I am a programmer by trade (hex programmer originally) and have worked commercially in probably close to 25 languages over the past 30 years. The programming experience is what employers are looking for - as opposed to the actual language skill, as the overall process is somewhat syntax agnostic. Obviously there is a gulf between certain aspects of language and programming methodology but the concept of being a programmer far outweighs the actual experience in one area. I run teams of programmers and whilst I would certainly not discount your ability based on your previous employment I would say that in terms of preference employers will be looking for a) Programmers familiar with Ruby b) Programmers who are willing/able to learn Ruby and c) People who can write in Ruby but are not programmers.
Alex Lynham is quite correct on salary range for non experienced guys, but this obviously increases as experience in the language and also the whole 'programming' experience increases. However well you know the language there is a lot to be learned about the job itself. Good luck - as they say in Japan On Wednesday, July 23, 2014 3:47:36 PM UTC+1, Adam Akhtar wrote: > > Hi everyone, > > I'm currently living in Japan but strongly considering about returning > back to Manchester with my wife. This all depends on how easily I can > become a rails developer back in Manchester though. > > *I'd love to get local devs opinions on the following - * > > * How is the ruby / rails job scene back in Manchester. Big or small? > Growing or shrinking? > > * What is a typical salary for entry ~ mid developers? > > * Who is hiring? Beyond this mailing list are there any other good sources > for hiring announcements? > > *However.....* > > I don't have commercial experience. This will be a career change from > teaching in a japanese secondary school. > > *But....* > > I have been programming with ruby / rails for over 5 years now > individually. > Since then I've created various rails apps such as > > * Online proposal software aimed at freelancers > > * Pandora like music video player > > * User messaging engine - A rails *engine* you can drop into you app to > get instant messaging between you and your users just like in Intercom.io > (in progress but pushing soon to github ) > > I also read open source code regularly so quite comfortable in others code. > > *So...* > > How easy do you think it will be for me to find a job given the above? > > Im busy making a portfolio site with links to my code - just want to get > some feedback as soon as possible. > > Any pointers will really help out! > > Adam > > > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NWRUG" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nwrug-members. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
