How to Land a Coding Job When You Have Very Little Experience
Getting started in a new industry inevitably puts job seekers face-to-face with an unpleasant catch-22. Namely, you need working experience to land your desired job, but you can’t get that experience until you get the said job.
Coding is no different. You can go to the best coding school in San Diego and get top-of-the-line web developer training. However, you still won’t be as attractive to prospective employers as someone who has real-world working experience.
Luckily for newbie programmers everywhere, the nature of coding means we don’t have to work full-time to build robust portfolios that will make even the pickiest employer give us a closer look. Read on to learn how to get your first job in coding.
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Is it hard to get a coding job?
It shouldn’t be. With the internet becoming an increasingly important part of our personal and professional lives, the demand for coders has never been greater. There’s a vast number of beginner-friendly coding positions out there that are available even to people who are transitioning from other careers.
You need to land one of these jobs to be proficient in your chosen text or block-based coding language (such as JavaScript) and have a portfolio that shows your dedication to prospective employers.
How to get a job in coding without experience?
One of the many advantages of being a coder is that anyone can do it as long as they can access a computer with online connectivity. This enables you to create an attractive portfolio even without prior working experience.
Here’s how to put your best foot forward when applying for an entry-level coding job:
Complete your projects
A great thing about programming is that you can work on your coding projects as much as possible. Then, once you’re happy with how a project turned out (for example, a website you built), you can show your code to potential employers by uploading it on your GitHub page.
If showing your code to strangers brings you anxiety, keep in mind that most employers will always choose the programmer who has completed multiple self-motivated projects over someone who doesn’t have any.
Get freelance gigs
Tech companies continuously outsource projects that are too small or too niche to do in their in-house coding departments. Freelance work pays the bills and provides you with authentic working experience.
Contribute to open-source projects
Open-source software is any software for which the original code has been made freely available online, enabling it to be redistributed and modified by anyone. The most widely used open-source programs include the Linux and Android families of operating systems.
Becoming a contributor to an open-source project is a great way to help others and experience working as a team. Today, this is an invaluable skill that employers are highly sought-after in most tech companies.
Where can I find a reputable coding school in San Diego?
Not even the most sufficient portfolio in the world will help you land your first coding job if you don’t have the skills to work as a programmer. The good news is that you can master these skills in only four months by graduating from one of our intensive coding bootcamps.
Located just a short drive from Park at the Park, LEARN academy boasts a highly experienced staff, cutting-edge learning equipment, and a long track record of helping our students kickstart their careers in web development. Contact us today if you’re ready to start your new career as a web developer.