> talk to people around you, they’re surprisingly willing to be involved in what you’re doing if it’s interesting and not too onerous for them. Counters the general assumption that if you talk to strangers they’ll think you’re crazy.<p>Maybe if you're a young woman (as the author is) approaching someone at a coffee shop, then sure.<p>Reverse the genders and watch the interaction take on a dramatically different character.
I LOLed so hard at "The thing was at first I couldn’t find one start-up I wanted to devote the next year or so of my life to building."<p>Hint: startup is more like 7-10y+ unless you're just playing at it, or it fails. If you go into it expecting it to be a year, it probably will be.
"Apply for jobs you’re a bit under qualified for. Most job descriptions describe the perfect candidate. Those features are a wish list not a must have. This applies even more in start-ups where genuine passion for the company gets you a long way."<p>This sound like very good advice.
Chutzpah goes very far. Ask for what you want, and explain why you deserve to get it -- then offer to demonstrate your fitness. It's an excellent approach!
What cracks me up is this proclamation made by said author[0]:<p><pre><code> Over the 200 waking hours, I managed to
hit the standard needed. It felt like
multiple lucky answers and lots of Googling
that got me there, but that’s how learning
works. I learnt enough Javascript to
get accepted onto the course and I spent
another 3 months, with 15 others,
Googling things together and creating
a new app each week.
Now I’m being paid to build early
MVP’s (minimum viable products) for
start-ups. So I can code.
</code></pre>
I mean, really? This certainly cannot be modus operandi for start-ups can it? Three months of "Javascript Googling" allows someone to brag about:<p><pre><code> being paid to build early
MVP’s (minimum viable products) for
start-ups.
</code></pre>
And leveraging that incredibly weak argument into a summary of:<p><pre><code> So I can code.
</code></pre>
Wow. If that's all it takes for someone to be hired into a start-up, then the whole "funding is drying up" meme prevalent recently is <i>really</i> making sense.<p>0 - <a href="http://www.gadgette.com/2016/02/19/how-i-learnt-to-code-in-a-scarily-short-space-of-time/" rel="nofollow">http://www.gadgette.com/2016/02/19/how-i-learnt-to-code-in-a...</a>
Great article. It seems that she has an outgoing, friendly personality. Companies need those types of employees just as much as they need good technologists.
>After some more standard interview prep and a short interview at Crowdcube a few days later accompanied by my newly filled little black book I got taken on for the job.<p>Meanwhile, I am being humiliated by stupid whiteboard interviews .<p>I really need to work on my (non existent ) people skills.