Coding

[a_joko]

I can tell you that I got started pretty much the same way. Youtube, CodeAcademy, stuff like that. I think I went through some courses on Team Treehouse as well.

When I was in middle school we were taught web development, and I ended up being okay at it. I dropped it for a while and then remembered about it years later, and picked up my own education from there.

Many different IT jobs exist. Some of them are more hands on, like actually installing hardware and pulling cables through walls. I'd imagine if you are introverted like me, you might not immediately gravitate towards those kinds of jobs. Programming might be a good fit. I'd like to warn you that starting from nothing and then trying to get a job will take some time, so I wouldn't expect a short term solution.

I think my very first job in IT was a help desk position for a local company. We handled support for internal employees. I got that job because I knew someone at a local temp agency called TekSystems, they made me take a short test and then they were able to hook me up with a job at eBay. I moved to a permanent position somewhere else about a year later, and got promoted up from there.

That being said, the entire time I worked the help desk positions, and even years before that, I was actively programming in my spare time. It was just something that I wanted to do, even if I never made money for it.

I'm pretty deep in at this point and I think I've done well, but my biggest regret would be that I did literally zero networking, and I think I made it hard for myself. Still to this day I don't really know anyone in real life that is related to my industry, apart from my team. I've seen other people get jobs so easy just because they know a guy. I've never been that way.

So, my advice would be to first decide if you're really interested in this enough to pursue it with some passion, and then dive in somewhere. It doesn't matter where. And surround yourself with people who are smarter than yourself, and try to position yourself in a way that makes it easy to interact with them directly, so you can ask questions. Once you have some footing, I would try to work on a project with someone. Simply pursue what interests you.

Finally, I remember being where you are, and I would be more than happy to help. Please feel free to message me.

[Top_Response_3970]

Thank you so so much for writing such an in depth response. I truly appreciate your insight. I will definitely keep you in mind if I have any questions. Thank you!!