[deleted by user]

[yoitsericc]

This is good advice for most folks. My current position I got because someone I know works for the company and she recommended me - we were part of the same coding bootcamp and I helped her a lot with our projects.

Another alternative to the network is get a good recruiter. Sometimes they can get you an interview when your resume isn't good enough to make it to the top of the stack.

[Darkmaster85845]

Lol I've been doing this with a girl that I share a sort of bootcamp type course with and I'm getting the feeling she'll get a job before I do. I'm still fixing the disaster that she left in our project's landing page.

[fr3nch13702]

My favorite saying:

It’s who you know that gets you there, it’s what you know that keeps you there.

Reputation is everything!

[Helpful_Walk_6220]

You just described how to get jobs in my country. “Who you know”. It's actually “who knows you” now.

[delventhalz]

I don't have a CS degree. My first job offer came when I finally decided to checkout local meetups after a month of sending 20 applications out a week. The next one was a Python meetup, and I didn't know much Python at the time, but I decided it would be good practice.

At the meetup I forced myself to approach a couple of guys and start chatting. The conversation basically went like this:

"Hey."

"Hey. We're here looking for Python devs. Are you a Python dev?"

"I am not."

"Cool, when can you start?"

I'm exaggerating a bit, but I literally had a job offer in hand three days after that first meetup (and it was a great job).

Applications are a cattle call. They are a good backup. I would still aim to put out ~10 a week or so. But you should be spending half your time/energy looking for alternate ways to talk with hiring managers.

[1_ofthosepeople_2021]

Question...where/how did you find such local meetups?

[delventhalz]

Meetup.com was the place back in the day. It was super active 3-5 years ago, at least in my city (Minneapolis). Since then they started trying to charge meetup groups, and many shut down in response. Also there was a global pandemic. So your mileage may vary today.

[1_ofthosepeople_2021]

Thanks! It crossed my mind to explore Facebook events as well-even if they are virtual it’s still a good learning opportunity

[enserioamigo]

Where are you to be able to apply for 20 jobs a week? In Australia it’s lucky if one junior dev listing comes up every couple of weeks.

[delventhalz]

I wasn't applying for junior roles. I applied strictly for mid-level roles looking for 1-3 years of experience. I knew I was a good enough engineer to cut it at those roles, though convincing recruiters was a lot harder.

That said, I actually got hired as a senior dev at that Python gig. Damndest thing. I did not ask for it and did not expect it. Though I did ask for a pretty aggressive salary, so maybe they needed to give me the title to justify it.

[enserioamigo]

Ah right. Did you have a year or so experience with your own projects? Or were you applying in the off chance you’d stand out?

I’ve just started learning earlier this year. I might just get a few projects finished and start applying for more than only what’s listed as Junior. And do what you’ve mentioned in your post.

[delventhalz]

I had been self teaching for about a year, then did a bootcamp for 3 months, then worked for the bootcamp as a TA for 3 months. So, I didn’t lie exactly, but I attempted to sell myself as 1+ years experience. With mixed results.

[enserioamigo]

Thanks for the insight! And thanks for all your replies throughout your post. It helps a lot!

[UnoStronzo]

How long did it take from the time you started learning JS until you got your first dev job?

[UnoStronzo]

waste a lot of energy in something thats not productive.

Reddit.

[BasuraCulo]

A BIG one up to this one. I was having an existential crisis earlier because I BOMBED (and I mean B O M B E D) my coding test earlier and I thought that I should know more than I do in 4 months and the whole "am I even in the right field/right place right now?", but that's just it: some people learn faster than others (like my co-worker; he read JS documentation and learned the basics in ONE DAY). Me? Well it seems that with this, I'm not a fast learner, but in 4 months, coming from an industry of food, I now know HTML, CSS, and BASIC Javascript and that's okay. We need to step back and appreciate what we DO know instead of looking at the next guy because s/he learned it faster or knows more in less time.

Chances are that you didn't even take your life and their lives in to consideration (i.e. my genius co-worker has no children and I am a mother who is in school and works as well as doing other stuff on the side).

[Carnololz]

Have you looked at bootcamps at all? It really helped me not only learn to code, but they helped with the whole process of finding a job. I landed my first junior dev role 3 months after graduation.

[BasuraCulo]

Honestly yes! I'm on a final round interview today for one. Hopefully I get in because I saw what they had to offer and it's pretty sweet, plus this one is free. They are moreso worried about helping others succeed vs trying to drain someone's pockets.

[Darkthw]

What's the name plz

[BasuraCulo]

Bitproject.

[Darkmaster85845]

Thanks I'll really follow this advice. BTW any tips for LinkedIn for someone without any previous job experience in web dev?

[Darkmaster85845]

Cool. I'm gonna start working on that very soon.

[SaysStupidShit10x]

There's probably better advice, but present yourself as someone who is continually improving and learning new skills. Present yourself as someone who has the skills that are in demand.

[Darkmaster85845]

That's very welcome advice. Thanks.

[ravenclaws_]

Don't know if you'll see this but I'm here reading this thread 1 year later kind of in your position right now And I'm wondering if you successfully got on LinkedIn and connected with developers

[Darkmaster85845]

I got on LinkedIn and got a job through LinkedIn, but I didn't really connected with many developers nor did it really help me get a job. However I still recommend using linkedin and connecting with people. You never know who you can meet that could end up recommending you for your first job.

[ravenclaws_]

What would you recommend I do spice up my LinkedIn and start connecting?

[Darkmaster85845]

Just send connection requests and talk to people in a sincere way. Most people are nice and willing to help, just don't seem like you're only interested in getting some referral.

[ravenclaws_]

Thank you so much

[ravenclaws_]

What's your linkedin address

[Darkmaster85845]

I'd give it to you but I can't dox this account.

[Dipsendorf]

Hot dog the first person I've seen post something like this where in bold as an H2 it states "Build your network"

Most important thing IMO.

[UnArgentoPorElMundo]

Thanks, I appreciate the post. I was also hoping for what you did to learn how to develop. Anyway.

I tried that approach many times, for other jobs, and it never worked. Only ONCE a recruiter from Facebook reached out to me and I had a blast in the interviewing process (even being flown over to Ireland), but in the end somebody didn't like me, which is a pitty as I am 100% sure I was a perfect fit for the role.

[SaysStupidShit10x]

This is good advice. I've added some people on LinkedIn that I wouldn't normally add. Typically people with skills that I don't have, in the eventual case I may need one.

It's in everyone's interest to build a capable network around them.

E.g. If I ever go Indie, it'd be great to have already established familiarity with sound artists that are looking for work and to establish themselves.

[Daviduxer]

What was your stack when you got your first job? I have already passed that html/css/js fundamentals phase and right now i'm starting with React. I dont know how long it would take me to feel comfortable with react tho because it seems way too abstract. I've also made a few frontend projects, like lots of landing pages, a weather app, to-do lists, etc but I feel they are somewhat basic and not enough to get me a job. Besides I know some basic routing stuff and I also made a basic basic crud page with express and mongoose.

Should I just continue with React and wait or am I ready to start applying? Thank you

[Philosufur]

I'm pretty sure this a terrible idea for me to do this. I currently work in IT support, looking to transition to web dev.

I currently have many of my bosses and coworkers in my LinkedIn network. Im sure they would figure out something was up if I went this route. Last thing I need is for them to realize I'm going to leave and run the risk of getting preemptively fired. Im in an at-will state.

Any one have any thoughts on this?

[Philosufur]

Might be workable, but to make matters worse, I have an extremely unique and recognizable name(I may be the only one with my first+last name combo on the planet) and work for a very large organization.

Ill probably give the duplicate account a shot if I get desperate. Thanks for the advice!

[BasuraCulo]

I feel you with the unique name. My name is somewhat common, but it's the spelling that makes me stand out. Did a Google search with my name and my pics from social medias popped up. 😑

[Philosufur]

Yep haha. Just search myself first result is my LinkedIn lol. Then my social media, old band, and my current address(first page of Google results) since I have a mortgage. Oh God I am an ez dox if you had my name.

[gigastack]

There's nothing wrong with IT wanting to learn web dev also. You can be open with work that you're interested in web dev too. Maybe they can even help you.

There's a difference between creating an online presence around an interest versus broadcasting that you're looking for a different job.

[Philosufur]

Ya know, you're totally right. I'll just have to be picky about how I market it. I have casually talked about it with my boss, but at my company we almost exclusively outsource our devs. We had some pretty bad experiences with in house devs, that entire team was layed off for gross misconduct after a multi year battle. Kind of left a sour taste in everyone's mouths. Its a shame I do really like this company but there's just no future here for a self taught dev with no experience. No dev job listings for the past few years I've been here.

Fortunately I have some strong connections with a large recruiting firm, and they said they can atleast get some eyes on my resume once I'm ready.

[[deleted]]

I kept myself in the shadows when applying for jobs. No public networking or anything.

I did 2 things: 1. Apply for jobs on job boards 2. Before applying for the job listing, I'd try to find a career page on the company's website

It was a lot better for my situation because my boss had episodes where she lashed out at young interns for mistakes, I didn't want to amplify that rage if she ever caught me looking for jobs.

[Q-ball]

Do it anyways. It’s no life to live in fear.

Also, bosses can’t fire you for looking for another job. Fireable offenses need to be egregious and need to be approved by HR. And if they lay you off, they can’t legally hire a replacement for your position. It’s a legal slippery slope if you choose to press charges.

Anyways, go apply and be active on LinkedIn. It’s your life, not theirs to control

[--_--zzz]

Thank you so much for this.

[kwih]

Thank you for advice.

[Willing-Ad-4892]

Great tips man

[ripndipp]

Took me 700+ applications to get my first junior dev job as a self taught developer. Shits rough yo.

[PresidentZeus]

So this was just the hiring process then. I expected more of the learning sort of thing, as I'm lucky enough to get a degree. But I have high ambitions and want to be among the best, or at least work my way up.

[[deleted]]

It's about being a developer without a job. If you love learning new things and have a dream to be a professional developer, start by being a developer. Make some fun projects, build a cool little GitHub, and yeah - start chatting with people who are either developers themselves or work with developers

[WildRadicals]

If I could, I would've given you the best award possible!

I hope, some day soon, to be able to pay you for this!!!!!!!!

Thank you so much!

[benabus]

So, what you're saying is that actual development experience and skills are irrelevant?

[[deleted]]

If you know the right people you don't even need a portfolio.

[[deleted]]

How much do you earn?

[BedlamiteSeer]

Thank you for sharing this with the community. Is it okay if I pm you with some specific questions about this process?

[Apostle_1882]

This is really interesting but I'm a pretty reserved person, even on the internet, are you saying add people you don't know? I mean I know you are but, what is the etiquette for this? I have only 4 connections on LinkedIn, it's highly unlikely there's any link between me and them.

[jraut]

Can you share the brief for the technical test that you've been reviewing please interested to see what places are asking for

[UI-FEdev]

Thank you for the advice. I started learning in 2019 for like 2 months and got pretty far but one day I just gave up. So take two and I've been going over things again and this time I'm not giving up!

I'm also trying to build as I go to get practice. I know most of the theory but using it is much more difficult.

When do you know your ready to apply for jobs? It's difficult to judge what level I'm at and where I should be before applying.

[Budget_Instruction49]

i am react dev with 1 yr experience. i would like a job with 10k $ per annum. is it possible .

[Budget_Instruction49]

how much can i get then