There is not a lot of competition. It’s actually the exact opposite. The industry is thirsty to find quality ppl in all areas. My recommendation to OP is just start with a web development stack like MEAN/MERN/MEVN or a software stack like LAMP and you can learn that in a few months and find great paying jobs just for those.
With NO knowledge/experience, can you get into the coding/programming industry?
- Thread starter rbksNgirbauds
- Start date
I was able to get my first programming job this past September with no prior coding experience (Sr. Business Analyst). The key is to show them that you have an general understanding of the language needed for the job (SQL for my case) and have a manager who is willing to help you improve. I was able to find a company who was expanding into a different space and needed people who already had the knowledge. In my case, I already had over 10 years of experience in the industry so the only issue would be making sure that I improve over time with SQL while creating multiple reports for various levels of management and external clients. If I was you, pick a language that interest you, take time to learn it and showcase your skills on Github and apply for entry level programming job that are within your current field so that your experience may offset you lack of programming skills. Everything that is worth while is going to take time, but once you are in you should be set if you keep learning and get better.
Positive Posting
Pro
in your opinion what’s a good trade or course to take up to get a better paying job.
I just trynna get into something decent nothing to crazy and attainable. I just need to make a living.
I tried to look into trucking, but I’m not a very good driver and I tend to start falling as sleep on the wheel after like 2 hours.
Any ideas bro? I got one free course at Udemy right now.
Rick Fox at UNC
All Star
Currently work in "big tech." I'm a black high-school dropout (9th grade) with a couple of expired certifications (none of which mattered during the interview). Yea, I mean, I guess it matters, but if you're on it, you're on it.
You will deal with a fair amount of Indians, Asians, and white folks but that's true of any job or career in what is considered a high-paying field (tech, law, and finance). Not sure what your point here is. Honestly, this is a horrible fukking point. Even if you're a professional athletes with millions, almost every non-athlete you encounter is non-black.
You can tech find jobs in places like Atlanta, Charlotte, and Dallas with plenty of black folks. But I mean, you can work in an office with almost all black folks and run into plenty of issues (I've done it).
I get what you're trying to say, but it's a terrible advice.
As long as you can showcase your skill within a time limit, follow industry standards and communicate, then yes. What i mean by communicate is, you need to understand what other developers are talking about, the abbreviations, the technology, or you'll be lost.
"Backend uses Django, Frontend is Vue. Files are on S3 bucket and database is on RDS, repo is on Gitlab, SSH into server to pull master, then build AMI on AWS and deploy"
In this sentence you need to know the terms/technology "Django", "VUE", "S3", "RDS", "Repo", "Gitlab", "SSH", "AMI", "AWS" .. All Abbreviations, this is how coders talk and new technology is coming everyday. There's been times where i had no idea what the fukk was going on
Eh, not sure on this. That lingo stuff switches every few years. Honestly, breaking down design paradigms and conceptual models are where it's at, especially in larger tech companies. Knowing the term S3 (I doubt most people who say S3 or EC2 actually know anything about what it means) is fine if you work for AWS or for an outfit which uses AWS, but understanding what object storage is, retrieve times, bucket security, and so on is much more meaningful. In general I would avoid lingo, that shyt works on low-level employees and shytty managers.
That's a great parallel, that's fukking tremendous.
Rick Fox at UNC
All Star
What are you interested in? This is a serious question. Other than "getting the bag" or "making a living" is there something in tech you are drawn to? It's a wide field, and honestly you're probably better off specializing in something (security, networking, databases) in the beginning, you know, unless you really are that dude when it comes to programming and design (hint: you're not).
Also, where do you live? Where are you interested in living? Are you eligible for a security clearance? Are you interested in returning to school?
Particularize your problem a bit.
Networking: Download GNS3, some OS images, and get your CCNA.
Security: Grab Security+, but if you're really serious grab an Offensive Security certification (requires immersion).
If eligible for a security clearance, grab Sec+ or CCNA and apply for entry level government contracting jobs.
Once your in, use tuition assistance to pay for school, take some tech classes or some computer science/math classes.
All this stuff is out there, all for free. Sounds like you're NOT SURE of what you want in life.
Also, where do you live? Where are you interested in living? Are you eligible for a security clearance? Are you interested in returning to school?
Particularize your problem a bit.
Networking: Download GNS3, some OS images, and get your CCNA.
Security: Grab Security+, but if you're really serious grab an Offensive Security certification (requires immersion).
If eligible for a security clearance, grab Sec+ or CCNA and apply for entry level government contracting jobs.
Once your in, use tuition assistance to pay for school, take some tech classes or some computer science/math classes.
All this stuff is out there, all for free. Sounds like you're NOT SURE of what you want in life.
rbksNgirbauds
Even on the court we stay flyy, Jada & A.I.
Oh no I'm very sure of what I want, just view this as an avenue to expedite me there.
Is there something in tech I'm drawn to? Sure, aside from being the one eyed man amongst the blind with family and friends when it comes to a very low level of "tech support"; I'm just a natural left brain thinker so to speak. Always favored those courses in class. Scored high on test in those subjects. And just overall like that area of life. I have no doubt I would Excel in this industry because it really is tailor made for the gifts I've been blessed with, I just never explored it. Was focusing those gifts on the wrong things, I'll just leave it at that.
And yes you're right, I would specialize if I could. But I don't know anything, about anything. Just now finna start the research process. I only honed in on programming/coding or whatever because those are the only terms I knew.
Where do I live? TN
Interest in living? Charlotte to keep it a buck, but I'm tied down here. My folks are getting older and I'm obliged imo to hold them down .
Eligible for security clearance? Lol doubt it, unfortunately.
Interested in returning to school? Absolutely! I love learning, just once again was focusing on learning the wrong things
But duly noted on the Security and Networking advice. Will look into both and see which one I lean towards more. I really appreciate you
EDIT: in regards to those software you advised me to download or really just in general, what sort of hardware should I be working with? PC, if so what kind?
MacBook?
The industry is thirsty for SENIOR developers . Entry-level developers have to jump hoops in order to get in.
LeetCode/Interships/Facebook-level personal projects.
Ya Sinning Mane
Superstar
Ya Sinning Mane
Superstar
Coding is not for everybody. Even some of the smartest people can’t pick it up. Depends on the language though. Some easier than others. If you can learn Java the other languages will be simple. But I don’t recommend starting with Java.
Can you start a career though? Yes. You need to start from the bottom like tech support and get that technical experience first.
If you have no experience it’s a long path if you want to be a developer. Remember most developers have computer science degrees. But I think that seems to be changing these days. If you tryna get top money and move up it benefits you to have a complete sci degree. That said there are plenty of tech roles that don’t require comp sci…
Can you start a career though? Yes. You need to start from the bottom like tech support and get that technical experience first.
If you have no experience it’s a long path if you want to be a developer. Remember most developers have computer science degrees. But I think that seems to be changing these days. If you tryna get top money and move up it benefits you to have a complete sci degree. That said there are plenty of tech roles that don’t require comp sci…
King
The black man is always targeted.
Work in IT.
You’ll deal with less BS and can operate in the shadows as some wizardly type mfer
ReggieFlare
Superstar
It doesn't really matter. I went to a regular 4-year university for Computer Science...my school had a decent career center that was plugged in with different companies in the city so I took advantage of that. Going to a school that's known for technology can help when interviewing for jobs but it doesn't make a huge difference unless you went to a top school or are trying to break into a top company (Google, Microsoft, etc...).
Whatever you want to do a 4 year college should be fine but a 2 year degree can work too, just do some research on what it is you want to study before diving in.
Rick Fox at UNC
All Star
My advice is to keep your investment low and only purchase hardware/software if necessary (this actually carries over into a good rule when interviewing, most systems start small then scale based on demand and necessity). No need to break the bank here, spin up a few AWS/GCP/Azure free-tier instances for everything and go to town. Heavy competition between the leading cloud platforms means these companies are basically BEGGING you to sign up and learn their products. Take full advantage.
aws.amazon.com
cloud.google.com
azure.microsoft.com
Spend 21-days or so on networking, then 21-days on storage, then on databases, then on security. Use your spare time to really research the sectors and figure out what you like.
If you hit a point where you need to invest in hardware, hit me then sir.