What if I told you my first line of code was written in 2018? By now, I know you must be thinking I should be in the industry by now, have worked for a couple of tech companies, or maybe become a unicorn developer I wish. Fast forward to 2022, and here I am still learning to break into tech. Here are the three things I’ll do differently if I choose to learn to code again: Plan, Join communities & learn in public, and Network.
Things I’ll do differently
Plan
Poor or inadequate planning can result in huge waste and a loss of time. There is no amount of time one spent on the wrong part that is equal to the progress of being on the right path, a wrong path leads to the wrong destination, no two ways about it. I started out without a plan I believe it’s normal for someone new to coding, but I could have taken the time to research my style of learning, set a time frame between learning and applying for jobs, and decide whether to go the route of a Bootcamp or take the free courses online, but I was hopping from one YouTube video to another. If I decide to study using free online courses, I’ll research a structured curriculum with project milestones such as FreeCodeCamp or Leon Noel, but I’ll prefer to take the Bootcamp route.
For me, time is of the essence, and Bootcamp teaches an up-to-date structured curriculum with the exact skills employers are looking for, hands-on real-life projects similar to one’s I will be doing on the job, collaborations on projects using collaboration tools, standup meetings, coding partners to keep you accountable, and help when getting blocked. Also, mentorship sessions and a large community to reach out to for help. Learning to code alone can sometimes come with its own disadvantages.
Another is that Bootcamp offers modules and helps prepare students for anything from crafting & reviewing ATS standard resumes, building developer’s portfolios, practicing technical interviews, and following proven guidelines to approaching networking. Since the main goal is to help students land a job in tech, I believe it is a win-win for both sides. I know you must have been thinking, Is this dude nuts? Bootcamp’s tuition fees are out of this world. Please know that there are bootcamps that operate on ISA, for example, Microverse and others like that. Please do your due diligence.
2. Learn in Public & Share my work
You can be a unicorn developer, as I like to call it, and no one in this world will ever know you exist. The aim of learning to code is to get a job and change your life. Learning in public is to have a community to hold you accountable, according to Gift Egweunu @lauragift_in her chat with the CodNewbie community, she mentioned why learning in public is the fastest way to learn, what learning in public can look like for different people, and getting over the hurdle of the anxiety of putting yourself out there after this. I used to be afraid someone might call me out, not like what I shared, or the project might not look good, and then I'd hide my project. This affected my level of confidence because it was difficult for me to gauge my level of progress, and as a result, I kept going back to the basics, thinking maybe I don’t understand the basics well. Currently, I do a weekly update of what I have learned for the week on Linkedin and this has helped me tremendously.
3. Networking
I believe no one is an island, part of the reason I had slow progress when I first attempted learning to code was that I was isolated, nobody knows I can even write a hello world. Connecting with like-minded minds and joining a community has its own perk. If I had to do it again, I'd join a developer community, connect with developers on Twitter and LinkedIn, and attend conferences.
I'm sharing all this so anyone out there thinking of taking the plunge into learning to code doesn't make the same mistakes I did.
Thank you for taking the time to read my bluff. I hope you enjoy reading it.
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section, and If you like what you read, kindly give me some claps.