Ouch
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I tried several times... I don't learn well in group settings...I get easily distracted... Second...I'm no longer interested...I mean...I know where I stand and i'm 27 years old...high school is a little late as I would be 30ish before I got into post secondary... Third, I looked into writting first/second year challenge exam for computer science...thing is...I would need money to take the exam and money to buy some of the course material (books)... I cannot afford to do this and my Dad won't help... Besides he doesn't care about my education anymore either... It's not really a problem either...as I am sure I could convince someone I'm capable...I have applications, articles, source code and code snippets to prove my skillset in many different languages and technologies... It's more of a lack of connections or business know how thats stopping me from getting anywhere... Cheers :) It's frustrating being a genius and living the life of a moron!!!
Do they have the equivalent of the G.E.D. in Canada? Take the test then enter College. You would be there within the year.
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Thats my biggest problem... I've realized this for years...but it's difficult to make the transition from developer to businessman as they are very different skillsets... It's frustrating being a genius and living the life of a moron!!!
I don't know where you are in Canada, but find your nearest Community Futures[^] office and go see them. They offer all sorts of marketing courses, resources, business development info., advice etc. I used to work for them - wrote a loan portfolio management system way back in the late 80's to administer their small business loans. I also wrote sample business plans and cash flows projections for their training sessions (again decades ago). A few years back I took one of their excellent marketing courses - I definitely recommend it. Really, the first thing to do is find out if what you want to do is viable. Their courses will give you what you need to know to develop a business plan, marketing plan, cash flow projections etc. It will also give you access to people who have been there many times and can review your ideas. Heck, I found out there are people in town here who will review my proposals and other documents for free. Cheers, Drew.
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CashFlow? Business Plan? Budget? What, have you been reading Robert Kiyosaki's very successful and very good books? (Which BTW everyone should read) :p [And no I don't get a commission I just recommend them because they do open a completely new way of thinking. Now I really feel guilty when I buy toys] "Until the day of his death, no man can be sure of his courage" -- Jean Anouilh
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I don't know where you are in Canada, but find your nearest Community Futures[^] office and go see them. They offer all sorts of marketing courses, resources, business development info., advice etc. I used to work for them - wrote a loan portfolio management system way back in the late 80's to administer their small business loans. I also wrote sample business plans and cash flows projections for their training sessions (again decades ago). A few years back I took one of their excellent marketing courses - I definitely recommend it. Really, the first thing to do is find out if what you want to do is viable. Their courses will give you what you need to know to develop a business plan, marketing plan, cash flow projections etc. It will also give you access to people who have been there many times and can review your ideas. Heck, I found out there are people in town here who will review my proposals and other documents for free. Cheers, Drew.
Sounds like a great resource. Would you know of the equivalent in the US perhaps? Jeremy Falcon
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Sounds like a great resource. Would you know of the equivalent in the US perhaps? Jeremy Falcon
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CashFlow? Business Plan? Budget? What, have you been reading Robert Kiyosaki's very successful and very good books? (Which BTW everyone should read) :p [And no I don't get a commission I just recommend them because they do open a completely new way of thinking. Now I really feel guilty when I buy toys] "Until the day of his death, no man can be sure of his courage" -- Jean Anouilh
Not everyone is a fan of RK[^]. Jon Sagara When I grow up, I'm changing my name to Joe Kickass! My Site | My Blog | My Articles
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I don't know of this Robert Kiyosaki, but I will google for him. My knowledge of business matters results from (1) previous self employment and (2) Business Management and Enterprise training.
Richard A. Abbott wrote:
I don't know of this Robert Kiyosaki, but I will google for him.
http://www.johntreed.com/Kiyosaki.html[^] Save yourself some $$ -- get the books from your library. Or, chances are that someone you know already has them. Jon Sagara When I grow up, I'm changing my name to Joe Kickass! My Site | My Blog | My Articles
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I tried several times... I don't learn well in group settings...I get easily distracted... Second...I'm no longer interested...I mean...I know where I stand and i'm 27 years old...high school is a little late as I would be 30ish before I got into post secondary... Third, I looked into writting first/second year challenge exam for computer science...thing is...I would need money to take the exam and money to buy some of the course material (books)... I cannot afford to do this and my Dad won't help... Besides he doesn't care about my education anymore either... It's not really a problem either...as I am sure I could convince someone I'm capable...I have applications, articles, source code and code snippets to prove my skillset in many different languages and technologies... It's more of a lack of connections or business know how thats stopping me from getting anywhere... Cheers :) It's frustrating being a genius and living the life of a moron!!!
I just wanted to sum up in simpler terms what bugs me about your sig. I know you mean it as a joke kind of, but it still sends the wrong message. Our lives are not defined by what we think, but by what we do.
I can imagine the sinking feeling one would have after ordering my book, only to find a laughably ridiculous theory with demented logic once the book arrives - Mark McCutcheon
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Hockey wrote:
Basically I programmed and recorded my hours and sent the guy my bill every week 15 USD/hour at a time the Canadian $$$ was low so it was about 22/hour which was good...but all good things come to an end and that expired...
Not bad considering you don't have a college education. You stated you only have a 10th or 11th grade education.
Paul Conrad wrote:
Not bad considering you don't have a college education
I do not think $15 USD is good pay for anyone in the computer field with ANY decent experience. A minimum should be $25 per hour! Here in the USA, some .NET jobs with lead experience are heading over the six digit salaries again. If a person makes the right contacts, remote work can be had for decent pay. It really does not matte what level of education you have as long as you can produce the work. Being yet another self taught drop out, I know I did my fair share of junk jobs in the early days. There are a lot of small businesses that want free copies of the software they "want" to use and cannot see paying more that beer and pizza for work. When I wised up a bit, I no longer took those small junk jobs, eventually picking up work for those that already tried the "beer and pizza" routine and found they got just what they paid for. Any good developer should place a "decent" value on their work and if they do not seem to find the work for that pay, keep looking, it is out there! Rocky <>< Latest Post: Visual Studio 2005 Standard, whats missing? Blog: www.RockyMoore.com/TheCoder/[^]
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http://www.codeproject.com/lounge.asp?msg=1555326#xx1555326xx[^] Why I have I chosen to create a new post...I felt it important that everyone that laughed at me had a better understanding of where I was coming from... :-D Perhaps it's my fault for not fully explaing in the first place... I chose Marc's post because...well...it was the biggest kick in the junk...sucks being called down by someone you respect... I'm gonna have to start calling Marc my Dad :P But that's a whole different can of worms ain't it??? :) My history (queue epic theme music): ==================================== I started programming at a very early age (nothing new I know a handfull of guys my age who did the same) and have therefore accumulated a vast amount of experience...covering everything from low level to high level...from desktop to web development...I am interested and very passionate about almost everything computers and being single and living at home with the parents I can afford to spend a great deal of time doing what I do best...learning new stuff...and tinkering with ideas, etc... I am currently employed at a minimum wage job delivering auto parts...as there are few programming jobs in my city...especially those which are worth my time and effort...I'm not complaining...I'm just saying... So if you feel the need to yell at me and say something like: "Move to another city" hold your breathe... I can't do anything if it doesn't make me happy...maintaining garbage scripts, etc...doesn't appeal to me...so despite better pay...I'd be as miserable doing that living on my own as I am living at home with my parents...but at least here I still have flexibility..which makes me happy... I dropped out of school, not to smoke pot in the hockey bleachers...but to read books on programming and study becoming a pilot (my original intent in life was to be a fighter pilot) of course...nothing ever turns out quite as expected... :P I drive my delivery truck *really* fast to compensate for my lack of fast flying...but only on desserted roads so no one is put at risk but me - don't worry MADD :) Around 5-6 years ago...I started thinking maybe I could make a living at programming...seeing how...well it's all I've done everyday of my life since I was about 7 or 8 years old...and despite not having a
You mentioned a project you developed - why don't you offer your application for free, make a bit of a name for yourself, and then you can then use your project as a reference for potential clients. I think you will find it extremely difficult getting hired to take the *lead* (i.e. planning, architecting etc as you mentioned) on projects without some impressive *demonstratable* projects as well as some industry certification. Have you considered doing a MySQL exam? Is there certification for PHP? Can I ask how much time you would estimate that you've spent on forums helping people (or even general discussions) over the years? Have you had much ROI for all this time? Perhaps you're too generous with your time, and should rather give this time to potential clients. And unless you use your real name, you're not really creating a reputation for yourself. cheers BTW are you interested to get in touch with another Canadian PHP developer?
"Nothing ever changes by staying the same." - David Brent (BBC's The Office)
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