← Adarsh Pandit →

Someone asked me today how to strengthen their application for apprentice.io.

Here is my response, which is what I believe gets you from a beginner to a job as a Rails developer.

Work

• Launch a simple Rails application. You’ll learn more in this process than you will any other way.
• Beef up your GitHub page with solid, well-written, small code examples.
• Write some tests in RSpec. Try to get to 100% coverage (use simplecov to check)

Technique

• Get excellent at Ruby. Read everything on this page: https://learn.thoughtbot.com/ruby
• Work through Agile Development in Ruby on Rails, Michael Hartl’s tutorial
• Start reading about refactoring. Know what ‘good code’ means.
• Learn Vim. Just stick with it and you’ll be faster.

Learn

• Read Ruby Weekly
• Listen to Ruby Rogues podcast
• Check Hacker News and read up on current events

Network

• Attend meetups and hack nights. Work on a project with someone else. Learn from them and say thanks.
• Keep in touch with everyone you met, send them emails, have coffee with them.
• Join a Ruby mailing list (not ruby6) and participate.

Show interest

• Know everything about people/companies before you meet them (Tweets/Blogs/Linkedin/Googling).
• Show up 10-15 minutes early for interviews.
• Put on a jacket.
• Be humble.