How to become a self taught software engineer? Steps to becoming a self taught programmer.

hey everybody welcome to the coding zoo this is your first time joining my name is shane i am a self-taught engineer of 20 years that's right i taught myself how to program and i've been doing it for 20 plus years so in this video we're going to cover who should not think about doing that who should not think about becoming a programmer we're going to cover what you should learn first in what order as a self-taught programmer to get your first job you're also going to point you to various resources that help you learn and we're going to try to give you ideas of once you've gotten to a certain level of learning how you can prepare to get your first job how you can go about getting your first job so if you are a person looking to teach themselves to get into programming with without a degree this video will be helpful for you stick around we're going to jump right so who probably shouldn't try to be a self-taught engineer or maybe even shouldn't even go to college to become a software engineer who shouldn't do that keep in mind this is just my opinion but from what i've seen this is often the case people certain personalities are going to be more successful as a software gym that personality includes people who like to learn you really have to learn like to learn to be a software engineer i started programming when i was probably a teenager maybe like 10 11 12 actually started learning on my own because i enjoyed it i enjoyed exploring the computer enjoyed exploring the language i was learning at that time so if you're going to be a self-taught programmer it's hard there is a lot to learning and you have to enjoy you have to be the type of person who likes to learn right if you're not the type of person who likes to learn uh then then becoming a self-taught software engineer is probably not the way to go for you i would also argue that if you don't like to be consistently learning being a software engineer even through college is probably not not the right career choice for you why because my field software programmers we are constantly learning and we don't always to get to take classes or courses to learn we're often learning on our own by reading searching the web reading books exploring and trying new things right we are constantly learning so in my last 20 years as a software engineer i've had a great time why because i love to learn i love to constantly grow so if you're not that kind of person this is probably not the career choice for you another key personality trait in my opinion and keep in mind again this this is just my opinion is you also need to be the type of person who likes to problem solve you like to solve problems if you like like riddles if you like math problems if you like algebra if you like solving problems then programming is probably a good choice for you that's what we do we solve problems we're constantly solving problems we're constantly creating stuff so if that's something that interests you that you enjoy then might be a good choice for you if not you might want to reconsider all right let's go ahead and jump into what probably what most of you are here to learn and that's what language should you learn or what should you learn to get a job quickly as a software engineer there's many things you should learn the first thing i would recommend is you need to pick a language and you need to learn that language deeply if you're trying to learn many different languages and learning very high level don't do it that's not good pick a language learn it deeply become an expert in that language try to get jobs in that language if you want to learn the other languages later and get into a certain field later then once you've got your foot in the door you can do that you can do that later the main thing now is is to become more or less a master of a particular language you want to learn deeply now what language would i recommend well you'll definitely hear people talk about java c plus plus especially python all these different languages that are really high job market there's a lot of job market for it right javascript's one of them too javascript has one of the highest job markets around right now javascript there are there are a lot of jobs in javascript right now so i recently watched a video someone said hey you should probably learn python it's easy to pick up it's very easy to learn as your first language and it's a good language to teach learn learning basics from well i kind of agree and i kind of don't right python is a good language to learn the market for it's growing it's huge but in my opinion the entry-level barrier into a python job is very high as a person who's self-taught trying to get a python back-end job you're probably not gonna it's gonna be hard it's very hard don't get me wrong there are probably people who do it but there are better languages than python for that so one thing about python is and that's a specific field like artificial intelligence ai or or data or dev option this is unless it's a specific field um usually python is used in conjunction with other languages you might use python and java you might use python and c-sharp there's usually from what i've seen python for the most part has been used as kind of a a language that's been paired with a different language right now there are certain fields there are python web shops out there but if you compare the job market for python web shops into other different choices you're going to see it's probably low so you can do front-end programming with python but the amount of jobs available for it are probably low compared to the language i'm going to encourage you to learn first same for job java is huge i've been doing java for probably 15 years now is it constantly growing as fast as the others well it's not growing as fast as the new languages right you may have a new language that's growing 500 each year but if it's 500 percent of .005 of the market what does that mean as far as jobs it doesn't mean much if there's not many jobs for that new language so why that language may be growing and and and maybe fun it's not probably the right one to learn first get a job don't take java is java growing that much i wouldn't say it's growing i'm not sure if it's growing i think it may be even declining but there are so many jobs out there java is here to stay java is going to be around for the next decade it's been here for two or three decades it's not going anywhere go to your build your bulletin boards your job boards search for the language in different areas compare the languages of job counts you're going to see java javascript and python are very high a lot of jobs for those so out of those three languages java javascript python i'm trying to communicate to you don't do java don't do python learn javascript now why am i saying that i'm saying that because javascript is one of the easiest the lowest barriers to get into as far as job market for a self-hot engineer you're more likely to get hired for doing front-end javascript work than you are for doing back-end python or java work there's definitely a higher barrier to get through to get a job working on the back end versus working on the front end now is it possible will you find people that's done it i'm sure you will i'm sure you can but as far as the majority majority people who are starting the program and getting programming job without a degree they're starting on the front end that in my opinion is what you need to do to get a job in software engineering as quickly as possible learn the front end what's the best way to to invest on the front end learn javascript html and css those are the three main things you need to learn to get a career quickly in software engineering now if you want to get on the back end work you want to get into ai if you want to get into back end services you want to get into any type of field that requires backing you want to get into gaming with c plus any of those fields you can do that later after you get your foot in the door first get your foot in the door get that job get a job for a year or two and then start learning those other languages to move to that type of field that you want to go to for your career so learn javascript css and html i highly recommend that you learn very deeply these three items don't learn at a high level and then jump to other things become an expert in javascript html and css especially javascript and html so while i do stress learning javascript and html and css deeply first there is one other thing you also want to concentrate on as you get a good grounding in that language in javascript once you get a good grounding in javascript you need to start learning some basic fundamentals of algorithms and data structures you need to learn what the basic data structures are and what type of algorithms can be used with those data structures that's kind of a key thing to learn as far as job interviews and knowing how to do something on your job so javascript html learn it deeply css learning and learn basic algorithms and data structures now you're gonna have people to tell you to learn that like full stack type uh technologies right i i don't recommend it i don't recommend you focus on the back end i don't think you really need to learn how to use node.js on the backend i don't really think you need to learn how to use java on the backend or python on the back end right now you don't necessarily need to learn how to be a full stack engineer if you learn be a full stack engineer you're kind of going to get basically a high-level broad learning right you need to focus on learning deeply become an expert front-end learn javascript html css learn those deeply on the front end now you're going to need to know how to interact with the backend by being able to call services from javascript but that's on the client side learn that on the client side you don't necessarily need to know how to write stuff on the back end side of programming so if people try to encourage you to be full stack you can do that and you can get a job that way i would much rather have a front-end developer who knows it very deeply than to have a full-stack developer who barely knows a little bit of the scam basically the scam of the service so that's just my opinion i highly recommend focus on the front end you can learn to back in later you can become full stack later so to repeat myself again learn uh probably the fourth time third or fourth time learn javascript learn css learn html learn it deeply learn data structures and algorithms don't worry about full stack right now don't worry about other languages right now learn those core things learn them deeply right now once you have now when i say learn those deeply what i'm referring to is learn the core learn core javascript learn javascript inside now i'm not saying go learn every javascript framework out there there are tons of javascript frameworks out there you cannot learn them all learn the basics learn core javascript know it inside and out and we're going to tell you about some good materials to do that in a few minutes now once you've learned those core things deeply then consider jumping into a front-end framework in javascript i would recommend react react js is huge there's a huge market for react.js and also for angular i would recommend react js so once you have learned javascript and html and css you know it well learn react js that's kind of like the icing on the cake right if you learn core javascript html and css that's going to get you a job but if you want to make it easier for yourself also learn react react is kind of like icing on the cake it will definitely help you in your job search all right so now how should you learn how should you learn these things how should you learn javascript html css how do you approach learning there are tons of resources out there for you just to name a few there's freecodecamp.org there's places like my coding zoo the coding zoo we have html building blocks playlist we have a css building blocks playlist you have a javascript building blocks playlist you can watch those videos and order and learn there's tons of youtube channels you can learn each of these languages i would recommend along with that though you find something's a little bit more structured you can find online courses on udemy code academy you can also find excellent books out there to learn from there's a lot of resources out there let's say that you bought five books paid 40 bucks each that's 200 bucks you just spent 200 bucks versus what how much is college these days i forget it's up there so 200 bucks is a great investment for a high paying career so find some good structured books now you don't need books you can learn from videos you can take online courses you can learn from different places here and there but i recommend you find a place that takes you through a structured program instead of just learning a little bit of this here a little bit of that here learn things in kind of in a certain order i recommend that one such books that i would recommend for javascript and if you learn these books if you learn this book set inside and out you know javascript plenty enough to get a job that book set is called you don't know js so here i think i've got one right here you don't know js so there's five or six books in this series i'll put a link to a video up here and i'll also put it down in the comments where i another video where i talk about this book set this is an excellent book set this helps you learn javascript inside now you really learn core javascript and you learn deeply there's a lot of good books out there like this for javascript also for html and for css start on html start on css then jump into javascript learn it deeply i also recommend that you definitely get more involved in social media hop on twitter follow 100 days of code there's a hashtag 100 days of code there's hashtag web development there's hashtag code newbie code newbies there's hashtag women who code there's tons of groups out there on twitter that have people that can help you learn or know what to learn from and there's also people out there who share their experience learning to be a developer without a degree you can learn from them so i highly recommend that you get out there and get involved in the social media aspect um it also is good for building connections and maybe even help you find that job later so you know you can learn a lot from reading a structured book you can learn a lot from watching our videos here at the coding zoo and other youtube channels you can learn a lot from you know taking courses on udemy code academy or freecodecamp.org i highly recommend all of these options but i also recommend is build something once you start learning enough start building something come up with your own little project start building web pages right building web pages that use html css and javascript start creating your own little projects consider an arts you're creating your own little projects create your own web pages come up with some ideas and start putting it in practice start building stuff from end to end the complete web page that uses all three of those technologies so once you start learning the basics once you start learning deeply to the books and and youtube and the courses then start building stuff make sure you can put those things into practice it's not just in your head but you can actually do it how do you prepare for how do you prepare how do you get that job once you've learned everything once you feel confident how do you get that job how do you get your foot in the door of a company let's talk about those things well i just mentioned about in the learning i just mentioned about creating your own projects one of the first things you want to do is as you create your own projects create a portfolio website create an awesome html css website that tells it's basically considered your portfolio point to some things you've built create your online resume have it online you know that's one the one of the first steps is to build that as you build projects as you work on projects or create your own web pages put those projects in github learn how to use github create your own little github and start putting your projects there you're going to point to those projects later later this part of your portfolio you're going to show people that you can put what you've learned into practice you want to do that right what if you can't come up with projects on your own to build our web pages on your own to build well reach out to people do you have family members who have a business that need a web page do you have a local charity a local church or local organization that you could help build web pages for um now a lot of people will tell you don't give your talent away for free or for pennies well when you're first starting out you need experience and if that experience you if you're going to do it and for like a charity you're gonna do it for free at first or for pennies that's fine i've heard people recommend don't do it because you you're giving away your talent for nothing well that's not true you need experience to get your foot in the door having those things on your portfolio if you can't build your portfolio any other way then work for charities work build web page find a local business that doesn't have a web page that you that you happen to like build a web page for them give it to them for free you know or go to them say hey then you know build a web page for them take it to them and say hey would you like to buy this right build a portfolio look for creative avenues to build stuff for other people at the very least of course you want to build your portfolio website or resume website for yourself now if you can't find those things you can always create fun little projects build it build a game or a website game in javascript build something creative just practice but one way to actually build stuff for people is go out places like fiverr fiverr.com i think it's f i v e r r dot com fiber dot search for fiverr you'll find it you could actually put your services up for sale there to build a web page for someone right and take on jobs that you know you can handle don't don't take on too much but find a good job there on fiverr build a web page for somebody doesn't matter how much you're charging build a web page for somebody they use it hey that goes on your portfolio that's a good thing for your portfolio now we've mentioned definitely want to be involved in social media you want to network right one way to learn is through social media and through these hashtags that i mentioned earlier networking with people learning from them but it's also a good way to find out how other people are reaching out to companies getting their foot in the door be active on social media go to your local user group most of the city's bigger cities have java or web development user groups go to those meetups attend those meetups meet people oftentimes you'll have companies there even looking to hire people join those user groups be involved build some connections you'll also want to consider as part of building that social media presence create a linkedin account get yourself on linkedin put a link from linkedin to your portfolio website put all your information out on linkedin that's one way to find recruiters who are looking for people to hide one thing you can also consider is you know you don't necessarily have to get that full-time job with a company right away sometimes getting your foot in the door means contracting for a contracting company oftentimes if you're starting out that's a good way to get experience a lot of people do it full time they're contractors full time some people prefer to work directly for a particular company versus contracting but for sure contracting is definitely a good way to get experience find a contracting company they're everywhere recruiters for contracting companies are everywhere and contracting is a good way to get that experience and the bar sometimes can be a little lower in contracting one thing about contracting is if if you work for a given company and you're not working out it's easy for them to grab somebody else and fill that position so i oftentimes maybe i'm wrong don't quote me but i feel like the bar is a little bit lower for getting your foot in the door with contracting so work with the contractor recruiter become a contractor get your foot in the door work hard show them that you're one of the ones that's worth hiring full-time then get hired full-time for a company now as you start getting opportunities you start applying for jobs right you've got your portfolio website you've got your presence on linkedin uh you're starting to apply for jobs you've created a resume you're pointing to your portfolio here's networking as you start getting job interviews you need to be prepared right how can you be prepared well you definitely want to practice coding problems coding questions right you want to practice interview questions you want to practice interviewing for jobs interviewing is an art i've been an engineer for 20 years i've been very successful at every company i've worked at but when it comes to interviewing even for me it's kind of a coin toss you have to be confident you have to know how to answer certain questions a certain way you need to practice and interviewing you need to be practicing answering interview questions and coding questions oftentimes the questions and things that are asked there are not necessarily things that are going to be used on the job as much as you might think unfortunately so be prepared for coding interviews practice them practice answering interview questions practice answering coding questions on a whiteboard or on notepad just practice practice practice it's very important and even do mock interviews do mock interviews with people now one good way to practice for interviews is to get the book cracking the coding interview cracking the coding interview it's a great book it will teach you how to be prepared for interviewing again cracking the coding interview i think i actually think i have it right here this is from gail and forgive me if i say it wrong lachman mcdowell gail lachman mcdowell mcdowell great book this book is awesome even as even with all the experience that i have i often will if i in between if i was fishing switch jobs i want to practice i go back to this to remind me of certain things i need to practice on it's a great book so highly recommended so again be sure you're prepared for interviews and it takes time don't give up one of the things you must have to become a software engineer without a degree is determination you've got to be determined it it's you know you may go through 50 60 70 interviews before you finally get your foot in the door it takes time and it takes a lot of practice don't give up keep trying keep learning if you like learning keep it up keep learning you can do it you will succeed i guarantee you there's a lot of jobs out there so i hope you like this video if you did please hey guys click the thumbs up that really helps us get the word out helps this channel a lot we really appreciate it if you have any questions about what i've said today you know leave me a message below i'm very good at responding to uh comments below and i always try to get back to you so definitely leave me a comment below check out the rest of our videos check out our ace male building blocks check out our javascript building blocks check out our css building block videos they're really good videos to start with also if you are starting your venture on becoming a software engineer you're going you've decided you're going to learn on your own and do that hey best of luck best wishes you can do it just follow these items don't give up be determined keep learning you will make it i it took me three or four years to finally get my foot in the door actually two or three years to finally get my foot in the door and i've been doing it for 20 years since so you can do it if i can do it you can do it keep up the hard work you will get there just be determined so hey again if you like the video please click like if you haven't subscribed yet click subscribe it really helps us out a lot and if you know somebody who might benefit from hearing this video you know send them a link to this video pass it around we really appreciate it thank you for watching today and best of luck to your job adventure have a great day

Channel: Shane Crouch

Views: 3,037

Rating: 4.9836736 out of 5

Keywords: how to become a self taught software developer, how to become a self taught software engineer, how to become a software engineer without a degree, learn to code, programmer, programming without degree, self taught, self taught programmer, self taught software engineer, self-taught programmer, self-taught software developer, self-taught software engineer, self-taught software engineer curriculum, self-taught software engineer roadmap, steps to becoming a self taught programmer

Id: CXkSrk4-5HY

Length: 27min 19sec (1639 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 21 2021