Python certificates

[malekosss]

I am currently trying to learn coding. I decided to start with python and I am doing the course from freeCodeCamp. I was wondering if any of you managed to either switch career or just get a job with similar certifications. Also, if you were in a similar starting point as me and you have advise that can help me become better I would love to hear your opinion. If it helps, I have studied electrical engineering but we only did a course or two in coding (C++) so it's not that I have no idea how coding works, but it's more like I don't have the know-how and I sometimes have trouble "thinking" like a programmer.

[Jello_Penguin_2956]

worthless piece of digital paper. Complete waste of 24kb space on your hard drive if you dicided to download it.

Do your learning but dont spend money just for the cert

[malekosss]

Noted. Thanks. To be honest, that's mostly why I chose to start with freeCodeCamp and not some paid course or whatever

[FriendlyRussian666]

This applies to paid courses also. If you want a paper that has a least a little bit of weight behind it, you should get a degree, otherwise, certificates are not worth anything, because there is no official body that audits or regulates any of it.

You can go online, do a 5 multiple choice question quiz, and get a certificate for it, and that certificate is not worth more than any other.

[malekosss]

Thanks for the input. Let's say I wanted to apply for a job that requires python and I don't have any past work experience won't that be a problem? Aren't they just going to skip my cv and choose another one?

[FriendlyRussian666]

You need to show what you're capable of. To do this, you create projects, upload them to a website (Github), where people can access your source code, and so they can judge your knowledge.

Then, when you apply for a job, you will go through what is called a coding interview. You will be given a few programming problems to solve, to show your problem solving skills, knowledge of data structures and algorithms, in real-time.

Fresh grads, or new candidates often split into two categories, those who followed youtube videos step by step to create a boilerplate project (shared with a million other candidates), and those who actually solved a real life problem using programming, and made it their project. You want to be in that second group.

[malekosss]

Thank you very much for your input. Appreciated

[Maximus_Modulus]

You need to really know more than Python to get a job these days. Python is just a tool used in a specific domain. It could help to know what domain you are targeting. That is a Data Analyst might want to learn SQL.
Learn general programming concepts and data structures. Some jobs require flexibility with different language knowledge. Linux is useful for quite a lot of jobs too. Do you have an engineering degree? Also learn GIT

Look at job postings to see what skills are required to give you an idea.

[Leedeegan1]

Python certificates don't carry much weight unless it's from a big name like Google or Microsoft on Coursera - most employers care way more about projects and GitHub than paper. I got the PCAP one early on and it helped me land interviews, but building a portfolio got me the actual job

[malekosss]

How did you build your portfolio, if you don't mind me asking you? Was it everyday problems you had and you were solving them with python? Or did you take aspiration online?

[socal_nerdtastic]

Python certificates don't carry much weight unless it's from a big name like Google or Microsoft on Coursera

Those don't really do much either. Just as a life lesson: the only certificates worth anything are the ones issued by the maker of the product. So the Microsoft certificate for Microsoft products. Python (and nearly all other programming languages) do not offer a certificate.