Why Most Self-Taught Developers Never Land The Job

[@cloutstefan7030]

Recently landed a job, been learning python and django for a year. Did it without courses and CS degree . Consistency is the key

[@nyfinest487]

Thanks for the motivation

[@hh0686]

@@mathcodecomputer5301 silence means fake

[@guilleport]

​@@hh0686😊👍.

[@vvelarm]

​@@mathcodecomputer5301well I guess he means he uses the documentation online instead of courses. (+ builds things I guess)

[@Default_-ij5oc]

@@mathcodecomputer5301 its fake bruv

[@thines01a]

I have landed 3 big jobs as a self-taught developer that have kept me employed for over 30 years.

[@gayergawana7393]

It's not a natural fact that whether self taught only will succeed or only non self taught will, there are many reasons behind landing a job, so we should not miss out all contributing reasons in our radar of analysis

[@atyt22]

Awesome this gives me hope, I’m self taught working in my first SWE job now, 6 months in. What’s your outlook on the dev work for the next 20+ years? How can I fight the odds of unemployment/underemployment

[@olaniyanayodele5986]

What field and what stack?

[@charanko3760]

That was because there were less developers in the past. It’s getting too saturated now

[@JegErN0rsk]

To be fair, not many years ago you could land an internship with basic understanding of HTML and CSS. The landscape is vastly different today. That being said. Im starting next month as a self taught. It is possible.

[@karmatraining]

I'm a self-taught developer who never went to university, but I was coding since I was 14 and had a real passion for it. I've lectured in Game Programming at a university, where my students were quite surprised to learn I had never actually attended university myself. It didn't matter though, once we cracked open the IDE and started coding that fact faded into irrelevance. Code is code.

[@xiawilly8902]

Same here, imho, software development can never be learned in school, it's just a practice, simply doing it will make one better at it. It's a waste of time and money to attend a university to learn programming, real world software companies are far ahead of the academia.

[@luckerooni1153]

@@xiawilly8902 It's not a waste of money you just have to understand that unlike quite a few university courses, you're buying the mentor and the commitment to the course with the network that heavily incentivizes you to stick to it and heavily disincentivizes you to stop. If you go to uni and your mentor sucks, your network is limited, your course covers random bullshit not related to things you are passionate about, and you spent a lot of money, it's more than a waste, it's a scam.

[@offorjohn]

Code is code bro.

[@WolfManThoughts]

More Power to you man💯💯. Being able to teach and get students being a self-taught developer is really Awesome man🔥🔥

[@lepidoptera9337]

Sure you are. ;-)

[@NatashaT329]

I landed a job as a self-taught developer. I almost gave up twice and decided to step out of my comfort zone and took a teaching position. Great content!

[@wojciechsobiesiak]

I didn't. Now I'm creating my own web technology "sRWD"

[@BusinessWolf1]

I almost gave up like 6-7 times but I'm still going

[@deed_it]

how long did it get you? from starting from scratch

[@kuroxell]

​@@wojciechsobiesiaksword

[@kevinto8955]

its been over a year, and everything that you've said has happened. Getting to the final and impressing the engineers, just to get rejected. Getting ghosted by recruiters left and right, promises made and constantly broken. I needed to hear this today, thank you fo reminding me why i started learning in the first place!

[@StradexEngine]

Think it like this, if you impressed engineers, you can do it again.

[@gavinkalaher7314]

I think freelance is the best route for me anyway, as I'm aged 45. I've already got my first webdev job after 2-months learning for a local business.

[@damariceakinyi6845]

Hey, hi! I feel like I can relate with your decision to go the freelancing way. Having lost my job abruptly previously, I thought it would be 'safe' to not just dedicate my time to a full time job. I'd like to build my freelance career as a side hustle even though am currently looking for a full time role as a self trained data analyst. Do you have any experience regarding websites that would be 'friendly ' to a junior data analyst like me?

[@eddie7705]

I recently attended a family counsel this Sunday night, and unfortunately, it turned into a one-way communication filled with insults towards me, the eldest child in the family, for not achieving much at the age of 30. However, I am fully aware of the journey I have undertaken. I made the decision to leave labor-intensive jobs that offered little pay and instead focused on learning coding. I even went back to university to pursue a CS major. I understand that my previous choices may have created an image in their minds that I am lazy, but I know the effort I put in every day. I have enrolled in Codecademy and I am simultaneously learning AWS, Flutter, and Figma. One aspect I appreciate from your video is the concept of coding out loud, which I believe I learned from my first mentor two years ago when I first started coding. Additionally, your fourth tip resonated with me deeply: "Don't take anything personally." Over the years, I have finally discovered my true passion instead of settling for jobs that solely relied on my physical strength. I understand that it takes time to accumulate the necessary skills to secure a job in the tech industry. Therefore, I have taken it upon myself to keep pushing forward, acknowledging my past but not allowing criticism to affect me personally. I wanted to express my gratitude for your advice, as some of the tips you mentioned align with the approach I have been taking. Your insights have been valuable and have reaffirmed my belief that I am on the right path towards achieving my goals. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experiences.

[@geniusmind7777]

I never doubt you will push yourself toward your life achievement and finally win it! I was personally touched with your story telling because you simply told a story of myself in the past!! So I have much empathy with you and all my fingers crossed for your life success!! Go get it!

[@dakoderii4221]

Nice to compare their journey when the whole global economy wasn't crashing to yours where it is crashing. They sound like narcissists that compare apples to oranges and always move the goal posts so what you do is never good enough. If you solved breast cancer tomorrow they would complain that you didn't solve colon cancer too. Why are you so lazy? You could only solve one type of cancer today? Pathetic! You're building a solid foundation and you'll start growing by leaps and bounds. Then they'll be angry at you for accomplishing so much and "competing" with them. Receiving criticism is a sign you are doing what's right/needed to accomplish your goals. The crabs in a bucket will be able to pull you back down if you view the criticism through the wrong lens. Don't compare yourself to others. If you're doing better today than yesterday and better this year than last year then you're own your way to success. Keep up the good work! You've got this!

[@ashiquebiniqbal]

Best wishes mate

[@abishekraju4521]

Good Luck Eddie! If you ever get a job of your liking in the tech, do remember to update this thread here.

[@junnatha]

people should have a comprehensive screening test before being allowed to start a family. it is not a divine right, rather a privilege, a challenging responsibility

[@linonator]

As a lead software engineer I’m so happy to hear information like this. Most KZbin videos are filled with fluff and false expectations. Being uncomfortable is a part of the job. I’m still uncomfortable because I’m pushing my limits. With time and experience you understand more and become comfortable with that of which you weren’t before. lol you’ll just be uncomfortable with the bigger things but that will change with experience

[@Version-ru1mj]

I've landed a job as a self taught dev. Although, I've studied programming in high school a lot. I just went in a different way. I was always a tech guy. I wouldn't say it's hard to land a job as a newbie. But, you gotta put in the work for sure. Especially, if you are not tech savy and don't have a perspective in it. Just talking to other devs as a learner is great. Although, I wouldn't recommend bootcamps. In Hungary, but in all other countries as I talked to other devs or graduates and so on. They just take a big chunk of money from you and you don't get much help. Always Google everything what comes to your mind about something. Even just about the job itself, like what they do in a day. It's very much doable. Also, it depends how much time you put in what time frame. If you are working full time, it will take longer. I would probably take a part time job and just code in the meantime and learn, learn, learn. You have to sacrifice a lot of things. Night outs, friends and even family. But in the end, you will get rewarded. I used to work all kinds of jobs until the age of 30. I've been in hospitality, movie industry, etc. Now, I'm a senior in the UK and don't have a problem getting or keeping my job. Good luck everyone!

[@BusinessWolf1]

landing a job as a newbie has always been the hardest part lol. Also, it's much harder right now than it ever was, because of the horrible job market.

[@webdev_am]

Man I am 28 now and I’m thinking that I am to old that there’s tons of freshman that the companies or startups will hire them and don’t even give a chance to me… when did you start learn to code?

[@Version-ru1mj]

@@webdev_am That's pretty much a hoax. I've started at 32. But as I've said, I was a self learner. However, I have met some people who started even in their 40s. Many people switched whom were even older than me. Age is literally just a number. I know a company who literally made a huuge mistake with this. They wanted only young talents in their team with only one single senior and lead programmer. You know what happened? Company went bankrupt. They realized that after having only fresh grad juniors, they are fucked. They wanted to save up money and have " hot shots " in the team. They made an insanely big mistake, it cost the company. It was one particular very important project which made their reputation sink. Nobody wanted any work from them anymore. Again, if you have the knowledge, willpower, etc. It's fine. I must tell you that though, in my high school, I majored in programming. So I already made snake game and other games / programmes by the end of my high school years. I didn't touch programming seriously for a few years after that, just a litlte bit. It's not a huge difference though. You can start anytime. Make the leap!

[@joel9909]

thanks buddy

[@farhansalam6504]

Hey, thanks for the inspiring story. Reading through your post reminded me of my past and current circumstances. Started off loving to code static websites in the late Web 1.0 days and studied Comp. Engineering in high school but felt demotivated by Java, C, PHP. Somehow I couldn't make the concepts click in my brain. But like Travis said, I came to terms that I was just being too comfortable with what I already knew and avoided facing the challenges head-on. More than 15 years on, now, I'm hoping to break away from helpdesk/onsite roles once and for all by brute-forcing my way back to web development. Though I quickly picked off by self-studying again, I completed a Full Stack bootcamp to force myself through. Still a long way to go though.. I'm brushing up my basics first and hoping to jump to Leetcode/Codewars before finally starting my search for web dev roles. One thing's for sure though, I'm grateful that helpful content is much more accessible now unlike in the past. chatGPT has been my greatest (AI) friend to help out with breaking down complex concepts.

[@sanketpatki]

"Now's the time to take that leap." The above sentence spoke directly to me. Thanks!

[@jakemealey5532]

Im 22 and I’ve been coding for about 7-8 months straight after dropping out of college. I was pursuing photojournalism as I did photography in community college and I don’t drive due to adhd and autism Eventually I realized it is not ideal to continue pursue this degree and I remembered I had tried programming back in community college and loved it so I decided to start the Odin project and I fell in love with html and css. I started learning JavaScript a month in and I fell apart at the seams as js was extremely hard. I ended up finishing the Odin project foundations in 3 months, but it wasn’t easy. When I did the calculator eventually I started falling apart thinking I couldn’t do this that I am awful at programming, but I kept pushing with a lot of help and now I’m pursuing this path no matter what it takes. I may get burnt out, I may have a breakdown over how hard it can be, but I know I can do it. Currently, I’m working on my first portfolio project that being a chess game from scratch with algorithms (I am awful at algorithms, but this project is teaching me everything) and soon after I’m starting react and building my portfolio alongside that!!! I know I can do this no matter what and I know you can too. Never give up!!! Happy coding! Also I am now learning to drive so everything is coming together!!!!

[@JegErN0rsk]

I believe in you

[@deniz3063]

My man just keep pushing. You will manage to land a job eventually

[@fairyofdaisies]

that's the spirit! best wishes in your endeavors! you can do this!

[@eechaze12]

What I find important about your comment is you like coding. Some get into it for the potential pay and get burned out. Keep pushing .

[@RajinderYadav]

when I read I don't drive due to adhd, I imagined you jumping out of a moving car because you were distracted lmao ....and I was like this is more serious than I thought. 😂

[@igortodorovic7635]

I am a self taught front end dev. Started learning python, back in 2012. Finished a few courses, went to two interviews. Failed. Started learning Java 101. That plus python gave me solid understanding on how languages work. After some time, spoke to a few dev friends, they had cs degree, they gave me an advice to start working on web dev, as an entry point to the job market. Already knew html and css, a bit of js. Started with MERN stack. Created portfolio website with some small fullstack projects and got my first job in August 2018, at small startup as a front end developer, at the age of 35. Don’t give up. I spent solid amount of money on courses, Udacity was a winner for me. Still a happy Frontend dev!

[@music4toli]

Something often overlooked is not aiming for a "Software Engineer" title first. There are several jobs in tech that require you to know basic programming but arent so coding focused that you have time to hone your coding skills on the job. Support, QA, and IT are solid options for this. You can use this as a way to transition into what is traditionally thought of as software engineering today.

[@TravisMedia]

Great advice!

[@torrvic1156]

Bad advice! Those are very different than programming. You’ll not get experience you there working as a support guy and fixing MFDs.

[@ScottHess]

Oh, the "talk problems out" hits hard for me. I've interviewed hundreds of people for tech positions, and for a lot of them what they needed to do to improve was not technical study, they needed PRACTICE. It's not like a serious public-speaking engagement where you have to practice your talk 25 times, but just two or three practice interviews will make a LOAD of difference. It doesn't have to be a legit simulation at all, you just need to practice talking about yourself, explaining a problem, explaining something you did on your resume, writing out some code on a notebook (or whiteboard if you have it), etc. I can't tell you how many times I've asked about something they listed on their resume, only to have them spend the next three minutes trying to remember what they were even doing at that job. Obviously, the best case is to have someone who can follow your answers and ask you follow-up questions, and they can be very useful for practicing a back-and-forth clarifying the question. Just know that interviewing people well is HARD, so you might not be able to find someone who can really nail that. Even then, I think in most cases it will help to just have someone who can patiently ask questions you gave them, then smile and nod, and then evaluate whether your response seemed confident or whether it was full of verbal fillers. Even doing it with a recording app can help.

[@cmt5140]

Honestly as a CS graduate, you don’t learn enough just from college for an entry level position. You have to self teach yourself anyways. All CS courses do is provide you with the basics and teach you how to think as a programmer. But you wont get the experience with all the frameworks, languages and technologies that Entry level positions are asking for. Because of this fact I ended up in a different industry for 10 years. Now I have recently rekindled my love for coding and software developing and Im essentially self teaching myself by brushing up on the basics from college and learning the things I actually need to land an entry level job. Aiming for web development because it seems to be the quickest route into the field. Just learning HTML, CSS, and Javascript along with frameworks like React is all you apparently need for front end, and you can just build your skills from there

[@xL4RG0x]

This

[@Planet_Xplorer]

DON'T GIVE UP. I DID A CAREER CHANGE AT AGE 45. 2 YEARS LATER I'M HEADING A TEAM OF DEVELOPERS IN A MULTINATIONAL. IT WASN'T EASY BUT DON'T GIVE UP.

[@hepzibahhez9965]

what was your original career?

[@Planet_Xplorer]

@@hepzibahhez9965 Financial Planning & Analysis

[@deanparker7867]

I'm an enterprise architect for a very famous 3 letter company. Your advice here is absolutely on point. "Self-taught" has absolutely no meaning once you get your foot in the door. That is because the learning never stops. Most of the stuff we do on a cutting edge software development project requires fairly recent skills built on top of a solid foundation of basics. We all have to keep pushing beyond our current boundaries all of the time to stay on top. I have 30 years of continuous work as a developer behind me built on the same foundation that I taught myself using a Commodore 64 and an Atari 800XL when I was 12. Sure, I went to school to become an engineer but it was NOT software engineering. Everything I do now that matters is built on the self-taught lessons of my life. The real key is you have to LOVE coding. Not just "like" or "stand" it to make a paycheck. No matter what you do to provide for yourself the goal should be to enjoy the hell out of the process. Some days don't even feel like work to me. Even now... The people we interview would do well to listen to what you say in this video.

[@Agnes135]

KFC

[@Ispeakfactz]

@@Agnes135 🤣🤣🤣

[@dawitghebrehiwet8600]

👏🏽 for the Atari 800 XL 👏🏽

[@ExpatTraderFX]

ive been coding for 10 months straight and looking for work the past 2 months with nothing but rejections, honestly i've come close to quitting because i feel at times like whats the point of coding all day and not getting a job as of yet so far along my journey, I got a kid and wife and ive sacraficed alot to get this far..it gets very disheartening smetimes...keeping on keepin on

[@dakoderii4221]

Don't give up. The macro situation with the economy will turn around in mid 2025. There will be a surplus of jobs you'll be able to choose from. Hold on though, it's going to be a bumpy ride before we get there.

[@prashanthb6521]

Dont give up.

[@Stevenloveprogramming]

Maybe your skill still not enough, try focus on improving yourself and apply job next half year

[@Anime_Empire_2.0]

On the same boat, I graduated a coding BootCamp a year ago and still have not found a job! I have a portfolio full of projects and lots of connections including recruiters, the best thing you can do is keep coding and even if you can try to step your game up and freelance on fiver, its a good way to gain real-world experience.

[@JustSomeDinosaurPerson]

Hey man. Keep up the grind, for sure. But more than that, build rapport and establish connections even with the companies that reject you. Maintain cordiality and express appreciation for the consideration in spite of the rejection. Ask them if they have any recommendations for areas to focus on. Showing an eagerness goes along way, especially if you can manage to establish a social relationship with someone in the industry and just talk to them on a semi-regular basis.

[@dennisdesk]

I found this very inspiring, I completed a BootCamp last year and I'm having the worst time finding a job. Seeing job posts for the tech stack that I'm not familiar with, to Entry level postings asking for 5+ years.

[@lfsfortunato93]

I was yesterday years old thinking about how insecure I was with my skills and how many hours I've put into learning tech just to find closed doors. That being said, this vido was just what I needed to hear to keep going and trusting myself♥

[@ShivaniSharma-h7g]

As a programming student learning coding +robotics at Moonpreneur, I believe one should have hands on-experience of the knowledge they have gained whether from any program or by self taught. This will help you to get a decent job.

[@ColdxVengnce]

This is the exact advice I need! The cold hard truth that many will ignore. At the end of the day, all jobs are competitive and if roles were reversed we too would also seek the best candidates. I’m at the beginning of a long journey but success is dependent on daily habits. Thank you for giving me the fundamental things to keep in mind when pushing for this career change 🙏🏽

[@blackaccel]

Your fifth tip was the reason I landed a job in tech and changed my life. Thank you so much for giving me that wake up call to be bold now.

[@ShortButAmazingLife]

I'm a Software Engineering Lead at a Fortune 50 company and I just got my BS degree in CS a month ago. Been coding forever, but was never able to land a job until I got my Java certification. If you don't have a degree, I suggest a bootcamp or a certification. Meanwhile, create a resume and work on interesting software and/or open source projects. It's possible!

[@mastersplinter666]

Thanks. I needed this at 34 years of age and looking to shift gears into cloud engineer/ systems engineering

[@lardosian]

It can be done, I'm older and did it, currently using GCP in my backend role.

[@alkebabish]

I have a computing degree (which tbh is pretty useless when it comes to real world coding). I was a web developer 15 years ago but ended up working in a totally different industry. I've spent the last few months learning Python, doing courses in a lot of things from FastAPI to Pytorch. I think I'll be employable within another 6 months or so, but I don't really want a job contract- I want to be a freelancer, or make money from a web app. I think the scary part for me is going to be when is top doing courses and build and deploying a bunch of portfolio projects. That will be getting out of the comfort zone. I totally agree about how they set the bar high for job applications. When I worked in the industry, I passed interviews when I knew almost nothing about the tech they were using, like the video says you have to show people you are keen to learn.

[@gold9994]

What helped me a lot during my coding interview is defending my assignment to the TA. Sometimes, code plagiarism checker is just dumb.

[@mikesgamelab6369]

I’m a self-taught developer. After a year-long stint of interviewing back-to-back with no calls, I’ve all but given up on the software industry. I still apply, but I don’t take it seriously. And while it’s certainly because I struggle with the idea of having to prove myself, it’s not because I’m afraid I can’t. I always prove myself eventually. It’s hard for me to get past the contempt of having to do that for long enough to properly study for a programming test. I didn’t pick up programming to prove myself to people. I did it because there are things I want to do with software, and I’ve always done those things on my own. I prefer to code for myself these days.

[@denniscm6-2]

This "I didn’t pick up programming to prove myself to people. I did it because there are things I want to do with software". I've been feeling like you for some time.

[@mzx6531]

Really nice video. As a self-taught developer I can confirm these problems like 0 confidence, fears/etc. No matter how much projects you made or how good they are. Only when you find a job you will feel urself as a true developer like my friend did, and now I guess its my turn xd

[@hellogelo91]

I just started as a Mid-level Data Engineer two weeks ago in a big IT company from a decade of BPO Callcenter experience. No college degree. Just focus on projects and learning techniques on job searching. I sent 500+ applications, less than ten interview invitation, and got one. You only need that one. You can do it!

[@JuanValle33]

I appreciate your upfront way of speaking to your audience. It appeals to me as a wanna be or aspiring to become a software/ web developer. I’ve been/am on that path now where I have plenty of knowledge and am taking too long to take the leap and just get out of my comfort zone.

[@BeekersSqueakers]

0:21 This is what happened to me. I have a profound fear of rejection, particularly with employment. I had been coding for years and watched others who were nowhere near as skilled as me get jobs; all because I was too scared to even apply. I ended up working my way up into a different career field at the company I worked for, so it worked out.

[@MiketheNerdRanger]

I don't know if I was scared before or if you're trying to scare me now, but I don't need to hear anything that shakes my confidence.

[@Billiam9436]

Self-taught or not, this advice is really good, especially for people who are trying to land their first job in tech

[@eli-eli1]

This was great and so are a lot of the comments. I was a bit discouraged by how long it's taking me to get good at leetcoding and algorithms but now I'm more motivated to give it my all

[@L8rCloud]

My WHOLE career was self-taught and I can’t remember ever going to an interview for a job I didn’t land - EVER I went to Job Interviews I didn’t want because it gave me practice AND it felt really empowering to walk into an interview completely uncaring and aloof Most of my work was trouble-shooting projects that were headed for destruction and pulling them across the line

[@devonhyung2073]

What did you start with and when did you feel comfortable getting a job ?

[@jgibson8092]

How did you get so good at interviewing ?

[@L8rCloud]

@@devonhyung2073 My first jobs were temping work. When I started the in 1995 Multimedia development and the Internet was just starting to become mainstream. I would be sent out for a straight html gig at a bank and then in the next cubicle they were having an issue with JavaScript. Another gig would be Video Editing and Lingo scripting CD-ROM…I moved from job to job and, as a temp, I was pricey so if they called me it was usually because they were desperate and the project was headed for failure. This translated to EXTREMELY long hours and having to fill gaps of knowledge very quickly (on the hop) - It was really ‘the Wild West’ and by the time the project arrived in my hands it was a REAL mess….but it was those sort of jobs that gave me the experience to take on my most challenging projects as lead - which I was most proud of. Being able to update Multimedia Kiosks when 128kb Internet was the fastest connection speed to over 300 Toyota Dealerships by creating my own language using xml 😂 because I blurted out in a meeting that I wasn’t going to be traveling all over Australia to stick CDs in computers all day….I’ll do it from my desk (this was considered impossible at the time) CD-ROM died and then I moved over to Flash and Asynchronous web services …and then Flash died and I moved back to JavaScript and Enterprise Web… I never feel confident about any job, really, even now (I just never let on) …besides, if I’m not doing it someone else who’s just as unsure will take my place and no one’s going to pay your rent for you….So this makes it easy[er] How can ANYONE feel confident when they are surrounded by people who are looking at them for answers…so they can pay THEIR rent at the end of the week…it can feel like a HUGE responsibility…but, like rock climbing, that’s the sort thinking that can cause you to freak out and fall - you just put your head down and build your app, one piece at a time. …’Just do it’ - don’t sweat the small stuff - ‘it will be all alright on the night’ ….and have fun

[@L8rCloud]

@@jgibson8092 I went in to each interview with it in mind that I already had the job…I’m not saying that thinking you have the job automatically gets you the job - that’s crazy talk (psychosis) …by thinking you have the job the language changes. You start asking about the problems that need to be solved, you start talking as if you are within the organisation AND they start to picture what it would be like having you work amongst them… So already you are starting to feel to them like you’re not a stranger. You’re empathising with them and they are feeling at ease with you….THAT’S why you’re in the interview. You’re not there to tell them your qualifications - they saw all of that in your resume - that’s why they called you in They want to see if you’re a good fit and if you can do what your resume says you can do. Try to look at your interview from their perspective, not yours. What THEY want, not what YOU want…then you will get it and you will say the things they want to hear. It’s kind of like a first date :) …that’s it - it’s that simple. (Well at least that’s what always worked for me)

[@worldfamous_23]

100% agree, I got a callback from my first dev job while I was doing Amazon delivery driver inductions after giving up for trying so long with no luck, oh I walked out of that induction n I’ve never looked back😅

[@lordkroak6670]

While not IT I am working on getting a supervisor job. They grilled the heck out of me but I get to go on to the second interview. I am also learning coding as Well but what’s fantastic about this job is that it makes enough money so i can afford college without paying loans so I can get that piece of paper HR wants so much for software development

[@NBGTFO]

I'm self-taught, no degree (some college though), and I have been working in the IT industry for over 30 years, mostly as a software developer. There is a job out there for almost anyone who wants to work, has the capacity to learn and has at least minimal soft skills. If you lack experience, it will take longer to land a job, but if you are sharp, eventually someone hiring will give you a chance. If you can make the most of that first opportunity, you'll be golden.

[@johnyewtube2286]

> eventually How long is eventually? I have been actively looking for a job for a year and learning to code for almost three. I have sent out 700 applications and I have given up on the self taught route. I am getting my associate's then bachelor's degrees. Hopefully getting a couple of internships along the way. If this does not work. I will give, it would be ~five years of programming.

[@PetyrC90]

You took a job 30 years ago without a degree because the whole world was different and easier 30 years ago. You played this game in easy difficulty. Nothing you say matters for 2023. You are privileged for having been born early than us. Our generation will only have a chance at our 50s, when your generation retires or dies. You wouldnt be qualified for entry jobs today.

[@tc2241]

@@johnyewtube2286shouldn’t take too long, especially if you’re looking in atypical industries like banking, machining, food, etc. lots of vacant positions you can grow into from the ground floor. My first opportunity was working tech support for a fast food company, took about 8 months of applications and getting good at interviewing. Quickly moved into operations, and then into software. Took about 3-4 years. Been in the industry for about 15 years now, even had my old company pay to send me back to school, currently a sr dir for a fortune company. Took patience and a lot of moving around to get here. Also make sure your fundamentals are good.

[@diandradeeke]

@@johnyewtube2286 your situation looks similar to mine. I have a terrible family and wanted to move to another city. Nobody hires me because i dont have friends. Nobody thinks i might become friends with new people in another city. i just dont get a fair chance

[@noseboop4354]

Companies don't lowball job listings, but they sure have no compunction about lowball salary offers.

[@phutureproof]

im totally self taught and i get every job i go for, confidence is king and code is code, i been working in the php web design field with a bit of every js framework thrown in for over 25 years! My god that scares me i am now an old fart. there is always something new to learn and as ive matured in age and knowledge i am at the point where it doesnt matter what language you want i can learn it within a week.

[@DaBrowns33]

I just happened to stumble upon this video a of couple hours before an interview. Needless to say, you completely helped change my perspective and I got the job. Thanks so much for sharing these drops of wisdom.

[@TravisMedia]

Congrats!

[@bladechild2449]

I feel like the reason I "won't land the job", is because I don't actually want what the job really is. A part of me just keeps telling myself I'll work for myself and freelance, because I don't want to work in a collaborative environment. And maybe I'll just become a solo app/game developer in the end. It's just a pipe dream, and thinking about it like that just kills my desire to push through with it

[@synen]

There is so much to learn it is all very overwhelming.

[@GccFagas]

its so my im a construction worker 30 years old did coding for 2 years sold 3 websites for construction company and my friend works for google thats biggest flex i can say because he gave me so much advice but I burn out and now stopped for 14 months . whats stopped me? not only i needed learn coding for front end but i needed improve my english writing and speech and im afraid of interview .... and had weed addiction now im trying get back to it its so hard its seems i have to force myself to learn it

[@AdrianTregoning]

Golden advice. Tip number 6: Don't worry about recruiters. To this day I've never landed a job through a recruiter and I've been working for almost 20 years, and not once much longer than 3 years at a company. I'm sure others have had different experiences but direct contact with a company or word of mouth is still the best route.

[@redrum4486]

Recruiters have pushed me into roles i never thought I'd be comfortable applying for but turned out I was and I've been able to more than double my salary thanks to them... recruiters get a bad rep online but they're very useful.. i nearly hung up on my last one due to bs with previous recruiters but he somehow convinced me to take an interview and it was the best decision i ever made!

[@PetyrC90]

20 years ago the world was easier for you.

[@UKGeezer]

Any route is best as long as you land a job, whether that be via a recruiter or by some other means.

[@BusinessWolf1]

I got 2 interviews since you uploaded this video, failed both but it's still a win. Now I'm making a coding challenge repo so I can put Jest on my resume for extra visibility, and after that I'm gonna do a fake social media so I can put REST API on there too.

[@AlexMilliken-m3l]

Have you passed the interviews yet?

[@yqhanliving]

Appreciate it. "Maybe this event in your life is the defining moment where you actually started taking charge of things in your life. It just comes in the form of transitioning into tech."

[@1NodeProphet]

Found your channel just at the right time. I'm transitioning to tech and it's starting to get frustrating to find a job. I was already thinking of going back to trucking, good thing I found your video. I little glimmer of hope. I have been practicing non-stop and applying on LinkedIn and Glassdoor at least 7 -10 companies a day for the past 5 months. I don't know what I am doing wrong. Thank you for creating this content, it's really encouraging.

[@Niko753A]

Why does society have to be so demanding and outright cruel. I have been learning for 3 years and yes I live in my comfort zone but every time I try to get out of it the cold world just forces me to crawl back in. Sorry for being a downer like that but this is just my experience. It's very nice to see some positive cases here.

[@Schitcum]

If society is to blame then it’s your fault. Genuinely not trying to be mean but it’s true. Ever heard the old “if you can’t see the crazy person on the bus it’s likely you”? It speaks volumes. There is no such thing as “society”, at least not in the way you and many others seem to view it. It’s not some big scary entity conspiring against you and everyone else, its a collective of somewhat likeminded people trying their best (just like you) to find their place and make things work. There are tragedies and miracles, each their own right to exist, you cannot live in peace if constantly worried about one or the other. An existence too concerned with the downfalls of nature will only see life as ware fare. A man loses his family in a car crash as another man witness the birth if his first born; a deer watches her doe be eaten alive while a mother lion brings home a meal for her cubs. Its a harmony natured figured out long before our tiny brains started finding responsibility in it, so don’t give the woes and wins too much thought Any notion you have of “societal pressures” or “societal expectations” is completely in your head. And just like programming, even tho you can’t physically grab a line of code, code runs shit. In that same way you may not be able to see and identify the thoughts and thought processes that limit you but they still hold you back and they’ll eventually run shit Comfort zones never start as such. They become such a thing once you grit your teeth, embrace the challenge and step into the dark. Every year of human life is done through stepping out of comfort zones, thats why the old are wise Your fears, worries, insecurities and the like only exist in the abstract world, so don’t see them as so detrimental, they literally can’t do anything to you, unless you see them as actual obstacles and roadblocks. If you have a voice telling you no it means you first had a voice telling you yes. You choose which one to listen to. Good luck my friend, go make some shit happen!

[@shashouw8352]

@@Schitcumso you think it is possible ?

[@Schitcum]

@@shashouw8352 not possible, imminent. What goes down must come up

[@shashouw8352]

@ what do this mean

[@Bilal-ys6df]

Honestly, I think that having a family and some life experience is a huge boost. I am in my early twenties, married, one child and I can't tell you how much that has benefited me. People are anxious and have too much time on their hand, getting paranoia over why somebody keeps them on read or why they haven't gotten a job after 100 sent CVs. I don't have time for this, if somebody doesn't treat me in the nicest manner at a meeting or whatever. Guess what, I don't really care, he probably has a tough day. I have tough days, but I stay cordeous he might not be, but again, I don't care.

[@CodeWithBehram7497]

Really appreciate your thoughts, as I am a self-taught web developer have almost four years of experience, but in the past month, I provided an interview with a software company where I unfortunately didn't land a job because they told me that if you call yourself a Full Stack web developer than you have to have experience in every programming language and frameworks, and I believe this is not true. After that, I was a bit disappointed but a month ago I started my KZbin channel related to web programming and you know that KZbin is the place for everything if you want to learn, teach, or gain confidence while talking Technical or in every aspect like I only created 2 to 3 videos and I am happy on what I did. so guys don't be disappointed on what others say to you and I will suggest all programmers that must start KZbin.

[@learnerSarfaraz]

Thanks for motivating, I'm a self-taught developer, I learn from many online tutorial still feel demotivated, went to 2 companies last round and rejected, but i will keep me in uncomforting zone and reapplying for job.

[@juampibehler]

The title is exaggerating to draw attention. Never take absolutes and identify with groups, this is what will truly make you never land a job 😅. What I have learned for most than 15 years as a self-taught Dev, engineer and inventor is that most academics develop a resistance to learn things outside their specialty, do not know how to learn by prioritization, depend too much on external teaching and validation, struggle developing strong critical thinking and utilitarian mentality and of course a lack of enthusiasm in many of them make for shallow knowledge. I've been within A.I. research, electronic engineering, DevOps and frontend both in companies and universities, working without a title, most of the time achieving great things. Just listen your intuition and trust yourself 😊

[@UKGeezer]

Over 30 years as a developer here, 15 in the gaming industry, 5 in medical and 12 in the defence industry. No web development experience in all that time, mostly desktop software, graphics and some low level software. At my age with no degree or web experience, I think I would also struggle to find a job. I'm more of a bits and bytes guy, but pretty much everything is web nowadays.

[@Scrotux]

Asking about your first tip: what do you do when job listings state “at a minimum applicant must know” but then list out senior level experience? Do you still ignore the “minimum” statement?

[@angeldude101]

My understanding is that yes, you are supposed to ignore the "minimum requirements". This is very different from programming itself where something is generally only a "minimum requirement" if it's actually physically or mathematically _impossible_ without those requirements.

[@meeduoh]

I'm not a developer in any way (I'm a philosopher), but most of the tips given here have been great! I'm gonna start writing out loud from now on.

[@prico3358]

You study philosophy, or are a philosopher yourself? .. what philosophy have you come up with or worked on?

[@meeduoh]

@@prico3358 I'm a master's student. Working on a master's thesis about Wittgenstein's rule following considerations.

[@vasilebandila2502]

One of the best videos I have seen about this in years!

[@redrum4486]

I've been learning code for like 8 years now.. i was working in chemical engineering then transitioned into a data analyst role then all the coding i learnt was put into use when i was helping out on a technical project which i excelled in and was a senior data analyst but i then decided to jump ship for a data engineering role which i've also excelled it in due to my years of learning to code... career has weird turns lol

[@ahmeterdonmez9195]

I saw in real industry that anyhow self-taught developers are more successful than the educated. I thought a little about the reasons for this. I had some conclusions of my own: 1- The general disease of the education system, which I also see in online platforms, is that more time is spent on theoretical parts than necessary. 2- Students' energy is wasted with information that should only be learned by people who should be doing academic research in the field. 3- Instructors do not know where many of the things they teach are used in real life. 4- Students are instilled with unnecessary self-confidence, which gives rise to behaviors that the real business world does not like, such as arrogance and thinking that they know a lot. 5- Self-learners think that this is a deficiency and work hard to compensate for this deficiency.

[@crimsionCoder42]

Just FYI the same amount of hustle it would take you to get into a FAANG company would probably also make you one hell of a freelancer if you found the right niche. Because of the slowdown in hiring, I'm actually splitting my time between freelancing and applications. That way as more time passes without getting hired I don't see it as a negative I see it as I have more time to freelance and build my brand.

[@arachnid4910]

Any advice? Should I just build basic CRUD apps to practice?

[@TreehuggingLiberal]

OMG Thank you so much. I'm sitting here with a coding challenge right now for a rather lucrative job and for the past couple of days I've been psyching myself out that that won't really want my skillset for such a great job. Tip 1? Mindblown.

[@nathanwhite704]

It's nearly impossible to get a job even with a CS degree right now, so if you get one being self-taught that's pure luck.

[@Jaber_Dev]

شكرا لك ترايفس انا مهندس برمجيات من الأردن🇯🇴 شكراً لك على نصائحك ❤

[@Toolookanu]

You have such a good mindset man, Thanks for just being you and real on here.

[@FastingWisdom]

Man, I teared up after this video, because you described much of me to a tee. I’m at a crossroads right now in my life, and I need a new direction NOW. I watched your other video on your journey from doing odd jobs until getting into coding, and it inspired me. Is there a certain in which I should learn coding, and what all should I learn and in what order?

[@joel9909]

I would say just take a course and try to build a project from scratch afterwards. I am taking the Meta front-end developer course on Coursera right now, I have free access for 6 months.

To code need some skills, that not everybody have, or want to have. But the most people that want to have, in this current time, they will succeed. Remember, this is about sitting countless hours in front a screen, write code and more code, try to understand complex problems and solve it. The most people want a easier way to earn money.

[@jwdeepsky]

Self taught web developer with 7 years of experience here. Busted my ass to learn and was so proud or myself when landed a job. Over those 7 years my work ethic deteriorated and i became increasingly dissatisfied with each new job i worked. Recently got laid off from my last job and cannot find another dev job to save my life. Looking back i realize looking at a computer screen for 8+ hours a day is not what i want to do with my life

[@daviddeguzman7218]

Awesome advice sir! Thank you very much!

[@BusinessWolf1]

This video is dead right. Suuuuper correct. I'm right here, I put in all the work, I became employable, the job market crashed, I improved my skills and projects to be able to get a job. And I felt like just quietly giving up by putting in less and less effort each day constantly. I think the vast majority of people are in my position. Their skills are razor sharp for a junior, they've got everything down and all they have to do is apply to jobs and build. And they don't. And that's how they give up, not all at once. EDIT: if anyone reads this, I've gotten 3 interviews and actually refused one offer from the first interview (abusive team lead), and I STILL feel like slowly giving up

[@looksmatteronly]

How do u feel you're employable

[@ViralKiller]

Lmao 95% of Devs are self taught

[@aljon5947]

Im a highschool dropout(missed 3 years due to pandemic and moving countries), still 18 but my single mother is 55 getting old and I need to get a job soon. Just finished odin foundations after 2 weeks, now working on js path. But i dont know if i can make it, i didnt get to socially mature due to lack of schooling in my teen years.

[@JonBerisha-ti1vl]

How are you doing bro?

[@photorealm]

There was absolutely no one teaching coding (for non main frame languages) when I started, There are great coders in both camps (self taught and someone else taught). It really gets down to the persons abilities. The companies that only interview papered people are loosing out on some great candidates.

[@GaborGubicza]

Great video Travis, congrats. I decided to transition my career from Hardware engineering to software. I'm in week 3. Keep up the good work

[@tacokoneko]

i have a firm belief that any electronics engineer can easily learn to write low level code because they already fully understand the actual physics behind how the device works. it's with very high level code like web frontend or dev ops that a different type of experience is probably required. but there are lots of people who are good at every single thing in the full stack

[@iJackJP]

7:07 on PC when he says give a thumb up, the like button change color, i liked that hahaha, btw love the motivation the video gives me :D

[@jabadoodle]

Travis, you have such a wonderful way about you. Thanks for posting!!

[@jamese.spivak4170]

This is me. I have a computer science degree from University of Toronto. Tried for a solid year after graduating. Couldn't keep taking rejection after rejection. Now I do a bunch of small odd jobs to make ends meet

[@TheBlackmanIsGod]

This is crazy! I’m usually the only one who went to school and I’ve always worked with self taught people who are much better than me and have higher programming positions than I do.

[@dinaashrafjunior3327]

I have been trying self-taught for 8 months now, last three months including this month I am brain frozen. I resigned 8 months ago and I thought I was going to massively intake the learning Coz I have all the resources I need to succeed but honestly am honestly brain dead. JavaScript killed me just when I was thinking I can handle the JS functions one month after I just couldn't. Meanwhile I have been just doing WordPress just to do something whilst my brain is not feeling like doing any Coding. I hope I will find a part time job of some sort and then be on a break from November to Dec. Then January, I will give it a Big short to Learn and practice JavaScript and React so that by Jully 2024 I will get a Dev Job. But thanks for the Channel an for so many Gurus like you that are giving us a Glims of hope. really appreciated.

[@io-er1ex]

"I was thinking I can handle the JS functions one month after I just couldn't" this is normal for everyone, just keep going

[@zike03]

I am self taught and I landed a job . Keep chasing your dreams and never give up 😊

[@jgibson8092]

How . Did you know someone at the company I finished a boot camp and have projects and I can't even get a interview.

[@PetyrC90]

Who appointed you to the job?

[@tramparse84]

Hey Travis, thanks for the video. It's good to be reminded every so often that your hopes and dreams won't be handed to you on a plate, you'll need to fight for them, every step of the way. I've been struggling my way toward a dev job since graduating a bootcamp in 2020. A long and gruelling 3 years. We had a 2 year old back then who is now 5, and also added a new baby into the mix last january, so it's been a lot to contend with! I know I'll get there though. I need to. I want to.

[@beenfaahmed449]

Yo will do it , friend and excel in it ❤👍

[@fredytheweirdo8248]

Hey just curious, mind elaborating how your journey’s gone? What’s your experience consisted of in the last 3 years? Starting off and wanting to hear others’ experiences

[@manojkumar-jt3fw]

Started learning Devops 3 months back after watching many of ur videos. As of now, i completed Linux Administration & Shell scripting courses. Now i am focusing on AWS.

[@TravisMedia]

Keep at it!

[@novanoskillz4151]

Im money motivated. I also get extremely nervous during interviews. But if that interview is all that stands between me and making more money and taking care of my family… then its lights camera action when the interview starts. I haven made less than $130k the past 2 years after teaching myself how to code during covid.

[@lepidoptera9337]

How many times did you post that bullshit on the internet, already? ;-)

[@joegood6703]

wow! that was super motivational. Thanks Travis

[@scharpmeister]

I really needed this video right now at this point in my job search Thank you!

[@naddielsanchez6288]

Great videos! Thank you for sharing.

[@lintendo100]

I am self-taught as well and never had problems finding a job. In some companies I worked for I also did job interviews with other developers who studied at university but were unable to solve some very basic coding challenges. Never had problems with finding a job apart from the very beginning of my career and even that wasn't so hard. Now I get flooded with messages from recruiters and haven't applied for a job in many years. Still suffer from imposter syndrome from time to time though :D

[@Mark73]

I've been a programmer since 2000. I only went to a community college where I learned C, C++ and Visual Basic. I had tought myself HTML and JavaScript. I landed a job doing Classic ASP (VB helped with that). I learned CSS as more browsers started supporting it and SQL as well. I eventually moved to WinForms and MVC with C# (which C++ helped with). Now I'm doing pure C# API backends with React or Vue frontends, along with the databases to go along with them. I think I'm on my 7th job in the industry. Two of them I quit myself, and those were the ones I was at the longest. Of the ones I was let go from, two of them were my first two jobs, one was going out of business but kept me on as a contractor until I was able to find another spot, and the other needed an IT department and were expecting insane amounts of _fintech_ code from just one person.

[@jahjahtruth]

Great message! Thank you!

[@maxxjonesyy]

Great video Travis, I've been learning to code for about 2 years now and have been fortunate enough to work in the industry as a self-taught developer now. I've been on the hunt for the past 6 months or so for another job and it hasn't been easy but I know I have the skills to do it so the search continues... You don't ever fail if you never give up.

[@benjaminthomasson]

Read Rosen, CLRS, Norvig, and Knuth. That is a good start.

[@jpppptrade]

you got a good voice for ads it fits you, sounds so professional

[@vyas9631]

I just started my journey with front end a week ago. Thanks for the advice.

[@reyreyalldayday5708]

Been doing this 2 and a half years. I've bombed some interviews. I've gotten real close once or twice but still no "dev" job. I'm a fullstack development tutor... but that doesn't count. Landed kind of a role from a lady I was tutoring. But she ran out of money. Back to searching, but lately I can't even get interviews to fail. But I'll keep grinding.

[@pokeyanteater598]

I think assuming people aren't getting jobs because they're not putting themselves out of their comfort zone and are quitting is a bit unfair. Junior roles are few and extremely competitive with bootcamp and comp sci students being favourites over self taught. You would be extremely lucky to even get an interview these days because so many entry level roles require 1+ year of experience. Even if you get an interview there is a gap in skill between the self-taught and the bootcamp student that is very difficult to close. Saying 'just don't give up' is isn't very constructive, people have their own lives, situations and mouths to feed. Not all that easy

[@Lone93]

Thank you Travis, I needed this!

[@Costa173]

I needed to hear this, thank you.

[@Komabusa]

I really needed to hear this today. Thanks Travis!

[@gabrieljreed]

In this thread: everyone talking about the jobs they got being a self taught programmer

[@Magnetar3377]

Thanks a lot Mister Travis ! This video is soo useful for me !