I’m coming from the other side of things. I was a non-programmer with a programming passion that used programming as a part of my work voluntarily, but didn’t know the first thing about the kind of programming that companies hire for.
I took a coding boot camp when I decided to leave academia to join industry, and it was a useful primer on the “in” technologies that folks would be hiring for, and of the “style” of code that was fashionable at the time. I would not have hired any of my classmates (well, I might have hired one as a junior), but the bootcamp did what I needed it to do, exposing me to the “culture” of programming at tech companies.
I was hired as a mid-level and quickly progressed to senior at a large global tech company. I have been at a few different tech companies now and haven’t run into any major challenges or problems, and have only received positive feedback from my peers and managers.
If I were evaluating who I was then as a potential hire today, I’d probably consider me a risky hire with unknown potential. I think it helped that I had a number of usable “products” that I had made over the course of my career as a solo programmer that didn’t really fit any mold. I also think it helped that I didn’t have any trouble with basic algorithm brain teasers, finding them sort of fun at the time I was interviewing. I’ve never tried leetcode but I suspect I’ve only seen leetcode “easies.” Thankfully I haven’t had to do any of that for any of my subsequent jobs as I don’t think I’d have the patience for it anymore.
> If I were evaluating who I was then as a potential hire today, I’d probably consider me a risky hire with unknown potential
You would be wrong. The most important indicator the hiring manager saw in you is that you worked in academia. Hiring someone who worked in academia and also learned to code on the side is a lot different than hiring a middle aged soccer mom whose MLM scheme didn't work out. Both may have a 3 month bootcamp under their belt, but one has an entirely different work ethic.
That specific example seems sorta yikes opinion for somebody with hiring power. Aren't people who get targeted by MLMs victims? More importantly, what does that say about how hard they work? Or being a mom?
It‘s a stereotype for the sake of a stereotype. I don‘t think anyone identifies with such a narrow unrealistic stereotype, so there is no point in arguing for an entirely hypothetical marginalized group.
By the way, hiring is all about judging people‘s past work, and I‘m sorry to pop your bubble if you think past MLM work or having large gaps in your employment history doesn‘t reflect bad on anyone.
> I'm coming from the other side of things. I was a non-programmer with a programming passion that used programming as a part of my work voluntarily
I would love to ask why didn't you pursue programming in the first place, but last time I did that the person explained to me that they have a complex, chronic, hard to diagnose rare digestive tract disease and they went to study nutritional science specifically so that they could at least figure out what to eat to not makes things worse.
Honestly, I thought there was more glory AND autonomy in academia than in "industry." I came from a family that valued education and learning and monastic-like traditions over things like money or productivity. With the way my blinders had been fashioned, it simply didn't occur to me until later in my life that doing "problem solving for hire" was a viable life-path, and that software as a pursuit in and of itself offered me everything academia offered me and more.