Background
I'm a 21 years old Front-end Developer with 3 years of work experience without a college degree. I'm a self-taught developer and I live in a third-world country, Indonesia. Which is still a developing country, unlike the US with their Silicon Valley.
Any information below is purely from my point of view on the perspective in my own country. I'm not sure if it does apply to other countries as well.
We are living in 2022 where a degree means nothing if you can't do anything with it. It is becoming a problem, especially in my country, Indonesia. Many college graduates ended up unemployed since they don't have any competent skills that can compete with other candidates.
Many of them are not taking their lectures seriously, it is absolutely possible a graduate with a degree know nothing about what they have learned in the past 4 years of college, which is very ashamed and it's very sad that they think of what they have is enough to compete with others. Do they think the 'paper' will help them get a job?
So, How can we actually compete with them?
1. Get good at what you like.
What stacks do you like most? What language did you comfortable with? or which path do you want to take?
If you already had one that you like the most, stick with it. Be a master of it. If you like React JS, be a React JS Developer. Learn everything about it, make a bunch of projects with it.
Don't switch to too many languages or stacks. If you are confused about what should you learn, I recommend you to look at the roadmap.sh and follow the path.
2. Build your portfolio.
In my opinion, This is the most important thing to have in order to compete with them. As fresh graduates, employers might evaluate them with Internships, GPA, and other stuff.
On the other hand, as a self-taught programmer, They need to evaluate you with the projects you build to prove to them that you have relevant skills which might help them for the company!
I recommend you to be actively committed on:
- Personal Projects
- Websites
- GitHub
- and etc...
So, build anything that came across your mind and show it to the world!
3. Have a Good CV.
Now, you got a technology you liked, you already had a bunch of projects that you showed on your Website, GitHub, Twitter, LinkedIn. The next step is to apply for a job!
You need to create a CV that appeals to the employers, that shows you in contrast to another candidate.
No need to add fancy graphics, skills bar, or anything like that. Just show them enough information of your quick summary of yourself. They will do research on your website, LinkedIn, GitHub, etc. So, Don't need to overwhelm them with too much information.
4. Write a Perfect Cover Letter.
You need to sell yourself pretty hard on this one. You have to convince them that you can compete with other candidates even if you don't have a degree. Might need to be a little bit arrogant with your own skills and have a pretty good confident writing the letter.
Tell them how much you loved programming, tell them your relevant experience if any, tell them you are a perfect candidate for the job, tell them what you know about their technology, etc.
5. Keep up on working!
If you already applied to many jobs and still have not received any offer yet. Don't give up! Keep working on yourself.
Do something while you applying for the job. For example, improving your portfolio, trying to take a code challenge like HackerRank, etc. Evaluate yourself every day, just keep doing until you get an offer.
6. Enroll a course for professional certificate (optional)
If you want to level up, having a professional certificate is a plus for a self-taught programmer. It will probably make your value even higher. It is also valid proof that you have certain knowledge.
I recommend you to finish CS50x if you want to start a computer science related job. You will have a solid understanding, and it look appealing on your LinkedIn if you got a certificate. You can also add it to your CV.
Conclusion
I didn't say we shouldn't get a degree. If you have the privilege to have it, then pursue it. It is not mandatory for a job but if you have a degree, your value will get higher. So I recommend you to get the degree later on to level up your career even more.
I hope this article is helpful and I'm also open to discussion on this topic in the comment section!
❤️Thank you for reading this until the end!❤️
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