How long did it take you to land your first developer job?

Love your honesty, i've been teaching myself to code for about 8 months. 1 hour a day after work, house chiors and taking care of the kids and I'm still far from ready for my first web dev job.

Took me 3 years (2005 - 2008). No bootcamps back then. Just books, internet and an online community of SE pros. 14 years later I'm still in the IT industry.

People tend to overestimate what they can achieve in 3 - 6 months and underestimate what they can achieve in 3 - 5 years. If you are not in it for the long haul then you might as well give up now. Another thing is you dont need to remember the syntax of everything - just learn it and know that it exists and can be googled for your specific project. Good luck to all on this journey.

I am a self taught dev with ~20 years experience... And I still suffer of impostor syndrome. People think I am highly skilled with my 20 years of experience, but it really depends. I wasn't using 1 specific tech for 20 years and became a god in that tech... but I learned a shitload of techs.. I need to learn new stuff every day and I can't ever say I am extremly skilled in 1 tech, there are often better devs out there if they stick to a specific tech long enough. My strategy was always: I learn something but only enough to get my job done and move on with my life. If the project needs more attention in the future I will probably learn even more about that used tech. In my experience I create a project in a specific tech.. and after 2 years or so a new tech comes up and I start the new project with the new tech. I can't remember when I got my first "real" dev job, I started with my own projects for few years (commercial software / webapps), later decided to try fulltime. I probably got lucky and a company hired me quickly.. I sent out only like 5 applications.

I've been programming JavaScript for 2 months but I knew a bit of HTML and CSS beforehand. I've done a lot of projects already and finished portfolio + one vanilla JS portfolio project. Now I'm gonna learn react and create a project with that. Just wanted to say that if you work 8 hours a day on coding, you can get very far very fast.

The complete honest and brutal truth is what keeps drawing me to your videos. I'm in the same boat as many of your followers, aspiring self-taught programmers.With so many people out there on KZfaq describing their self-taught journey, yours is the one I relate to the best. Keep posting videos man, they really do inspire us.

What people also need to realize about self-study is that a few months in, you might not realize that it's actually for you. You might not enjoy it at all! And most importantly, that's OK!

I pretty much scrapped the idea of doing it in a year. Im mid 30's -job, bills,kids the works im just plodding along trying to get a little done most days. JS and atleast a framework are pretty much required in my country so i will be getting comfortable with that for the foreseeable and when i feel confident ive got them down i will apply the worst thing that happens is i get a better pay offer.

I really like how honest you are. I've been Software Developer for the last 10 years ("Senior" now) and I still feeling myself not good enough to solve some problems I face.

this has become my favorite coding/life channel in a matter of days. thank you sir!

Your honesty keeps making me locked on to your channel. Thanks for being real!

Needed to hear it. 29yo. At my 1.5 month mark of learning. Shit happened this week (car stolen/cat converter theft) and I fell off the horse. Decided to watch Marvel Movies all day. Getting back on the horse tomorrow.

As a 17 year old, 18 in September I will give a warning for people like me. I have all the time in the world, no school no work, so I can put all the 12 hours I have in a day into learning how to code, but there is a problem if you dedicate all that time in it, burn out. Burn out can happen even while learning, sure you got time to learn but you also need time to be able to digest all that new information. Taking wayyy too much info in your head makes you mentally exhausted no matter what, and I speak from experience. For everybody else like me, pick a time you want to start the lessons and take a break when you feel like you're gonna pass out. I usually do 4 hours per day or more if I can, but if I get too tired and can't concentrate I take a break

I'm already in technology, but support and networking side of things. Watching your videos to get a perspective on being self-taught. But my focus is on QA/Software testing. Still need some coding and automation experience. Wish everyone else here the best of luck! Hopeful in making the bridge and being able to move over to a more satisfying career.

Love your vids dude. Super motivational. Keep going man!!

I want to share my story. It took me around 3-4 years. I left university and started learning programming as a self taught, but I feared that once I would get a job I wouldn't get enough time to study and learn new things, so I waited and waited and waited. I never looked up for a job until I got a job offer I was not even looking for. But happens that I was long ago ready for the job xD And after I started working I still learn new stuff every single day, so that was just a stupid fear of mine. Looking back I would say to me to start looking for a job after half a year or so. I would have learned it so much quicker that way.

I’m 2 years in, I started when covid hit. I’ll be honest I’ve maybe done 6 months of study. I keep taking breaks etc. it’s only since December have I been going seriously. I picked up flexbox, grid, box model and am finishing up fundamental JavaScript with ascync, promises etc.. then it’s onto react and I hope to be job ready by March.

man this is a awesome video! thank you for making this

Great video, great channel. Thanks, mate!

Thanks for the video. Really needed it.

Man I appreciate the authenticity. You are inspiring people to change their lives.

Your stories always cheer me up.

Last November I signed up for a coding bootcamp, and your videos have been a great source of inspiration to continue pushing. I just turned 32yo and I kept wondering if I had a future in this world. Thanks a lot and keep it up!

Complete straight forward , truth and no bullcrap

Straight forward 👍 subscribed!

I started with my first online tutorial for web development last 2016 but I was employed in a different industry then. It was only 2020 when I had my first PAID freelancing gig because I focused studying since 2019. It takes focused time, effort, and discipline to actually learn and get a job

Just watch your video about boot camp. I was going to do a boot camp till I watch your video. Nd u just jump str8 to the point. Ima sub

Ive been doing different forms of software development for the better part of 6 years now and I think the most import thing to focus on is the love of the craft and to enjoy the whole process. It is something that takes years of compounding growth just like learning to play the violin or guitar or piano. Don't be in it just for the money, be alive in it and be in the moment, after life is only a collection of moments, and goals are great because of the growth we experienced on our way to them.

Hey discovered your channel by accident, really like your content, awesome stuff! Subbed! (the following is not spam, but is a wall of text) Thought I'd share my experience and maybe give the other guys here a bit a motivation. First off let's get something straight, I'm not the most dedicated person, even so I have had periods where I did spent at least 5-7 hours a day studying for a few months then I just crashed, reached a point where I got mentally exhausted and just couldn't go on. Even so I never quit. I'm not from the US but here where I live it's not that much different from any other place when it comes to this job. In my 20s I mostly spent my time time on video games, never really knowing what I wanted to do.. didn't even give it much thought. I have a degree in Public Administration but I mostly use the paper diploma as a makeshift spyglass as a fun way of looking for a new job :'D. I used to work as a manual tester for both video games and web apps and decided it was not for me. Going through the exact same web page and clicking the same things over and over is not fun... a few more months of that and I probably would of ended up in a mental institute. When I started testing web apps I did dabble in a bit of code, nothing too serious, a bit of Selenium, but I went back to manual testing, that was when I found out I liked coding. I got into programming and web-dev back in 2018. I did attend 2 bootcamps and yes they were not enough, and hell yes I did have to study a LOT MORE on my own. Even so I admit I still suck, but I can at least get something done. When I've got into my first job as web-dev (front end) man was I hyped, even had 3 months of training in Angular. When actually started working I did something completely different (HubSpot CMS) with JQuery/HTML/CSS. I'm still wondering to this day why that Angular training was needed. I swear I never even used it and I even forgot how it works, I just remember a bit of TypeScript but that's about it. Long story short is, that first year was brutal. I got fired because I apparently was underperforming, websites were not pixel perfect, and we were supposed to build a HubSpot website in 3 days. I did it them in mostly 4-5 days with overtime. I remember my former boss calling me a 'professionally' lost cause. All of this on minimum wage for half a year. If I ever see my former boss again I'd probably throw up in disgust. I've been seeing a therapist since :D. My skill-set revolves around basic front end and I do know a bit of OOP/design patterns but I don't use them. Don't even use any sort of library. Just basic good ol' procedural JS. (bad practice I know) I'm studying Vue right now, I really like it and hoping I might get a future job with this. I'm also studying PHP in order to expand my skillset. So right about now I am working on HubSpot CMS (only tech I feel comfortable), again, though that will soon change :( . My former manager got fired, my other colleagues got fired, only people who knew I was hired as a junior front end dev, and now I'm a solo junior level developer working for 8 marketing asshats that think I'm some sort of Voodoo Wizard. They want to migrate everything from HubSpot to WordPress and want custom functionality built for that. I can honestly say I only know a bit of WordPress, I never even used PHP for a actual job. Whoopty doo, I now have to become a full stack dev in I dunno.. 2/3 months? I will probably get fired since I lack the skills they need. I'm trying believe me, studying as much PHP and WordPress as I can in my free time, but even so I'm not sure I can handle it. Even so I REFUSE to quit, some people might call me a masochist, but it really is what I want do. I honestly like building stuff, there is a certain magic of seeing something come to life on a webpage. How is all of this wall of text relevant to the subject is you may ask? It will take A LOT, there is no hiding from that. I'd say you need at least a year of daily coding to get a bit comfortable. Other than that, it really is up to the individual. My advice to you guys. DO NOT QUIT. Set your mind to it, set yourself a few objectives , and just do it. Yes you have to like it. Don't think about $$$. That will come in time, but you do have to put in the work. !Keep at it, I guarantee it's worth it. If you sacrifice nothing, you gain nothing. This is comming from a guy that lost a few strands of hair :D. Thanks for reading my ginormous wall of text and good luck to you!

You and my taiwanese girlfriend are pushing me to be a better person. Thanks Dorian, listening you always a pleasure.

Currently in the learning phase, but hope to land a dev job soon! Great video.

Very encouraging and inspiring .very helpful

Appreciate your honesty. Ive been self-teaching for a year and I'm still far from ready. I have a job and trying to change careers but I don't have all my time for myself.. I know it will be slow but it's about consistency I think.

I use as much time as I can, I have a full time job and a wife men its hard but Am still kicking it in.. now Am polishing my css Before bootstrap framework. Thank you your channel encouragement to my hustle 👍🏾😉

I just started learning from a boot camp in December, Im about 30% of the way through. I struggle with procrastinating working on it for some reason. I work 60 hours a week but I understand that I like(learning to love) this field. I believe I want to allocate more time but it’s not consistent enough due to other obligations. Loved the video🔥

Hey Dorian, love your videos. Thank you so much for making these. How many hours per day do you think you averaged over that year?

Honestly, 1 year since the moment you start LEARNING sounds like very little time to me! I actually find it reassuring, as I'm 32 years old, I've always been good with computers, and have enough savings to sustain myself for at least a year if I choose to stop working and dedicate as much time as I can to learning code, which I started doing about a week ago with freeCodeCamp after watching one of your videos on it. (and I had a little experience with Mimo before that).

Thank you so much, I can relate to that. I can only study when my wife and kids go to bed and on weekends. About 2 hours every night and 4 to 6 hours on weekends. that's good advice you gave.

Iam a mechanical engineering graduate and unemployed for 2 and a half years and can speak 3 languages, finding a job in today’s world is even harder than it was during the Great Recession of 2008 I can’t even find a part time job hell I can’t even find a job where I can work without being paid and yes I have the most well designed resume and have applied for over 800 companies and got only interviewed for 2 jobs which I got rejected because of my lack of experience despite one of them being an internship. My advice to anyone who is young is to focus on developing a skill whether it’s programming, learning how to use a certain software, cooking ANYTHING will help you out more than a degree ever will, don’t waste your money and more importantly time to earn one, use that time to further develop yourself.

This is real mate, appreciate your honesty very much

Thanks for the pro tip, you'r the best.

Love ur honesty 😎

Very best advice bro. Really love it.

I think to proper question here would be, how long would it take to acquire relevant knowledge that can help you land a beginner programmer job in "the respective code". As some codes are harder to learn than others therefore different demand and pay ranges

I was just telling a friend who is interested in this field the same thing. For me, the constant learning is part of the appeal to being a developer. The code I write today, looks a lot different than the code I wrote 14 years ago.

Plain and simple. 100% honesty .

I've always liked and had interest in coding. I love it, I futz with building a website I'll never put on a server just to see what can be done, learn, and occupy my free time now that I'm retired. I thought I wanted to code for a living but after gaining some notoriety and getting some customers I quickly realized doing it for a living wasn't for me. I retired from being an industrial mechanic. I've been learning coding since 1980. HTML and web languages since 1995. I also learn something every day I dive in to it. It's quite annoying that some people that request being taught think they'll be an expert tomorrow or next week when I'm far from an expert and I've been at it for over 30 years.

I got VERY lucky. Hired in 56 days after learning HTML, CSS, JS and React. That too learnt the basics of them through a kickstart program

Change my view of you after this video. Thank you brotha

Took me 6 mo. to learn iOS development to the hang of doing projects, get used to Xcode, and shit like that. I never touched mobile before and mobile is an entirely different beast than web dev but getting used to Xcode and knowing how to work it the real challenge. I never had a full time dev job but i do freelancing. Freelancing is tough cuz it depends on the price you charge. Im ok w/ pricing my services "pretty high" cuz the time to research, design, develop, test runs, regardless of the complexity is a lot. I saw some ppl charge, $5, 10, sometimes $25K per project. But tryna find the first ft dev job I bet is hard cuz the competition for jr roles is big. Self taught, CS students, and bootcamp grads going for those same jr dev jobs? 😥

I started self learning web development last march, and today I've got two simple projects developed from scratch in vanilla JS, still not job ready though, I'm currently learning React and NextJS and looking forward to redevelop the vanilla JS projects as NextJS projects, and then I look forward to apply to jobs

you got a new subscriber for beign realistic.Love and Respect From Sri Lanka

3:00 I like how you vocalize the different reasons why it would take someone longer to get to the same goal. One has way more free time than the other.

New subscriber, 5 months, I've got 1 project, in the middle of the 2nd one, want at least 6 projects by the end of 2022, good ones. Patience, 3 hours per day on my free time . 3 months to learn programming? no way, this is a lifetime project. Thanks Dorian!

Took me about a year "part-time". Learned on/off 0-20hrs per week while still employed. I was promoted and had so much workload I stopped learning for about a month. Also had our first child four months before I started learning. Quit my job 3 months in the new position to go all into coding. Applied for a 12 week Web Dev Bootcamp (Bootcamp costs can be covered by your state in Germany if you meet some requirements). Got a job immediately after, but that was a big portion of luck, LinkedIn activity and the willingness to not get paid a lot.

I'm going to say.. just code every day with a project in mind. The concepts learn first then keep learning them as you code. But who am I to speak, I have a college degree in computer science. Though I would like to think that what made it fun was playing with what we learned by experimenting on our own. Those taught me more than anything.

Good video Man👌💙

Nice video. I'm trying to do it in under a year.

I agree with you💯, this is so true.

if have 5+ years exp and it took almost 6 months. I did reject some bad offers but it all depends. After learning those basic skills, it can be a numbers game.

Never stop learning no matter your age (30, 40, 50, etc). Set realistic goals and execute best you can. I set aside time to code whatever I want from 10p til 12a. It could be a new algorithm, new frameworks or dev ops. No, I don’t do that every day, but do make the time each week. I am a software engineer and coding is just fun. My first job was at a medical lab and while there I was so hyped on learning my boss gave me an IDE for C++ compiler for Xmas. I was in heaven hah and jammed away on it. Nowadays, I am a full stack sr. Web dev.

It took me almost two years to officially switch into the industry. Started learning code at 30 with a full-time job, so I would code at night for a few hours. I just kept it going and used GitHub green squares as motivation. Which in turn looks good to employers. If I can do it, you can do it!

I’m glad someone said it! I work full time I’m a mom and I’m married. I do a little bit every day. It’s impossible to devote hours upon hours a day. I wish it was but that’s not my reality. Still working though school. I’ll get there.

I had the same mindset that he talks about at 5:10 when I was learning everything required to become a web dev. Got the job btw

Good to see videos that are not the usual clickbait of learn in 3 months.... Im 30, work a full time job which need overtime from time to time plus have a daughter with autism. I started to teach myself programming in december and I barely have time to study, i have to wake up super early to be able to study. Your channel plus a few other ones had keep me going with motivation. Everyday I feel like quitting, but me wanting to give my family a better life keep me going. Keep doing honest videos👍🏾

I did EDx’s full beginner python course, then realized I knew nothing, so I went to uni. Just finished my first year. I’m talking to a bunch of final year student and they’re constantly being headhunted by local tech companies. It seems crazy not to go do a Bachelors decree if you have the time.

oh maan I can't wait for that check

i mean, you got SE & CS and sometimes even CE students (grads, grads with intern experience, interns, hell even dropouts with intern experiences, community college grads, bootcamp grads, other degree grades who have tech skills etc) all competing with a "self taught" programmer, its def tough to get a job, nevertheless within 3 months. good luck to those self taught. often annoys me when people tell me - but bro u can just learn coding on your own instead of being a SE major at a good uni lol

Currently learning to code and it's terrifying how you legit explained my situation at 3:00 🤣🤣 am soo dead! That's literally what i do!, wake up, code, eat, sleep and touch some grass occasionally 🤣, i consider myself very lucky! and also programming isn't absolutely new to me cause i've done a ton of Python and BASH. soo i'm lucky LUCKY!, thanks for a great video. 😊

I got my first job as javascript developer after 18 months of bootcamp and personal growth, i created a big portfolio in github and i tested with many assignments after the interviews. I had more than 200 interviews in a year before the final offer from the company i now work.I never was a pessimistic person but the continued rejections cant ruin the confident. And most important i spent less than 500 euros in courses.

I've been learning for almost 5 months, im aiming to start applying for jobs within 3-5 months more. So sounds about right.

brother,i owe you, thanku you so much,am in honeymoon stage but listening to you am getting clarity how really things work.

Realistically speaking it takes around 14 to 20 hour of studying before you understand preciselly how a programming language works and about 50 to 100 hours of practice without tutorials, just using your own notes that YOU TOOK while you where studying, after that you are good to go and you could try your luck at some low level companies or job interviews that offer training and are willing to hire newbs.... otherwise for more advanced companies, do 1 or 2 complex projects by yourself or with a team to put in your resume and talk about with the interviewers. This is not just about programming, but about almost any technical skill there is out there. Study, learn, memorise the tools, throw yourself into the fire and start using your tools, if something breaks, fix it.

Good advises

Currently completing a year and already starting to applying for jobs 💯😄

I’m looking to do Data Analyst entry level. Any certifications that you would recommend

FOCUS ON THE WORK!

I just started learning basic programming (yesterday) and you are the first guy that actually made me to start finally (and you came up in recommended videos out of nowhere). I bought some basic programming introduction course (as I am total noob in programming) I find it difficult to choose what programming language should I choose to start learning more serious. I tought about python, but it has a lot of maths, and I am not really good in maths (I dont like maths). Can you recemmend me anything, where to start? Also is codeacademy valid way to learn or should I consider something else? Thanks, cheers.

You just said the honest truth, thanks for this video

well said!

Absolutely spot on, it took me almost 3 years to get hold of programming, phew!

One year compare to a 4 years At university, congrats.

Been coding every day for soon 6 months, but don't feel like I'm ready yet to apply for jobs. I've coded or been learning coding for +500h, but there's just so much to learn when you're trying to become a Full-Stack Developer. One thing I've been wondering though, Dorian, if you happen to see this. When did you feel like you were ready to apply for a developer job?

Yep, that is me. I just finished my college this semester and there are no jobs in sight, if i want to have any chance that isn't a remote job or trainee, i will at least have to travel to another city because the place i live is just dead. But even so, i don't feel anywhere close to being ready to work right now, many times i stopped training Python to focus on the lectures of the college, and those aren't even that helpful for my profession

a year and 2 month, still learning)) i consider this just as a period of time i NEED to give to myself to become a developer)) and there's no tragedy i didn't make it in 3 month😜😄

I started applying to software jobs 6 months before I graduated college. Took me 6 months before I got my first job. It was rough. Been a Software developer for 3 years now.

this man talks all his about the facts that are true .... I Realy Really like Youuu Brooooooooooo Love For Me

Within a year is pretty good going. I’ll consider that a success. Take the time you need to be excellent.

answer is easy: as soon as you can convince them that you are right for the job. i got jobs waaaay above my skills when i started simply because i was very friendly, energetic, proactive and dynamic on interviews. and when they hire you, you can learn the real deal there from the others.

I'm 25 years old. It's been 2.5 years without a job for me. I have social anxiety & depression which became crippling due to domestic issues over the past 5 years or so. I know it's exceptional circumstances and I may be an outlier, but how would I explain my employment gap? Is it okay to be honest about mental health in an interview? I have been learning MERN stack in that time. I have a portfolio with my 2nd big project almost complete. Edit: I graduated with a BSc in IT in 2017 but didn't know what to do at the time so I just worked in an E-cig/Vape store for 2 years 🤷🏽‍♂️ it was the best I could do at the time with my anxiety because the shop was small and I didn't work with too many people. Basically it didn't make me feel incapable lol

Gonna get my acc in web design and development, might as well have that piece of paper. I can make connections in college and such.

Im 35, hope its not too late for me to learn . I already know html and css but I want to learn java script and python .in order to change career. Thank you for your insight. Stay Gold ✨️

Great video

I have been on and off for over a year. Got discouraged for a while and quit learning. Stayed back up again. Didn’t know what language to learn, bought some courses on Udemy, only half completed most of them. Then I quit again. Now I’m back in to learn again for the last couple months.

In my case, it took me 1 year (Learning doing courses and so on) too Counting from the moment I took the boot camp till the time I got the job, it was 1 year. Counting the courses I did before the BootCamp, it took me closer to a year and 3 to 6 months. So rough estimate, 1 year and 6 months from starting to learn to landing a job. Was doing it part-time and had to also change jobs mid-learning process. I also thought it would only take me 3 months ... oh boy! I was dead wrong.

Perfect Video

2 years,2 boot camps for an internship. And from there it went up ^ ^. Keep going, keep pushing!

Your speaking facts man

I wanna do this one project with firebase database and auth and react routing before feeling ready for my first job. I am learning since July 22. Think I will be finishing soon.