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I'm a programmer doing web dev stuff. I have a degree in a non-tech field (foreign language). The way I got into doing this professionally is I taught myself how to do HTML and CSS, with a bit of JavaScript (I didn't know anything though looking back). I made a portfolio website with some examples on it and started applying for jr. developer jobs. I got a job doing customer support and they gave me the title 'Jr. Front End Developer' (even though it wasn't actually front end development haha). I was probably doing something equivalent to what you guys call 'tech support'. The pay was very low and I pretty much hated it immediately, because customer support is pretty bad and most of the customers you interact with are fairly stupid (there are some smart ones though, it's just most are tech illiterate, ignorant, assholish, etc). After 8 months of doing customer support I couldn't handle it any more and decided to quit without anything lined up. I quit and spent ~6 months teaching myself CS / programming fundamentals and smoking a lot of a pot and playing vidya games all day long. After 6 months of this, I started applying and got a job at a startup as a 'Front End Developer', doing JavaScript stuff. Immediately I was making 2.5x what I was making before in customer support. At this job I learned more and more. 3 years later and I am still at this company and I make ~4x what I was making at the customer support job. I moved from the front end to doing backend + frontend (they call it fullstack) and am a team lead. I am also back at school pursuing a masters degree in CSE. It's definitely possible to get into tech without a degree, though it is a lot harder. Recruiters have no clue what they're looking at and might just bin your resume because it doesn't have a technical degree on it. Best bet is to network and apply via referrals if at all possible (most people get money if you get hired do this so don't worry about asking). Also it is good to have mentors; my mother and sister are programmers and I was able to ask them for help looking over my resume and to give me practice interviews.
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Jun 9, 2017 00:36
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 02:25 |
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Alder posted:How did you support yourself for 6 months w/o a job? My parents supported me during those 6 months. I had some savings, not enough to last all 6 months though. I got lucky in that my prior title was 'Jr. Front End Developer', even though I didn't do actual front end dev. At the prior job I helped customers embed a web product inside of iframes (an HTML element), and I did some customization of customer webpages. It was pretty simple stuff, not very technical, mostly hands on with customers (ie, no JavaScript, mostly HTML/CSS and talking to customers and attempting to resolve their issues; actual front end development means developing JavaScript 'single page applications' and the like, which I did not do). When I applied to places they just saw the title, and I had learned enough on my own to pass as an actual front end developer. If my parents had not have been able to support me I would have had to learn the material over nights and weekends, which would be doable but would require more diligence.
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Jun 10, 2017 23:27
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