the rhetoric of "the sky is falling!!!" Her tone can be a little stressful if you're already feeling under pressure, but the advice she gives is really solid.
This is the book:
https://www.amazon.com/How-Fail-Almost-Everything-Still/dp/1491518855
Basically his main philosophy is that you shouldn’t have goals, you should just have systems that move you in the right direction. For example, you don’t set a goal to “lose 20 pounds” because every day you haven’t met that goal is demoralizing, plus, when you get there, you probably just have to set another goal that will take a while to reach.
Instead, you can create an eating system like “Cut out carbs and soda, and otherwise eat as much vegetables, fruits, nuts, meat, cheese, etc” without regard for how often you’re eating or how many calories you’re consuming, because eventually your body will adjust and you’ll naturally eat less food and start losing weight. Part of that system sound also be something simple like “get out and walk 30 minutes every day” or whatever kind of reasonable exercise you can add into your schedule without being overwhelming.
Anyway he applies this “goals not systems” approach to all aspects of his life. You wouldn’t say “my goal is to get a girlfriend” you would say “my system is to go on two dates a week” and see what happens from there, then adjust your systems as life changes.
I recently read “Deep Work” and it has a similar approach.
Sorry to hear, recently went through the recruiting process. You can read this book, super helpful and should finish in a day or two
https://www.amazon.com/2-Hour-Job-Search-Technology-Faster/dp/1607741709
Update your resume first thing, format: task, people, result. Can help review if you DM me
Create a spreadsheet of people you can reach out to, get names on Linkedin, guess email format (i.e.: [email protected]), send cold email:
"Hello [name],
My name is [name], I am a [your Marketing job title]. I am interested in getting into [job applying to] with a strong interest in [firm name]. Would you have 15 / 30' to chat about your work in the next 2 weeks? Would love to hop on a call / buy you a coffee to learn more about your experience recruiting or any advice you might have.
Understand your schedule can get busy but would really appreciate any of your time.
Look forward to chat soon"
50 - 80% of the time people will respond, especially alum from school / anyone have something similar to your background
90% of those should convert to first round interview
Do 2 - 3 months of this talking to 30 - 60 companies should land you any job you like
There are a number of books that I think you ought to read to get a better understanding of office politics and how to cope/deal with them. All offices have politicking going on, and any company that claims otherwise is lying to you. Any time more than 2 people get together, there will be some sort of jostling for power and attention. When that happens at work, we call it "office politics".
Your library may have these, and if you get them, read them at home. Don't ever bring them into the office.
Corporate Confidential. HR is your enemy, not your friend. Gives a number of examples of what will destroy your career with companies, many of which you (and I) probably do without realizing the consequences.
The Passionate Programmer. The first edition of this book was called "my job went to India". While aimed at programmers, the points are to keep your mind and skills up to date as technology and business move too rapidly to let things get rusty.
To Be or Not to Be Intimidated.
Looking out for number one.
Million Dollar Habits. I feel that these 3 by Robert Ringer are very important. If you think his first book was about to intimidate others, you only read the press coverage. If you think his books are about real estate, then you only skimmed them. There are a lot of people in the world who will try to intimidate you into giving up what is yours, and he shows you what some of them are like, and what countermeasures you can use.
The Art of Deception. Bad title - it is about arguments, how to make them, win them and tell if you're hearing a bad one. Used to be called "rhetoric" when Plato and Aristotle taught the subject.
Snakes in Suits. There are some evil people out there. You'll work for some of them. You will be stabbed in the back by some of them.
Bullies, Tyrants, and Impossible People. One book on office politics and dealing with some of the worse sort.
The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense at Work. Some folks are very good with verbal manipulation, this book and the others in the series, cover how to deal with such people.
Winning with People. Most of the books this author writes are about managers and leadership. This book is more about people skills. It will be focused more at managers, but I think it is a good one.
The 48 Laws of Power. They have it. You want some. Light read with anecdotes. I like his other books as well.
Games At Work. Office politics.
It's All Politics. Yes it is.
Moral Politics. Liberals and conservatives, why do they think that way? You'll work with some of the opposite persuasion some day, so understanding where they come from is a reasonable idea. Most books on this subject are insulting and degrading, but I think this one is pretty much judgement-free.
> When I walk by him going to the bathroom, he will stop talking until I walk by.
Do the same. When they come to your desk, always brush them aside with "I'm sorry, I can't talk now, I'm busy working".
They seem a like reasonable starting point I think. Repetition is the mother of mastery, the more books the better (in addition to applying what is learned).
Since Mosh is calling out learning fundamentals as important to becoming a good C# developers, I would personally also recommend some general (non C# specific books) too for who are starting out in software development:
There's a ton more, but those are a few that stood out to me. Essentially the more the merrier in my opinion - books, courses, videos, tutorials, and so on. The books I'm recommending here focus on adopting the developer mindset and being successful at it. That's part of the puzzle.
The other part is understanding the technical details including the programming language and frameworks you intend to use.
And finally, for learning about C#, I do highly recommend Mosh's videos/courses (some are free on YouTube, others available on Udemy). He's got a unique ability to explain things clearly and simply in a way that beginners can pick up quickly.
What I'd do is check out his free content first, and if you agree his style is ideal for learning, an investment in one of his courses is well worth it since he'll cover a lot more breadth and depth on each of the topics and they're organized into a super consumable package rather than scouring the internet for various topics.
I'm on the job market now. I will recommend a book that will answer your question. This book will give you an accurate state of the academic job market as it exists today. This book is dead on accurate.
https://www.amazon.com/Professor-Essential-Guide-Turning-Ph-D/dp/0553419420
(I have no affiliation with the author)
Make an appointment with your university's career guidance councilor. They're paid to think about this for you and should be able to help you establish a plan.
The Professor is in is also a pretty decent book, although it's primarily geared toward securing an academic position: https://www.amazon.com/Professor-Essential-Guide-Turning-Ph-D/dp/0553419420
Network with folks outside academia and try and do a research project with broader topical and methodological relevance.
Once you identify a career you'd like work to develop strong transferrable skills for that area.
My suggestion: https://www.amazon.com/Start-Home-based-Detailing-Business-Home-Based/dp/0762778768
There isn't anything "ground breaking" here but it will set you mentality in the direction of doing it.
Real friends won't let you work for free, and they damn well will not ask you to do stuff free. Now if you need to build a portfolio, there is an exception, your fee is in advertising/marketing material. But you really only need a few vehicles before you should stop this. Don't work free, free will attract things you don't want. I started out setting a high expectation with my costs. My cheapest packages attracted a customer base I didn't want. I very quickly dropped my cheapest interior and also exterior details, only leaving the packaged deal which I don't sell to at all. It literally exists for a quick detail for well maintained vehicles. My prices push away customers, and I am simply not bothered by this. Odds are they are not the customers I want to build my customer base on. Sure maybe I miss out occasionally, but I suspect I've been better off with my starting at prices creating a "price gate" than not. Honestly from some descriptions, the cost would have been doubled and they didn't even want to pay the starting price. I know my worth and I am going to get my worth, or I won't take the job. I also am closing down 1 business(covered my first year of transition) with money saved and a side value from that business that should cover year 2 and 3 easily. With my savings, good chance I could go 5 years without seeing a profit, though if the latest indicators say anything, I am not even remotely worried about this. 0 marketing and business is gaining momentum unexpectedly. But seriously, this is a luxury service, charge accordingly. I am not here to wash cars, I am here to detail, there is a difference.
I will tell you now that this approach will take a slower growth rate, but it is generally a solid growth rate. From a lot of people I've talked to, after a year or two things just beginning snowballing, I've already gotten a little taste of this this month, and I just started my 2nd year of business. (Though in Ohio, winter isn't much for business...)
Rest is the #1 thing that has helped me. Rest, and restful activities. I cook 1-3 meals a day and that causes most of my pain. If I can avoid it, I do, and it helps.
If I can spend most of my time reading, or watching movies or something, my pain gradually disappears.
I'm at my worst when I have to do things all day. Walking around causes knee and foot pain. Cooking and cleaning cause arm and hand pain. When I had to write in school, my hands would ache for days.
If she does a lot of housework, taking up some of that (or hiring a maid or something if you have $$$) would be a great gift. The only real way to avoid injury is to not get hurt in the first place, and if her arms and hands are hurting the most, it's probably caused directly by what she does from day to day.
-If her fingers get bent back or dislocated often, silver ring splints are very highly regarded. They prevent your fingers from getting bent back at all - hyperextension can cause a lot of damage over time.
You do have to get measured by a doctor, so that appointment would be the gift. It would probably be better not as a surprise, unless you know her fingers flexing are a big problem. They can sometimes be covered by insurance as they are custom orthotics, but you usually have to fight for it. I'm sure their "Contact Us" folks can help her get approved if you call, they only get paid if she does ;)
If her fingers aren't so much of a problem, an appointment with a really good orthopedist who's familiar with EDS would net her some awesome wrist, elbow, and/or shoulder braces. Cheap braces suck, they don't usually help. Good ones can be very expensive, but they really help. Insurance can help again here, but this also usually takes special approval.
-Because she's new to the diagnosis, books about EDS could be a good small gift. Books like this one have taught me a lot about managing symptoms and getting through life comfortably.
-And this probably wouldn't be appropriate, haha - but medical marijuana is right behind rest in terms of helping me get through the day every day. Constant pain has some really negative effects on your brain.
I used to take anti-inflammatories daily, and opioids when it was really bad, but both of those had terrible side effects.
Get her an ounce, dawg, #420blazeit (/s)
There is an old saying that the government doesn't change things for your benefit. Just like the REDUX fiasco, be very careful about the marketing that is being used to push this. While it will help the majority of members who do not stay for the full 20, and that is a good thing, especially if you plan on 20 but don't make it for whatever reason; but there is a reason why the full pension and benefits have been decreasing and dropping historically (healthcare for life?)
The biggest costs to the government are a retired member on a pension, not their salary while they are active; and even more is all the pork that congress critters give away to further their retirements. If we ever were to cut out that part, Congress wouldn't try to screw over veterans by stealing the COLA, like they did back in 2014 that was rescinded a couple months later (but those bastards will attempt it again).
Hope you've checked out Nord's book.
Go and purchase this book. It has everything you'll need to know for starting out.
Read this book. Ideally, borrow it from the library instead of buying it.
Just an FYI, it is cheaper on amazon http://www.amazon.com/The-Passionate-Programmer-Remarkable-Development/dp/1934356344
Its the same ISBN from what I could see, even though amazon says 1st edition and the publisher says 2nd edition.
I've posted this before but I'll repost it here:
Now in terms of the question that you ask in the title - this is what I recommend:
Job Interview Prep
Junior Software Engineer Reading List
Read This First
Fundementals
Understanding Professional Software Environments
Mentality
History
Mid Level Software Engineer Reading List
Read This First
Fundementals
Software Design
Software Engineering Skill Sets
Databases
User Experience
Mentality
History
Specialist Skills
In spite of the fact that many of these won't apply to your specific job I still recommend reading them for the insight, they'll give you into programming language and technology design.
You're getting great advice on surviving school, so I'll try to address "joining the workforce":
For the question of what makes cities rich and poor there a huge number of possible answers including human capital, infrastructure, luck (take Seattle as an example, it got a big technology industry pretty much by luck because Bill Gates moved Microsoft there from Albuquerque because it was his home area and then the forces of urban economics does the rest), resources, etc.
I'd recommend reading these books: Keys to the City by Michael Storper (he was my lecturer, he's a professor at LSE, UCLA and Sciences Po) and The New Geography of Jobs by Enrico Moretti. Even just the introductions provide a good insight.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Geography-Jobs-Enrico-Moretti/dp/0544028058http://www.amazon.co.uk/Keys-City-Institutions-Interaction-Development/dp/0691143110/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451394581&sr=8-1&keywords=keys+to+the+city
To get an insight into what our economy makes and then sells, and it buys from abroad, and from where, this is a good website. Bear in mind it's looking at goods - the UK sells quite a lot of services abroad too. http://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/gbr/all/show/2013/
In a nutshell the UK is good at services (financial services, consulting (of all types not just management or strategy), advertising, law etc.), pharmaceuticals, high tech engineering (aerospace stuff, ARM in Cambridge for example and other IT, car production)
Good article about growth and decline of a city here too http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/03/29/the-churn
The economy section of the ONS website also contains a lot of information about which sectors are big, how many people work in them, their growth and contribution to the economy, regional growth and contribution to UK overall too, and so on. House of Commons Library and Bank of England are good too.
Read this for a sense of the discipline:
https://www.mla.org/Publications/Bookstore/Nonseries/Introduction-to-Scholarship-in-Modern-Languages-and-Literatures-Third-Edition
​
Are you going to do British, American, or something else? If you're going to do American, for example, I would go through the Shorter Norton Anthology of American Lit and read anything you haven't read yet.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-norton-anthology-of-american-literature-shorter-ninth-edition-robert-s-levine/1129775656?ean=9780393264531
​
Then I would read this for a sense of the market and job prospects:
https://www.amazon.com/Professor-Essential-Guide-Turning-Ph-D/dp/0553419420
If you haven't bought and read [this] (http://www.amazon.com/Start-Home-based-Detailing-Business-Home-Based/dp/0762778768/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1463790719&sr=1-1&keywords=renny+doyle) book yet then you're doing it all wrong IMO.
I read an excellent book on this subject, by Tony Avent, who is an excellent nurseryman. Basically, he said nurseries do well as mom and pop operations with $50,000 in annual revenue and minimal expenses, or as large operations with a dozen employees with over $1,000,000 in annual revenue.
Read Avent's book; he goes into marketing, employee management, irrigation, shipping really everything. I live near Tony Avent's nursery, he locates and breeds unusual new vareities, which sell for premium prices.
The neat thing about knowing you have EDS as a young person is that you have the knowledge and opportunity to start protecting and taking extra good care of your body now. Preventing injuries and protecting your joints may go a long way towards preventing pain later.
Do you have a doctor to offer you any guidance? In either case, you might check out The Joint Hypermobility Handbook, a handy guide by one of the big EDS experts that covers basically everything you need to know, in a format that works for both doctors and patients. As someone else mentioned, /r/ehlersdanlos is a great resource, as is Ehlers Danlos Athletes on FB. Outside of those groups, reading about EDS online can get scary fast, so do know that there are plenty of people living well with EDS - they're just not the ones who tend to dominate the forums.
The best advice I've gotten for managing my EDS-III is to stay in shape. And don't wait to see someone about problem joints! Deconditioning can happen pretty quickly, so finding ways to exercise despite any random injury has been super important. A sprained knee can make it hard to exercise, but not exercising quickly leads to other injuries as I get weaker, and then things get scary fast and it is long, hard fight to get back to "normal." The real key for me has been finding a form of exercise that I enjoy, and then finding a PT that will help me with remedial exercises, adaptations, taping, bracing, etc. to better support my body in those activities. If you don't have pain, PT may not be necessary, but you might also consider going in for an evaluation to alleviate your concerns and get ahead of any particularly unstable or cranky joints; they could also help you set up an exercise plan if you don't already have one.
My PT is also big on "joint protection," which seems to be a think that pops up on a lot of arthritis sites, but it also seems like solid advice for any body. Try Googling it or here's a short guide that seems to sum it up pretty well.
tl;dr: stay strong, enjoy life, and hopefully you'll continue to feel pretty OK. :)
Já ponderaste explorar business development ou project management? Ambas as áreas parecem ter um pouco do que procuras e podem beneficiar de alguém com conhecimentos técnicos e com a capacidade de explicar conceitos complexos de forma acessível.
EDIT: Já agora, o Business Model You é um livro bastante útil para quem procura dar um passo lateral na carreira. Também podes começar a procurar formas de mudar de emprego sem sair do emprego. Se não for mesmo possível, começa a planear a tua exit strategy.
Advice (note: IANAD):
Required reading list -
https://www.amazon.com/How-Fail-Almost-Everything-Still/dp/1491518855
https://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0671027034/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467441671&sr=1-1&keywords=how+to+win+friends+and+influence+people
https://www.amazon.com/Trump-Art-Deal-Donald-J-ebook/dp/B000SEGE6M/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1467441700&sr=1-1#navbar
Do it do it do it.
First off. Congrats on where you are. You and your wife have already done such a great job.
No debt? Awesome.
I started my whole experience about early FI with a simple question, "when do I want to retire?" This helped me crystalized a number of variables like how much money is enough per year to live on? How much do I need to have in the Bank to make this happen? How much do I needed to save to get from point A to B?
After I finished that part, the next is the how. First I would leverage anything special that you have access to. This would be all the military benefits. Find someone whose already tread that path. Also, I think there's a book on frugal living on a military salary, it may be this one http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1570233195?pc_redir=1405444535&robot_redir=1
Personally I like to delay as much tax as possible and figure out ways to reduce paying later. Getting the money out of a 401k for a house it's pretty straight forward.
For a portfolio a 3 yr parking spot is tough because you'll need the money so soon. This is almost bond territory. Maybe a 50/50 stock bond mix? I'm not sure with all the news stuff going on if this year or next are going to be easy years.
Good luck with the journey.
(NOTE: I'm a Law Student, not an attorney.... so of course that means I know everything)
A filler course I had to take this last semester was on opening your own practice. The main assignment was to write up a business plan hitting the main points with a 1 year and 5 year budget (the budget being the really important part).
We used this text, which the professor liked but I found to be a tad out of date. Still, it hits the high notes and what you should at least be considering. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1590312473
Insurance is cheap. I was quoted a rough number of $800 for the first year and about a 20% increase for the next few years capping at around $2500 by the fifth or six year. This was a generic practice and different disciplines might vary a bit. Also consider insurance for your office (as in, clients might slip and fall on ice or the rug). And don't forget about health insurance for yourself. Working for yourself means no sick days, so access to a good doctor will be useful.
Check for local bars in addition to the state bar. The local bar in my area is only another $150/year and has enough free CLE's to cover the bulk of what my state requires every year, if not all. Your state may be similar.
For my class, I argued that using public law libraries and fastcase (Free subscription with bar membership in my state) was enough to start until I figure out if I need Westlaw or Lexis Nexis. But that's another cost to remember.
Filing cabinet's, office equipment, and storage concerns should be considered as you'll have paperwork that you need to hold onto long term until you shred everything.
Consider separate banks for your business, iolta, and personal accounts for safety reasons.
Postage will be a bitch. Be sure to budget for stamps and envelopes (consider a postage meter). Don't forget that you may need access to a fax machine. Also, you may need a beast of a printer and lots of toner.
Virtual Receptionists (eg: Ruby Receptionists) are actually pretty reasonably priced and can add a decent professional polish.
Get some templates for intake forms, retainer forms, and related. Lawyer Mutual has some templates online you can work from.
Skimming over what I submitted, those were the main points the professor was hammering. You'll be a Sole Proprietorship at first, but S Corp might be reasonable after a few years.
Hey man, I was close to a situation like you were once. I am a recent graduate as well, and some employment opportunities did not work out for me as well.
The way I solved it was couch surfing and living in a place where I was sharing a room with two other people. I know that is not ideal, and I don't know your situation but that is something you can look into. Also, is there a possibility to go back to your parents place?
There is no shame with that because everyone needs to have a good platform to excel. But in general, I would say is just to stay strong, it will get better.
In terms of your employment, I have a recommendation for you. You should get this book and read it. If you don't read you should start, it is a great habit to get into and helped me out
(it also helped my focus and I gained more discipline) https://www.amazon.com/2-Hour-Job-Search-Technology-Faster/dp/1607741709
I know the title seems gimmicky but it did really help me strategize my job hunt and got my current job today.
If money is an issue send me your address and I will buy it for you. It really helped me out and I want to pass on the joy.
Good luck my man. Stay Strong.
The New Geography of Jobs https://www.amazon.com/dp/0544028058/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_YkGSzbYRKY47V
The service industry, which includes doctors, lawyers, restaurants and their staff, plumbers, carpenters, nurses, electricians, DPW workers, etc. also benefit.
I read in this book recently
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0544028058/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687722&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0143120549&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=185ENY9WB6J9WYNFAWQK
That to have a growing region, you need cities which attract young and educated people. Having major universities is very helpful.
I'm in the humanities (not English). However, while in graduate school, I wish someone had told me about this book: https://www.amazon.com/Professor-Essential-Guide-Turning-Ph-D/dp/0553419420. It's not perfect and some people hate it, but it's brutally honest and helpful. If you want to avoid buying the book, you could also just check out the website: http://theprofessorisin.com/.
Let r/learnprogramming and r/programming be your mentor!
Check out: http://programmingpraxis.com/ and http://codingkata.org/ for exercises to test out your programming.
Also, when I feel like "sharpening the saw", i sometimes go onto freelance websites and create a "breakable toy" based on someone's actual project.
These phrases are from the book: http://amzn.com/0596518382
Which I also recommend.
Much like a boat, or an airplane, the original purchase price is only the beginning of the expenses. You have a lot more research ahead of you. Depending on where you plan on going with this, I'd suggest either Building Your Own Greenhouse, or So You Want To Start a Nursery.
No, you're not alone. I was a sysadmin for a while but I went back to school for botany. I had always been into biology but I got into IT for the $$$. I still do a bit of IT work. I like to offset the IT sterility with my plants; works for me.
I've got a lot of ideas and doing the nursery thing is one of them. I read this book on running a nursery and I found it to be adequate. I mean, you're not going to learn everything you need to know from a book. I've heard good stuff about this book but I haven't read it (yet).
Get your hands in the dirt, sure, but don't forget that your computing skills can be a huge asset. Specifically automation if you decide to go the hydroponic food greenhouse/warehouse route that's going to be a lifesaver. They talk a little bit about computers in that first book I mentioned and (bless their hearts) it looks like the nursery industry is severely limited in their computer integration. Just spitballing here: I think that doing a few things Arduino controlled would be smart. I'm talking about cycle timers (for timed on/off operations), sensors (numerous things), irrigation controls. This sort of thing can give you a big leg up on the competition I would think. Don't throw out the baby with the bath water.
This book by Dr. Tinkle is a great resource:
http://www.amazon.com/Hypermobility-Handbook-Management-Ehlers-Danlos-Syndrome/dp/098257715X#
This is a good intro to MCAD: http://www.reddit.com/r/ehlersdanlos/comments/1uivbp/presentation_diagnosis_and_management_of_mast/
Some general resources: http://www.reddit.com/r/ehlersdanlos/comments/1ently/eds_resources/
POTS: http://www.reddit.com/r/ehlersdanlos/comments/1ug4mr/the_postural_tachycardia_syndrome_pots/
Another EDS guide: http://www.reddit.com/r/ehlersdanlos/comments/1n5kff/new_comprehensive_guide_about_eds/
Need for magnesium: http://www.reddit.com/r/ehlersdanlos/comments/1psq99/magnesium_and_ehlersdanlos_syndrome_why_persons/
Also don't ever be afraid to take a paper with you to the doctors office. Many of us bring the Pocinki paper when seeing a new doctor.
Did the ophthalmologist discuss with you the criteria for diagnosing joint hypermobility syndrome or EDS-III? Extreme myopia is actually associated with it. It sounds like people have tossed around hypermobility as possibly being related but nobody is really looking at it seriously. Is that the gist of it?
I would start reading everything you can about JHS and start implementing self-care measures, since you know you have this issue. From your past post, I think you could probably be diagnosed with it if you saw someone who was familiar with hypermobility as a pain disorder. Treating yourself as if you have it should not make things worse if the problem is actually rheumatoid arthritis.
Some resources I have found helpful:
[The Pocinki Paper] (http://www.dynakids.org/Documents/hypermobility.pdf)
The Hypermobility Handbook
These are the only two resources I can really suggest because there is so much conflicting information out there on JHS, I only feel comfortable linking to stuff written by actual physicians. But there are a lot of blogs and so forth that have stretches and pain relief techniques you can try.
Have you got the EDS-H book from Dr Tinkle?
http://www.amazon.com/Hypermobility-Handbook-Management-Ehlers-Danlos-Syndrome/dp/098257715X
Edit: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC652wu-mvi2ghwQN-is7LIQ/videos
These videos are insightful too :)
Don't be worried, be glad that you're finding out so early!
I had to figure it out for myself when I was 17. No doctor had even suggested it as a possibility. But I found the diagnosis, and doctors confirmed it. Life got a lot easier after that - having a diagnosis is fantastic.
A diagnosis is not a bad thing. It's a good thing. Nothing is different from the way it was before - the only difference is that y'all are aware of the problem now, and can take steps to make his life easier and more comfortable.
If you (or someone else close to your son) learn as much as you can, and help your son get adequate treatment, he'll be fine.
Also, this is a great book, if you can get a copy. Basically 'Ehlers-Danlos, Hypermobility, for Dummies' :) It covers almost every aspect of hypermobile EDS, how it relates to daily life, how your son can take care of himself, and how doctors can help.
There's a book I read many years ago titled Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters. https://www.amazon.com/Guerrilla-Marketing-Job-Hunters-3-0/dp/1118019091 It has a bunch of slightly dirty tricks for getting a job. While I haven't read the current version, I remember finding it helpful.
One idea you might consider are looking for announcements of people appointed to a new job, figuring out the person's old job, and applying for that.
By far, the best way to get a job is to ask friends. Most jobs vacancies aren't announced or posted. Many are just filled by word of mouth. So, tell everyone you know that you're looking for a job and tell everyone to send you any information about any job openings. Naturally, this assumes that your current employer won't be upset at this.
Read these as 18 yo college freshman. They really helped me.
Work on Purpose - Short read. Follow the lives of some very relatable people as they find what makes their life worth living.
Creating Innovators - Stories form young innovators who made their won path in life and the people who influenced and supported them.
Business Model You - A guided book meant to help you visualize yourself as a business. You have value to provide and require resources to operate just like a business. This books gets you thinking critically about what your product is and how you can market it. This book is more of an activity then a casual read. The pages are meant to be drawn in and torn out.
I'd recommend reading in order listed above.
Can't help you with the GF part. Hope those are as helpful for you as they were for me.
EDIT: added book and provided descriptions
Definitely look into bussiness management books as well. if you are going down this road, there is a chance you will want to start doing it on your own and having proper business skills will help tremendously in securing work, and balancing costs, and making money doing it! I am sure some people on this sub can recommend some great books on this topic as well.
Here are a couple books,
https://www.amazon.ca/Business-Model-Generation-Visionaries-Challengers/dp/0470876417/ref=sr_1_1?gclid=Cj0KCQjw5MLrBRClARIsAPG0WGxuwhyo-18J3-xPOVP8bXeTJ4zbGZHkpO4GqIGKlz-WCRxt3aUroqQaApECEALw_wcB&hvadid=229992601126&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9000745&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=4412519744533501821&hvtargid=aud-748919244907%3Akwd-297504215686&hydadcr=16960_10238137&keywords=business+model+generation&qid=1567691052&s=gateway&sr=8-1
https://www.amazon.ca/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation/dp/0307887898/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3/141-1005106-2495725?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0307887898&pd_rd_r=3ef234c3-168a-4156-bb6b-32f1e4f1ecca&pd_rd_w=PEqJa&pd_rd_wg=P882W&pf_rd_p=a62e2918-d998-4bbb-8337-35aac776e851&pf_rd_r=RMAX7VQZE9TKPTQ2SM8H&psc=1&refRID=RMAX7VQZE9TKPTQ2SM8H
https://www.amazon.ca/Startup-Owners-Manual-Step-Step/dp/0984999302/ref=pd_sbs_14_3/141-1005106-2495725?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0984999302&pd_rd_r=3ef234c3-168a-4156-bb6b-32f1e4f1ecca&pd_rd_w=Oruqz&pd_rd_wg=P882W&pf_rd_p=f7748194-d8e0-4460-84c0-2789668108bc&pf_rd_r=RMAX7VQZE9TKPTQ2SM8H&psc=1&refRID=RMAX7VQZE9TKPTQ2SM8H
https://www.amazon.ca/Business-Model-You-One-Page-Reinventing/dp/1118156315/ref=pd_sbs_14_4/141-1005106-2495725?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1118156315&pd_rd_r=3ef234c3-168a-4156-bb6b-32f1e4f1ecca&pd_rd_w=Oruqz&pd_rd_wg=P882W&pf_rd_p=f7748194-d8e0-4460-84c0-2789668108bc&pf_rd_r=RMAX7VQZE9TKPTQ2SM8H&psc=1&refRID=RMAX7VQZE9TKPTQ2SM8H
I like this one a lot: https://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Bread-Pastry-Michel-Suas/dp/141801169X/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1540162522&sr=8-6&keywords=baking+and+pastry
A lot better than the one written by the CIA, in my opinion. Much easier to understand, but at no lack of depth.
It's quite involved, the recipie is adapted from the book Advanced Bread and Pastry.
I have the advantage of being able to use a sheeter, being that I work in a bakery. It still took me quite a while to get my croissants to come out consistently like this, the process is long and easy to mess up.
Our methods are traditional, the ingredients simple. Flour, water, instant osmotolerant yeast, malt, salt, milk powder. After mixing, rest 45min-1hr (depending on dough temp), then refrigerate overnight in fridge. 25% butter to roll in the dough in relation to the dough weight. After the butter is rolled in, start with a letter fold, then a book fold, rest in fridge for 30min-1hr, then do a final letter fold. Roll out, shape, proof 1.5-2hrs, bake at 350 in our convection oven (~390-410 in a conventional oven).
Glossing over some steps because it would take a while to write it out!
If you are really interested in trying something like this at home, this post is an excellent resource: http://www.thefreshloaf.com//node/22677/poolish-croissant-pursuit-perfection
We don't use poolish, but I'd love to try.
Read [The First 90 Days] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1422188612/) by Watkins.
When I got my first branch manager job, I did sit and chat with every staff member (about 20 people) to get to know them.
I also asked if there was one thing they would change about the branch. I got a few good ideas that made sense and weren't hard to implement. I bought a $15 lamp for a staff area and it was if I had changed the world -- sometimes it doesn't take much to make a difference to the everyday.
There is nothing natural about being interviewed. I think I blew it, the first half a dozen times, I was interviewed. I finally found my "voice" after reading some books on interviewing.
Get this book and read it twice:
> https://www.amazon.com/Knock-Dead-Job-Interview-Interviews/dp/1440536791/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511212759&sr=8-1&keywords=knock+em+dead+job+interview&dpID=51eC%252B1kJakL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch
I put in my 2 weeks notice at my current job on Monday. I will be starting a new career path at a new company in a few weeks. In my case, I knew what career I wanted to start, but my prep work looked similar to the list u/tonynosteak made.
I divided the process into two phases: developing my skills & passing interviews
Skills development:
Job hunting/Interviewing:
Overall, I started this process last year at about this time. It was slow starting, but as I made more progress and hit milestones, it began accelerating until April 1 of this year when I started sending out resumes and applying for jobs. I received and accepted an offer last week and got the paperwork finalized before submitting my resignation notice.
Edit: Most importantly, never ever give up. It can seem incredibly daunting at first, but now that I have emerged on the other side, this was one of the best things I have done for myself. Prior to this, I definitely felt like I was not doing what I wanted in life and was permanently stuck with my face pressed against the glass. Now I feel like I've done something worth being proud of and I did it for me. There will be naysayers along the way that will discourage you from your goals, but you can't listen to them.
I would read this
https://www.amazon.com/How-Fail-Almost-Everything-Still/dp/1491518855
I really like this one. There may be a newer edition. Plus, it's fun to say Foonberg
https://www.amazon.com/Start-Practice-Career-American-Association/dp/1590312473/ref=sr_1_1?crid=WP4PV3DP7NLO&keywords=start+law+firm&qid=1565391183&s=books&sprefix=start+law+%2Cstripbooks%2C162&sr=1-1
It really is all about Foonberg.
My favorites are:
There are a LOT of screenplays out there. Most of them will never get read by anyone important, let alone get made. Don't start trying to sell your screenplay until it is absolutely the best, most polished piece of writing that you can produce. Finishing your first draft is only one step on the road to producing a good screenplay, especially a comedy.
I recommend the following steps for moving forward:
9-A) Go buy a copy of The Writer's Market and start trying to get an agent.
9-B) As an alternative, get involved in the indy film world in your region. Volunteer at a film festival or "work" on one of the many low-to-no-budget indy film productions. Try to get to know some directors and producers and get one of them interested in making your movie-- probably with your help.
That sounds really interesting! I kind of like the idea that you're just people getting to know each other. Networking and even informational interviews can get really pointed like, "What is my goal in meeting X person? What advice can THEY give ME?" So definitely let us know how it goes!
For informational interviews, I always point to my networking bible (forgive the cliche, but this book has helped me SO much) The 2-hr Job Searh. The framework suggested for informationals is the TIARA acronym. Here's basically the gist. The main topics you want to hit on are Trends, Insights, Advice, Resources, and Assignments. However informationals are ALL about genuine relationship building like I was hinting at earlier. Also important to start convos off with small talk (and everyone hates it, but if you can find some common ground amongst your backgrounds it really helps take the pressure off the conversation) before diving right in.
http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Languages-Weeks-Programming-Programmers/dp/193435659X?ie=UTF8&keywords=pragmatic%20programmer&qid=1464727456&ref_=sr_1_7&s=books&sr=1-7
http://www.amazon.com/Exercises-Programmers-Challenges-Develop-Coding/dp/1680501224?ie=UTF8&keywords=pragmatic%20programmer&qid=1464727456&ref_=sr_1_5&s=books&sr=1-5
http://www.amazon.com/Pragmatic-Thinking-Learning-Refactor-Programmers/dp/1934356050?ie=UTF8&keywords=pragmatic%20programmer&qid=1464727456&ref_=sr_1_4&s=books&sr=1-4
http://www.amazon.com/Pragmatic-Programmer-Journeyman-Master/dp/020161622X?ie=UTF8&keywords=pragmatic%20programmer&qid=1464727456&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Logic-Design-Comprehensive-Farrell/dp/1285776712
There are drugs that can help with specific problems but not everything.
If you have the chance, I'd recommend three books for meta-learning:
Failing that, you can check out Thomas Frank.
Congratulations! That's a big step. Be proud that you were able to make the switch. Not many people manage to transform ideas into results.
I think there are four areas on which you need to focus, in order to go from mediocre to great. Those areas are:
Now, these areas don't include things like marketing yourself or building valuable relationships with coworkers or your local programming community. I see those as being separate from being great at what you do. However, they're at least as influential in creating a successful and long-lasting career.
Let's take a look at what you can do to improve yourself in those four areas. I'll also suggest some resources.
​
1. Theoretical foundation
Foundational computer science. Most developers without a formal degree have some knowledge gaps here. I suggest taking a MOOC to remediate this. After that, you could potentially take a look at improving your data structures and algorithms knowledge.
​
2. Working knowledge.
I'd suggest doing a JavaScript deep-dive before focusing on your stack. I prefer screencasts and video courses for this, but there are also plenty of books available. After that, focus on the specific frameworks that you're using. While you're doing front-end work, I also suggest you to explore the back-end.
​
3. Software engineering practices.
Design patterns and development methodologies. Read up about testing, agile, XP, and other things about how good software is developed. You could do this by reading the 'Big Books' in software, like Code Complete 2 or the Pragmatic Programmer, in your downtime. Or, if you can't be bothered, just read different blog posts/Wikipedia articles.
​
4. Soft skills.
​
Some closing notes:
- For your 'how to get started with open source' question, see FirstTimersOnly.
- If you can't be bothered to read or do large online courses, or just want a structured path to follow, subscribe to FrontendMasters and go through their 'Learning Paths'.
- 4, combined with building relationships and marketing yourself, is what will truly differentiate you from a lot of other programmers.
​
Sorry for the long post, and good luck! :)
It does look like spam. Sorry.
I did not buy the course, but I've watched a few of his videos on YouTube. His thesis is to think of your career as a business, and to learn how to market yourself so that work comes to you, not the other way around. Pretty insightful stuff.
Irregardless, $299 is way overpriced. You can find the same advice in Chad Fowler's The Passionate Programmer.
http://www.amazon.com/Passionate-Programmer-Remarkable-Development-Pragmatic/dp/1934356344/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422574454&sr=8-1&keywords=A+passionate+programmer&pebp=1422574452299&peasin=1934356344
Read that. Seriously. I am half way through it and it is amazing
Working in Legacy one of the areas you can make an impact on a system. Bar none. You can pretty much refactor until your hearts content, you can make wrappers to old calls in new fancy ways, cook up solutions to problems you've identified and present these to your colleagues. Because that's what good developers do..
It's rare you get to work on exactly what you want to all the time in this game.
So what are your alternatives now?
To be honest I do think you have made a mistake. But an important one. If you learn from it, then that's all good and you shouldn't worry about it.
Sometimes you'll learn people don't know why things are a good idea or a better option... you've got to steer them and let them think it's them that's making the decision on something great, when really, that was your plan all along.
You know where you get the real money and make the real difference in our game? Working at either end of the spectrum. Either bleeding edge, or with tech so old no one else wants to touch it. If you want the middle ground, the easy predictable stuff then be prepared to not be making much of a difference in your day to day duties. It's just the way the game works.
Suggested reading; The Passionate Programmer;http://www.amazon.com/The-Passionate-Programmer-Remarkable-Development/dp/1934356344
Apprenticeship Patterns; http://chimera.labs.oreilly.com/books/1234000001813/index.html
Best thing to do is put a period in it and move on.
Good luck!
Try reading this book 'The google resume' it might help.
http://www.amazon.com/Google-Resume-Prepare-Microsoft-Company/dp/0470927623
Ms. McDowell covers this and many other questions in her (famous) book http://www.amazon.com/Cracking-Tech-Career-Insider-Microsoft/dp/1118968085/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
edit: well the old one has more reviews http://www.amazon.com/Google-Resume-Prepare-Microsoft-Company/dp/0470927623/ref=sr_1_6_twi_kin_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449708818&sr=1-6&keywords=Gayle+Laakmann+McDowell
I guess her book Cracking the Coding Interview is more popular than the ones linked, but oh well. I forget exactly what she says.
That is truly a mind-blowing stat.
Enrico Moretti's book "The New Geography of Jobs" touches on this idea in depth, too. Cities are by definition more productive, and we either need to build more within cities, or at worst, provide better transportation links between cities - if a worker in Fresno can commute by rail to SF in an hour, they bring some of those productivity gains into less productive areas.
There are some books that give good insights into navigating the grad school process, including useful advice about how to map out important milestones (e.g. how to publish, navigating conferences, and most importantly setting yourself up early to be successful on the job market.)
1
2
3
[4] (http://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-For/dp/0374524777/ref=pd_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=41H6-kRMd5L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR107%2C160_&refRID=07NB1JFQT1BE3E6NARD9)
A few that are only relevant to specific languages or niches:
First, be SURE you know what you're doing. It only takes one botched job to sink a new detailer. I've seen it happen multiple times when a high schooler tries it out as a summer job and messes up a paint job with his new orbital polisher. People care a lot about their cars, so you need to be good enough to make a difference without overreaching.
Second, advertise! You're going to need to get your name out there. Go to a car club, put an ad in the newspaper, flyers around town, anything to get the business rolling.
Third, read up on starting up and running a business. There will be some unforeseen hurdles you'll have to go through if you're creating a business and not just under-the-table cash. Things like insurance, setting up an LLC, starting a business bank account, getting licenses, taxes, etc.
Fourth, be realistic. You're not going to get very lucrative jobs starting out. They'll likely be things like "clean up all this pet hair and cheerios dust from the back seat of my minivan" rather than full paint restoration.
Finally, and maybe most importantly, I recommend reading this book.
Good luck! Be sure to stop over at /r/AutoDetailing for some expert opinions!
Education! Detailing, business, and marketing. Start with Renny Doyle's book on starting a detailing business.
If that resinates with you, pony up the money to get trained. You could learn on the job, but the risk and the ramp time are too high IMO.
Good luck!
[edit: sorry about the link, mods. I was being lazy.]
I would recommend picking up a good book first. Renny Doyle. Great read. Pick up the nanoskin medium grade sponge, instead of clay. Much more user friendly and cheaper than most clay.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0762778768?cache=93c53338cc8c8b985cd3678d7df4f7a9&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&qid=1413444641&sr=8-9#ref=mp_s_a_1_9
you will want to read this book https://www.amazon.com/So-You-Want-Start-Nursery/dp/0881925845, as well as vol 2 of the "Ball Red Book" . https://m.barnesandnoble.com/w/ball-redbook-volume-2-jim-nau/1100440834 Talk to your nearest agriculural school extension service for a crapton of free info on how to get started and contact your nearest farmers market to ask questions on what people have been buying and how to participate. START SMALL. DO NOT START INVESTING IN EXPENSIVE GIANT GREENHOUSES OR IRRIGATION SYSTEMS. The first book will give you lots of info on systems that can scale and how to kludge them together. I have worked with multimillion dollar growers who started out years ago with a cheap hoop greenhouse and a crop of 100 poinsettias. Slow and steady! GOOD LUCK!
https://www.amazon.com/So-You-Want-Start-Nursery/dp/0881925845
I'm currently reading this now. Pretty good info on starting a nursery.
Yeah, the fatigue sucks :( ... The "Joint Hypermobility Handbook" (a great reference for EDS symptoms and management suggestions) states that certain medications can combat fatigue and lack of focus. Common ADHD medications like Vyvanse can help. You should talk with your primary care doc.
Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 3.0: How to Stand Out from the Crowd and Tap Into the Hidden Job Market using Social Media and 999 other Tactics Today
http://www.amazon.com/Guerrilla-Marketing-Job-Hunters-3-0/dp/1118019091
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informational_interview
These items and your hard work should get you where you want to go.
I read the relevant section in Advanced Bread and Pastry to try to learn about it. I had the opposite problem: I wanted my bread more sour...
It seems like it has to do with the feeding schedule of your starter and when you refrigerate it after you feed it, etc. So play around with that and see if you can get the results you want. My experience has been that playing around with bulk fermentation time does not influence the flavor that much.
You could try incorporating some rye or whole wheat flour into your starter feed, as well.
A few recommendations for you.
Ray Dalio - Principles for success. https://youtu.be/B9XGUpQZY38
I think you’ll see how his advice and mindset can apply to your situation.
Michael Watkins - First 90 Days. https://www.amazon.com/First-90-Days-Strategies-Expanded/dp/1422188612
I think when people get start new roles there’s this expectation of ‘plug n play’ and immediate acceleration for the business, and it’s tempting to skip steps. I think this book does a great job of outlining what you should do. I’ve had to take over leadership roles in turnaround company, which basically is saying the odds of failing is much, much greater than success. I found using the recommendations from book as a good way to manage expectations and covering all areas and nobody could accuse me of not thinking things through when something bad happens. I would look at your next 90 days as the first 90 day do-over. Follow the steps, and see if there’s improvement,
20-30% time, I would look into exploring what ‘problem’ in your industry or field that is worth solving. Maybe it can help your company, maybe it doesn’t. Maybe you have do it secretively. MayBe it leads you into entrepreneurship (but you should passionate in solving problem, than enamored with building a company). Maybe it leads you funding somebody else to execute on your idea. Or if your time at current company ends, then you can pursue this problem/solution with another company. If you don’t know you can carve out the 20% time. I would bucket all tasks considering urgent and important. Only give priority to tasks that are both urgent and important. Don’t stress on urgent/unimportant and not-urgent/unimportant tasks.
My vote is you should stay, make some effort to get good at job including ID-ing current issues, but at same time be proactive in figuring out what you want to do, and making a plan for it, and taking action. This way you have clear idea what your options really are. Quit because there is something you really wish to pursue that’s worth more than that high compensation package that you’re getting now.
Congrats! As someone who made a similar transition about 8yrs ago... Being a successful manager is about understanding your upper management's goals, effectively delegating to your directs, guiding them using appropriate situational leadership principles, and earning the trust of your peers, directs, and management through consistency, communication, and delivering results. Advocate for your people, empower them to do their jobs, and give honest feedback. It's all easier said than done :)
Go read some books!
The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter
The Great Workplace: How to Build It, How to Keep It, and Why It Matters
Leadership and the One Minute Manager: Increasing Effectiveness Through Situational Leadership II
One of mine was effectively that a policy was defined to be a certain way, but you had to recognize that there was some wiggle room that would allow you to still serve a patron and follow the rules. Surprisingly, other applicants wrote they would turn a patron away.
The other questions were effectively time management/task prioritization questions in disguise.
Knock 'em Dead Job Interview (https://www.amazon.com/Knock-Dead-Job-Interview-Interviews/dp/1440536791/) by Martin Yate really helped me. I've had to interview for multiple positions every time I've advanced within the organization.
He is most commonly known as the creator of the comic strip "Dilbert" but he is much more complex. Recently he has gained notoriety for being one of the only people to correctly predict Trump's victory in the 2016 election based upon Trump's masterful powers of "persuasion". He is a pretty smart dude. I highly recommend his blog and also his book.
This is something Scott Adams has talked about a lot. In fact, he wrote a book about it.
His main advice is to use systems, not goals. Don’t focus on specific goals. Focus on doing the things you can do day to day that will inevitably result in good things. You will always have some specific things in mind and you may achieve those things, but your happiness doesn’t hinge on it. If you follow a good system you will enjoy long term success one way or another.
You’re also not in the forever unhappy state of never being where you want to be. Goals, by definition, are things that haven’t happened yet. You focus on doing what you can do right here and now so you are constantly winning.
Forget about stopping gaming for a second. Lift! Start going to the gym and have that in your life besides whatever else is happening. Once you establish that as a habit, you can re-assess your other habits.
More importantly, check your diet, what you put in you is going to determine who & what you are to a large extent. Don't try to go too crazy though because complicating things tends to lead to no results. Stick to eating enough meat, low amount of carbs (some sweet potatoes / brown rice, for dinner), and a good amount of veggies (tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, broccoli, pickled beets, lettuce; mix and match from time to time, I don't mean have all of them in one meal). Whatever you do, you MUST abandon sugary drinks (diet cokes and the like are ok in moderation tho).
Here's a common day's meals template that's dead simple and good for you (and which I eat at least 3 days a week): lunch (bacon, eggs, cottage cheese w/ a splash of light soy sauce, some tomatoes), dinner (chicken thighs & sweet potatoes - oven baked; salad [tomato + cucumber + lettuce + splash of olive oil & vinegar], for drinks just some black tea with a teaspoon of honey in each and water.
Do that, and you'll be on your way to a great life for yourself, I promise. It's also very, very important to have patience. Right now you're probably wanting results fast and won't have the tolerance for putting in the effort required to steer the ship in a new direction. Have the perspective of life's length. You have many, many years to live still and you can enjoy those immensely but it requires you to keep them in mind when after a few weeks of effort you're not seeing the amount of progress you want and will want to revert back to old habits. Believe in the process & don't judge it too soon, it will take months just to get used to it, and then more months to really get the results you fantasise about. That's life, and it won't be any different for anything else - accept it. The sooner, the better. And whatever you do, don't think about it in big steps, but rather small steps. Think about the next hour and the next small tasks, ignore the macro for a second because that can set you back. It's going to be much easier to do it that way. e.g. if you had to lose weight don't think about the amount you have to lose in total, but rather focus on doing things right on that day, or even better - for the next meal, and take it like that, one meal at a time and ignore the bigger picture.
Only after you have diet and exercise under control even think about anything else. Any other "self-improvement" is a distraction until then and wholly unnecessary - even a detriment. Focus only on these two things for now.
Lastly, a great book I'd highly recommend you read to help you better with tactics for your journey is "How to fail at almost everything and still win big" by Scott Adams. It can do a lot for your thinking and will be immensely helpful.
Keep it simple:
That's it, and read the book. Everything else will come after that.
I would suggest reading this book from Scott Adams: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Fail-Almost-Everything-Still/dp/1491518855
It talks about setting up systems instead of goals, and how it helps achieving stuff and getting new opportunities (which might be completely different from what you thought you would be doing).
Goals are easily prone to failure. Systems set you up for success, whatever that ends up being.
Or this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Military-Guide-Financial-Independence-Retirement/dp/1570233195
If you want to try to save $100k by the end of your first 6 years, I would read Mr. Money Mustache's blog, and pick up a copy of The Military Guide to Financial Independence. The blog is all focusing on happiness, which the blog writer does a good job of differentiating from convenience, which is what your average middle class consumer "sukka" thinks of as happiness.
The book has more of a focus on retiring from the military, so you don't have to read it, but for $12, I think it's worth it just so you can consider the possibilities. If you did decide to retire from the military, you would be retiring at 42 or 43, assuming you went in at 22. Your retirement benefits would include: a pension that increases with the COLA index that pays out ~$25k in today's dollars, or $35k-40k in today's dollars, if you managed to commission as a prior-enlisted officer. You would also receive (nearly) free healthcare, and tons of other benefits like the continued use of Space-A.
Regardless of whether you decided to stay in for just 6 or retire, you should read the blog.
Couple things then. First of all, the market is absolute garbage. That will affect you both as a solo practitioner and as an attorney. Secondly, you will not be able to practice until the bar results come back in October.
In the interim, buy this book first and consider other similar books after that. That book is simply the bible to running your own solo practice. You can find it on half.com and sometimes eBay for cheaper so look around. I think I paid $25.00 for my copy and it was worth triple that in returns on investment.
Keep applying for jobs. I cannot emphasize this enough. The best thing you can do is spend a week thinking of exactly the area(s) of law that interest you the most, tailor a resume to each of those areas and then write a cover letter for each of those areas. Make 2-3 short paragraphs about why you love that area and what experience(s) you have in that area of law. The topmost paragraph will be directed specifically to the firm/company you send it to.
If you did not go to a tier one law school or clerk for a federal judge avoid BCG Attorney Search, LawCrossing, GCC consulting, or basically any other consulting company who posts a job. They cannot help you and operate as a resume farm. You are far better off, sending cold resumes to law firms. Check, double check and triple check your spelling, sentence structure and length of both your resume and your cover letter. The resume you send will be bounced immediately by HR or the partner if you do not.
I found much more success with sending cold resumes than email. Emails get deleted, snail mail gets put in a pile or at least looked at. If you know the practice area you want to be in and there is a partner who runs that division, even at a small firm, if you address it to his/her attention it will be read. I cannot say that it will get you an interview or even a call but half the time you will at least get a letter back. Those rejection letters feel much better than wondering why you aren't hearing anything from anyone.
Now then, back to solo practice. It sucks. I mean it is really difficult both on your pocketbook, your ego and your pride. I am not sure where you are living but you want to go outside of the major cities if you want to start your practice imho. The reason for this is that the bar size shrinks considerably and the competition isn't quite so vicious. Depending on what areas you want to focus on, you can often find a few older attorneys willing to help you out and kick you a few cases if you are willing to give them back a referral fee (check your state rules) and do some cases they don't like/don't have time for. You will only succeed if you work your ass off and have a good reputation as an attorney. You MUST be a decent businessman to be a successful solo attorney. You can be a superstar in the courtroom, a legend of transactional work and still close up shop in under a year if you fail to bill clients, for the right amount, at the right times and continue to generate new business. This is the tightrope walk of the first few years and this will make or break you as an attorney.
This is not to say that you will not have time for a social life, but imagine if first year grades were the difference between eating and not eating and you can see why the solo practitioner is under more pressure than his big law friends. No one will be telling you what to do, when to do it, how to do it right. You will screw up a few (hopefully minor) things but the best advice I can give you is these few tips:
Hope this helps and GO STUDY FOR THE BAR There will be plenty of time after the bar to worry about what you are going to do with that newly minted license but you first need to take the test. Good luck and let me know if you need anything else.
Just to cover the bases, you should already know that this is not legal advice and do not follow it as such. As a JD I am pretty sure you already know this but since this is a reply I didn't want anyone to think that this was intended as such.
Haven't yet seen anyone recommend this book. For many this is an indispensable resource for someone starting a solo practice.
FWIW, the author of this book says the best time to go solo is directly out of law school.
I was in your position a while back, and this book did a great job of helping me start making sense of personal finance. From there, I went down a rabbit hole of reading pretty much everything from the PF reading list.
You need to find an agent. Pick up a book called Writer's Market.
http://www.amazon.com/2012-Writers-Market-Robert-Brewer/dp/1599632268/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1318175323&sr=8-2
ed2010.com is a pretty good website to use, look in the section titled "whisper jobs". I've used craigslist for freelance work before and you just have to pick the right one and be smart about how contact and payment transactions are done.
Also, check out The Writer's Market. I'd recommend going to B&N or another bookstore and looking the book over. It has tons of magazines available for aspiring writers and notes how much they pay, when they accept proposals, tips on freelance writing and tons more awesome advice.
Good luck :)
Pick up a copy of The Writer's Market (or borrow one from a library). It's a list of basically every publishing agent out there. There's a section for screenplays, and it will have the name of the agency, their contact info, and even what type of scripts they are looking for.
This book: http://www.amazon.com/2012-Writers-Market-Robert-Brewer/dp/1599632268 is the Bible for contacting agents and publishers in the USA.
Might I suggest the following:
Two Hour Job Search by Steve Dalton.
This Video series on Personal Branding (in particular LinkedIn)
I'm starting my MBA this fall, but I've been using The 2-Hour Job Search to find people to contact about internships. It's worked way better than I could've imagined.
I've had 9 info interviews with people this month in the industry I'm interested in, and have had good email exchanges with several more. It's nice because it gives you exact steps to follow for networking, which is something I've never been very good at.
I'm also planning on attending the career fairs at school, talking to recruiters that come to school, and going to career fairs where companies I'm interested in will have recruiters.
On top of that, my LinkedIn profile and resume are both pretty polished so I can send one or the other to people on short notice.
Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your Wetware
This is an awesome book that covers this topic pretty well. I re-read every once in a while o give myself a refresher. It's really great and is applicable outside of CS as well.
Check this book out: http://www.amazon.com/Pragmatic-Thinking-Learning-Refactor-Programmers/dp/1934356050
Also there is a class called learning how to learn on Coursera which can be helpful.
Pragmatic thinking and learning
Talent is Overrated
The first book explains the Dreyfus learning model. It builds off that with other models of learning like the sports model, chess model, and writing model. The authors explain the different ways you should learn for the different type of activity you're involved in. E.g. for chess, you study the moves the masters would make, compare it with the move you would make -- figure out why the chess master made his move, why you made yours, and which is really better.
The second book basically breaks the myth of talent, as its title implies. And it isn't just hard work or a lot of work that separates the knowledgeable or skilled from the unknowledgeable or unskilled. It's intentionally designed deliberate practice which makes the difference. The practice or learning you do has to have these characteristics to show considerable improvement:
These ideas have a wide application, and if you're serious about learning or acquiring new skills you will definitely find them valuable.
Lastly, check out something like Anki, a free spaced repetition tool. It basically reminds you of things you're about to forget, so you don't forget them. But you do have to actually use the program to get its benefits.
Oh, and make some oaths and principles so you don't just give up on this stuff. Temporary setbacks are all part of the gameplan -- but complete failure is not. Example oath here
Great book for focused working and learning -> Pragmatic Thinking and Learning. Geared a bit towards software developers but works for anyone.
If I was to make a guess, it is that your problem is not your technical skills. You can be the best programmer in the world, but if there are behavioral or cultural red flags you can have huge problems finding a job. What does a Google search for you turn up? How do you act in interviews? How are you to interact with? Those kind of things. A good starting point for addressing these issues is Land the Tech Job You Love. For general career development I have enjoyed The Passionate Programmer personally.
Sorry for the delay.
You have an abundance of great work. Stellar, really. But let's get deep and picky about it since you wanted the feedback. Please keep in mind that these are just my opinions. I'll do my best to rationalize all of them, but other people may suggest different things, and surely there will be people who disagree with me.
The format
The font and spacing do need some alterations in my opinion. Unless you have over 10 years of achievements, you should always keep your resume to 1 page. The means that you need to be as efficient as possible with the space on that single page. In your current formatting scheme, the left hand side of your resume is awfully blank. You could be using that space to talk more about what's already on there, or to talk about more stuff. Alternatively, on average a recruiter may take about 15-17 seconds to review your resume. So you want the important stuff to be eye catching.
Education
Short and simple. I would like to see your GPA though.
Experience
These sections are always hard because of how you have to sell yourself. Saying "Founder and Sole Developer" feels like it's too redundant. Emphasizing on working alone personally seems distasteful. What confuses me the most about this section is that you phrase everything to be in improvements (which is great under normal circumstances), but with you saying that you're the sole developer, it sounds like you were actually just fixing your own problems. If you have a game publishing platform with that many users, you should have the name of the platform/url to the platform right there. Your second bullet is two sentences, so it shouldn't be one bullet. I personally dislike the wording of "cut by two orders of magnitude". Just use the difference in numbers. It sounds too wordy/distracting that way. The third bullet is again holding two bullets worth of ideas. Remember, you have the emphasize what is skim worthy. Single bullets that are too long (basically more than one line) become less attractive to skim. There should be good justification for something to take up more than one line. Also, I would remove the tidbit about users being from the US. 250 million users is a ton. The demographics are maybe something you bring up in an interview, not on the resume though. I like bullet 4. Bullet 5 doesn't really tell me anything. I understand not mentioning client names or anything, but be more specific about the domains. Bullet 6 also doesn't tell me a whole bunch. Tell me what type of tasks your tools help with. Is it testing? Did you create some plug-in with shortcuts that saves time typing in your e-mail or something? I have no clue. I like the internships. Short, simple, and still descriptive.
Skills
I suggest putting the Skills section last. The reason being that you should be slipping in technologies that you've used throughout the rest of your resume. Having the skills section last is almost like a summary, and a quick reminder of skills that you have. In psychology, the serial position effect states that you're more likely to remember data from the beginning and ending of data sets. So while they might kind of skim over the technologies you mention in the middle of your resume, at least at the end they just get a listing right there, boom. It's a nice refresher of what you can do.
Projects
Re-word the first bullet. Instead of saying "daily/weekly/monthly" just say "scheduled". In bullet two, re-word it to start off with "Saved over 10,000 hours by..." That's a fantastic number to see, so you want it right at the front to make the reader go "oh crap, how'd he do that". I think the 3rd bullet is fine. The chrome extension I would remove. It's a great project, don't get me wrong, but there are many many people who are very weary of malicious security programming projects. I understand that you probably didn't have much mal-intent, but you have to think about your audience. If you're applying to a position where security knowledge is relevant, then that's awesome to have there, but otherwise I'd remove it.
Leadership
So, I don't think you should have this section at all. I believe that your leadership skills should be emphasized elsewhere. I don't think you need an entire section on leadership experience. I would rename the section to like "Additional experience", and remove your bolded bullet headers and treat them like regular bullets. I don't like that all of a sudden, you have a change in how you emphasize things. It isn't consistent to the rest of the resume. The Leading bullet sounds like it should be in your experiences section under a job header. In the second bullet, the 8 awards should be rephrased and moved to your Achievements section. The charity bullet feels long and wordy. The way it is worded makes it very confusing. Did you raise $50,000 total or $50,000 for each cause? I would simply re-word it towards something like "Raised over $50,000 to help towards various international causes". As specific as you want to be in your resume, you also want to balance it with enough information to make people curious, because you'll never be able to perfectly sum up your experiences/history on your resume. You want to have natural transitions into conversation. This would be one of those times to exploit that. That's an awesome achievement, and if I were interviewing you and saw my revision on your resume, I'd engage you to hear more about it. I'd be interested.
Achievements
I would move your first bullet to be in your education section. Also, did you really mean 0.05% or did you mean top 5%? The last bullet is awesome, congrats on 3rd place. That's stellar.
Hopefully you find this useful. Maybe there's something in there that you kind of agree with :P
I suggest you looking at this: http://www.careercup.com/resume
Also, if you want really in-depth information on resumes: The owner of the famous Cracking the Coding Interview, as well as the founder of CareerCup, wrote a book on just that: http://www.amazon.com/The-Google-Resume-Prepare-Microsoft/dp/0470927623
A friend recommended this book: The Google Resume by Gayle Laakmann McDowell
I would recommend it over any such service because it really helped me fix up my resume.
> reading a report from an economist for Trulia
what about other economists who would for state universities, like Enrico Moretti or Edward Glaser or any number of other economists? Will you accept their peer reviewed claims?
It wasn't the 'best of' lists that made people move to austin or seattle, it was the strong, booming economy. I recommend this book to understand Austin's growth:
https://www.amazon.com/New-Geography-Jobs-Enrico-Moretti/dp/0544028058
Every information/innovation jobs creates 5 service jobs. Having a microsoft or dell in town allows thousands of hipster bars and restaurants.
Thank you! One more suggestion is that you read The Professor Is In by Karen Kelsky, and the earlier the better. Many doctoral students are in the mindset that they are a student in relation to their professors, when actually, they should be in the mindset that they are future colleagues of current professors. They go to class, they complete their assignments, they go home, and think that's it. When actually, they should start thinking of themselves as colleagues, while respecting certain boundaries, as well as network and continuing productivity in the profession. This goes back to the creating knowledge rather than learning knowledge. This book should definitely make you think about the higher education profession as a whole and will make you better prepared.
A very kind person recommended me this book the other day on this sub https://www.amazon.com/Professor-Essential-Guide-Turning-Ph-D/dp/0553419420
I have already learned SO much and I am barely a quarter of the way through. The woman who wrote it also has a blog that is absolutely stuffed with advice.
http://developer.7digital.com/blog/technical-academy-tour the programme we ran was 3 months and designed to get you onboard as a full-time developer. It was tough but we supported the graduates throughout the process. At lot will depend on your employer. Try and get someone to be your mentor whilst you're there. Also read http://www.amazon.com/Apprenticeship-Patterns-Guidance-Aspiring-Craftsman/dp/0596518382 before you start
I'm an instructor at Dev Bootcamp. I regularly teach people to be Web application developers who are in their 30s and 40s. If you want to ramp up into a career in Web development, or software engineering generally, you're looking at 2 to 4 years of intense study. This will get you from dabbler to apprentice to a journeyman status, where you are getting paid well to build things and keep learning.
Did you plan to retire at 24? If not, you are FINE.
Here's a book you might find useful:
http://www.amazon.com/Apprenticeship-Patterns-Guidance-Aspiring-Craftsman/dp/0596518382
I really enjoy the book Apprenticeship Patterns. It’s got a lot of great advice about this subject. Apprenticeship Patterns: Guidance for the Aspiring Software Craftsman https://www.amazon.com/dp/0596518382
First of all: big hug to you.
I know this feeling so well. Remember that this is normal, and that you're not the only one. It's not like the rest of us feel on top of the world 24/7 and that we know it all.
Second of all: Codewars kind of sucks. I love the idea and I've used it a lot, but if you're only half as good at Python as some of those people are at writing the instructions, you're good to go. Jokes aside, I think it's good for practicing algorithms and "weird" parts of the language (like list comprehension), but it's not the most efficient way to actually get better at real life problems. Being good at programming also includes breaking down large tasks into smaller ones, knowing which library to use, knowing how to structure your program, etc. You don't get that from Codewars. This is just my opinion.
When I was in that rut what helped me was reading Apprenticeship Patterns (O'Reilly), which gave me some good tips on how to keep going. Other things that helped:
Again, what you're feeling is very common. Learning programming is hard, and doing it alone without a community is even harder. Thumbs up to you for reaching out here. Hope you'll feel better and more confident soon!
I've read Pragmatic Programmer. I'd recommend it too. I almost put it on the list, but I've read so many books that I'd recommend that the list would not be consumable. If you liked Pragmatic Programmer, I recommend that you also read Apprenticeship Patterns: Guidance for the aspiring software craftsmen
Most likely this one: https://www.amazon.com/Start-Home-based-Detailing-Business-Home-Based/dp/0762778768
No problem. Shame you can't get physio, that's made the biggest difference for me :( to the point that I pay out of pocket and forgo other things so I can do it... might be worth going for a couple of sessions even just to get evaluated and provided with exercises you could do at home, I've done that a few times when it wasn't in the budget to go regularly.
Failing that, if you have definite diagnoses for particular MSK injuries, it's sometimes possible to find rehab protocols online. (Search phrases would be like, for e.g. "MCL rehab protocol") - that should take you to some patient handouts from insurance companies and hospitals, or the AAOS (see the "education" section) - may be helpful. Though not EDS specific, of course :/
I believe there are also a few books people have recommended on here, about self-care & exercises to help. I've seen the Muldowney Protocol referred to often, and this one too, I believe (can't personally vouch for either).
Good luck!
Tell stories about the projects that you've worked on that demonstrate the skills that the position requires. This indirectly shows you're an effective communicator, and it also engages the interviewer on a conversational level.
Misc other things:
If you have some time, I would highly recommend buying & reading "Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters". It really helps you frame "you" as something that employers want. Hard to explain, but it'll help.
Go buy and read this book -
Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 3.0: How to Stand Out from the Crowd and Tap Into the Hidden Job Market using Social Media and 999 other Tactics Today
http://www.amazon.com/Guerrilla-Marketing-Job-Hunters-3-0/dp/1118019091/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
tldr: You have tremendous opportunities. There are tools to help you move forward more easily.
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Just to be sure I'm understanding, how accurately does the following describe your situation?
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It sounds like your circumstances are difficult. At the same time, your current situation is a sign of your incredible wisdom and persistence; you've achieved a lot in a short period of time. You have tremendous potential to move beyond your current circumstances, onto a path where you can meet your needs, experience the things you desire, and pursue your dreams. Most notably, the following:
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Do you have a life coach or mental health therapist? It sounds like you might experience learned helplessness.
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Have you explored meditation and mindfulness? It might be helpful to either read, listen to, or watch content related to meditation (to quiet the internal negative voices) and mindfulness (to embrace natural suffering of life while inspiring experimentation to use your experiences, talents, and other resources to improve the world around you as much as possible, not only for yourself, but also for others around you). Regardless of your religious and spiritual beliefs, meditation and mindfulness might offer many useful perspectives and habits that are compatible with most (if not all) religious and spiritual communities. Perhaps just start with listening to Acknowledging Suffering by Gil Fronsdal, which is part of The Twelve Steps to Freedom series while your mindlessly browsing the 'nets. Or, Suffering and the End of Suffering Series - Talk 1, Talk 2, Talk 3, and Talk 4. Note the concepts that resonate most with you, then explore those using a variety of mindfulness and meditation resources, perhaps including the following:
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Have you read Tao of Pooh written by Benjamin Hoff? Imagine you are a block of wood. Would it be better – more compassionate, more wise, and more persistent — to shape yourself to fit into the world as it is, or find a place where you naturally fit in as you are, or a little bit of both?
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Have you read the book The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom written by Don Miguel Ruiz? It suggests that simply doing 4 things will help to slowly improve your life and the world around you, perhaps not day-to-day or week-to-week or even month-to-month, but fairly noticeably from year-to-year, and certainly over an entire lifetime.
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Have you taken the Myers-Briggs personality test? It may be helpful to better understand your personality type and natural tendencies. Granted, personality tests are not 100% accurate. But, even if they are only 80% accurate, having some awareness about your personality and tendencies may be helpful for discovering the best path available for your life's journey. Sufficiently valid and reliable (and most importantly, free) versions of the test can be found via 16Personalities, Truity, and Humanmetrics. Once you identify your personality type, you can learn more about that type on those and other websites. Note that characteristics that resonate most with you. Ignore the ones that don't.
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Have you identified strategies to make the most of your limited time, energy, talents, finances, and other resources with your unique circumstances given the world around you? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What opportunities and threats/challenges exist in the world around you? How might you apply your strengths to the world's opportunities as your unique empowerment strategies? How might you apply your strengths to the world's threats/challenges as your unique improvement strategies? How might you apply your weaknesses to the world's opportunities as your unique assistance strategies? How might you apply your weaknesses to the world's threats/challenges as your unique avoidance strategies? For example, in a table like this with 3 to 5 bullet points in each of the 8 main sections (i.e. not the upper left-hand corner box):
External / Internal | Strengths to Maximize | Weaknesses to Minimize
:---------------------|:------------------------:|---------------------------:
Opportunities to Maximize | Empowerment Strategies | Improvement Strategies
Threats / Challenges to Minimize | Assistance Strategies | Avoidance Strategies
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What are your core values? What do you believe is the purpose of life, in general, or better yet: the purpose of your life, specifically (especially if you've identified strategies to make the most of your limited time, energy, talents, finances, and other resources with your unique circumstances given the world around you)?
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Have you explored how you might build a decently-paying job or career in light of your limited time, energy, talents, finances, and other resources with your unique circumstances given the world around you? Have you read Business Model You: A One-Page Method For Reinventing Your Career written by Tim Clark, Alexander Osterwalder, and Yves Pigneur? Or, explored ["how might I get started as a travel blogger or photographer?"](https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+get+started+as+a+travel+(blogger+OR+photographer)
His book is based off of the actual recipes and directions used in a commercial kitchen with a sheeter. It's pretty clear if you have background in pastry, but not if you're a home baker trying to make croissants by hand. I say the book is still worth it whether or not you can actually use the directions...it gives an explanation of the processes we use in the industry and if analyzed, can give troubleshooting for home cooks too.
Get yourself https://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Bread-Pastry-Michel-Suas/dp/141801169X . The book is incredible and it's only problem is it's too clear. The eVersion is totally fine and half the cost, but if I had the money I'd get the hardcover. It gives a lot of insight on what to use and why. It's my reference for everything. Good luck!
The SFBI book is where I got most of my knowledge.
Never lie. That said I have been "unqualified/underqualified" for every position I have held if you look at measures like years of experience. This isn't a deal breaker. Put yourself in the hiring managers shoes. If you want to have a team that is working on bleeding edge technology and projects you have to make some compromises on experience. Particularly if you don't have a enormous budget to throw around. The critical things I look for are below.
Smart - I deal with complex problems everyday. A requirement for working with my team is that you can keep up.
Passion - Am I hiring someone who is passionate about the work and role. Do you work with this stuff in the spare time or just for a paycheck.
Ambition - If their is a gap in skills is the applicant going to work hard to fill the gap as quickly as possible. Would you read books and do research to learn the concepts.
Attitude - Are they a good fit for the team. Can I explain what needs to be done and count on you to solve problems and proactively tell if you are struggling.
Look for smaller companies where you will have the opportunity to wear as many hats as possible. The pay will be lower but your playing a long game with your career :) get the experience and find out which hat you like best.
Here is are two great books on the topic.
https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Gets-Things-Done-Technical/dp/1590598385
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1119087252/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1484396909&sr=8-6&pi=SL75_QL70&keywords=stretch+book
Good luck!
Oh and when you land that next position. This book will help get you off on the right foot.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1422188612/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484397012&sr=8-1&pi=SL75_QL70&keywords=first+ninety+days
My go to recommendation to any leader in a new role.
As a HR business partner you will have a significant input into University strategy after all what is a university without its lecturers, your strategy will help define the future culture of the university. What an opportunity!
First 90 Days, Updated and Expanded: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1422188612/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_i_V3PADbKFMBHQT
Read this: First 90 Days, Updated and Expanded: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1422188612/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_XqeFDbVRQHA8B
Then read this: The Lean Startup: How Constant Innovation Creates Radically Successful Businesses https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0670921602/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_nreFDbZQPJHRM
Biggest failure is lack of humility. Remember you are a Servant Leader (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_leadership) and are responsible for everything while owning nothing.
I'm assuming this is for a company that you haven't worked for before? If so, then The First 90 Days is a good read.
https://www.amazon.ca/First-Days-Updated-Expanded-Strategies/dp/1422188612/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541623708&sr=8-1&keywords=first+90+days+book
https://www.amazon.com/First-90-Days-Strategies-Expanded/dp/1422188612
When I started a new management role, I was gifted with The First 90 Days by Michael Watson. Very informative and helpful. One of the first things he asks his readers is to do a self-evaluation, and builds lessons from there. Good stuff.
If you're starting a new job, check this out: http://www.amazon.com/The-First-90-Days-Strategies/dp/1422188612
100% worth the read.
Thank you for the information. I'm going to look through all of it. Also, please remember this is just an interview, not a job offer. I'll know in a week. For those who care, here's a great TED talk about prepping yourself for a nervous situation (like an interview)..
Also, here are the books I am currently waiting to have delivered from Amazon:
I read this one, but there are many identical books that I imagine are just as good. This one is also very good general career search handbook.
Because you are technical-oriented and in interviews you have to be able to speak and answer non-technical questions. I bet you are pretty good with technical questions. How about someone asks you, 'Describe to me how your job contributes to the overall goals of your department and company', the interview is looking for clues, unless you know, you will not be able to answer the question properly. I had the same problem. I am pretty good with technical questions but non-technical questions I knew I wasn't good at. So, I read this book and it helped me tremendously. After reading through and practicing, I became really good at interview. Doing interviews is a skill set, you need to learn it.
How to fail at almost everything and still win big (league)
Where have I heard that before?
If you're curious about what to read, read this:
http://www.amazon.com/How-Fail-Almost-Everything-Still/dp/1491518855
He's an odd dude, but he has amazing insights you will carry with you all the same, and they will help you be successful.
Read How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big and focus on the system to get you there, not the goal itself.
His blog post on this topic:
https://www.google.com/amp/blog.dilbert.com/post/102964992706/goals-vs-systems/amp
His book where he talks about it:
https://www.amazon.com/How-Fail-Almost-Everything-Still/dp/1491518855
I did this. Of the things you listed, West/Lexis subscriptions are not necessary at the beginning, and they're actually pretty expensive. Your local Bar association probably has a free legal database that you can access for free as a member of the Bar. They are not quite as comprehensive as West or Lexis, but they definitely get the job done. I think the most common one is called Casemaker. You can also use Google Scholar, too. Obviously Google Scholar can't Shepardize a case for you or anything like that, but in the actual practice of law you aren't going to be researching the hell out of every little point of law like you did in Legal Research and Writing, unless you're doing appellate work.
Biggest piece of advice I can give you at the beginning is to keep your overhead as low as possible. Many cities have "executive suite" type setups for rent. Essentially, you're renting a personal office and your rent is pooled with other attorneys to pay for common amenities like conference rooms, a main receptionist who routes all the phone calls, access to copy/fax machines, Internet service, telephone service, etc.
Other than that, obviously you need clients. Where will you get them? Start networking (I hate that term) with other established attorneys who probably have overflow work they can refer to you, or refer you clients who can't afford their rates, but can afford yours. Draft a retainer agreement to use. Know your jurisdiction's Rules of Professional Conduct on trust accounts, representation agreements, etc. Get an established attorney to be a mentor to you... no matter if you got an A in Property or Family Law or whatever else, once you get your first case, you will probably immediately say, "Oh shit, what the fuck do I do?!" You need someone who can show you the ropes of actually practicing law, which is nothing like reading 100 pages in your Con Law book and then answering theoretical questions on the Commerce Clause for an hour.
There are all kinds of other considerations, but you should buy this book, or check it out at a library: How to Start and Build a Law Practice, 5th ed. by Jay Foonberg. It's a classic, and it covers everything. Some of the information in it is a little outdated, but the overarching concepts are sound and it is packed full of great advice.
I would also read this timeless classic on the subject (you can get it used) - how to start and grow a law firm.
https://www.amazon.com/Start-Practice-Career-American-Association/dp/1590312473/ref=asc_df_1590312473/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312186864233&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12525881901966854658&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007489&hvtargid=pla-680690022672&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=62860525100&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312186864233&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12525881901966854658&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007489&hvtargid=pla-680690022672
The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke by Suze Orman
Suze Orman has a whole line of books, and a TV show. I think one of them is "The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke". You can probably spot it at the local library, or buy a used copy from Amazon for about $4 after shipping & handling.
https://www.amazon.com/Money-Book-Young-Fabulous-Broke/dp/1594482241/
But you could just as easily browse the category on Amazon ("financial planning") and use reviews to guide you to a good library book or purchase a used book.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books/2717/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_b_2_3
If you're just starting out, this book REALLY helped me.
http://www.amazon.com/Money-Book-Young-Fabulous-Broke/dp/1594482241/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417882348&sr=1-1&keywords=young+fabulous+and+broke
The best ones are of course free, and both this subreddit and bogelheads have a wealth of knowledge. I try and watch a tutorial or read a story a few times a week on both
For how to create and stick to a budget as a young professional, I like Dave Ramsey. He has tons of good rules of thumb and pitfalls to avoid that will be useful for the rest of your life. He's a bit conservative though, and I don't necessarily agree with his cash only, no debt strategies.
https://www.amazon.com/Total-Money-Makeover-Classic-Financial/dp/1595555277/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480449960&sr=8-1&keywords=dave+ramsey
Suze Orman is another great author for younger people, especially when tackling big things for the 1st time like home ownership and loans
https://www.amazon.com/Money-Book-Young-Fabulous-Broke/dp/1594482241/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480450023&sr=8-1&keywords=suze+orman
My top suggestion though is Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It's not as direct as many other personal finance books, as its more general advice on how to steer your financial life, but itss an incredible book
https://www.amazon.com/Rich-Dad-Poor-Teach-Middle/dp/1612680011/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480450131&sr=8-1&keywords=rich+dad+poor+dad
A nation is valued by what it creates. Having a 300 million people who can have a mathematical ceiling of balancing a checkbook is not very competitive.
> I am actually working with a publisher to develop a Streets Smarts textbook for high-school and colleges around the US, and will definitely be incorporating some Reddit's thoughts and suggestions into the book.
It's already been created, http://www.amazon.com/Money-Book-Young-Fabulous-Broke/dp/1594482241/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1293751075&sr=8-2 It is cheap and quite concise.
I'm in a similar position. I don't have a huge emergency fund because I know in a real dire emergency I could always call up my parents. I'd rather pay my loans quicker than work for years to build an emergency fund and I have the luxury of that. If you have any kind of safety net like that you might want to do the same.
So here is how I do it:
I think you should throw as much money as you can at the loans without skipping on your 401k and possibly a roth IRA. Those loans are guaranteed to lose you money at their interest rates.
You should also make sure the funds you choose on your 401k are low expense ratios with no loading fees. There is some good info on this in the sidebar.
This book looks a bit cheesy but honestly it spells everything out in simple terms and it's meant for recent grads. I grabbed it off my roommates bookshelf one day and ended up reading it cover to cover. It really re-states much of what anyone on this subreddit would tell you.
Best of luck, sounds like you have a good start on things!
Here is my BASIC template - Use the following columns.
Company Alumni Motivation Posting Size applied Contacted replied Viewed Rejected
I used the 2 hour job search as a template. And then I use my gmail to organize the specific jobs applied to (as most now send an email for application). https://www.amazon.com/2-Hour-Job-Search-Technology-Faster/dp/1607741709
Heh :-)
In fact, I still put off things. Though they explain why that is, and that's very important I think, so you don't get frustrated because you're suddenly supposed to be a high-achiever (at least by your own unrealistic expectations).
Habits get ingrained more and more over time. They use the analogy of a slope in the winter. When you slide down you carve out a little path, then another. Over time though, you carve out one path the most and you're less likely to take another route. You don't get rid of procrastination by reading a silly book. You gain awareness though and are given the tools/techniques to battle it, which takes time and effort. But I already notice that the discomfort I feel when putting something off has lessened quite a bit. That alone makes it more likely for me to follow through.
While we're in that new-agey mood I'd also like to recommend mindfulness meditation to my fellow hackers. I first heard about it in Pragmatic Thinking and Learning where it was suggested as a way to increase concentration. When I glimpsed a little bit through the procrastination book, I noticed that they recommend mindfulness as well in a later chapter. Mindfulness meditation, to me, really seems to be a magic bullet. One that works. :-)
If you read this and think it's bullshit, feel free to voice your opinion. Maybe we can sort out some misunderstandings.
When meditation is discussed I have the feeling that to some people it seems to be a wishy-washy esoteric practice. It is not. I have avoided it for a while for that concern, but it turned out to be very helpful in quieting the mind and gaining focus. The problem here also is: meditation is an active process (you don't just sit around doing nothing) AND it needs practice. Now we're back to that procrastination thing. ;-) It sucks when you put something off that you know is helpful to you and only takes 15-30 minutes (or how long you decide to practice).
That depends on how you personally learn. Maybe have a read of https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pragmatic-Thinking-Learning-Refactor-Programmers/dp/1934356050/
Pragmatic Thinking & Learning is a pretty good overview of different topics about learning and study skills.
Learn more, study less also a good book to use as an overview of topics.
LEARN MIND MAPPING
There're these books, with the sort of meta, job/project wisdom I think, being glancingly familiar with them (though I haven't read either, they just look like what you're looking for). For what it's worth they're both well-known developers.
97 Things Every Programmer Should Know: Collective Wisdom from the Experts
And -
Chad Fowler's "The Passionate Programmer: Creating a Remarkable Career in Software Development"
>But what people don't know is with every manufacturing job that disappeared, 1.6 service jobs also disappeared - waiter and barista for example
>#1.6 service jobs also disappeared
It's already been happening dingus, for a long time. And do you really think that the workers at McDonalds would be demanding $15/hr minimum wage if it was full of teens/college students like it was in the 1980s-early 1990s when there were decent manufacturing jobs?
No.
Because all of those decent paying manufacturing jobs have been eliminated, every eliminated manufacturing job has also taken 1.6 service jobs. Those people have not gone anywhere - all of the unemployed manufacturing positions are taking these service jobs and demanding the old 1980s-early 1990s manufacturing living wages. There are less service jobs because there are less manufacturing jobs but all manufacturing sector unemployed are competing for the less prevalent service jobs.
It's basic economics guy. If you are only a high school grad in 2000s America you are fucked career wise in most cases.
READ THIS BOOK FROM YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY
A lot of people think we are all divided by red and blue ideologies but we are even more divided by blue collar, white collar, and gray collar.
I have ADD too, it may take you longer to learn programming than some other people and that is ok. I highly recommend Vyvanse if you can afford it, if not I would ask your doctor about Adderal. Write down your programming goals and proactively minimize distractions. If you get too distracted programming at home, go to the library, put on some headphones and listen to Bach. Writing things down helps a lot, keep a notes.txt or goals.txt on your desktop and keep them open. Look into ways to manage your time better. There is tons of help out there on the internet. I also recommend the book Pragmatic Thinking & Learning (http://www.amazon.com/Pragmatic-Thinking-Learning-Refactor-Programmers/dp/1934356050)
Good Luck, remember programming is something you have to work on your whole life and each day you just get a little bit better.
If anybody wants to read about this topic in more detail and more learning (instead of performance) oriented, try this book: https://www.amazon.com/Pragmatic-Thinking-Learning-Refactor-Programmers/dp/1934356050
Hell, there's even a life-book that focuses on the two selves: https://www.amazon.com/Untitled-Mark-Manson/dp/0062888439
I am sorry you are having a hard time.
When I feel low about programming/engineering, I sometimes find a good book or two for motivation. The Passionate Programmer is one of my favorites.
https://smile.amazon.com/New-Geography-Jobs-Enrico-Moretti/dp/0544028058/ref=smi_www_rco2_go_smi_4497631610?_encoding=UTF8&%2AVersion%2A=1&%2Aentries%2A=0&ie=UTF8
It’s not so simple
Highly Recommend this