After 4 years of busting my butt getting through college, I finally got my shiny diploma with my degree in Computer Science. I worked really hard to get to this point, took 16-18 units every semester plus 2-3 classes every summer session, working up to 3 jobs at one point, while trying to be a decent husband and good father. After all of this effort I came to the harsh realization that college alone doesn't really prepare you for a job in this industry. I came into college without any previous programming experience so everything I know is based solely on my academic experience. I was working so hard on just getting through school that I didn't have time to create side projects and build any kind of portfolio. I have been trying to learn and grow as a programmer, I'm currently taking a full stack web dev course on Udemy and trying to build a portfolio to showcase my abilities. Now that I am almost done with the course I sit here wondering, how does someone with no professional experience get a job? I feel like every job posting I look at requires skills or experience I don't currently possess, even internships require previous internship experience. Should I just apply to positions where I don't meet the requirements? I feel like it's a lost cause when I'm sure there are more qualified candidates applying for the same position. Are companies willing to hire someone with no experience and train them? I've looked at companies like Revature that train you and use you for 2 years but I can't relocate due to my family. I don't mean to sound like a whiner, I'm just feeling really discouraged and lost in this process. I would love to hear some input from people that were in the same position and made it out maybe. Any tips from anyone would be greatly appreciated actually. Thanks in advance.
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
Top comments (2)
Not everyone gets hired immediately after graduating. Took me a while to find my first job.
Here are some tips I can give.
Create a linkedin profile. - this will help recruiters find you.
Try working with recruiters. - This is how I've found most of my jobs. It might take a while to get offers, but at least you get interview and interview question experience. From here, you will have to find interview question tests only. I am sure you can find a github repo full of these depending on what you want to do. Example, github.com/h5bp/Front-end-Develope...
Network. - This is how I got my current job. This is probably one of the most influential since people who like working with you end up wanting to do so after they move on and vice versa.
Contribute to open source. - This falls in with networking. Find a project you like and help out. This gives you experience working with strangers and getting input about your code.
Good luck.
What you can do? Profile? GitHub contributions screenshots?