Getting discouraged by job posters

ive been programming now for 5 years and still cant find a job. ive put in hundreds of applications , get calls and emails from recruiters , etc. never land the job. ive been looking for the last year and a half. to see someone code for 4 months , land a job and say “you can do it too just believe in yourself!!!” is frustrating. im not a bad programmer at all. in fact ive built lots of real applications that are used by peoplpe. i dont have a degree i think this is why i get turned down. the success stories i think are 1/100,000
i dont know. i guess those stories make me feel terrible even though im really happy for the person.
sorry for mistake english is not first language

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@idk don’t give up. Keep trying you will be successful and land a programming job.

I don’t know which language you’re applying in, but if it’s English and all your emails look like your first post, that could be hurting your chances. Not because your English is bad (it’s actually very good), but because most of the mistakes you’re making are things like missed capital letters, incorrect spelling, and incorrect spacing around punctuation.

Other than the last line, I honestly wouldn’t even question that it was written by a native English speaker. What I’d question is the writer’s attention to detail, communication skills, and standard of professionalism.

That could be completely unfair, but it’s a cognitive bias that many people have when they see that kind of “lazy” mistake (i.e. anything that a quick MS Word spelling/grammar check would flag up).

For comparison, here’s your post edited for just that kind of mistake (nothing else):

If you’ve been programming for 5 years, and have actually built applications people use (and can demonstrate this), and you are rejected every time, you’re doing something/s wrong. It’s impossible to tell what with out more info, but is unlikely to be degree related unless a degree is necessary to get a job in the country/sector you’re applying in. It could include (from a list of common reasons):

  1. You don’t actually have the skills.
  2. More subtle, you’ve taught yourself and missed out critical things.
  3. You’ve learned piecemeal and don’t have broad skills.
  4. The work you’ve produced has only been for yourself (eg you’re a hobbyist).
  5. You’re applying for the wrong jobs.
  6. You’re applying above your grade.
  7. You’re applying below your grade.
  8. You can’t communicate well (in writing or in person).
  9. There is a percieved personality issue that comes up when you are interviewed.

If.you want some constructive help, you need to provide quite a bit more info to see where the issue lies

This is not good advice for someone who has been applying fruitlessly over a long period of time: you don’t know what the issues preventing getting a job are. Those issues ideally need to be fixed, blindly doing the same thing over and over is nuts

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HI

I Think getting a job as a developer is not only writing code and building apps, first of all it’s a 'JOB". it means you will communicate and interact with real people in real life before you start coding on the keyboard. i wish you good luck but i think if you spent years to be a developer you need to speed some time to learn some English and take interview tests. it may help you and it will

Don’t give up and i wish you good luck again

Where you’ve been looking makes a big difference. Are you applying for jobs in another province or country? That could be hurting your chances. You’ll also want to make sure your resume is tailored to the position that you’re looking for. Because you have real apps that people are actually using, dedicate a section of your resume to listing those apps and put links to them. Downplay your lack of formal education by highlighting your practical experience.

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I think @DanCouper nailed it, but to follow on from his post, it might be useful to post your current portfolio and resume (with identifying information missing) so people can help you spot things that might be putting off potential employers.

To de-identify your resume, aside from removing obvious details like name and phone number, you could rename the companies to ‘Industry Related company #1’ or ‘Non-industry company’ etc

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