From: Chad Perrin <code@...>
Date: 2012-12-18T13:25:24+09:00
Subject: Re: Wondering About Flatiron School

On Sun, Dec 16, 2012 at 11:28:48PM +0900, Jan E. wrote:
> 
> It seems we have a very different understanding of being a programmer.
> Somebody who can do basic tasks within a team that looks after him is a
> code monkey to me, not a programmer. Yeah, you can probably become a
> decent code monkey in a few months. Many school kids today don't even
> have to be taught the basics, because they've already published projects
> on GitHub, maybe done some small jobs etc.
> 
> But that doesn't make them programmers! There's a big difference
> between, say, writing an SQL query that kind of works -- and being able
> to understand an execution plan and write a query that won't break down
> even if thousands of customers visit the page simulatenously. A
> programmer to me is somebody who actually knows what he's doing and can
> come up with workable solutions in a short amount of time. And that's
> something you won't learn in a few weeks.
> 
> Of course you don't necessarily need formal education. But it does help
> to come down to earth and get *real* knowledge and experience as opposed
> to "Hey, I've read some PHP tutorials, I'm a web developer now!".
> 
> It's like with any other serious job: I'm sure there are many great
> self-taught  architects out there. But when you hire one, you *probably*
> want him to have an actual diploma and not just a certificate from
> "Learn statics in only 1 week!".
> 
> I'm not saying that those Flatiron courses are useless. I don't know
> them. But I think they give a a very wrong impression of what you can do 
> with your knowledge. What kind of jobs will that be when all you need is 
> a few weeks of training?

I have a question for you, if you don't mind getting slightly tangential:

What should an applicant for an "entry level" Ruby job have on his or her
resume?

-- 
Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ]