What were the most difficult challenges you faced while seeking your first coding job?

Accepting the fact that I had to move to Helsinki to have any kind of possibility for landing a decent developer job. I had some attempts earlier on in my life, but those places that wanted the talent outside Helsinki (or the major Finnish cities) didn't know how to manage it and I don't even consider the places I tried as a valid experience. I had no contacts so it was very hard to figure out any good companies. Luckily enough I did land a "dream job" into a company I actually like as a consumer and they were in the process of adopting agile when I joined in.

most jobs require prior experience which is something you obviously don't have with your first job, my solution for that was working on a personal open-source project for a few weeks so I can show it off in my job interview and I actually landed me my current and first job (I'm 16) thanks to this project.

I am still learning but I am little scared........ scared coz I am an dropout......an dropout giving is 90% of my waking hour in coding so that I can acquire higher level of skill..........and what if company just reject me coz I don't own a degree!!!!
Finger crossed 🤞🤞🤞
Guys if you have any expertise on my situation plz share!!!

The pressure to accept the first offer available. I was being recruited months before I graduated, so I took it as a safe option to accept the first offer available. If I were to do it again, I would hold out and assess my value in the open market.

Remember people, just because it's your first job it doesn't mean you have no leverage. Assess the situation, give yourself an honest valuation, and keep your options open!

So far, it's been getting interviews. Still at it too, 3 years in and counting.

For me it's the entry level jobs requires 3+ years experiences. Frustrated when HR/recruiter doesn't look at my portfolio but my school degree or count "official" working years (which would be zero, right?!) experience to judge me. Oh and also... timed algorithm test even for front-end development.