Programming is a great gig - great pay, great perks, high status.
It's possible to self-teach from zero knowledge to a full-time job in 6 months.
Currently, few people understand this.
Here's some evidence you can do it, and some resources for getting started:
It's possible to self-teach from zero knowledge to a full-time job in 6 months.
Currently, few people understand this.
Here's some evidence you can do it, and some resources for getting started:
1/ "I genuinely do not understand why so few people decide to become software engineers. The barriers to entry are pretty low, the pay and perks are good, the job high status and fun, and one can learn enough to get a job, by themselves, in ~3-6 months." @altimor
2/ And if you're good enough, you can be eventually be paid for your output, not your input.
3/ Yes, it's really possible to go from zero to full-time employed in 6 months full-time self-teaching.
4/ "From my experience mentoring at Thinkful, students spend anywhere from 600 to 700 hours studying to get a good junior developer job." quora.com/How-long-does-…
5/ It would "take an average person with no programming background [roughly 1000 hours] to become a full-stack developer." 6 months, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. quora.com/How-long-would…
6/ "If you have significantly above average drive, you can learn by yourself with online tutorials. Take it one step at a time, always try to be a bit challenged by not overwhelmed. Do week-long projects and look for a mentor — engineers tend to be super helpful" @altimor
7/ Resource: hackernoon.com/learn-to-code-…
8/ Resource: reddit.com/r/learnprogram…
9/ Tip: "Have a plan -- don't just keep learning the next thing people tell you or you'll end up working really hard and not feel like you've accomplished anything. You need to lay out the roadmap of things you'd like to learn."
10/ Tip: "Find a buddy -- do what you have to, but find someone somewhere who has a similar goal and motivation level and partner up."
11/ Tip: "Identify where you can ask for help -- Google is a great start, but try to find local meetups or online groups or chatrooms where you can access live help if you desperately need it." (Hint: Search for beginner friendly IRC channels.)
12/ Tip: "Get a mentor. Getting stuck is the easiest thing you can do on software dev. Having someone to guide you and help you solve problems helps, a lot! You'll save hours of time you would have spent debugging or figuring out things when someone is available to help you."
13/ Tip: "The best way to put your software skills into practice is by actually making something. Pick something that interests you, pick a problem or an idea and start building it. It may be a business, a platform for a friend or something you need to help you out."
14/ Tip: "Contribute to open source. This one is my favorite. Dive right into the community and start developing with the pros. By doing this you are building reputation on your github account, learning from actually developing software in a team and the feedback they give you...
15/ ... Best part of this is that by giving back, you are getting the best credentials ever for job searches."
16/ Tip: Approach local nonprofits. Free Code Camp students "are often able to get full time developer jobs after completing just one our nonprofit projects." medium.freecodecamp.org/open-source-fo…
17/ How to find mentors: Check out the various websites at the top of this page. It aggregates lists of generous people willing to mentor. stephaniehurlburt.com/blog/2016/11/1… by @sehurlburt
18/ How to successfully engage a mentor: Read web.archive.org/web/2018070206…, michaelseibel.com/blog/how-to-as…, hbr.org/2016/09/a-guid… and stripe.com/atlas/guides/n….
19/ That's it! You have the basics now, and you can get there. It's both possible (yes, for you!) and really worth it. Become a software engineer! Originally posted here: old.reddit.com/r/findapath/co…
