Learning java to do freelance work is like showing up for a lazer game with a real bazuka

Stephan - Thank you for putting this out. For a mid-lifer starting from zero this is valuable insight because time is of the essence. After watching several of your videos I am leaning towards learning web development and definitely freelancing. So I am taking notes and paying much attention but I still have a lot of questions so I appreciate all the videos that you put out.

This is so important to understand. So glad you’ve talked about this. A lot of people have a big understanding.

Heureka! The Ruby joke at 2:50 is only displayed. It‘s getting tougher this time. But founded it. What a relief 😅

Great content brotha 👍!!! Keep it going. I have you saved for alerts because in the next month or two I go full force and need someone knowledgeable such as yourself to know the real deal.

With time and the increase of data, I think there's gonna be a need for all firms to have a really good backend infrastructure to support the big data management and Java is here for the purpose. having a really good background in those technologies is not a waste of time. For small business it would be in a near future a blasting skill for them. They are in need of growth and they will come around with big data challenges sooner or later. For instance migration from mysql to Hadoop environment to store unstructured data would be in demand or fetching Api from mongodb with spring boot also would be a great deal for companies who are willing to growth accordingly to the market needs.

Good point. I've been flat out told by a hiring manager for an analyst role "yeah when I worked at Capital One we had an automatic filter if you had a Computer Science degree or not".

The main issue is the fact that HR for most companies automatically filter out resumés that don't have a degree. I would say his best bet is to go through a recruitment agency.

Stef, you always dispense the hard truth. Thanks for helping us the see the real development world.

I think the most important part is looking what's going on in the local market actually, here in my region in northern Italy it looks like every job offer requires Angular and no degrees at all. I counted the technologies that up on about 50 offers, Angular and the web trio were the top.

From my experience, in enterprise-level IT consulting, it's about 70% people skills and 30% technical skills. And that's a conservative estimate.

In Europe they literally pay you, and give you a job at the government / big company, for learning angular and spring boot.

Glad this was posted, was in the midst of learning java and pursuing a boot camp for it. JavaScript it is.

Pick up Php and , nodejs / typescript . More hipster or trendy starter languages. Those land you free lance jobs most of the time. Php is always important because almost any server out there will still run dynamically templated php. So it's good to be skilled at that Edit Also lots of companies that are moving to new products are using different languages

What a great pin point question like clean head shot :)

Can you do a video on Data Engineering. Technologies like Apache Spark,Hadoop, Presto, Snowflake, Druid,Dremio, Datalakes, Delta-lakes, Streaming technologies like Flink, Kafka , Pulsar..etc

Great answer. As a full-stack Angular/ .NET developer in enterprise you're spot on.

There's something very important that is missing from that question: location of where he lives/where he applied to work in. This is highly important since at least where i live, if you're moderately skilled in the stack the guy "studied", at least you'll get an internship from one of the biggest (well, among-highest paying) companies here, which is a branch of a company from Germany (that uses similar stack for a full-stack position - they refer to it as software engineer for some reason). If you prove yourself for a couple of months, they'll offer you a job as a junior dev. This is the case with most (if not all) software dev companies here where i live (not a 3rd world country but not highly developed anyway), there are also 3 branches of US companies (that i'm aware of) that also pay higher than normal for a full stack position (nodejs, react js, postgresql,...etc, you get the point). CS/CE degree will definitely guarantee in this case that you'll get an internship but without a degree, if you have done some projects to prove that you at least know the basics of what you studied in that bootcamp, you'll most likely get an internship that will lead to a job.

I started out with basic HTML years ago, then picked it back up again and learned how to make WordPress websites. I made dozens of them working as a web designer and social media guy for a print and marketing company locally but was barely making more money than someone making starting wage at Wal-mart. Covid happened, looked like I was going to lose my job anyway so I took on more freelance video editing and graphic design work, signed up for a well known online bootcamp and am currently learning Javascript for frontend, various frameworks, (already through the HTML and CSS parts), and backend for Full Stack. This video doesn't help my worries I won't be able to find work again. This is my second career hop. Years ago I tried getting into personal training - got certified, interned under a mentor, then couldn't get a job anywhere within a 100 miles because every gym or business wanted someone with a degree in Kinesiology (I have no degree at all). After burning through my entire savings trying to get my own training business going while having no income at the time and things hitting a dead end when I wasn't allowed to train clients anywhere near me due to exclusivity clauses at the gyms with in-house trainers that was the end of that. I luckily landed the web design job through a family friend a few weeks before I would have lost everything. Fast forward to now and I've used a huge portion of my savings to go through boot camp to have some credential other than "self taught" on my resume. Thankfully I have income this time during the process but I'm worried it's going to be another repeat of the job search before with my degree-less self. I'm also 35 years old, will be 36 years old by the time I'm job hunting and I'm told that most employers will skip over me by many people I've talked to.

His last tip is probably the most important and it applies to almost all jobs that require you to interact with people.

This is a very important video for newbies like me Stefan. I literary started learning coding with Java and then Spring. But I turned to learning python and JS because they had more openings and opportunities. Nobody talks about this.. What to learn as a self-taught newbie to ease into the market.

I unfortunately am finding myself in the same position now. As well as in the past. As Stefan says, large national and multi-national corporations never hire candidates with zero or little experience, regardless if they have a technical degree or not. Even for "junior" positions. From their perspectives, one has to understand that these types of businesses have huge pressures on their shoulders to deliver on their work. So because of that, hiring an individual who is seen as being very raw or green is a big risk for them. Even if that particular candidate does possess some very good skills. And in the latest technologies, such as Spring Boot and React/Angular. It is therefore best if one is in the above position applies for jobs in small-medium sized businesses. These businesses not only would be more accepting of candidates with less experience. But may also be able to provide them with more support when compared to larger corporations. Which despite the latter category's top-level training, expect new hires to simply get on with things and deliver the moment that they walk through the door and join the company. So yes, keep learning important technologies used in business. Like the list above. But be very realistic on which companies to apply for. This is even more important now considering the COVID-19 pandemic. Where many companies have reduced staff and so have fewer and fewer positions available for experienced candidates. Let alone new hires!

Thanks Stefan for this video, it is indeed informative. I have a question; would you think, from your perspective, that Oracle certification such as OCA or OCP would support?

Good knowledge of Java will open up a lot of doors, it will be much easier to learn new OOP language.

I am looking at Bootcamp advertizing in my country now. "For two weeks You will study Java, Spring, Angular, MySql". Are you serious ? You don't need to be a big expert to understand that this is fake training. $ 1,000 for what ?

Hey I love your videos, I wanted to know if your python course consists of exercises that we would have to do ourselves ?

thank you sir! 🙏🎩 you mentioned CMS's like wordpress, drupal, et al. when i've looked at the want ads, I've also seen demand for e-commerce like Magento, Woocommerce & Shopify. Is there anything you would recommend a beginner to learn e-commerce?

You nailed it!

Hey Stefan! Great video as always! Do you know what types of tech stacks are the most vulnerable to being outsourced? (I’m in the USA)

Hi Stef, can you do a video on salary negotiations?

It can happen though. I got a job at a big company out of boot camp but it was the MERN stack. Though yeah Stef is still right.

Im working directly in financial institution where they are using java and spring Technologies for their apps. So in the interview i told them im coding with C# and dot net and they said that's ok we have some apps so your akills will be valuable but u can learn java and spring in preparation time. Till this moment i haven't done any java codes for my company but i do coding in my free time for prototyping and testing. Why? Because my company deeling with vendors to do the coding and we as direct staff we do DevOps, continuous integration and troubleshooting. And that's helps me alot. So for those who have a java spring training but still didnt get a job in big companies, i suggest you to find a job with software company (vendors) who are deeling with big company. And once they see your valuable skills they will hire you.

I work for one of the big "brand name" tech companies, doing Java (unfortunately), and I can vouch that it's probably smarter to start with a more "hipster" language. It's certainly not going to hurt anything to know Java, learning a new language is never a waste of time, but it's good to have another few languages at your disposal to play with when starting out. Getting good with JavaScript, Python, or even Go (if you want a static language) will help a lot when you're starting out. Once you have experience, it's a lot easier to transition to one of the big heartless megacorps.

3:50 Any link to this research about 0 impact of degree?

Does this apply to c# as well? I feel like some smaller businesses actually use c# around me as opposed to java

I agree with most of you said. However if I was a hiring manager I would hire someone like this in a heartbeat. A candidate such as this shows initiative and is hungry to learn and prove. A manager without technical background would not do that. So in my opinion the candidate should target companies where managers have more technical bent and can teach someone new.

I'm not sure I'd go the WordPress Shopify route these days. Learn react, learn node, learn aws, have your main machine run Linux and try to live in the terminal. Get comfortable automating with bash. You'll have a job before you finish learning these.

Java and Angular are good combination though, that's a good tech stack right there however I have not heard bootcamp teaching java it's usually javascript or ruby. Personally I think the guy should start marketing what he learned. For example did he learn some design pattern while doing Java like DDD bring that up in the interviews. This a good channel btw

You forgot to add "big business can hire you if you have relationships"

I feel like you forgot to mention one thing - sometimes big corps provide internship for java or any other technology they need. I know that it's not the best way to start in terms of money but it is great experience and after some time it is easy to get higher.

Hello. Saludos Master 💪

Learn Swift and write apps for iPhone. Second choice will be Kotlin.

Java...too SERIOUS!! Top Enterprise level Languages: 1.Java(the granddaddy of Enterprise level languages) 2.C++ 3.C# 4.Scala 5.Not Ruby

That was golden advice. Java jobs require cs degrees.

What if I have a degree in MIS (Management Information Systems)? Does that make it easier to get a job in Java or am I still going to be stuck with JS HTML and CS?

2:46 ruby joke

Wix and squarespace are cool! People, try it out you will be amazed!

Hey, a ques came to my mind. What do you think ? Is it better to learn for freelancing prospective or learn things related to big companies? Especially students .

in many cases big companies create their own tools throught subcontracting and then the smaller companies and start up comes into the play

java/spring/mysql/angular is a winning stack. 4 super popular techs. but you have to start small. bunch of companies don't even believe in full stack developers with 0 years of experience.

I faced the same problem 4 years ago after lerning java and python, thats why i and learned learned php and JavaScript and html css, but still after 3 years cant get a job even i have an associate degree, the problem is these bootcamps and course sellers are scammers its a new scamming way now, everyone is creating courses and bootcamps and selling fake dreams

DONT study Java and spring , one of THE top two in-demand languages in the world...oook.

May I add something to that comment on Google and Apple realising that degrees are "not that important". Although they say degree is not important but if you check their hiring ads right now, they all require bachelors or masters or PhD. Some sh*ty jobs don't require any degree.

Thanks

I have heard in other forums that big companies do hire graduates from bootcamps and even sef taught developers. This guy Clement from Algo expert is a bootcamp graduate for example who worked at FB and Google. I am thinking of learning Java/spring as my second backend language exactly because I want to work in a big enterprise so will I be wasting my time learning Java or even learning programming by myself??

Well done Stefan for turning a negative (question) into a positive (answer). Expertly done and once again a positive contribution to the world. Keep on keeping on man. :-)

Nice video 👌👍. I'm a computer science student, and i have a lot of friends in it. But i realise that some of them are making a very good effort in learning and knowing new things, like my self, but there are also others whose don't like this field but sticking to it just for a degree. There are pretending to be curious and enthusiast, but deep inside there mind best mark in exams are the only goal. Could you make a video about these guys? (Just give them a hand, so they can also start being just like you)

It`s like opening your eyes. Hey Buddy, this is not your train!

Does the same apply to C#? I am very sad to hear this, though it is probably true, and so many things you can do with java, but without the proper teaining, which takes at least a year, it is impossible to find job at big corp

It's what annoys me that you look at all these bootcamps and you never see any PHP! I studied it at Uni. The job market here in the north of England seems to be .NET and laravel heavy.

I went to a bootcamp that taught those technologies with no degree. I have a government security clearance so I was able to get a job based on that.

Very true

5 years ago I was able to get a java job out of a boot camp and I don’t have a degree. Now I work for a huge company after a couple of job changes.

what about Java + Javascript+ jquery ? Do I need a CS degree if am learning Java ?

I started learning Java to do some native android development. But without a degree should I maybe just look into react/react native maybe instead?

4:12 No it takes them two irrelevant meetings to convince themselves their waste of oxygen is worth the salaries they get. Not gonna trash corporate companies since I know friends who work in pretty well disciplined and interesting ones. But hot diggity damn son, those bank-y Goldman Sachs tech companies give me heebee jeebees.

Yup. This should be talked about a lot more than it is. Every CS grad on the planet knows Java. You are competing with millions of CS grads if you try to enter the Java space. If you want the best chance of getting a job without a degree go with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React on the frontend and PHP and MySQL on the backend.

@2:40: stay away with bootstrap and vuejs? if did I misunderstood that part.

You often get treated differently when you don't have a degree despite your skills. Even companies who say they hire academic level do same. Like, does my code run with my degrees?

This means that the advice that one should study the tech stacks that's needed in the job market has some limitations. In South Africa, there's a lot of Java Developer jobs for big corporations but since I'm self-taught and no experience chances are I'll miss out on those jobs. A more viable solution or advice then, should be study front end techs, find a job, and then work your into the big corporates should you wish.

Hey Stef! Nice video, always watching with pleasure. Do you mean that in order to get a Java developer job at a big tech company(these vacancies exists only there) I need to have a work experience in a small business working with lighter technologies like js, python, php? Now I'm preparing for my first interview as a Junior Java developer and I need to know, maybe I should go in other direction...

We don't know what the extent of the bootcamp proficiency was, so that's one thing to be clarified. I'll assume that they learned an adequate amount of desktop Java, including making remote database calls from Java code plus the basics of SQL/MySQL databases. Let's say that the bootcamper wants to remain using Java so as to get their money's worth from it. And (most important, this) let's say they like the big organization environment and feel that, workwise, they are at home in this milieu. If not - just forget Java and learn Node.js or Python! To get a job without a degree using Java, they need some respectable projects to show off - and they may not have this right now. Trying to learn Ent Java or Spring Boot is not easy on your own. You always need a real-life goal to the project to focus your efforts and other people's critical input to make it all workable and presentable. One route for them is to sign up as a volunteer coder on some Java backend project where they'll implement and test Java code for an application designed by more senior people. In return for their donated work more experienced team members will help them learn other aspects of development. It's important to be positive towards the end goal of the project as there is no pay for this work - for anyone in the team - and the end goal is what brings the whole team together. Not all Java back end projects are for millions of users. Sometimes projects are Java backended because the database is very complex or the security requirements are strict. So you've got to go on the socio-professional offensive and look for target projects where you can make initially modest contributions but learn more as you go along.

So why doesn't he build projects for the small business with those technologies

I don't have a computer science degree, i have been learning Java since January and planing to continue my learning until ~December to have at least 1 year of learning but this video generates me dudes... Life is not easy.

You can absolutely get a job studying Java/Spring. A bit pessimistic

A bootcamp of Java only would already be a waste of time because there’s no way you can learn all you need to effectively program in Java in a bootcamp (concurrency, Java EE, etc). And then this dude got also Spring, Angular, MySQL, MongoDB. Spring and Angular would also need a bootcamp of their own. My advice for this guy is that if he just want to land a dev job then stick to Stefan’s advice. Now if he really wants to go the enterprise development way, the “shortest” path would be to prepare to get a Java certification because to pass that exam he will really need to have a solid understanding of the Java API and will help him attest he has what is needed for the job, even with no experience (for a junior position of course).

I am working for small.. err somewhat medium size company as developer.. we have about 500 people working across 5 plants and corporate office and yet we have very few IT people. HR in our company is incredibly ignorant and dumb. they have no idea what kind of technology or skill is expensive one and which one is not. they expect me to do everything from helpdesk work to server management over VMWare, windows server, HMI, MES + develop all interface, programs. It is amazing how stupid they are and they think application development or server/system management are same level as helpdesk role. I have been working here since I lacked enterprise level experience up till now but I will soon quit this damn job and move on. I can't wait to see how they will face reality soon after I am gone. lol. Good luck for them trying to find guy with CS degree + 5+ years of experience on server, software development with front end/back end development, networking, HMI, database management etc and willing to do all of that + helpdesk on 24 hours standby for under 70k. I would not have worked here if I had some experience I can put on resume.. my last 4 years with this company was nightmare but I endured it since I could get hands on experience on wide area. If I didn't have prior knowledge on these, I would not have survived here. Anyway, even before covid-19, I haven't seen any company who would hire anyone with no prior enterprise level experience even if they have CS degree. IT field is just so damn hard to hop on.. I guess it will be hard to get a job even at geek squat if you have CS degree + multiple certs as you will be overqualified for them and yet not qualified for proper enterprise level job. :(

need to nerd ~ Stef :)

1999 called it wants its Java back

Why is java only used by big companies/corps, and not smaller ones?

Stefan is right. Java enterprises only hire people from greedy oracle(pay fuck ton of money here) and stupid references(the colleagues refer someone with a graduate degree, not necessarily a proficient developer) and stay away from ruby :D

I read one Big book about C# development every month. Is it enough to get me hired by a company, in about 10 months of studying?

Java is being used in all the enterprises. There is absolutely no dearth of work if you can code in java.

Contact a temp to hire placement agency.. I have a friend that does Java that only does temp positions. Project will last a few months...then he takes a few weeks off then gets another temp position, and...yes....he makes BANK

What about android development?

I made a dating profile and wrote all over it about my boot camp certificate, but no girls have messaged me yet. Are they intimidated by my education?

I disagree, I haven't any computer science degree and working o java spring at enterprise level, started with internship,, but it's in Italy, maybe else where is more difficult

4:15 haralious 🤣🤣🤣

Im also learning Java, I don't have a degree in computer science, Stefan you are demotivating me 😐 But good thing is the place where i live, demand for Java is pretty high 😊 Where are these people now who are talking about in programming, language doesn't that much matter?

Php for freelance, c# net for corporations. That's it

The only thing worse is Ruby Bootcamp and no job! 😎🤣

master degree no job...

LONG LIVE RUBY/ RAILS!!!!

The government needs to open up the economy now, or we'll all be out of work.

First comment and... Angular? no wonder why tho lol

Nothing surprise's me any more in this field. I built 3 or 4 quality applications (one of which gets used by thousands daily) and I still cant get a role. Employers only interested in making you sit silly little tests. Move to construction folks. Web dev is fucked

Java bootcamp? that doesn't sound like a good idea. Usually Java jobs require a degree.

That guy from Code Foundry keeps telling everyone to learn Java.

None of you or Stefan have a real answer to why this guys doesn't have a job in his field of study. Lets face it, getting a job doing what you want to do is pretty much like winning the Lottery. The chances are a little better than the lottery but it is a crap shoot all the same.

yeah its time to just give up coding lol if u dont have a degree youre screwed especially with covid19.