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seeking software apprentices - 2022/01 edition (2nd of the month, late in the month)

If you're interested, various contact methods are on my resume.

I've written yet another version.

pass 1 - the basics

What's in it for you? Guidance on learning valuable skills. (Look around my site. I've been at this a very long time.) Immediate, reliable money is not in it for you. I don't care where you are. You only need very basic computer skills. You need a laptop, desktop, or perhaps a Raspberry Pi with a monitor and keyboard. A mobile device is not enough. You don't need fancy hardware. I run on about $300 worth of hardware, and a $100 laptop from a pawn shop is probably good enough.

It's not an absolute requirement, but I will be more motivated if you are sometimes available during part of the period of 5pm - midnight US Eastern Time (New York is the major reference city, although I am thankfully far from NY.) I don't distinguish days of the week. I'm not sure what the minimum per week is that would be useful to both of us. Two hours seems like not enough. Maybe 4 hours? Beyond that, the more, the merrier.

You need to be willing to write, and it helps if you type fast. You have to pass my (implicit) writing tests before I'll use voice. That does not mean I will waste your time with an actual test. It just means I'm going to test your written conversation.

I am not a grammar or spelling Stasi. SMS-speak often works fine. If I can figure out what you mean, it's all good.

Writing software is writing software. If you can't get meaning across in English, you're not going to be able to convey meaning to a very, very stupid computer. Anyone who thinks computers are smart hasn't programmed one.

You're not applying for one spot. I can probably help 3 - 4 apprentices at once, and history shows I never get to that point. I am very unlikely to stop writing you. If you keep writing, you're an apprentice, hopefully to a greater and greater degree.

What's in it for me? I can't quite get freelance software development to work financially. I have people issues, not tech issues. One apprentice was very helpful. Another is very likely to be helpful in the near future, but I can always use more.

Part of what I'm looking for is the social interaction of a company without the absurdities that seem to come with any company over 3 people. I probably need 3 - 4 for high degree of "coverage" during the above hours. My one very active apprentice is playing poker right now, and it affects my motivation--more coverage needed. Put another way, I've been nudging away anyone who can't help me with freelancing or other solutions, so the best and money-cheapest way to attract people who will help is apprenticeship.

pass 2 - needed computer skills, things to learn, ways you can help

By basic computer skills, I mean that you know how to keep your virtual desktop and other folders (directories) under 400 files. You don't have to do it until it causes problems, but you have to know how. That means that you have a high level notion of what files and folders are. You need to know how or learn how to reveal file extensions such as .html, .txt, .DOCX, .XLS, etc. (I am putting it partially in SatanSoft terms, although I completely stopped using it in 2013.) You have to know how to attach a file to an email.

Regarding your learning, I list 2 paths.

As for ways you can be helpful, there are quite a few. One of my most helpful apprentices can, in an hour or two, find 40 Craig's List computer gig ads for me to consider. Looking myself has become a very unpleasant task. I have too much baggage, for one. I'd rather be answering your tech questions or creating examples for you or writing whole software dev classes than looking for ads, so it's a good tradeoff. And no, CL is not necessarily the best place, but that's another topic. Let's just say there are a number of reasons I plan to post to Gab.

As you can probably tell, I can go on endlessly, but it's probably time to get closer to posting to Gab.

For whatever it's worth, here is the previous version of this ad.