Quick introduction before I get into the reason for writing this post.
My name is Ken. Back in 2014, I got my first job as a junior dev without any formal education or existing professional experience.
It was a difficult process and I know many people out there are in the same position I was in, struggling to get that first job.
I have an excellent job now as a full-time dev and am shifting a lot of my attention from job hunting to helping aspiring developers launch their careers, regardless of where they are at now.
If that's you, I want to help in whatever way I can.
I'm currently working on a Breaking Into Web Development series here on Dev.to, as well as a full-blown course on the same subject.
But I want to hear from people individually and see what advice I can offer.
Full disclosure, I have two goals here:
- Offer helpful advice from the perspective of someone who has gone down that route
- Gather information so I can create the best course possible.
This brief post is my attempt to do both of those things.
So, if you're an aspiring developer looking to break into the industry and land that coveted first job, would you respond to this post and answer these two questions?
What is your biggest struggle when it comes to breaking into the industry?
What is your ideal initial career situation and what has prevented you from attaining that up until this point? What I mean by initial is what is your ideal next step for your career, rather than where you ultimately want to end up.
Thank you so much for your time and I hope I can offer some helpful advice to anybody struggling to make that transition to full-time developer!
Top comments (2)
Hello my name is Mark Olivo. I’m a Newbie looking for advice Mentor knowledge. I’m just at the very beginning starting with Html5, CSS3 On Frontend Masters. I’m confused on testing your code & how to know what goes where & debugging. I want to learn the right way. Learn good habits not bad habits. I’m wanna learn JavaScript, React , Vue. I would like to be working Remote in about 5-6 months that’s my goal.
Just signed up for your course:) I am a front end developer with 2 years of experience. Recently, I started looking for a new opportunity due to a slowdown at my current place. I'm hoping the next place to have a good training and strong mentorship/code review so I can grow as a developer. Although I have 2 years under my belt, I still feel like I'm at jr level as there has been no code reviews or any sort of mentorship throughout my career(I'm basically doing everything my way) and I feel I fall behind of those who did have all that.