Ask HN: Finding Mentorship in Development?

by scrapcode on 2/14/2025, 6:59:58 PM with 3 comments
I've been dabbling in tech and development for over 20 years. I am a self-taught programmer, that eventually completed by BS:CS, that has always studied development books on craftsmanship, data structures, specifics of different languages, and the works.

I've had spouts of freelancing here and there on small projects, but my career took me in a different direction with a whole assortment of different job titles: military, avionics, managing contracts, facilities management, stationary engineering, CAD work, project management, and IT services management. I have been in leadership roles on an acting basis as needed, but have never really felt a calling to go down that path.

By metric of performance reviews and promotions, I have excelled in all of my positions, mostly in part of my ability to leverage software development and my technical skills as whole. I have always leveraged programming to streamline processes and make my organization more efficient. However, my job titles have never directly reflected my software development skills, making it challenging to transition into a formal developer role.

I have gone in and out of periods where I think about "starting again" so that I can be a developer on a real development team, with the title and all of the fame and glory that come along with it (I'm trying to throw some humor in here). For the past week or so I have been trying to put together a boilerplate resume+cover letter package that articulates what I can do, and how I've used these skills in the past to be of value. I’m looking for advice on how to effectively showcase my experience to hiring managers, am open to some certifications that could validate my skills, and suggestions on impactful personal projects to build a strong portfolio.

As I've let me career lead me far away from the developer world, I don't have any network at all in this space. Are there are reputable services or anyone that does this for a living that would be willing to take a peak at what I've put together and give me their opinion on where I could improve to give myself a shot? I am realistic in this pursuit and realize I am looking at junior-levels spots here, and will earn less than I make now in the beginning, but I sincerely do think I can provide a lot of value and just need help and advice as to whether or not I am articulating that well or not. Thank you!

  • by sherdil2022 on 2/14/2025, 7:52:04 PM

    Try ChatGPT first. It would provide a distilled dump and you can then decide which way to go. I am doing the same for some issues I am facing. May be pathetic, I agree. But when you don’t have anyone to talk to - except useless therapists or counsellors - ChatGPT is much better - and cheaper. Try it - at the least. Prompt it to give you succint information and references. Use it to brainstorm and can then decide to talk to others.