DEV Community: Kenneth Olsen

How to find a mentor?

Kenneth Olsen — Sun, 28 Apr 2019 14:54:41 +0000

Hi all! My name is Kenneth and I am an aspiring web developer. For 2 years I have been spending, literally, just about every free minute I have trying to self teach myself programming. I will say that I am a great, great deal closer to my goal than when I first started, but I still feel like I have an insane amount to learn.

The problem is that, without the structure of a classroom, I have trouble knowing where to start, what to learn next, should I keep focusing on this? Or should I move on and learn about that? It seems like I spend a quarter of my time just trying to figure out what to focus on, then another quarter of my time trying to find a good resource to learn from.

The next problem I have is that I don't have the time or money to go back to school or attend a bootcamp. I am 33 years old and have a home and family I have to worry about. Trust me, even if I just had the time to do one of these things, I would. I do, however, have the time to spend a few hours everyday to sit and try to learn what I can. I think with a bit of structure and guidance I could really take off and make web development a career.

So, that brings me to why I am writing this. I would love to find a mentor to work with me. Give me that little bit of structure and guidance I need. I have seen some of the mentoring programs online and, while I would love to do that, I just can't afford the hourly rate most are asking for. As I said, I have a family and home I need to worry about, and am living paycheck to paycheck just to provide for them. So, does anyone out there know of any options for me? Anyway to find a mentoring program that is fairly cheap? Any ideas at all are welcome.

I have poured my heart and mind into learning all of this and sometimes I feel like I am just going around and around in circles and not getting anywhere at all. If ANYONE out there can help, I would be forever grateful.

    Thank You in advance for any responses
                              Kenneth Olsen

Would you hire me with these skills? An honest assessment of my skills as a web developer.

Kenneth Olsen — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 22:10:18 +0000

First off, no, I am not asking anyone for a job. I just want some honest opinions and answers.

I have attempting to self-teach myself web development for almost 2 years and I am pretty confident with my skills. However, since I am a 33-year-old career maintenance man, I feel like I have to go the extra mile and have other skills that can set me apart from the 22-year-olds with CS degrees. With that in mind, I would like to present a list to you. This list includes my web dev skills as well as my "other" skills. This list will also be written in a resume or portfolio type fashion as though I am attempting to "sell" myself to you.

Any feedback, negative or positive, is GREATLY APPRECIATED!!

Now, ON TO THE LIST

Would consider myself fluent with HTML and CSS.
Adequate with JavaScript, but there is room for improvement.
Have worked with Python, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Vue, and React, but would not say I am proficient with them. However, given a good mentor, feel like I could pick them all up quickly.
To go along with the previous entry, I feel like I have learned enough about "Programming" to be able to pick up many of the common languages quickly, given a good mentor or a bit of guidance.

Working in maintenance for the last decade in Alzheimers and Dementia Health Care Facilities has given me, what I consider, some transferable skills as well. Skills like,

Ability to look at a large problem and break it down into smaller more manageable problems.
Very good at thinking of "outside the box" solutions to problems.
Ability to look at a problem and visualize all the different components and functions it is supposed to have in order to work properly, thus allowing me to find the part that is malfunctioning much quicker.
I have GREAT communication skills. People who have Alzheimers and Dementia, sometimes cannot understand what it is that I need to do, or may not be able to properly communicate what they need. So, top-notch communication skills are a must in my current field. This includes non-verbal communication as well as the ability to explain something, that we as developers think is a simple concept, to someone that may not be tech-savvy in a way that doesn't make them feel like I think they are dumb.
I know how to ask a good question. This may sound a little odd, but I believe it is a great asset. Asking good questions can get me to the solution much faster.
Dedication and willingness to learn. Since making the decision to learn web development, I have treated my learning as though I am in an actual college class. I have to practice every single day, NO EXCEPTIONS! I will bring the same dedication with me to your company.
Last but not least, let us not forget that I have been in maintenance for a long time and have done well enough to rise through the ranks and become Director of Maintenance over 2 skilled nursing centers at the same time at the age of only 33. This would mean you are getting someone with the knowledge and skills to be able to fix anything around the office. If you were to give me the career that I have dreamed of I would be more than happy to show my appreciation by saving you money in repair bills and fixing what needs fixing.

And that it! As I said before, any feedback at all is appreciated.

What non-tech skills do you consider transferable to programming/development?

Kenneth Olsen — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 01:56:57 +0000

Hi all!

I have been a long time reader of this site, but this is my first time posting.
I am just curious what skills, outside of tech-related fields do you think would be beneficial to someone looking to try to make a career jump into programming / web development?

I am a career maintenance man, but my passion is with programming. I feel like some of the skills that I have acquired through my field of work have helped me considerably with learning to program. Some of the skills that I am speaking about include critical thinking, problem-solving, coming up with "outside the box" solutions to problems, and the ability to break a large problem down into smaller, more digestible problems, etc.

What other skills or occupations do you think would transfer well or be beneficial to someone looking to get into programming? Or if you disagree with the skills I listed for my profession, please feel free to let me know why.