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Jim Tryon
Jim Tryon

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Have any tips to transition to a software developer?

I'm a college grad with a bachelor's degree in software development, but have not been able to land a job since 2016. I applied to a few companies only to get an email reply that the company has decided to pursue other candidates or that I do not have the skills they are looking for in the position. I get on average about 3-4 emails a day with job opportunities, however, most of them are for senior positions. I consider myself at the junior level never having held a professional software development job before. I feel that rejection is a part of trying to get on with a company and that I have not applied to enough places. But after having been turned down quite a few times, I eventually had to resort to a job outside of that field so that I can still afford to pay bills and take care of myself.

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ahmedmusallam profile image
Ahmed Musallam • Edited

Hi Jim, everyone starts somewhere. I mean everyone. When I graduated in 2015, I had almost no software development skills. I knew java and javascript, from classes I took, but that was it. I knew nothing beyond the classroom. Also, I was not one of those students who programmed on the side, I wanted to, but never did. I looked for jobs and got rejected many times. Finally, I was lucky to get hired as an entry-level developer at a consulting company.

I think there are many companies out there that will hire and train entry-level software developers. If this is a passion of yours, you should keep applying and keep trying! Someone will say yes eventually!

In the meantime, write code! seriously, find tech that your passionate about and write code then commit it to github! read this excellent post by
Ali Spittel for resources: dev.to/aspittel/my-favorite-free-r... and just generally show an aptitude for learning and software development. Someone will notice! I promise you!

 
ahmedmusallam profile image
Ahmed Musallam

well, that's subjective. I happen to think that being a software developer is one of the most rewarding things. ever. I love it and I'm sure there are others that share that sentiment as well.

It's not for everybody, sure, but some people find it to be a passion! and something that is part of who they are!

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jimtryon profile image
Jim Tryon

Why do you say that? Also do you see any of my description that I posted? I can only see the title and tags. I'm not sure if I left something out of my post.

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jess profile image
Jess Lee

Hi Jim, the description of your post in front matter is meant to be a sentence or two description of your post.

The body of your post should be under the front matter (which is below the --- lines)!