How I Became A Software Engineer Without A CS Degree (Doubled My Salary Within A Year)

Changing careers has been one of the best decisions I've made in my life. I don't have a CS degree but worked hard for an entire year to learn Javascript. I was able to change my career and increase my income in less than a year. In this video I explain my process.

[@ATFstein]

Great video. I am just about to finish my first project on freeCodeCamp at age 39 😂 i already work from 6am til 530pm 6 days a week and now instead of waking up at 430 am for work im getting up at 3 and within 10 minutes im on the laptop pushing through with my eyes half open. Videos like yours are what have given me the drive to do this.

[@denarri]

Wow. I am hoping to change careers before my 40th birthday next year. I am super inspired.

[@wordonthestreets3298]

To all you old farts , I think PHP is the way to go. You don’t worry about frameworks until laravel, so you just focus on building stuff on front and back end . I love JS but hated learning React. Picked up PHP and never looked back.

[@jlot8almahska]

I just started learning web development 6 days ago and am 35.

[@danteparks4779]

I'm literally on the same path but on CodeCademy , I'll be 40 next month, I've been on this new career path since July, currently working on my first project and just learning for every avenue I can find. Big support to you Andrew.

[@zuhair4967]

Good luck andrew, if you want some consultation feel free to contact me.

[@frankvilla203]

Awesome video! At age 36 i decided to do a career change to web development (front-end) from being in customer service for the last 10 years. I don’t have a degree so the journey won’t be easy but I’m up for the challenge. If anyone reads this, just go for it! Keep the videos coming, love the content!

[@ashishkkrishna]

I'm 26 working in customer service too. Started The Odin Project last month because I really want out of this customer service industry.

[@walterberrios6333]

That’s crazy man, I’m also 36 and ready to make a career change, I’ve also been on costumer service for 10 years 😂and I’m also getting ready to start learning about web development what’s a coincidence but I wish you best of luck my friend!

[@NRison17]

Dang man, are we all 36 doing this??? 😂

[@walterberrios6333]

@@NRison17 this is the age we realized we really screwed up and got to make a change haha 😆

[@MrDakidd5]

Age 38 been in logistics and customer service for a long time as well. I decided to change careers when I was 36. I took advantage of the fact that schooling was pretty much made free during the Coronavirus in my state. I decided get my associate's in information Systems Technology. During that time a program open which would allow me to get dual degrees I am now working on a bachelor's in information technology and innovation. Wow I haven't officially switched careers as of yet my current job that I have been with for the last year knows the things I am doing and are trying to keep me from leaving. I even have the VP of Digital pushing to give me on her team. I recently started applying for entry level help desk jobs let's see how this goes

[@drayggenndraygenn7005]

I see alot of videos on KZbin with programmers bragging about their job or daily life at Google but this is one of the realist videos I've seen and much better represents the reality that 99.99% of us face in tech or other business. Great video! You tell it like it is I'm sure it may help some of your viewers

[@specialed_614]

I’m turning 39 on October 28th. I’m tired of working these dead end warehouse jobs. When I was in high school. I use to take my computer apart and put it back together. Love your video, bro. Thanks bro 💪🏽

[@alvarezgamers]

Your energy is positive as heck and exactly what it needed to hear my bro. Thank you.

[@leandrejones9787]

This resonates with me because I am a college dropout that spent 6 months of coding and just recently enrolled into a bootcamp. Its been difficult but I an seeing improvement in my work. Glad you made it into tech im ready to level up too

[@gregperez90]

Love your story! I've been coding for 3 -4 months now and its motivational to hear another person's journey.

[@24Botnix]

This is extremely inspiring! I’m just starting out and seeing how you made it gives me lots of motivation. Thanks so much for making this !

[@alottafrancium]

Great words of advice and humbling. Congrats on your journey, hardwork, and consistency 👏. I failed my first tech interview yesterday and these words are very motivating to continue the grind of improving.

[@inuyasha7108]

Thank you for this, you have no idea how much this resonated within me and gave me the motivation to keep pushing forward

[@0xC3_]

This kind of spoke to me tbh. I'm 24 now with 2 strong years of self-taught C++ knowledge and just enrolled into school for my bachelor's in computer science. I always thought I didn't need a college degree to be able to get into the software development industry, so seeing how you mapped out your path gave me inspiration. Keep the grind going and thanks for these words of wisdom!

[@genericdeveloper3966]

You could save yourself two years and just get an AA at community college in computer science or even have no degree at all. The average startup doesn't care if you have a 4 year degree, and you'll still make good money. I know from experience, I still don't have a single degree in CS, but I get a lot of job offers.

[@TheBdogup2]

@@isaacfrimpong1798 development is very different from IT. I’d he wants to go into IT, the only coding he’d do is CLI and PS and that’s very loosely described as “coding” lol. The best way to get experience and work your way up quickly in IT is to work for a consulting firm or managed service provider from the help desk and work your way up. I was making $11 an hour in December of 2019 at a phone repair shop and I was a college drop out. Now, making $125k a year as a manager of technical solutions & onboarding at an MSP. Just learn by doing the work and learn more after work and put the puzzle pieces together.

[@trusno7751]

Definitely about to go through all of your videos, continue dropping them..Hyping myself up to get started!

[@sora1099]

Thanks for sharing your experience! Started on my journey with HTML and CSS, now I can't stop dabbling in it.

[@frederickzoreta6617]

This video was truly INSPIRING & AMAZING! Thanks for sharing your path Brian :).

[@ShahbazMughal]

VERY VALUABLE INFORMATION, speaking as someone who’s on a very similar path!!! Awesome video man

[@Kryptix84]

Great video, something that I needed to hear. Congrats on your journey thus far!

[@paulcal3500]

Really appreciate this vid! I'd love to hear more about your experience learning JS and the way you approached it in more detail.

[@tiktokviral8136]

Good on you man! Humble improvement.

[@abdulsaeed5540]

Being a data centre engineer/sys admin, I completed JS in two days including practice. I've already learnt HTML and CSS through necessity by creating blogs. These videos are super mind boosting for me and in couple of months planning to move to dev department within this gigantic software company, subed, liked too. Thank you

[@claudekenni8355]

Best of luck to you, sir! Great message!

[@bryannguyen90]

This is great! I was intrigued by you stating taking interviews as way to improve rather than focusing on just getting the job

[@smoveb2308]

Thanks for vid. This is so true my sister taught herself back end programming 5 yrs ago and is doing very very well. I'm interested in learning javascript myself. I am 48 and is hope I not starting to late on life on this. Finger crossed.

[@eugenebravo5990]

Good job bro. I admire your persistence and determination. Keep chasing your dream. I will share this to my daughter so she can be inspired. 'Love it.

[@DeltaSleepy]

Thanks for sharing your journey. A true inspiration for many people out there.

[@gsf4lyf]

Great video, thanks for sharing Brian!

[@chengmyee5349]

This is inspiring and motivating advices given! Thanks Brian

[@biraucatalin4126]

Thanks for the video Brian, it's motivational; I have also studied and worked in marketing, and I know what you are saying and what you went through.

[@festustemitope604]

Thanks alot bro, was just at thwe verge of giving up but watching your video just ignited my passion again with so much surge. Thank you for sharing your experience!

[@SavageScientist]

Great video i stumbled on your channel today and subscribed. Keep up the good work and glad to see my folk are getting into coding.

[@byronspencer1554]

This was very informative, and most encouraging. Awesome Video!

[@eshw23]

Thank you, im finishing school still but tryna get a job while finishing school part time, I had around 5 or 6 interviews already that didnt lead to an offer, but gonna keep going!

[@SonnyMeadows]

Short. Concise. Well rounded. 👏🏿

[@238TheChurch]

Excellent testimony my friend! Very well said... Thanks for sharing! James & Rescue Kitties

[@MikeCodes]

What going on Brian great vid bro!! I am currently enrolled in the IBM DevOps and Software Engineering Professional Certification Program on Coursera. I just turned 49 and iam never giving up because age isn't a factor. If you have the skills and can demonstrate them by build your on projects you can get a foothold in the industry. I have my DevOps cert,Cloud computing cert and working on Linux certification currently. Videos like yours help me to keep pushing through. Thank you brother!!!

[@user-up4zi1do6p]

👍

[@onedaywithkate]

Thank you for your inspiring content , I needed this 😊

[@sudaratsanupap8429]

This is so cool! you're the only that get my mind right I have been watching many videos like this and they make me I confused what to start learning first thank you for this video

[@walterberrios6333]

Amazing video my friend thank you for all the encouragement and all the advice!

[@officialridwan_]

thanks for the advice, always good to watch your videos.

[@brian-cache]

I appreciate your support

[@Nani-ui8mx]

im 22 years old just started learning,0 experience but i do wanna get a jump on this now early in my life,i don’t come from much but i’m tryna turn things around for myself early on, great video

[@brenda2263]

Hey Brian…Great video!!! In 2020, I decided to do a career change from web development/graphic design to cybersecurity…specifically cloud engineering. I went back to school and obtained my bachelors in Computer and Network Security with a concentration in Forensics. I graduated August 2020 and decided to get right into obtaining a masters. I took a break from it in June because I really want to find a job in the field first then continue my masters. I’m currently applying for jobs, I just want an opportunity to go in and show what I can do. It’s not easy, but I’m trying. You’ve inspired me to get off my behind and finish my portfolio. Thank you for all the great advice.

[@troydevote]

What kind of projects would you build for a Network security portfolio? I am in Network engineering now and would like to transition over to the security side.

[@thebossrickyross15]

Keep going you got this brotha!

[@yosegu23]

Thanks you so much, it's motivated to me.

[@defu8592]

i appreciate this video! thanks brother!

[@MrFaroukou]

Great video. Very inspiring, thank you!

[@paddynam4542]

Hey Brian I might be just like you…. I have over 6 years of working experience in accounting and auditing with a very good portfolio and I even have a master degree now. But I really want to move into programming because that’s where my passion is. I want to do programming so bad then further into ethical hacking. Accounting is routine to me, but I want build something from scratch and I know programming will bring that challenge. My biggest problem is every programming university course or program I apply to, won’t offer me a admission. Thanks for making this video. I now know I am not insane. I have all the information I need. I needed to hear from someone like me, someone who have switched sides and it worked no matter how difficult it was. Thank you 🙏🏽

[@marpaula1047]

Going through the same career shift as an account manager. Thanks for sharing your journey!!

[@dwaynedwayne8836]

What’s your name on Facebook?

[@artsycoder533]

I definitely agree soft skills get you the job more than your tech skills! As long as you pass the “vibe check” and they can see that you’re hungry, the right company will give you a shot! I’ve yet to use any tech that I knew prior to getting hired, each project has been something new. What’s important is that you know how to learn and fast!

[@mattiaslp9645]

still gotta have those tech skills though. and those tech skills gotta compare to the mit cs graduate sitting next to you.

[@artsycoder533]

​@@mattiaslp9645 No one said you didn't, we said they matter less than we think they do for juniors!

[@allison69013]

Subscribed. I did googles it support certification and feel like it’s way to broad to get me anywhere I want. Only have landed basic tech support call center jobs w minimum pay. Thank you for this!! Taking all this advice

[@seanleeduncan]

Props. Thanks for sharing. I'm 43 with no experience and am 6 months into this journey of learning. 👊

[@DaniellaB.]

How did it go?

[@seanleeduncan]

@@DaniellaB. I'm so glad I took the jump. Doing part-time MSc in CS. Nearly finished. Taught me a lot about how to approach technical problems from zero knowledge, and how to think slowly, purposefully and logically to work out solutions. It's especially an exciting time to be learning what with all the current AI developments. Where are u on your journey?

[@margiemiguel8878]

Thank you for this! 💯

[@walusimbirichard5993]

Very motivating. This is exactly me changing career from sales to data engineering

[@stephendelacruzone]

Good on 'ya Dude! 👑✨👍

[@freshtechtips]

Keep the great work.

[@misc328]

I haven’t started my career at all but I graduated around 3 years ago with a CS degree, but I have no internships/strong projects at all, and obviously that 3 year gap is a huge problem. I have a long road ahead of me but my goal is to get a job - any job - in the field. It all starts with the first step. Even if it takes me years to get a job I have to keep trying. This video inspired me to start applying (I’ve been too scared to since I graduated due to no internships/good projects)

[@cobramentality7171]

Actually pretty good position to be in, you can just focus on learning code and building a portfolio, but having CS degree gives you a foot in the game

[@JorgefromtheO]

damn that's crazy i got a job in like 4 months

[@Bukma]

Glad KZbin recommended this to me. I’m tired of working in factories, meat plants and so on. I’m willing to try these free websites to learn something new. Appreciate it man!

[@ampersand2001]

Thank you for this great video!

[@MedicalOkami]

Great video bro, this was very inspiring

[@denarri]

I also have an honours degree in Marketing and struggling to get a job. Changing careers late in life is a risk but I am willing to take it. Thank you for this video

[@emmanuelzwane2765]

take it mama, angeke u_lose lutho.

[@adamajs3836]

Congrats on the job 👍🏾

[@chef_rg.2]

Great story. 👍🏾 This verifies that I'm on the right track. I've been self teaching HTML & CSS for about two months now. Trying to move into JS soon. Thanks for this info.

[@iskokomianbouwy3275]

likewise I have completed HTML and CSS and now I'm learning JavaScript

[@absent_]

Congrats man nice vid inspiring.

[@91dgross]

man, thank you for this, i have been self studying for 1.5 years now. i taught myself python and made a game. i am now learning javascript and have made it far but i got stuck with learning about recursion. thanks for reminding me that the technical side can be learned continuously. i have been hard on myself about not being good enough all because i dont understand recursion. also nice to see people that look like me in this field. It is my goal to finish javascript and a few more projects in the next 2-3 months. thank you

[@91dgross]

@@brian-cache wow thank you! I appreciate the wise words

[@docg8398]

once you get recursion though it can be applied to all programming languages. KZbin is your best friend when it comes to topics like that. THere are some folks who explain it really well.

[@oparanadionyekachi7560]

Much love bro ❤❤

[@veronicafoxx27]

Thank you for the video. I'm just getting information about this field. I'm excited, nervous and of course wondering if I can do it but I'm going for it. Thanks again.

[@veronicafoxx27]

@@brian-cache one last question, I have a personal computer should I start on that or buy another one just for coding and building my portfolio?

[@dmaxsaint5895]

you gave me some hope bro...thanks

[@yogibangalore6206]

Yes you are right a good road map will surely help for new aspirants..

[@thirumalr333]

Great I'm same position where you been, you gave some believe i can get tech job one day. Good 👍

[@calmingrelaxation4744]

This is the first video that actually motivated me to pursue my dream job thank you very much

[@harendrakoley1054]

DAMN Bro !! Wtf is 12k views The video was very informative great quality very well researched video Brother keep going 💪💪💪💪

[@bruceben87]

I'm 35 and I just started my journey to become a developer. Thanks for the videos

[@OG-Everthing]

Thanks bro for the motivation you are giving…I’m in the middle off a career change and I am following a python course (of one year) I am thanking if it’s too late to get into the tech field or it still time to

[@mackinlay27]

Thank you Brian

[@asaventurasderobson]

@Brian Gee I identify so much with your story that seems my own. If you understood Portuguese, you would see that I had almost the exact same video posted on my channel, telling my story. And around the same time as you. Keep pushing bro, we must break this paradigm that people need a degree to change their life and got more people like Us in tech. If it is possible we do it, if it is impossible it will justa take Us longer to do it.

[@asaventurasderobson]

@@brian-cache Thank you. I am still a fresh newcomer, started working as a developer this year, but already it have a deep impact in my life and my family. I grew up here in Brazil, with no electricity, living in extreme poverty for a while. But now I live my best professional self, working on this field that was always my dream and seeing my evolution on the daily basis. Development have change my life for good. And can change a lot of other people lives too.

[@officiallykayanna]

im starting learning to code and java scripts kicks my butt. lol i love CSS and HTML but maaan dat java is something else, but it is very interesting and i love . it makes so much of what we do with functions so important . thank you for your encouragement

[@calicoesblue4703]

Nice Video & very informative.

[@etime89]

GSU in the building! respect

[@aimenyaugba6892]

I am encouraged!

[@johnrm5875]

Very good advice!

[@dcmetig3369]

Thank God you posted this video! It was hard for me to change from my field into IT. I am now ever ready because i know i can by God Grace. Thanks champ

[@dcmetig3369]

@@brian-cache any bootcamp you would recommend out there for software engineering?

[@christianlee4595]

I love the honesta en awesome story!

[@rudibotha3947]

Thanks for the video, I just recently got back into coding but I stopped for 2 years and after a bad job experience I needed to rethink things. So now I want to learn more about coding.

[@rudibotha3947]

@@brian-cache Another thing I like about your videos and what makes it unique is your story/journey. And your honesty too, like it's definitely not easy but you give a step by step idea and I'm sure there's more steps involved.

[@rudibotha3947]

@@brian-cache Trial and error and being confused is actually a good thing, I have decided to spend atleast 2-3 hours a day practicing code, I listen to rain sounds, sit at a table, no TV, a notepad and all my focus is on learning. It's very hard at first and you mentioned leverage and that is sooo true man. I hear that word a lot when it comes to job search or negotiating with an employer. Thanks again @Brian Gee

[@thatswhatshesaidbro]

You changed my life thank you. Can you give a roadmap of languages to learn in order please ?

[@birdiebands]

Always good to see another black man succeed ...it givesme hope. I am currently learning Nextjs & the backend very soon been at it for 6 months. I already learnt react, js, sass. Bro if we could connect that would be cool bro. Do you have linkedin ? Also..when you first started were you nervous and how do you feel now that you have 6 years of experience? Do you feel very comfortable at the job coding etc

[@mouctechy]

Inspiring 🎉

[@UNKNWN96]

So awesome to hear your journey, I’m also teaching myself frontend development and have been on and off since last year with the hopes of making a career change to afford the lifestyle and future that I desire. Thanks for sharing your story!

[@ssjordan34]

“Learn what you don’t know.” I love it!

[@westernpigeon]

great vid man. i graduated from college august 2021 with a journalism degree, decided it wasnt what i wanted to do and self studied for 7 months and landed a position at Twitch as a backend developer. anything is possible with hard work and genuine interest!

[@CastleRaccon]

What skills did you learn in those 7 months

[@westernpigeon]

@@CastleRaccon frontend development (html,css,JS,typescript, react, next js) then moved to learning MySQL, Java and Spring Boot.

[@CastleRaccon]

@@westernpigeon oh, thank you

[@goodman4093]

@@westernpigeon did you present any certification or any projects?

[@temperance2580]

Do you think knowing backend languages makes one more competitive? I'm working on Java skills, SQL and Spring boot skills now. I've already dabbled in frontend from product design projects and nonprofit work so I think it's best to learn backend.

[@cultureraw]

Thank you 🙏🏾 bro

[@olufemiolufade3325]

Finally thank you very much

[@pabailon8799]

Great video ✊

[@Gooseknuckle]

I just started Codecademy 2 months ago and I’m not looking back! Great video man

[@DaniellaB.]

How did it go?

[@alphawebtips2950]

You are just like me. I'm getting stronger at Frontend and trying to get foreign remote jobs.

[@limitone9564]

I'm also have a marketing degree but it didn't give me anything... been in customer support tech manager - nothing either, now I'm in Healthcare coordinating - nothing. I'm looking into software engineer again... hopefully able to retire with it. 😩 life sure is hard.

[@LifeWithRilla]

What’s up Brian. Sam boat here my man. I went to a bootcamp. I’m about to start posting and speaking about my journey as well

[@peterzannes759]

Thanks for sharing, Brian--your tenacity is apparent. The fact that you were spending your non-working hours (morning, lunch, evening) grinding on projects is impressive and clearly paid off big time. Any tips or stories on building positive habits that helped you through your early-learning journey? Like most of us commenting on your video, I'm also getting beginning my crossover into tech from another career. Watching you and reading the wonderful comments you've received is inspiring and motivating. Also, great job on the edits. Cheers to you, my guy.

[@pritamshukla6567]

Thanks so much for tNice tutorials bro

[@titojee7003]

Hi Brian, I don't know, but this is the first video ever that motivated me like this.. Is it the Javascript i need to learn first?

[@psfgtech]

Excellent video

[@tubintheweb1]

yeah, just be vigilant, I broke 6 figures in tech over 4 years ago. I have over 10+ years experience, and have worked in 4 different tech shops. Two of those companies were fortune 50 companies. It gets easier the more experience you get. Also getting specific certs also help a lot too in marketing yourself, especially since many companies are going through modernization (cloud) conversions. Getting cloud certs really helps market yourself as well.

[@saimalykhan]

Your video is very informative and also same my situation because I don't have any computer science background or degree .but I want to build my careers as developers

[@saimalykhan]

@@brian-cache thanks for motivated me