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Discussion on: I landed my first dev job after 6 months of building projects. Here's my story!

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Rohit Bhogal

We followed similar paths (but I'm still looking for a job). I however started learning in 2020 couple months before covid hit and covered HTML and CSS part-time and JS full-time (mostly). In 2021 I spent it learning React and just doing projects and creating a portfolio. Been applying since November of 2021. Pre-pandemic I saw self-taught devs getting jobs by just applying. Now every single time I see anyone who landed one as a self-taught has been by networking and getting referrals. So I guess that's what I'm doing.

You're right on with getting started with making projects soon as you finished your course or whatever. I also I think it's good to follow at least one tutorial before you do so though so you understand how all the pieces fit whole. I started a project got stuck, did one or two follow along projects on youtube, came back and was able to finish it.

I haven't landed a job yet but here's some courses that worked for me so far though in terms of learning (but I also supplmented with many other resources (youtube, codepen, etc.)). I hope it can help others:

  1. Jona's JavaScript course on Udemy: The most recommended JS course I found and definitely lived up to the hype (he just updated it recently btw). He also gives you great resources.
  2. Maximilian's React - The Complete Guide (incl Hooks, React Router, Redux) on Udemy: I actually took Stephen Grider's course and regret it. I needed to supplement. It's outdated (No offense to Grider I know it's hard to keep up with React's changes). But he focused too much on class components and not much on functional and left out a lot that Max covers in his. Max also teaches you typescript, and a deep dive into Next.js, and I found that issues I ran into making my own react project, Max had covered in his course.
  3. Frontend Mentor: Solve real-world HTML, CSS and JavaScript challenges whilst working to professional designs. This is closest to a professional workflow and it's better than trying to recreate a website (as a beginner) because you might not know if it's too hard or too easy of a challenge. This was the one I did. This was my first serious project on my own but this is getting kind of long so I won't talk more about my experience with it but this is how it turned out.
  4. Mastering CSS Flexbox and Grid: Not exactly one place I learned it but challenging yourself by doing projects (after two I felt really comfortable with it) is the best way + Jona's Advanced CSS and Sass: Flexbox, Grid, Animations and More! but I only did the last project to get a good understanding of CSS grid. For the fundamentals though I did freeCodeCamp.