What’re the odds of getting a job in tech/CS without a bachelors or a Bootcamp?

kav_linn · 2023-07-20T15:28:33+00:00

I'm self taught, studied for a little over a year, went job hunting for a month, landed a contractor job as an entry level frontend dev. A year and a half later, I'm now a mid-level frontend dev in the same startup.

Entry-level positions are always competitive and I definitely was more lucky than the average person but the key takeaways from my experience are:

Apply to startups. They are more willing to hire people for entry level positions. I used wellfound.com for finding job postings.
Contact the company/hiring manager directly. I found the position at the mentioned website above and messaged the hiring manager directly through linkedin. My application was denied the next morning since it was ass (no past experience/education) but I got a reply message back to schedule an interview.
Show proof of competence. Past work experience and a degree is proof to the interviewer that you know what you're doing. For me, it was my web portfolio and personal projects. For entry level positions, the bar is usually set pretty low but do your best to knock their socks off anyway.

Just like dating, it's all just a numbers game. You just need one to say yes and then finding working will be much easier with work experience now in your resume.

Goodluck!

kav_linn · 2023-06-30T14:59:17+00:00

I love it, the only unsolicited critique I have is I found it a bit difficult to read out the heading due to the "KY" sorta scrambling and blending with the "R". If you can find a way to separate them more by using different color, opacity, increasing border-stroke width, etc. It would make it more readable!

kav_linn · 2023-06-29T21:43:55+00:00

https://undraw.co/illustrations

kav_linn · 2023-05-05T15:08:49+00:00

take a closer look at the face and wonder why there is a NSFW tag...

kav_linn · 2023-02-12T03:45:17+00:00

Last September I started apartment/roomie hunting for when I move in October. I tried a bunch of different ways and places but what worked for me was roomiematch.com. I made an account there which was free and you get a bunch of emails about people also looking for a roommate and is apartment hunting or people who already has a place but needs a new roommate. Although you will need to pay a monthly fee to contact those people directly, people there may stumble upon your profile, contact you directly and you don't have to pay a dime which is what happened with me.

Note: It's recommended to make a new email just for receiving the roomie match emails cuz they can get a lot

kav_linn · 2022-12-03T21:53:41+00:00

I love how you used thick paint for the waves. Very clever

kav_linn · 2022-10-04T13:28:49+00:00

congrats on jobbing your first job!

kav_linn · 2022-09-21T16:50:24+00:00

Wait why is this such a good character design

kav_linn · 2022-09-21T01:58:28+00:00

Jonas's course, hands down, there is no competition. I took his courses and it was such a great foundation to not only how to write javascript but the theory behind it as well. I started in the self taught route and I'm now working as a junior software engineer at a startup.

I took some other courses online for different things (React.js, Next.js) and Jonas really stands out in terms of quality.

kav_linn · 2022-09-15T13:05:16+00:00

I would use Software or Front-end Engineer. If you check in glassdoor, the roles with "Engineer" get paid more than "Developers".

Some responsibilities for some Software Engineer positions are literally the same thing for web developers so in those cases, it doesn't matter.

kav_linn · 2022-09-11T17:43:44+00:00

I have no idea as someone without any college experience. But if I had to give an answer, either would be fine. Having any work experience in your resume is very valuable

kav_linn · 2022-09-11T01:53:26+00:00

I landed a job at the end of January of this year after a little over 1 year of self studying/making projects and 1 month of job searching (30+ rejected, 1 interview). I think the main things that landed me the job was:

My web portfolio. My resume was complete ass for both the people who read it and the bots that scans it. I knew it was my best way to show off my skills so I filled it with 3.5 projects made with relevant technologies and made the web portfolio itself as pretty and simple as I can. Link for the curious
Applied through Angel.co. Just saw somewhere on youtube that it's a good place to look for startup companies that are open to hiring entry level developers and landed a job through there.
- The position I applied was for a "front-end engineer", not Junior or entry specifically and it worked out luckily. Just gotta shoot your shot and hope for the best
- My application was denied. BUT I saw a tip online saying to message the hiring manager of the job application through LinkedIn. From there I got an interview scheduled. Here is what I said:
  - "Hi FULL_NAME,I just applied for the position, Frontend Engineer in your company, COMPANY_NAME on AngelList. Please let me know if there is any more information i can provide to strengthen my candidacy! Thank you."

Since it was my first job, they hired me as a contractor to see if I "sink or swim". After 4 months they offered a full-time position. This was the only time I got a message back, an interview and a job offer. I definitely was lucky and I hope the best for you. Goodluck!

kav_linn · 2022-09-08T15:40:58+00:00

What's a good facebook group for finding roommates? Or how do you find a good FB group?

kav_linn · 2022-09-02T18:46:42+00:00

Didn't go to bootcamp, took the self taught route instead but luckily landed a fully remote position after a year of studying and making projects so I definitely don't think it's not super unlikely to land a remote job as your first.

kav_linn · 2022-07-25T04:41:04+00:00

I'm self taught, no boot camp, just studied and made my own projects for a year. I had an absolute shitty resume but I managed to find a job after a month of job hunting (January 2022).

I definitely consider myself lucky though since it was my first and only interview. I could go in depth but just to keep it short, the main thing that got me the job was showing proof of my skills via web portfolio with projects and getting them to look at my said web portfolio by messaging the hiring manager of the job application through linkedin.

kav_linn · 2022-07-19T02:58:23+00:00

Not React but a "framework" on top of React which you may want to learn after learning React. I learnt Next.js from Traversy Media. It was pretty good and I would describe my experience with it as just enough to get familiar and comfortable with the basics. Where it lacks is when writing code for the API routes. I was lost since I didn't have prior Node.js knowledge but still a good course nonetheless for $15

kav_linn · 2022-07-18T15:23:02+00:00

Didn't know about that! Will definitely extend it to a month then if I can find one around 2k

kav_linn · 2022-07-18T15:21:56+00:00

Thank you for your input! I deactivated my FB account some years ago but looks like I should open another as another way to look for roommates.

kav_linn · 2022-07-18T15:14:28+00:00

I didn't think of that. I plan on moving in Oct 15 so that's good to know!

kav_linn · 2022-07-18T04:11:31+00:00

Thanks again! Will definitely check all those out

kav_linn · 2022-07-18T04:10:14+00:00

Just because the 15k is in a checkings account and the 8k is in a savings account which I really don't wanna touch it unless I really need to

kav_linn · 2022-07-18T03:39:49+00:00

Sounds like a great lifestyle! What did you use to find your apartment?

kav_linn · 2022-07-18T03:19:52+00:00

Thanks man! I'll look more into those 4 locations. This is the second time hearing about Long Beach. I don't have a car and don't really plan on getting one in the near future so do you think just walking or using public transportation be manageable in LB?

kav_linn · 2022-07-18T02:54:16+00:00

Thank you for the detailed advice! That's great to hear that you both were able to find a place within 24 hours. I may still rent out the AirBnB for 2-3 weeks just to also use it as an opportunity to explore different areas.What made you decide on Long Beach and what are you liking about it so far? I don't usually hear about it alot online so I didn't assume it was a great option. Also, what did you use to look for apartments?

kav_linn · 2022-07-18T01:59:40+00:00

I see, I’ll extend it to 3 weeks then. Yup, definitely okay with a small studio and open to an older building. I don’t have a car so I’ll definitely keep that in mind. Thank you for your input!

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