@chivicks_hazard
Here's a newsletter that goes more in-depth about my journey :
But to answer your question, my journey was hard, and I think everyone who is self-taught is going to have a difficult journey.
Because for me, learning by yourself is hard. I was full of
@notdanilu
Sorry, you had to go through that, but that is a natural response of a mother when their child is harmed. You all are not going to turn public opinion because of Keke's mother.
I am currently studying and taking the test for AZ-900. I am choosing Azure over AWS because I am currently working for the government.
There are rumblings about how AWS is more expensive and Azure is more cost effective and the future of cloud, particular in government. That
It took me almost 2 years to break into tech.
This may seem long to some, but in the grand scheme of things, I was trying to change the trajectory of my life.
What is 2 years compared to a lifetime of the same thing?
This journey is about the long game. It will take patience,
@TreciaKS
No, you didn't make a mistake! The job market is tough right now! You'll get a breakthrough. Don't give up.
If you haven't already, here's a way to optimize your LinkedIn so that recruiters come to you.
1. Make sure you have the title you want in your header along with any
I passed the AZ-900 and it was more challenging than what I expected but I still managed to pass.
Here is what helped:
1⃣ Find Your Medium
I tried to read through the documentation initially. I got through it but I didn't retain the information because I wasn't as focused. I
It took me almost 2 years to break into tech. And that is perfectly okay with me.
Some people will think that amount of time is forever but I was trying to change the trajectory of my life. Of course it's going to take a little longer.
Some may get their foot in the door a
If you want to break into tech, you better get over your fear of looking dumb.
I look stupid everyday because I ask questions. I do not care. I am here to learn and if someone want to judge you for them, then forget them. There opinion does not matter.
Look foolish now, so
If you are self-taught, the one thing you must absolutely have is focus. Degrees and boot camps have structured curriculum that one can follow.
Being self-taught means you can stray from your path. You can't get pulled in by the latest fad.
For example, when I started, people
Resume Tip:
If you have no experience in the field you are transitioning to, you must have projects or some type of real world example.
It keeps recruiters eyes on your resume longer and it gives you a chance to showcase your skills and what you can do for that company!
You have to bet on yourself if you want to succeed.
People told me it was unlikely I would break into tech, but I did not listen to them.
I bet on myself.
I tried to study every day. I bought books and courses. Watched tutorials and read docs. I asked questions, and I built
I am here not because I am the smartest or the most technically inclined. I am here because I never gave up.
Don't get me wrong, I quit throughout my journey thinking it was too hard and I never would get over that hump, but I never gave up on myself and what I could accomplish.
The one thing I stress that you absolutely need if you are a beginner or trying to break into tech is a portfolio. I was just asked about my portfolio years into my career and it still relevant.
The reason you want a portfolio is because it shows what you can do in a nice neat
Consistentency is the only way to break into tech. It doesn't have to be anything big each day.
You can build one day. Read something the next. Just make sure you try to become better each day!
You have to be a little delusional if you want to break into tech. How else can you suspend reality?
My reality was this:
I did not have a computer science degree.
I knew basically nothing about the field I wanted to get into.
I had no one to guide me.
I didn't know where
A few months of focus can change your entire life.
Stop saying that you can't. You can learn anything with consistency, dedication, and effort.
When I began my journey, I thought I wasn't smart enough to grasp computer science knowledge. And every single topic I have learned,
I thought I was HER when I learned HTML and CSS.
I was feeling good about my progress until I got to Javascript.
Javascript reminded me I was not her, and for a while there, my pronouns were stupid/idiot.
But learning your first programming language is hard.
It is going to
No matter what anyone says you need experience. I did not start getting calls for interviews until I had Freelance Front End Developer on my resume?
How did I get that experience?
Well, I got lucky. When I knew that I needed to get that experience, I reached out to friends and
It is better to know how to read code than it is to code.
I spend most of my days reading other people's codes to understand how I should write my code. How I can integrate my code with others. And how I read the code so as not to mess up anything trying to implement my own
You will have most people beat if you show up every day. Because most people want it now. And they want it easy. And they quit.
Just don't quit, and you've done what most people can't. And that is continue when it doesn't go their way.
I am not smarter than anyone else. I did not break into tech overnight.
I just did these 3 things
1️⃣ Willing to fail
At first, this concept seemed to be difficult for me to grasp. When I fail at something, I typically want to quit it, but you have to realize that if you want
You know how you change lanes because you want to go faster. And then the lane you just switched from goes faster.
Trying to learn one skill and then another because you think it will get you somewhere faster will do nothing but slow you down.
Take your time to learn and skill.
I saved my own behind just by writing clean readable code.
I was tasked with updating a component I built. When I was going through the code, it reminded me why I did what I did.
I named the variable and functions specific to the tasks at hand. That allowed me to navigate
It took me about a month to learn HTML, two months for CSS, and I'm still learning Javascript to this day.
In fact, I'm still learn HTML and CSS as well. Something catches me off guard almost every day.
I'm like, "Wow, I didn't know that."
Worry about getting the fundamentals
The sooner you start, the easier it will be. When I started my journey years ago, it was easier to break into tech. But now, not so much.
If you keep putting it off, it is only going to be detriment to yourself. Take the course. Build that project. Read that book.
Take some
The biggest mistake I made when I began my journey into tech, was not telling anyone about it.
I would study, watch tutorials, build, learn more and then repeat the process. I kept to myself and assumed that no one cared until the final product was finished.
I was wrong.
What I mean by having multiple resume is this:
If you know you are applying for a Front End Developer position you should have the job title in your resume.
But you also know it's not always going to be titled Front End Developer.
It could be:
🟢Software Engineer
When I first started into tech, I had a fixed game plan. I would learn this skill by such date and this skill by such date.
Let me tell you, its okay to have deadlines come and go. Learning is hard and its even harder when you have pressures on yourself.
It will cause you to
LinkedIn Tip:
Here is you monthly reminder to make sure you update your profile. This is a quicker way to have recruiters and hiring managers come to you so you can reduce the amount of time you spend hunting for a job.
Also the best time to apply to a job is usually Sunday,
I am seeing some uptick in recruiting and messaging on LinkedIn. I will take this as a good sign that things are somewhat trying to stabilize.
When I get those messages, the first thing I think of is, Am I going to pass the technical interview?
If that is your first thought:
If you truly want to get better, you simply have to be curious.
If you don't know what something is, have the curiosity to research it.
If you don't know the definition of something, research it.
If you can read the code, look it up.
It's the small things that get you to
@debasishbsws
Since you have less experience, skills portion should be at the top.
Education should be at the bottom.
Experience should be on it own line.
Get rid of extracurricular, as it's not necessary.
Don't rank yourself when it comes to your skills. Your proficiency might be
Learning is not done in a single moment. It's a process that builds over time until you have a concept understood.
That is what happened with me and Javascript. I did not get it in one day, and you shouldn't expect to either.
It took me months to grasp the concept of
Skipping any part of the process is a going to end in time wasted and failure.
Skipping Javascript to learn React is pointless. Now you have to circle back to Javascript because you don't get React.
You've wasted time and confused yourself further.
Don't rush because someone
If you have two brain cells to rub together, you can break into tech. This is not a smart person's game.
This is a consistency game. This is a dedication game. This is a game where you can fail. But you can always start again.
You are smart enough. Don't let anyone tell you
I am now teaching interns react and Javascript, and I am just 3 years into my professional career.
Keep studying. Keep being curious. Keep fighting for that next day. Just keep going.
You will get there!
When I first began my journey breaking into tech, I knew it would be difficult.
I knew it would take time.
I knew it would challenge me mentally and emotionally.
I knew I might fail.
And that is why I kept going. I knew all of these things going in.
From what I've seen,
There are going to be ebbs and flows as you try to find your way into tech.
There will be days when you accomplish everything you set out to do and other days when you do nothing.
That is perfectly normal.
If you can't do anything, one day, and the next day you do everything,
You have to get uncomfortable if you want to do something you have never done before and that included breaking into tech.
How do I know?
Back when I was hunting for my first job, I thought all I needed was to gain the skills necessary and the rest would just fall into line.
Whenever I have down time at work, I am studying for AZ-900. 5 or 10 minutes may not seem like a lot but in the end it adds up.
No matter how small you think the effort is, trust me, its better than doing nothing!
Resume Tip:
As you know at my job they have me reviewing resumes. The biggest mistake I often see, especially with beginners, is that they have their education section near the top of their resume.
While education is important, it shouldn't be what you lead with. The person
You have to ask yourself these questions if you want to break into tech.
Do you believe in yourself?
Do you have the discipline to continue when it gets hard?
Are you willing to be a lifelong learner?
Are there any more questions you would ask yourself?
I am self taught, hence the name.
Here is one of the main ways I continued to grow and learn.
I didn't pick one source of learning-
When I couldn’t figure out a problem, I would search YouTube until I found a video that I could understand. I didn't care who the creator was;
@hannahsox12
Don't compare your journey to others. It will only cause you misery. It's you versus you. As long as you are better than you were yesterday, you've done what your supposed to do
Do you know how steep the learning curve is to break into tech?
It's extremely difficult.
And these posts about learning to get a job in 3 months aren't helping.
When they reach that curve, most will give up because first they start off with unrealistic expectations, and two,
No one who starts something expects to fail. When I started my journey into tech, I assumed I would succeed.
I was wrong.
I quit several times, but every time I quit, I picked it back up. I never gave up on myself. So, when you think it's the end, try again.
Just don't give
How do you know when you've learned a topic and can move on?
Here's a cheat code:
Find the youngest person you know, preferably 5 through 10. If you can explain the topic to them and they can understand it, you know what you are talking about.
That's when you know you can
I was unemployed for almost 2 years while I was trying to break into tech.
I depleted my savings. I lost countless hours of sleep and was practically glued to my computer.
And I didn't quit.
Why?
Because I had belief in myself. No one else was going to do it for me. You
I'm seeing all these post from people showing their work and leveling up their skills.
I'm learning something from them as well.
And I think that's a problem most people have.
I don't care if you're younger than me, older than me, or just beginning your journey. If I can learn
I bombed a technical interview so badly that I asked to stop the session. I told her, I'm not going to solve this. I'm wasting your time. Can we end?
Looking back, here are some things that I could have done better.
1️⃣ Preparedness
I went into the interview, prepared to lose. I
I would say that after you learn Javascript, you should learn Typescript.
Not only is it popular and only growing, but it also allows you to better your Javascript skills.
It allows for cleaner code and readability. It aids in higher productivity while reducing errors.
Learning HTML and CSS went as smoothly as possible for me.
Once I got to Javascript.
I quit coding for 2 months.
I got so frustrated and angry that I just stopped. I think it had to do something with a for loop. It wasn't working, and I was done with the whole process.
The
The point of coding is not to be clever. It is to deliver something that the next person can read and have some idea of what your intentions were with that code.
LinkedIn Tip:
One of the easiest ways to engage recruiters is to have skills as well as your job title listed in your title.
Instead of just Software Engineer or frontend developer, you would have:
Software Engineer | Python | Javascript | React
It would be something like
In my opinion building things is better than trying to cram your brain full of data structures and algorithms.
The ONLY time I've encountered them is during technical interviews. You may want to work for the big tech companies, but that wasn't my goal.
If you want to work for
All you really need is a little persistent. Do you know how many people give up at the first signs of challenge?
Too many.
Just keep at it and you'll get there.
After I learn it, I immediately try to implement it on my own. Right now, in Linux, we are learning to read files.
So I create files, write them, and immediately run the commands I've just learned to read them.
Get the concept down and implement!
I am still studying for my AZ-900 and I finally know the difference between a virtual machine and a container.
Containers seem to be much more easy going than virtual machines. I see why they are becoming so popular!
If you can not handle constructive criticism, you are not going to handle it.
Every PR I've submitted, every pair programming session, and every idea that I have pushed has had pushback.
They showed me a way to do it better. They showed me where I was wrong and where I could
Resume Tip:
If you have no experience in the field you are transition to, you must have projects.
It keeps recruiters eyes on your resume longer and it gives you a chance to showcase your skills and what you can do for that company!
Here's what you should have:
1⃣ This
There are tons of ways to break into tech:
Self Taught
Bootcamps
Degrees
Open Source
Freelancing
Internships
Don't let one way consume you. If you find that it isn't working, you can pivot.
I almost went to a bootcamp because I thought I wasn't going in the right direction
Portfolios are the gateway for you to really impress in your interviews. You get the chance to discuss your work in depth and talk about the skills you've used as you were building you're projects.
But what do you actually put in your portfolio. For those who are new to
I'm not going to lie to you. When I broke into tech, it was a little easier.
Right now, not so much.
Competition is fierce and the economy is in the gutter.
Here's how to stand out:
1⃣ Build In Public
Do you know how many people are afraid of judgement? Of being ridiculed
I had to take a step back and reevaluate what I was trying to accomplish.
I am tasked with a difficult challenge at work and I keep trying to optimize as I am figuring out what and how I am going to structure my code.
I am doing to many things at once.
I have to remind
Give yourself time to develop before you move on to the next thing.
Let's say you are trying to learn CSS, but you know Javacript or something harder is next.
Focusing on what is next because it's harder is a bad idea. Focus on the right now and grow into that skill.
Don't
Todo Apps
Weather Apps
Calculators
They are fine to learn how to code and design but they should not be a central part of the projects you put on your portfolio.
How are you going to stand out?
You're not.
Everyone and their mother has built them.
You have to enhance
My mother barely knows how to work a computer, but every time she saw me code, she would say,
"I'm proud of you,"
And it gave me motivation to keep going.
So, if you don't have someone like that in your life, I'm here to tell you,
"I'm proud of you,"
I know it's hard, but
When I was struggling to get interviews, it was because of my lack of experience.
So what did I do?
The first resources most of us have are friends and family.
I asked around, and luckily, a friend needed a website. I built it, styled it, and even hosted it.
I then put
I really wanted to skip ahead to AZ-104 (Azure Administrator) but I decided that AZ-900 was worth the effort.
If I had skipped ahead, I would have to learn what Azure is, on top of learning how to navigate it. That would have stressed me out and ultimately no one is good when
So, right now I'm learning Linux.
It's been a real head scratcher for me. The course I'm learning from is not giving me the information I want.
They are using terms like, shell, bash, CLI, command prompt, and emulator.
I've heard some of these terms before but I don't know
Resume Tip:
My last name is Williams.
It is one of the most common last names in the United States.
Do you think I should just save my resume with my last name?
That is what I saw when I looked over resumes. They would save their file with their initial and then last name.
The best experience is hands on experience. If you want to actual retain the knowledge you must build. That is why I created an Azure account so that I can get hands on experience while studying for the AZ-104.
I had a tough day today, and I thought about quitting. You will have those thoughts but push them out of your mind.
Breaking into tech is difficult.
Don't let anyone tell you anything different. If you can show up day after day, then you are beating most people.
I am one of
HTML, CSS, and Javascript are the foundation.
Frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue could lose popularity overnight.
Tailwind, MaterialUI, and Bootstrap could do the same.
Stop trying to skip steps to get their quicker. Learn the foundational knowledge, and you will be set.
Javascript
Python
I would start these languages because they are versatile languages.
Backend
Front End
Data Engineering
Data Scientist
These are just some of the jobs you can get.
Also, I would say that they are easier to learn as well. To me, they are less dense than
Being self-taught means you need to have discipline and consistency.
I knew myself, and I knew this was something I'd have trouble with.
So I looked into other options.
When I saw the cost of boot camps, I suddenly had the discipline and consistency to teach myself.
As you get deeper into your learning, you will come across a technology, certification, or topic that you think you won't be able to learn.
Javascript was that one for me. I've given up on it. I've cried in frustration about it. And I've walked away from my setup hopeless.
But