How I Landed My First Developer Job After 78 Days.

#career #work #inspiration #beginners

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” — Albert Einstein.

Background

It wasn't till I got into high school my interest for programming started to develop, before that. I hated it. My friend Oskar introduced me to web development about one year ago and I started to enjoy it. I never became a pro, but I managed to create some websites, i.e. my own. So, I first touched code about one year ago.

Related experience

Before I got into development I was a web developer, but after some time I got tired of it and wanted a change. So I downloaded Xcode from the App store and booted up the playground. After some time I started to get comfortable with Swift. I believe that you never know when you are ready for something, you just need to take the shot, so I started to apply for internships over the summer, even though I’ve been coding with Swift for about 1,5 months (crazy, I know).

I took the shot

I applied to a lot of companies, too many for me to remember. My inbox was filled with emails containing: “Sorry, but we can’t take in you right now”, “There’s no space here”, “You need more experience” etc. But I never gave up, I continued to search and apply, till one startup was interested and wanted to meet me. The first thought I got was; “What the f*ck have I done?!”, but I acted cool and went on their meeting.

They liked me (I think) and decided to send me a test. The test was related to what they’re doing and if I pass the test I will have good prerequisites to get the job. I won’t go into too much detail about the test, but I wanted to rip my hair off because I had no idea what I was doing. But again, I didn’t give up, I continued to work and learn because I wanted the job so bad.

“You can do anything you set your mind to”, Benjamin Franklin.

And I passed it and got the job. I got the agreement, signed it and poof, I was a hired as a developer. I went from watching videos and reading about software development and used my self-taught knowledge to get a job as a developer. I was so proud and the feeling was amazing.

How I did it

Step 1 — Teaching Myself Software Development

The first and oblivious part is to teach yourself software development. I actually began with buying a course on Udemy. I followed along on some videos, but I wanted a different kind of learning recourse, so I started to read Hacking with Swift. A really great book with a lot of small projects which gives you a foundation around software development. But after some time I realized that the most effective way to learn is by doing. Try different things, make small apps and just hack along!

Step 2 — Showcasing Myself

I began to upload my projects to my Github profile so I have somewhere to showcase them and show that I am an active developer. I also started to build up my LinkedIn profile so I would look more professional.

Step 3 — Introducing Myself to the Company

When I started to feel comfortable with software development, I started reaching out to companies in my area. At first, everything felt hopeless, no one responded to my email and those who did ditch me. But after a while, one startup responded and wanted to meet me.

Step 4 — The Interview

The final, scariest and most important part in the process. I watched countless of hours how to nail an interview and how to act cool, but nothing helped. This is where you will talk about the apps you’ve built, the skills you have and why want to be an software developer. If the interview went well, they will probably send you a test that they want you to pass, and if you pass it, you’re home safe.