Ask HN: Programming Jobs in High School | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Programming Jobs in High School

6 pointskmanii3 comments

Hi HN, I'm a high school senior looking for part time work since I've finished college applications. I thought that getting a service job wouldn't be the best use of my time since I already know how to code. Is it very unlikely that someone will even give me the opportunity to demonstrate by programming abilities because I'm still in high school and don't have any professional work experience? I'm confident in my skills, but I highly doubt that I'll even get to show a potential employer them. I don't really have any connections either, so I'm kind of out of options.

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You are doing exactly the right thing by reaching out and asking for advice in communities you are a part of that may be able to offer you a job or a connection to one. One piece of advice however would be to include a link to a resume or personal website showing off your independent projects and skills. It’s these projects that will show what technologies you are proficient in and prove to others that you know what you are doing even at a younger age.

I also started coding very early and used my time choose a project and dive very deep into the full stack. Web technology is the easiest thing to “show off” to others since it’s ubiquitous and easy to distribute. Even if you consider yourself a “back end” type of person, learn some web dev to be able to show and tell.

This is a time in your life that you can work on a piece of software that’s just for fun and to learn and do something cool. If you are lucky and commercial, that project might become a job of its own that provides you a passive income. Otherwise, it’s a part of your portfolio to help you secure another opportunity. I routinely look to give part time/internship opportunities to folks in your position precisely because others may overlook your talents and passion to develop them and because I was one of them :)

Depending on what you can code you still have options! Make sure you have a small portfolio available before you try any of these.

- 1. Make your own business (web dev contracting is your best bet). Go to friends and family or small businesses in town and ask if they need help with their web presence. Offer to work per project - say $100 - $200 for small projects. There is very high upside to this if you stick at it.

- 2. Email local professors and ask if they need programming help. Many university research projects have funding and need to hire a code monkey or two (no offense). I'm a part time graduate student and my university sends out lots of requests like these. You can also check with the university career center to see if such an opportunity is open.

- 3. Upwork - you can do contracting on these sites. Start small, build your presence.

In every case, it's about slowly building your credibility, skills, and pool of connections. Graduating from university gives you a big jump start in all of these areas, but the 'game' remains the same.

I was in your position a few years ago. You might try emailing startups to take a chance on you (the more bureaucracy, generally the harder it is for people like you who have skills but no credentials). It's much harder as a high schooler so you'll face a lot of rejections and "sorry we really like you but we can't hire you, get in touch next year tho." Especially if you're under 18 and can't sign NDAs. If you have a blog or cool projects then those can help signal competence. And never work for free. Good luck!

P.S. entering industry is cool and exciting but also consider using your senior spring to goof off with your friends and build projects that you want to build. You have the rest of your life to work lmfao

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