I was in college when I had my first child. I was studying East Asian Studies and Computer Science. K was conveniently born over Christmas break, and I was lucky enough to have my mom around to watch him while I studied.

It was hard, I won’t lie. Even with help, it was hard to code, to practice Japanese, and to study data structures – with an infant (and one with colic, no less.).

I struggled to understand the concept of Big O notation (a fact my son, now 18, teases me about.) But I got through it and graduated with an almost perfect GPA.

I didn’t go into computer science (or Asian Studies) then, but instead spent years raising K and then his two younger sisters while their dad started work as a software engineer. Those years were tough but magical, and I wouldn’t trade anything for the time I got to spend with my children.

Now, many years later, I’m starting over with my “new” partner. (That is in quotation marks because we’ve been together for over 10 years at this point.) We have a son together now, and I have rededicated myself to studying computer science. I like to play on hard mode, I guess.

The big challenge, of course, is figuring out how to find time for studying and coding projects. My mom is not available to watch this guy, and while he’s not colicky, he is clingy (as newborns tend to be.)

I did an online software engineering intensive program through Codesmith that ended right as my son, R, was being born. (I’m not kidding. Our graduation happened while I was in labor.) Now it is time to try to get a job in SWE, but in the meantime, I need to work to keep my skills sharp – but how??

Here's my advice based on what I've learned over the years.

Pick a learning resource (or 2) and stick with it

There are so many awesome resources for learning software engineering and reinforcing coding practice. So it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Do I practice problems on AlgoExpert? Watch videos on Frontend Masters? Make something with Chingu?

I decided to focus partially on Frontend Masters, to gain a deeper understanding of the inner workings of JS and React, partially on completing AlgoExpert problems, and partially on working on coding projects.

I've also found a nonprofit that needed software engineering volunteers and am making live demo sites for them. But I could just as easily work on my own projects or find an open source project to contribute to.

Make a plan before starting for the day

I have ADHD. When I sit down to work, it is very likely that, without a plan, I will start out watching a video on JavaScript and end up, two hours later, with the video paused, looking up info about tardigrades.

Projects can take three times as long for me if I’m not careful, just because my brain keeps going off on tangents.

This is not a luxury I can afford with a newborn. When I get time to work on SWE stuff, it can be very limited, so I need to make the best of it. I’ve decided that the best way to do this is to set an achievable and measurable goal at the beginning of the work time.

For example, I might:

• Watch 1/2 hour of video
• Fix a bug
• Work on one algorithm challenge
• Do some styling on a project
• Comment my code
• Read an article on Medium

When my mind starts to wander, I reign it in by focusing on my end goal for that time period.

Work with the Baby’s Schedule

I generally work best in the morning, but the baby is usually quite awake then, which makes it a bad time for anything that requires deep concentration.

I might get an odd morning here or there where he takes an unusually long nap and I can get some stuff done, but I can’t count on that. So, I plan on working in the afternoon or evening.

During the time that I’m not working on coding, I try to be as present with my son as possible. If thoughts arise about a SWE problem I’m trying to solve, I try to set it aside until I can dedicate my full attention to the problem. That way, I can be fully present with my son while also getting time to focus deeply on my coding task(s) for the day.

Focus on Relevant Technologies

At Codesmith, we primarily used the PERN stack. But as I look at the requirements of jobs I’m interested in, I find myself wondering what other technologies I should learn.

Should I learn Ruby/Rails? .NET? C#? Django? COBOL? (Joking, sort of.) This is another situation where it is easy to get overwhelmed, and I don’t have time for that lack of focus!

Regardless of what other things there are out there, I certainly don’t know everything there is to know about JavaScript and React, so I am attempting to, for now, stay focused on what I already know.

If I do see a major trend in another language or framework being used at jobs I’m specifically interested in, I’ll add that into the mix.

In Conclusion

I think it’s important to talk about how we fit coding into our lives when we have a family, especially as mothers, and especially as COVID forces many women out of the workforce to stay home with their children.

I believe it is possible to be both an awesome hands-on parents and a great software engineer with a little bit of focus and time management.

This is a continuation of my first article. I wrote this at the end of 2018 and I started freelancing as a Front-end Developer and studying part-time.

To summarise, I’m not from a Computer Science/STEM background. I didn’t go to a coding bootcamp, and I’m self-taught. I’m a stay-at-home mum who learned to code whenever I could. I used self-paced learning tools like FCC. As my children got older, I progressed to learning programming part-time.

The reason for this article is to inspire others from non-traditional backgrounds to learn how to code. That it is possible to transition into the tech industry. I want to share my experience and perspective. I also want to emphasise that it wasn’t all smooth sailing. There were ups and downs, doubts and dark times.

I will go through my coding journey first. Then I will talk about the resources I used to learn how to code. Finally, I'll share tips on how I landed my first web developer job.

January - March 2019: Doubt

As I had two young children, I thought freelancing was a great way to earn extra money while I was studying. I had already started my WordPress freelance portfolio, but I also joined freelancing platforms like Fiverr and Upwork.

I know that these platforms are great for some freelancers, but for me this was a mistake. I couldn’t find any work despite being labelled as “Uprising talent”. I didn’t have ratings/reviews, as I was new. A lot of clients wanted freelancers with experience on their respective platforms. But I couldn’t land the work to get experience/ratings. It was a vicious circle.

There were some clients where I “qualified” to put in a proposal. I would spend hours researching and writing them. I never heard back. In some cases, there were 50+ proposals submitted for a given project. There were also many freelancers who were willing to work for under minimum wage (by UK standards). I couldn’t compete on price.

I started to question my worth and lowered my hourly rate. I thought I just needed to get one rating from a client. The final straw for me was when a company invited me to assist them in some "market research" and to answer a questionnaire. It ended up being a scheme to get freelancers to write fake reviews on Amazon for a product. In exchange, I would get a five star rating.

I declined and shut down all my freelancing accounts. My confidence was knocked. I had serious doubts about my abilities. I started to become negative. I read in forums about how other aspiring web developers couldn’t get interviews/find jobs. Subconsciously, I sought out these stories to justify and feed my negativity.

Worse thing was, I stopped coding and lost sight of what I was trying to achieve.

April - July 2019: Stepping back and reassessing my life

My husband, who is also my mentor, asked me, “what would make you happy again?”

My response was “learning programming and JavaScript”. So I did what I loved and continued with the FCC curriculum. I also worked on my WordPress freelance business on the side.

In May, an old colleague wanted to hire me to work remotely for a three month part-time contract. It wasn’t tech related but I needed the income so I agreed. It was a great distraction and helped my confidence.

The routine of studying and working lifted my spirits. It took months, but I started feeling positive and motivated again.

August 2019: #100DaysOfCode challenge

I was looking for something to keep me focussed and consistent during my coding journey. I went on Twitter for inspiration and found the #100DaysOfCode challenge. You commit to coding for at least one hour a day for 100 days.

I committed to the challenge and I was now accountable to the Twitter community. My goal was to complete all FCC certifications and become a Full Stack Developer. I've completed five out of six certifications so far! It was one of the best decisions I’ve made during my coding journey. I started following other aspiring developers. I watched other people succeed and share their experiences, and support others who were finding it difficult. It was inspiring and kept me motivated.

Instead of using online freelancing platforms, I approached local businesses instead. I got some WordPress side gigs and started getting more referrals. This was a great boost to my confidence.

September - October 2019: The job hunt

My husband said that I was ready to start applying for jobs. In fact, that I’d been ready for months. But I was dragging my feet.

I was in a safe and familiar environment of learning and working on WordPress sites. I knew the job hunt would be arduous and there could be repeated rejections. I was also worried about how the process could affect my mental health. I reached out to others in the community and they all reiterated what husband said to me. “You are ready to start applying for jobs”.

When my son started in Primary School in September, I knew it was the right time to start the job hunt. I took some time to mentally prepare myself and updated my CV. I applied for Frontend Developer roles. I kept a spreadsheet and tracked all my applications.

I applied for four jobs. One directly with a company, three others through an agency. I was prepared to apply for more, but two companies responded. I managed to get a couple of interviews.

I didn’t expect such an immediate response and I took it as a positive sign.

I started preparing for possible interview questions. I split up my preparation into sections: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, accessibility, UI and UX, non tech questions and general questions. I also researched the companies I was being interviewed by.

My interview experience

There was no white-boarding, no solving difficult algorithms on the spot and no trick questions.

The first interview was to get to know me. Employers were actually very intrigued by my non-traditional background. I always thought it would be a hindrance, but in fact it was a talking point.

I got through to the second stage on one job I applied for which was a take home coding exercise. The other interview I was offered the job on the spot.

I decided to accept the role and I'm now a JavaScript Frontend Developer.

I'm surprised by how short the application and interview process was for me. I think it was a combination of the following:

1. My experience in my previous career: transferable soft skills I acquired, such as good communication, time management, project management, evidence of completing projects etc.

2. Other activities I was pursuing outside of learning: freelancing as a WordPress Developer, going to conferences, having a portfolio, blogging and writing articles.

3. Being interview ready.

The resources I used to learn how to code

I've been asked by many in the community what I used to learn to code. Due to my circumstances of being a stay-at-home-mum, I chose to learn from self-paced online platforms. I needed something remote where I could learn at odd hours of the day. Here are a list of some of the resources I’ve used to learn how to code.

1. freeCodeCamp (FCC)

I've used FCC from the beginning to the end of my coding journey. It formed the basis of my learning and I always return to it after I branch off to learn a new skill in depth.

Personally, FCC taught me to be independent and learn how to find the answers. The answers aren’t spoon fed and you are required to do your own research to complete the projects. A crucial skill to master. Learning how to search gets easier with time. You'll become very familiar with Stack Overflow.

2. Udemy

For WordPress I followed a course by Rob Percival and Gregg Davis and one by Brad Schiff. For React and Node JS I used courses by Maximillian Schwarzmuller, who’s also part of the Academind team on YouTube.

One thing to bear in mind about follow along project tutorials, is that you must implement what you’re learning throughout the course. Try and apply what you learn to your own projects. This will consolidate what you have learnt.

3. YouTube

Here’s some of the channels I’ve tried and tested:

FCC: I’ve watched a lot of Beau Carnes' videos on JavaScript. But there’s a wide range of videos which covers pretty much anything tech related. From learning Python to GraphQL. The FCC curriculum doesn’t incorporate video tutorials, so this is a good resource to go to.

The Coding Train: I used this to understand fundamental JavaScript concepts such as Promises, Async/Await, Prototypes and Higher Order Functions. There’s also some useful videos on regular expressions.

Academind and LevelUpTuts: Very in depth videos on a wide range of technologies, frameworks and libraries. From the basics progressing to advance tutorials.

Curran Kelleher: I used this channel for learning D3.js.

4. freeCodeCamp Developer News

I could be biased but these articles have good content and are checked by the FCC team before publication. Not just useful for programming related subjects, but also some great motivating and career related articles.

5. MongoDB University

I went on a big tangent over the summer and completed a lot of the free courses with MongoDB University. They take place over three weeks and you must complete the assignments within a timeframe. You are graded and awarded a certification of completion if you pass.

6. Technical Documentation

I always try to refer to the official documentation for any API, framework, library, language I’m using. Such as, MDN for JavaScript and W3C for HTML.

6. egghead.io

This is a subscription based video tutorial service covering a breadth of frameworks, libraries, tools and languages.

7. Khan Academy

You are required to know some basic mathematics when learning JavaScript. I found Khan Academy was useful for this. I took the basic Algebra course. All courses are free and cover a range of subjects.

There are many resources (paid and free) online. Do some research and find the resources that suits your learning style.

Here are my top 15 tips for approaching the job hunt

1. The minimum: I would strongly suggest having a portfolio, CV/Resume, LinkedIn account, covering letter, projects/repositories on GitHub, showcasing side projects on CodePen or Glitch.

2. Feedback on your CV/Resume: get someone to review your CV. It always helps to have a fresh pair of eyes.

3. One page CV/Resume: Some feedback I got about my CV was changing it from two pages to one page. Recruiters get hundreds of CVs, so you want to get their attention immediately. Long CVs are a definite no. List your technical skills, any relevant experience/side projects you worked on first. If recruiters are interested, they’ll go to your LinkedIn profile for more details.

4. Let everyone know you’re looking for a job: Put yourself out there. Sign up and submit your CV to recruitment agencies and job platforms such as Reed and Glassdoor. Put in your LinkedIn profile that you’re looking for new opportunities.

5. Go to recruitment fairs: There are specialist tech recruitment fairs. An opportunity to bypass the recruitment agencies and speak to the employers directly.

6. Apply directly to companies: A tip I got from an insider. A lot of companies don’t advertise their junior developer roles. They are usually inundated with prospective candidates, so approach the companies yourself. This might not yield immediate results, but they’ll have your details on file. Touch base with them once in a while to see if they have any positions opening up.

7. The commercial experience barrier: Having “commercial experience” in web development is usually a barrier. Especially for recruitment agencies. I see a requirement for commercial experience even for junior web development roles. But commercial experience doesn’t necessarily mean working for a company. The way I overcame this was to talk about my freelancing work with recruiters. Working with clients for my WordPress sideline business is valid “commercial experience”. I’m usually asked how I landed my first client. The first website I built was for a family member’s business. I did a pay-what-you-want model and they took a chance on me. So utilise your contacts.

8. Network: Go to conferences and meetups. Networking is great. I haven’t managed to go to meetups as I have family responsibilities. There’s a great article by Jackson Bates about thriving at your first tech meetup. But I’ve been to a few conferences. At some conferences, there might be companies present. Often they’re hoping to recruit developers. Another opportunity to bypass the recruitment agencies and actually talk to the tech companies recruiting. I always go to conferences alone. I do get some anxiety about this, but it encourages me to network and meet new people.

9. Have a positive online presence: The feedback I got from one employer was that they were impressed by my positive online presence. A lot of potential employers will try and find you online before they interview you. They want to have some idea of what you’re about. Have a blog and write about things you’re passionate about.

10. Do the #100DaysOfCode challenge: Document your journey on Twitter. It’s a good way to see how much you’ve progressed. Also it’s a great way to expand your network. I have “met” so many motivated aspiring developers on Twitter. I get to see how others are doing in their coding journeys and share advice. Also, more experienced developers often comment and offer advice, which is fantastic from a learning perspective.

11. Have a mentor: My husband is my main mentor. But I often seek the help of others in the community to get a different perspective. Don’t be afraid to ask. Often people will be happy to give you advice and feedback.

12. Prepare for technical questions: There are a lot of articles online and videos on YouTube to help you with the technical questions.

13. General interview preparation: Don’t forget to prepare for more general interview questions like “tell me about yourself?”.

14. Mock interviews: I know from experience that mock interviews are crucial. Preparing on paper is completely different from actually answering questions in person. Practice and practice some more!

15. Don’t underestimate/undervalue yourself. For me this is the most important advice I can give someone. I battle with this on a daily basis. My biggest barrier isn’t my skills, it’s my lack of confidence. Remember, you know more than you think. Don’t talk yourself down, be positive about what you can do and what you have achieved.

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Final thoughts

“Grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working really hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it's a marathon, not a sprint.”

Angela Lee Duckworth, "Grit: The power of passion and perseverance"

This quote by Angela Lee Duckworth, pretty much summarises the last two years of my life.

My coding journey wasn’t a quick sprint, it was a two year marathon. There were ups, downs, tears of sadness and joy. I came close to giving up so many times. But what kept me going was passion and perseverance. Aside from raising children, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever undertaken.

I don’t want to give the impression that the learning stops here, though! It’s essential to keep on learning new skills and evolving, especially in the fast paced world of web development. A new marathon begins as I start my new career. I’m sure the ups and downs will continue, but it’s a road worth taking as I will be doing something I love.

If you have any questions or just want to say hello, find me on Twitter @PhoebeVF

Illustrations courtesy of https://undraw.co

Developers come from all walks of life. However, I want to talk about learning to code with young children, and the challenges of juggling parenting and studying.

My background

I’m not a conventional candidate for becoming a web developer. I went down a humanities route and I have no computer science background. I fell into a career in Higher Education and for over a decade I moved up the ranks in administration. I enjoyed my work but wasn’t fulfilled by my career choice.

About seven years ago in search for a new career path, I sought advice to get into a more technical role. So I started learning the web fundamentals like HTML and CSS. My first attempt at coding was half-hearted. Fear was the main reason. I feared that the transition would take too long. I also got distracted by my upcoming wedding.

6 years later…one husband, a flat, and two babies under two!

I had my first baby in January 2015. In a nutshell, having my son was a shock to the system and completely turned my world upside down. The sleep deprivation felt like torture and I had difficulty with breastfeeding. I was in a zombie state for the first six months.

As things started to settle down, I found out that I was pregnant…again. This was during my first week back at work! My daughter was born in September 2016. Now I had two babies under twenty months!

Realization, motivation and career change

By mid 2017 at the age of 34, I decided to leave my job. I did this for two reasons. It was no longer financially viable for me to work and have my children in childcare. It was difficult to work full-time, while looking after two young children with a husband who worked away a lot.

The thoughts I had seven years earlier never went away. I could wait until the children were older and start to look for part-time work, or to finally pursue a job in tech. My husband, who already works in the tech industry, gave me the same advice.

Learn the fundamentals: HTML, CSS and JavaScript. With a combination of these three skill sets I knew I could become a front-end developer.

freeCodeCamp and the start of my coding journey

I researched which online learning platform I should follow. I read good things about freeCodeCamp. I also liked the structure of the curriculum. It was suitable for anyone with zero programming experience.

When I started, it was very satisfying seeing my code render in the preview pane! I thought to myself, “this isn’t so bad, I can do this”. I remember the first time I got stuck.

It was on a <div> tag. I read in the exercise instructions: “The div element is probably the most commonly used HTML element of all.” I didn’t understand why you would nest a <div> in a <div>?!

My husband said “Google is your friend” and so I started researching to understand what a <div> was.

It wasn’t easy. I had not studied for over 13 years and I was also going into a subject area that was so far removed from anything I had learned before. Early on, I had a lot of self-doubt and feared that I couldn’t learn to program. But as time went by, the process of learning programming got easier. I worked hard and persevered.

Although the curriculum became more difficult, I got more used to feeling uncomfortable.

A typical evening of multitasking! Putting my daughter to sleep and doing the chores.

The challenges of learning how to code with children

Being a parent is a “job” that never stops. It’s the most demanding role I’ve ever had! I have to be the best chef, entertainer, housekeeper, singer, nurse, nurturer, errand runner, teacher and storyteller… the list goes on. Even when my children are asleep, I’m on standby, ready to drop everything to tend their needs.

With that in mind, finding time to code was the biggest challenge. My husband worked away and for the most of the week I was in charge of two toddlers. It was exhausting! At the beginning I could only code after they were asleep.

A typical day with children would start at 6 am and last until 8 pm. It would be about 9 pm before I could sit down, open my laptop and start coding. Even though I felt tired, when I started to code I felt revitalized by it.

Some evenings were better than others. Depending on the needs of my children, I managed to study anywhere between 30 minutes and three hours before bed. Quite often, I wasn’t able to study at all.

Bear with me, it does get better.

Eventually, coding became part of my routine. I studied more on days when my children were in nursery. On my “free” days, I structured my day like so:

6 am: Breakfast, time with the children
9 am: Studying
12 pm: Lunch and housework
1 pm: Continue studying
3 pm: Cook, more housework and pick up children
9 pm: Study some more
10/11 pm: sleep

When you have children, illness is inevitable. But no-one told me how often babies get sick! It was a big disruption to my coding journey. Here’s an example.

During the winter of 2017, my daughter got the flu and my son soon after. It took two weeks for them to recover. As I finally relaxed and was no longer in “survival mode”, my husband and I got sick. I wasn’t able to study for over a month.

I learned to be prepared for disruptions like this and not allow it to have a major impact on my motivation. I would try to get back to studying as soon as possible. I started off with short periods of coding and built it up once I got back into the flow.

I tried to keep to a routine as much as possible. It wasn’t only important for me, but also my children. For example, this meant having to stop studying in the middle of solving an exercise to pick up my children. Not coding into the early hours of the morning so I could be ready for my children the next day.

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Lessons Learned

I was asked recently what are the most important things I have learned on my coding journey. I’ve listed my top tips. Some of them are specific to parents, but I’m sure they would still be useful to any non-parents!

1. Anyone can learn to code: no matter what your background, if you have the interest and motivation, you can learn to code. There are so many resources online that cater to all levels of knowledge. All you need is access to a computer and time to learn. Practice makes perfect!

2. Code every day: a tip I picked up from Quincy from freeCodeCamp, but it’s so important! I try to stick to this but don’t beat yourself up if you don’t manage to. The unpredictable nature of children meant that this wasn’t always possible for me. I tried to adapt my coding life around my responsibilities and commitments. Learning how to be flexible was key.

3. Don’t wear yourself down: try to have some time to relax and switch off from studying. I try to go to the gym.

4. Multitasking: The days when my children are in nursery, I group all my housework to that time. I would code while the laundry was washing. Watch a coding related video on YouTube or listen to a podcast while I was cleaning or cooking. I also cook meals in bulk and freeze them to free up more time during the weekend.

5. Learn to manage your fear: Don’t allow your negativity to consume you. At some point in your coding journey you’re going to feel self-doubt. Everyone has their own coping mechanisms. Personally, the more I studied and practiced, the more I grew in confidence.

6. Learning how to research: this is an important skill to master. At the beginning I found it difficult to search for the correct key words to help me with my tasks. Again, it’s all about practice. The more you search online, the better you’ll become. Remember to bookmark useful sites.

7. Don’t get overwhelmed: it’s good to think about where your coding journey will take you. But don’t let it overwhelm you. Think of your knowledge as a bell curve. In the middle of the graph where it peaks, you’ll know two languages or frameworks very well. As it tapers off, your knowledge on other subjects will not be as extensive. It’s always good to be aware of new technologies and trends, but it doesn’t mean you have to be an expert!

8. Build a portfolio: you can still build a good portfolio without “work” experience. My portfolio consists of projects from freeCodeCamp. You don’t even need to setup your own environment and can use online resources like CodePen to demo your code.

9. Version Control: learn how to use Git and GitHub. As you start to do more complex projects, you’ll need to use an IDE (integrated development environment). I use Atom but don’t focus too much on the tool. Choose one and become good at using it! Start creating repositories and committing your code to Github.

10. Code review: it’s important to find someone to help you code review your projects. It was difficult for me do this at the beginning. But ultimately, it will lead you to become a better programmer. You’ll learn a lot by reviewing other people’s code as well.

11. Never stop learning: another thing people ask me is when I’ll stop studying. My answer is never. There is so much innovation in web development. I want to be aware of the latest updates and the “must have skills”.

Where I am now

I have been learning and coding for about a year, part time. I’ve completed three out of six certificates from freeCodeCamp.

I am now freelancing as a web developer and I have built two commercial websites. One for a client and my portfolio. I have one client I’m working with now to redesign and build their website. I’m also continuing my studies with freeCodeCamp and other platforms such as Udemy.

Final thoughts

Some people asked why I did a career change with children and not before when I had more time. This is the irony: I didn’t appreciate or realize how important time was. I was also complacent and scared of taking the plunge before children. I want to be a good example for my children and have a career which I’m passionate about.

When I became a parent, I felt like my sole purpose was to be a mother and I had lost my own identity in the process. When I started studying again, it gave me a purpose outside of parenting. I didn’t have to be a coder or mum, I could be both.

If you have any questions or just want to say hello, find me on Twitter @PhoebeVF