Finally landed my first job

After 9 months of hard work, doubts, struggles and whatnot I finally landed my first job as a developer. Life is funny sometimes, I got this offer when I was feeling down after my expectations have been crushed by reality time and time again.

I remember when I joined this forum and I still was learning HTML and CSS, I used to see some stories of people getting jobs after 3-4 months of coding, I was very exciting about the possibility that I could do the same after learning some JavaScript. After I learned how to do some basic stuff with JavaScript I decided to apply for jobs, I got a few replies and I particularly remember having one screening interview which I completely bombed because I have no skills solving algorithms. That’s when I realized I wasn’t ready and my JavaScript knowledge was not good enough, I needed to start over and that I did. I went through the FFC JS curriculum and completed most of it, after that I felt a lot more confident with JS and solving problems, I felt proud when I went through the basic algorithms section with ease, although there were like 3 challenges I couldn’t solve.

I didn’t feel too bad with myself after being rejected because I knew I wasn’t ready. I continued to study and learned React. I built what I like to think was a really cool project with React all by myself and decided to give it another shot. I got a lot of a rejections. This time being rejected hurt, because I was seeing all these jobs offers for React developers and I thought now that I had finally learned React I should be able to get some attention, surprisingly to me I got less interviews than when I started to apply for the first time, weird. My expectations were crushed and the fact that I bombed a screening interview a while back was hunting me, because I thought that was my chance and I screwed it up.

After putting myself together I decided to learn Node.js. I spent like a month doing a course and then it took me like 2 weeks to build my first full stack web app, I also came up with a solid resume after asking for feedback for it. This time, I was super confident that at least I would get some interviews. I spent like 10 days applying here and there, during that time I got a couple of rejections and only 1 interview which ended up nowhere for whatever reasons. I was doubting, disappointed and was feeling a bit down because the fall hurt a lot more this time around, I guess my expectations were too high and they were crushed by reality, again. It was tough.

I spent a couple of days doubting and feeling sorry for myself but I have a strong will, besides it was too late for me to quit. I thought of learning another skill like Redux or React Native and build another cool project to add to my resume, however I knew what I really needed was to gain real life experience because I was confident I was ready for an entry level position at the very least, but due to my lack of experience no one was willing to give me a chance.

HOW IT HAPPENED

I decided to put myself out there and start doing freelance, I went to a group on Facebook and made a post asking people for the best sites to do freelance, I introduced myself and added a link to my portfolio.

And that was it, a guy saw my post and my portfolio, he messaged me and asked me if I wanted a job for his startup. He was a freelancer himself 5 months ago but now has so many clients that it’s impossible for him to do it all alone, he is putting together a small team and his own office. We had an interview, nothing too crazy, just casual talking where I talked about myself and that’s it, he offered me the job. He said that he liked that I was putting myself out there and he needed someone with that initiative.

I know it was a long post, but I hope my story can inspire some of you guys that are struggling finding a job, because I know it is hard and stressful, it drains your energy and makes you doubt. Honestly to me the job hunting was an absolute nightmare, one of the hardest thing I have had to overcome in my life I think.

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This is amazing - thanks for sharing! What’s great about people sharing their experiences on FCC is that you can instantly see that there’s no real right or wrong way to approach things (well, there’s a few bad ways, but you get my drift :smiley:) . Some people’s experiences are short and sweet and we’re all envious of them, and others have roads similar to yours and I suspect that’s probably the majority of cases.

I’m definitely using it as inspiration going forward, because - from my perspective anyway - coding jobs can seem incredibly intimidating and a distant dream, but this is proof that with the right application and drive then anything is possible, even from the most unpromising of situations.

Many congratulations and here’s to the success of the startup.

I think those short and sweet stories that we sometimes see on here could be double-edged sword for people who are starting out, I know it was for me. On one hand, you see these amazing stories of how people with a similar background to yours were able to land a job after teaching themselves how to code for 3 or 4 months. This gives you hope and makes you feel excited about the possibilities.

On the other hand, when you finally start applying and see the reality, it is disappointing and that’s what happened to me. I just decided to stop comparing myself with others and kept doing my thing. It was also a relief seeing people commenting that someone getting a job after 4 months is a rare case, so you definitely don’t feel alone or like you are not good enough to be a developer, this is just how things are for the majority of us.

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I knew it was a matter of time. I saw your portfoilo review from codingphase. Been impressed with your stuff for a while. Good luck and congrats! Was kind of just counting down the days until you got a job. Honestly.

But what a crazy way to get a job! Awesome. Timing is everything

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Thanks man, bit surprised to know other campers follow that channel.

Yeah life is crazy, I was feeling crushed and then all of a sudden I got an offer in a way that I wasn’t expecting at all.

Such a cool story! Yeah, those ups and downs can be a real mood killer, but I love that you didnt give up, put yourself out there and now you are well on your way. Congrats!!!

Yeah. I’ve never felt so defeated except perhaps when I dropped out of college, but it was too late for me to go back, I guess the universe was testing me somehow because I got the job when I was dwelling in doubts.

Can’t wait for your story!

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Great…!! Keep it up

Great to hear this news :slight_smile: fingers crossed all will go well. Even I got myself a new job this month, after like 2 years to learning and 1 year of spare freelancing. Now the challange continues to learn and grow as a real developer :-).

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