Hey Guys :)
So basically I am going to be gisting y'all about my tech journey not like I have been in the tech space for long, but like just the little time I have been here, It has been so interesting, annoying but God dey. If you like long reads then keep reading(if you don't like long reads, keep reading anyway. I am funny😁)
To be a dev first you need to know what you want to do because bro the whole tech space is broad and I promise you can't do all at least as a beginner, You want to do Web development, UI/UX, Data science, Technical writing, etc. You'll still need to pick a path.
About me when I started learning how to code, I didn't even know what VScode was or how they built websites but I was ready to learn HTML and like after some time it was "sweet", I was amazed at what I could do within a short period. I began to make more research on how to be better and grow. Maybe because I was not satisfied with just writing texts on white blank screens but I promise this was one way I grew. This was me 8 months ago lol..
Sometimes, I wish I had someone that was directing me because I was just doing what I felt was the right way, but I kept on studying, coding and praying. I applied for Alx Holberton( A software engineering school), they just needed thirty people and the application process was so hard especially if you didn't have prior experience like me but as per hard girl I struggled through and I got the scholarship. Sweet my soul.
All these things made me understand what I really wanted to do, and that was when I discovered it was the backend way for me, I picked up C programming language I saw pepper and I dropped it back, I had always wanted to learn Python too because it was so popular but that was not the reason I learnt it, I made some research and I found out it was beginner friendly. I started with FreeCodeCamp Python course and I noticed every time I watched the course, I just didn't understand easily and I needed to always go back to it, only to realize I am not a visual learner, I rather read articles and books to understand. Then I found this tutorial on GitHub and it changed everything for me. For beginners that want to do web dev I would strongly advise to learn HTML, CSS and JS first because it will really help you from the scratch and with HTML I promise you will feel like a boss. Take it a step at a time.
When I became comfortable with Python, comfort here is relative and it might be different for you but I was comfortable with OOP(Object Oriented Programming) I spoke to someone and he was like why not learn Django? I was laughing because I already knew what it was about, but I was afraid of it, I was afraid to learn a framework because I just felt it was going to be as hard as C but I did. I vibed with Django and it was bliss because I understood the fundamentals of Python. "Don't jump to a framework without learning its parent language."
When I saw what I could do with Django and how I could deploy on cloud based hosting sites without stress, I just knew I needed to start showing people my work so I used Canva to build my resume, made my research about "ENTRY LEVEL RESUME WITH NO EXPERIENCE" because I had no experience at all, took ideas from different sites and I started applying for jobs. Rejection mails left and right, Talmbout "we reviewed your application and unfortunely" blah blah blah, I was sad, I started feeling like I wasn't enough so I took a break.
Of course, I don't like rejection, nobody does, but "Na who give up Fuck up", so I continued to Study, Code, Apply for jobs and Pray. I even applied for jobs that asked if you are authorized to work in Canada or US lol. After some time, I began to get positive responses from several Job applications, for some the interview wasn't code related but for some it was code based. I got three offers and chose the best one for me. I accepted the offer and rejected the rest. It was a Junior Software Developer role.
The Job aspect, I see people that just started coding already looking for jobs like bro chill and most of them are looking for "$1000 jobs", "if they are paying anything less than 100k me I will not do o". If you ask most senior Devs how much they were paid when they started working you will be amazed and I am not saying you shouldn't aim high, I am just saying you need to be smart so offers won't pass you by. You also need to be confident, your resume should show who you are, your portfolio should amaze recruiters, don't just be a noise maker without anything to back your noise up. Coding is not for everybody but if you choose to do it then be ready to stay with it. Consistency is the key to everything, You want to code but you open your laptop once a week?? Bro you will later drop it because the vibe will die. But if I could do it, You can too.
We're finally at the end of this post. If you read the whole thing, you're AWESOME! I hope you found the post motivating or helpful . Feel free to reach out to me here or on Twitter (@thormiwa_04) to say hi (I don't bite).