Hi,
My name is Mike and I have recently fell in love with drupal. I am almost finished with a CIS degree from the university of Akron in networking and discovered late into the degree that I really had interest in web development after taking an HTML class.
A few months ago I discovered Drupal and fell in love. I have been reading, listening to Drupal pod-casts, and watching every video I can find. I have done two sites. The first was done during my first week of Drupal for my computer repair business. It's not very impressive and I intend to redo it soon - kaytecsolutions.com. I did the site while learning Drupal and completed it in about 3 days. The second site I am currently working on - augustuslawncare.com - is not yet complete.(Some styling and waiting on all new images for the site) I feel it is a little better.
I am currently working as level 1&2 help desk for a large corporation in Akron. I am currently a temp and my time is coming to in end in 6 weeks. They are attempting to get me in full time but a position has to be created and it's very up in the air.
I really would like to make the transition into web development now before I start getting settled into the helpdesk/networking side of things. I am considering a move to the Columbus area in May. It is difficult to find any entry level development jobs that I am qualified for. I just don't have much experience up to this point and I need to find a paid entry level job which is more difficult.
Any advice, or better yet, job opportunities would be greatly appreciated. I really am passionate about learning Drupal and web development as a whole. I am decent with HTML/CSS and I am moving on to PHP next. I am really starting to get familiar with Drupal and I would love to get to the point where I can start contributing to the community. I know that the best thing would be for me to get a little more time and understanding under my belt before pursuing any jobs but I would really like to make the transition now if possible. If it isn't I am more than willing to learn some more and come back and try down the road. What I am sure of is development and hopefully drupal is what I want to spend the rest of my life doing.
Thanks for listening, and thanks in advance for any advice. Sorry if this isn't the place for a post like this.
Comments
.
Wow, it looks like you're catching on to Drupal really quickly such as using Views and finding modules to build sites. A next step in learning would be to learn about deployment in an enterprise environment (dev -> production).
I think you could easily handle freelancing as you build your portfolio and experience if you don't find any opportunities.
There have been several recruiters looking for Drupal developers recently. Sometimes they're looking for PHP developers and sometimes site builder developers. And sometimes they don't know what they're looking for.
Thanks for the reply. Being
Thanks for the reply. Being excited about something makes it easier to learn. Since I discovered Drupal I have been trying to get my hands on everything I can to learn. Views definitely had little bit of a learning curve and I am not even close to understanding it completely. I would love to do freelance solely eventually but I would really like to learn under someone who knows what they are doing. I do pretty well at teaching myself but I think learning from someone speeds up the process.(3 hours of google vs 1 quick question to someone who has done it before) I appreciate the encouragement, I know I have the passion to do this...the hardest part is trying to realize if I have the ability.
Study book
I used 'PHP Programming with MySQL' by Don Gosselin to do my self studies of PHP and MySQL. The Course Technology series is used by Sinclair Community College for various IT classes. I would also recommend any O'Reilly books and they also have examples to work through as you read. Javascript is another component to be familiar with, along with HTML and CSS. Enjoy the adventure of learning new skills.
Thanks for the advice. I just
Thanks for the advice. I just finished The Definitive Guide To Drupal. It was quite informative. I will have to check out the book you suggested next.
Welcome to the Drupal community!
It sounds like you're already off to a great start. I second what mradcliffe said, there have been a good amount of Columbus recruiters trying to fill Drupal positions lately (though there are at least a few hired by the same company to fill the same position, but still), and sometimes they want a person that does everything, front-end and back-end, and sometimes not. It's good that you have a general idea of what you'd like to focus on, sometimes even figuring that out takes a while since there are so many moving pieces involved and things to learn.
If you're not on LinkedIn, I suggest creating an account there and putting in your existing skills, that's how most recruiters contact me. And there's a Drupal group you could join: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=35920.
I appreciate the advice. I
I appreciate the advice. I have been on LinkedIn for a while but never really did much with it. Today I went and updated my profile and joined the Drupal group as you suggested. My LinkedIn is http://www.linkedin.com/pub/michael-kay/33/641/50b for anyone who would like to connect to me.
Let me know how it's going...
Michael,
I'm in the same boat as you looking to become a web developer focusing on Drupal and the AMP stack. I have found Meetup.com meetups to be very helpful...There is a Columbus Drupal Meetup and probably ones around Cleveland, too.
Let me know how your quest is going.
Take Care,
Alex
Alex, Thanks for the advice.
Alex,
Thanks for the advice. I will check out meetup.com. Since originally making this post I have found a couple projects either through here or from an ad I posted on Craigslist. I am moving to Columbus this Saturday and hoping to get started on these projects and pick up a couple more. Thanks to everybody in this thread for the advice- things are already moving fast for me and I am excited to get started. Alex, if you know of any projects that you think I could help with let me know. I will do the same.
Welcome to the Drupal
Welcome to the Drupal Community. Sounds like you are learning Drupal very quickly and also starts developing your business websites. I am very glad to see you there and I hope that you will enjoy the Drupal Community. pc repair Honolulu