I had a potential employer tell me a few months back that I was "not passionate" about writing code. What they didn't know is that:
1) I also need to keep working in my current field (which I also love doing, but happens to not be coding) to support myself.
2) I have actually been working on learning for a year with minimal paid work so that I can make time to code and become proficient.
3) I have been working on sharpening coding skills other than just Ruby. It is my belief that diversity in knowledge and skills is a strength, not a clear indication of a lack of passion.
4) I lead two co-working study group meetups per week to surround myself with other coders who have similar goals and want to focus on social coding, sometimes we focus on RoR, sometimes we are language agnostic.
If this doesn't prove otherwise -- at least a little -- I don't know what will. Oh, except writing my own app, which I am also doing. ;)
Hello Mary,
ReplyDeleteThe next time a potential employer ask you that question, feel free to respond with "Yes, and I'm passionate about software craftsmanship! Are you?"
Depending on her or his response, feel free to segue into idea exchanges and/or dialogues -- Here are primers...
http://manifesto.softwarecraftsmanship.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_craftsmanship
Take care,
Lloyd
Thanks Lloyd, you are the best! If it had been a question, it would have been easier to address, but it was pretty much their assessment and they just told me that was their perspective. It just kind of blew me away that they were telling me how I felt.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how I could express my passion more. One thing I didn't mention: I am a bit "code shy", so I don't put a lot up on github and so on...I suppose that could be viewed as being "not passionate". I think i need to change that.