There are many stories online from self-taught developers that share their journey.
Most of these stories are from developers in the USA.
I have ...
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I'm also studying programming on my own while working a full-time job and the schedule thing is really stressful 🥲
Thank you for sharing your experience, I always read stories about self taught developers but I hadn't found one that mentioned working a full-time job, it makes me feel like it's truly possible for me as well!
it is indeed, I am sure you'll get there
Hey there i dropped message in your Twitter please check it out 😅😅
What an inspiring article. Yet I am not working but I am from the non-technical field . I am mathematics student. I started to learn coding from 3 to 4 months . I decided to establish myself in the programming field. Sometimes I feel frustrated while learning code. After reading the article I got the motivation to move forward. Thank you for sharing.
Great article. I am currently in the middle of self-teaching myself JavaScript, its definietly challenging at times, but its great when you have achieved or built something. I am also using a Udemy course to learn and its really great and useful.
Hope your new programming job is going well.
Thanks a lot. Seems like you are on the right track.
Yes it has been great. I was lucky that my first programming job was at a company that does things the right way.
Maybe I should have mentioned that too:
Try to get a job in a bigger company because chances are higher that they do things the right way. (Like using Sprints, Code-Reviews, Version Control and so on)
I went all over the place trying to learn full stack all at once. Eventually just focused on HTML and CSS. Just starting to build static sites and challenges on Frontend Mentor. Once I feel really comfortable with HTML and CSS I'll add in JavaScript, get comfortable with that and then maybe React. Realised it's better to take it slowly. As you said it's a marathon not a sprint.
Confession: I wasted 1 - 2 years in uni with a professor who was focused on "theory first". 90 % of students did not understand what was taught. Only the 10 % that did already programming in their life could follow. So YES, start programming FIRST. And use the amazing content on Youtube. – And use Stackoverflow, first asking, later answering. This makes you a great programmer IMHO.
Hey, There, congratulations on the success, You finally landed your dream job and I am sure you are doing great,
I am in early stages as you were learnt python and then After applying to 100 of jobs, was depressed that, no one hires a junior Django dev in India at least, the place where I am currently doesn't have enough jobs for a web or software, but the problem for me is that, I do not have any money to move to a new city where jobs are available my parents do not support, it's fine cause they are unknown to this world, for them it something waste of time,
but I am hope full that there will be a time, I will get the job and I hope to move to Germany or anywhere in Europe and work...
just we shouldn't stop chasing our dreams...
Hey thanks,
I think Python is a great language and Django is great too from what I've heard. But when it comes to jobs, I think your best bet would be JavaScript or Java. I'm actually working on a project with people from India right now (JavaScript and Java), and from what I've heard a lot of other companies in Europe and USA also hire (or work with) Indian people too.
I think it should be very possible for you to get a job there, if you have enough dedication and perseverance.
I understand,
I'll do try my best to get there soon
Thanks for a great story! I would like to add my 5 cents: open source (~=hosted on GitHub) projects are crucially important for beginners as they can perfectly show your knowledge of both: the language and frameworks and as well best practices and rules of good code. And it’s even more valuable if you contributed to an OS project: that shows that the code written by you is actually accepted by the community.
Hi Carsten, great story, I especially liked the part where you realised you needed some direction in learning. I'm curious though, how were you able to express this part to recruiters, was it in your cover letter? - >
"I have no experience, but please look at my personal projects."
Hi Nessa,
yes, it was part of my cover letter.
Basically like this:
I have experience with [insert your technologies] you can see a few of my personal projects that use these technologies on my website [your website].
Hi Carsten,
Ich bin auch aus Deutschland und finde deinen Artikel sehr interessant. Ich bin auch in einer ähnlichen Situation wie du damals. Ich arbeite als Ingenieur in einer Firma und lerne seit knapp einem Jahr Web Development.
Mein Job gefällt mir und es macht mir Spaß. Ich lerne programmieren aus Spaß und es ist immer hilfreich irgendetwas in der Hinterhand zu haben :D.
Ich möchte in dem Bereich (vorerst) nebenberuflich als Freelancer arbeiten. Hast du darin auch irgendwelche Erfahrungen? Vor allem die Situation in Deutschland.
mit freundlichen Grüßen
Seit 2017 bin ich auf einem ähnlichen Pfad. Mache zurzeit meinen fachfremden Bachelor, habe aber schon bei ein paar Projekten ausgeholfen.
Einfach als Kleinunternehmer beim Finanzamt anmelden, kostet nix und geht relativ easy, dazu noch ein Gewerbeschein und du kannst loslegen.
Mundpropaganda funktioniert immer noch am besten, imho.
Erzähl den Menschen davon, was du tust, was du gebaut hast.
Irgendwer kann immer Hilfe gebrauchen! Nach ein paar Projekten hast du dann auch die Balls dich richtig zu verkaufen.
Falls Du nicht lange warten willst. Kaltakquise!
Schau dir ein paar Webseiten von kleinen, regionalen Firmen an.
Suche nach Fehlern auf der Seite, überlege dir was man besser machen könnte.
Schreib ne Mail oder ruf gleich an und erzähl davon, mach einen guten Preis und du hast deinen Job.
Keine Firma will eine schlechte Webseite haben, aber wenn man googelt, findet man nur Agenturen, die ordentlich Kohle verlangen.
Es gibt unzählige Plattformen, die meisten kannst du in die Tonne kloppen.
Viel Erfolg weiterhin! :)
Hey,
nein da kann ich dir leider nicht wirklich weiterhelfen.
Ich hab nur mal irgendwo gehört das sowas viel über Gulp und Hays läuft, vielleicht wirst du ja da fündig.
Hi, cool zu sehen dass es hier ein paar Freelancer aus D gibt 🙂 Kleine Anmerkung zu den genannten Strategien: Vermittler fragen öfters nach mehr Jahren Erfahrung als es eine Technologie gibt, nicht wundern. Die suchen idR nach dem Tech stack den der Kunde nennt, mit genügend Erfahrung um dessen Problem lösen zu können. Teilzeit-Projekte sind da die Ausnahme. Was im Projekt am meisten hilft ist Verständnis für UX, wird aber selten explizit nachgefragt. Wenn du dir die lokalen Websites anschaust wirst du wahrscheinlich WordPress oder ein anderes CMS finden, wenn du React/Vue etc anbieten willst, such lieber über die Stellenangebote. Demo-Projekte sind gut um Techniker beim Kunden zu überzeugen, im Gespräch mit HR, Marketing oder Vermittler hab ich versucht das Kundenproblem mit meinen Worten (nicht technisch) zu beschreiben. Das hat bisher ganz gut funktioniert. Bei Fragen gerne hier oder per PN 🙂
Hi, fellow self-taught dev! I loved that you mention your mistake of having no direction, it can be dangerous for those who learn by themselves. It's crucial to have a clear focus.
I like to think of it as going on a trip: you'll never get to the destination... if you don't have a destination!
Great Carsten! inspiring story.
I have seen similar approach works for UX roles, it's great technique to show you have got the skill to bring value to the organization. I can highly recommend your approach to someone wants to land Frontend Job.
Awesome. Congrats on your job search. I'm in a different situation. I'm a full-time job QA and I want to switch to become a developer. I started learning more about programming in the last 4 months and feeling stuck at the moment. I will take your advice "learn programming by programming".
Thanks for sharing, Carsten! I'm keen to hear more stories from Germany as we live in such a qualification-obsessed country — it is indeed disheartening when you read "ein abgeschlosses Studium in Informatik" in job requirements.
I also consider myself self-taught, as I did a lot of studying and building/deploying projects by myself in my free time before using my education budget to do a 3-month Python course. But that was more to make sure I'd had exposure to certain concepts before they offered me a spot in the dev team.
If you're in a similar position and working an "office" type of job, my advice would be to see what kind of options your current company offers. This could be:
Oh I think is a great app and yes, as a people how hire programmers I don't care if you don't have a lot of experience (of course I would prefer that) but what I really care is to see your work and also if you are learning something at the moment. That always tell me if the person is really enthusiastic about continue learning, that at the end in a industry like this, is what I need :) great story.
Congratulations! You walked a similar path compared to mine (also German btw). But I never had the bal*s to become a professional programmer and kept my full time job. But I can at least use a lot of HTML, CSS and JavaScript here. Other things I learned were Swift, PHP, SQL and a tiny bit of Python. I made my peace with the situation. I enjoy the stressless times coding at home while having a full time job. The only „bad“ thing is that coding in your freetime won't get you to some kind of routine. When there were few weeks with no time for your project then you literally have to re-learn some things before getting used to it again. That's how I found a tool (Code Snipped) where I put my snippets commented to remember how I got to this.
Wish you luck and happiness in your new career and lots of respect to the company that hired you and gave you the chance to make your dream come true. Hau rein ;)
I’m working on becoming a dev myself but not doing so good working a full time job with a start time but no end time (a job where we leave when everything is done) in having a 18 month old. I’m really only able to do things on weekends but there are some weekends where I work 6 days a week. So I’m struggling with it at the moment but I know in due time things will work out. But appreciate sharing your article.
It is great to hear a successful story from Germany, I am going through the same track and still combating with motivating myself to code after work. My main problem ist, while I was working at the job, I think of programing or how I would learn when I get home, but once I get home, the tiredness of the day just worn me out, so sometimes my goal of 4 days during the week to code might just be like 2. The excitement is still there though when I learn the new concept or get my hand on the project. So i think, you are really good at targeting and persist at what you want. I am looking forward to hearing from your new job experience in the future. Grüße aus Stuttgart, Hanh
Hi Hanh, I also had a similar problem. If I can give you a piece of advice that worked for me, turn the table around. Instead of coding at night, change your daily schedule so that you can code in the morning before going to work. I used to get up at 5:00 and study computer science until it was time to work. This system allows you to have a fresh mind ready to learn. Unfortunately, it also means going to bed at 21:00/22:00, so it can be a bit difficult to get used at first, and it kinda destroys your social life. But it's hard to get there without sacrifices. I wish you luck in reaching your goal! 😉
That sounds like a fair idea, i definitely will give it a try, thank you!!!
My situation is different.
I was a clever computer science student but some family issues led me to leave the college but with at least a bachelor degree and start working with small startups in Algeria with a goal ( let's say a dream job ) to join the German Tech Ecosystem.
Because German, UK and USA ( from my experience ) have a hard interview process, it took me a long time to learn the culture of HR people in Germany from online resources.
It took me 3 months to prepare a resume that fit their conditions.
It took me 2 years to speak English fluency.
It took me one year to stand out in Github.
It took me a year to build a connections in LinkedIn.
Even I'm working full time 12 hours in my own Cafeteria , I'm still LEARN, BUILD & SHARE design & programming projects and content.
I've learned that :
Opportunities are endless in the tech world.
What easy for others, may will be hard for you.
Programming is not a goal, it's a tool to achieve a goal.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience - the good and bad parts.
Learning to code on your own is a lonely and hard journey, so hats off to you for keeping consistent and not giving up!
I'm currently 6 months into my journey and every week I feel really despondent that I'm not where I want to be, but then I tell myself that everyone has their own journey :)
Thank you, this is great post. This is same like me now. I am working full time but currently learning python from Al Sweigart book. I am also not really beginner to programming because i played with html, css and little bit of javascript when in high school as a hobby.
So i am now learn programming seriously because i want to change job too :D and i will consider to learn javascript after finishing this book, as i see i'll have higher chance to get job as web dev. Most python job require experience and degree, while i see some javascript job here accept high school graduate with no experience.
Glad i see your post, this give me more motivation. Thank you
Maybe someone might be interested, in the last few days I started a small mentoring project: I'm doing one hour of free mentoring per week. If anyone wants, in this page there are some details: luigitesch.io/about/
Hi Carsten, I'm happy it worked out for you. I agree with you 100% that the best way to learn to program is really to get your feet wet and start doing your own projects. Even when I'm reviewing for my AWS certifications, I always dedicate time for some playful handson. A mini-project that I will design from the ground up and use what I have just learned to make something that matters to me.
Thanks for sharing your story! Good article and grateful experience. The life of the developer sometimes is this because you need to continue learning new things and technologies when you have a full-time job as a developer. Continue learning and continue growing.
When you set your deadline to become programmer. Do you find any pressure that you put in yourself? If so how you dead with it?
Hey,
yes, the deadline put pressure on me, that's why I did it. Part of having a goal is to be as specific as possible.
Think of it like going out to the sea with a ship, you can have the fastest ship in the world but if you don't have a goal you will just drift around and never get anywhere.
How did I deal with the pressure?
I think the pressure comes from being afraid to fail. You'll just have to override your brain and not let it stop you.
The first few months will be the hardest because you have - hopefully - put in a lot of time and still have nothing to show for it.
Like you said, I put in all of my time trying to code. I can't say that i don't have my goal. It just the path to that goal is still foggy. I get my hands dirty as much as i can. Trying to get out of tutorial hell. 😌
as a totally non-maths Arts grad who has seen how quickly maths/physics grads have picked up programming, I can see their logic - even if that is bad for me
Amazing article 👍 i am also working on myself and improving my knowledge and application level of it .
Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful journey in short and sweet words😇👏👏👏
Thanks for sharing your story with us Carsten. It is nice to read the journey of Europeans, because it can be different from the experiences of our US colleagues.
Great article, so inspiring.
Good story very inspiring.
Your blog really inspires me to keep going as a software developer. I literally took the steps, python and c++, now with html and css
Its so inspirational talk... i am also a self taught programmer to be true its challenging to start over ,but consistency is key... thanks and i hope you are enjoying your new job.
Lol I have a same experience with choosing a programming language, was learning c++ without knowing what I will even do with it and after mor ethinking I went for Front-End.
Hi, great to read your programming journey. I am also going with your story currently.
hats-off truly inspiring!!!
Gruner + Jahr GmbH, it's a publishing house headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. I mostly work on their websites.
Thanks for sharing your experience on this journey.