I've been working in web development for a couple of years now and I'd say I have enough experience/skill behind my belt to be fine in most mid-level roles. I started out as an analytical chemist out of school as an apprentice and after 3 years I moved in to a general IT apprentice role, then self-taught myself development to a stage where I could keep up with university graduates and from there on I haven't looked back.
I think a lot of it revolves around having the right mindset and motivation to know where to look when you're stuck, and also having projects/work to apply your skills to. Whilst part of me wishes I'd gone to university instead of being a chemist for three years, another part is relieved I don't have any debt from student loans etc.
Companies looking specifically for graduates will often consider you as a junior developer if you can show some existing knowledge and drive. They tend to search for grads because they've already proved they can learn and apply knowledge over several years studying but this doesn't mean you're automatically ruled out if you don't have a degree. It just means you need to work a bit harder to show you can keep up!
I'm the CTO of international video agency Wooshii and I run an educational media brand called Skill Pathway. I also occasionally chat to people on my podcast, The Learning Developers Podcast.
You make a very good point regarding apprenticeships or internships - you will develop the skills you need far quicker in these types of settings than you ever would in university or even being self taught, because you're working on real world problems. It's such an incredibly good option if you have that opportunity.
And the part about mindset is so spot on. The mantra we are repeating which is kind of unexpected is that we are "trying to remove as much doubt from the ecosystem as possible". Doubting about the next project to work on. Doubting on what skill to choose. Doubting that you can get a degree without a CS degree.
Thank you so much for your perspective, it's another reason for considering non-traditional routes where you can save a lot of time and debt in the process.
It can be a bit overwhelming when first starting out in tech, especially web development as there's always a new flavour of the month javascript framework and new tooling available. Once you get on your feet and choose something you enjoy working with, you find that it gets a lot easier to adapt to different frameworks/languages with experience.
It used to be the case that if you didn't go to university, you'd struggle to find the resources and help you'd need to jump start a tech career, but now there's so much material out there and if you have a question, chances are someone else on stack overflow did too. It's a great time to be in a tech job.
I'm the CTO of international video agency Wooshii and I run an educational media brand called Skill Pathway. I also occasionally chat to people on my podcast, The Learning Developers Podcast.
"especially web development as there's always a new flavour of the month javascript framework"
JS is just one example of the pace at which tech moves at, but as you say, it's about getting on your feet and gaining some momentum because once you're in the game, you can begin to move with the frameworks and languages as they evolve.
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I've been working in web development for a couple of years now and I'd say I have enough experience/skill behind my belt to be fine in most mid-level roles. I started out as an analytical chemist out of school as an apprentice and after 3 years I moved in to a general IT apprentice role, then self-taught myself development to a stage where I could keep up with university graduates and from there on I haven't looked back.
I think a lot of it revolves around having the right mindset and motivation to know where to look when you're stuck, and also having projects/work to apply your skills to. Whilst part of me wishes I'd gone to university instead of being a chemist for three years, another part is relieved I don't have any debt from student loans etc.
Companies looking specifically for graduates will often consider you as a junior developer if you can show some existing knowledge and drive. They tend to search for grads because they've already proved they can learn and apply knowledge over several years studying but this doesn't mean you're automatically ruled out if you don't have a degree. It just means you need to work a bit harder to show you can keep up!
You make a very good point regarding apprenticeships or internships - you will develop the skills you need far quicker in these types of settings than you ever would in university or even being self taught, because you're working on real world problems. It's such an incredibly good option if you have that opportunity.
And the part about mindset is so spot on. The mantra we are repeating which is kind of unexpected is that we are "trying to remove as much doubt from the ecosystem as possible". Doubting about the next project to work on. Doubting on what skill to choose. Doubting that you can get a degree without a CS degree.
Thank you so much for your perspective, it's another reason for considering non-traditional routes where you can save a lot of time and debt in the process.
It can be a bit overwhelming when first starting out in tech, especially web development as there's always a new flavour of the month javascript framework and new tooling available. Once you get on your feet and choose something you enjoy working with, you find that it gets a lot easier to adapt to different frameworks/languages with experience.
It used to be the case that if you didn't go to university, you'd struggle to find the resources and help you'd need to jump start a tech career, but now there's so much material out there and if you have a question, chances are someone else on stack overflow did too. It's a great time to be in a tech job.
"especially web development as there's always a new flavour of the month javascript framework"
JS is just one example of the pace at which tech moves at, but as you say, it's about getting on your feet and gaining some momentum because once you're in the game, you can begin to move with the frameworks and languages as they evolve.