I am sure there are developers who are on an infinite streak of follow alongs and are unable to escape that, however, one could argue that they’re clinging with a reason, they might enjoy the idea they’re involved with programming by endlessly watching tutorials etc, meaning they’re not really willing to progress and achieve a more competent state.
I certainly took pleasure merely from the idea that I’m “programming”, i.e: learning new stuff and being engaged in courses/tutorials etc.
However, that is not enough if you want to actually find a job, some small portion of people make it with under 8 months of learning, but they are really, really a minority, while lots of people either quit programming altogether, don’t apply, apply and stop applying for another year etc…
I started applying after about 8 months I started learning, I had 0 interviews, even tried applying through a friend who work in IT company. I quit programming for few months, and then when I got back, I laughed at my own portfolio that I was applying with.
If I was recruited, I’d be falling into that minority group, and if I’d make a post about it, hundreds of aspiring junior developers would be encouraged and inspired that IT IS possible, however, they’re most likely to crash and face “cruel” reality.
Luckily, I did not stop working as a Social Worker to pursue my passions. That would be stupid. I have a family, a responsibility.
After analysing possibilities, I figured that I’m probably somewhat lucky I was not recruited.
Why?
Most IT companies in Israel, work Sisyphean hours:
I’d have to leave house at 7 A.M and come back home at 7 P.M
I’d have 1 hour with my baby, barely, I won’t have any energy for my wife whatsoever.
I’d have, however, a much higher paycheck that would, presumably, make us happier. Yes, it most likely will, however, with the sacrifices mentioned - it won’t!
Anyways, I went bit off-topic,
I decided, I’m going to keep programming because I really enjoy it. I started programming for myself.
I programmed a job scraper for my wife when she was looking for a job in a specific field of expertise, the script would send her daily email with relevant jobs. AWESOME!!
I learned along the way, I explored tutorials that I needed, to get the job done, I wasn’t mindlessly learning new stuff, at some point it becomes inefficient and pointless.
The point is: Find something interesting enough for you to work on.
Next, I started working on a project for saving cooking recipes and tracking last time they were cooked, so my wife can see the list and see what recipes she hasn’t cooked in a while.
I ended up screwing up because I tried adding WAYYYY TOO MANY FEATURES and thought to make it for other people too, I ended up overwhelmed and stopped working on it.
Now, I’m working on a jobs aggregator website to show Junior Only Jobs for devs like us, See, I don’t follow specific tutorials, I just try to build something and if I need anything, I google it.
To Conclude:
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Find something interesting & useful to build, set goals, be organised ( Trello/notion ), and enjoy!
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Stop/postpone watching tutorials that are not useful to your current projects