Ask HN: How can I acquire earning power in 6 months?

1 point

14 years ago

I am 30 years old. For the last 5 years I've had an illness which made it impossible for me to work. In the last few months I've recovered to the point I can start working.

I have a degree in computer science and completed one year of a phd before being forced to drop out. In the time since I have done no programming at all.

I have somewhere I can stay for the next 6 months rent free, but after that I need to be making enough to live independently.

My illness prevents me from working maybe one day in five. The rest of the time I am ok, but the unpredictable nature of it rules out a lot of desk jobs or even a job at e.g. mcdonalds which I would gladly take to get started working.

My initial thoughts are to devote the next 6 months to becoming as proficient as possible in Ruby on rails and look for contract work. Does this seem reasonable?

I am trying to figure out the languages/area I should specialize in over the next few months that will have the greatest return on the investment of my time.

I am very interested in anything you have to share.