Trying to get into junior developer role.
Hey everyone, First this community has been very helpful with good advice Secondly I'm trying to get into the dev space, but I don't see that many junior developer roles out there. I don't have a cs background (finance and economics) I worked heavily with developers (mostly project management, but have some SQL skills and can read code to understand what it does). I'm trying to move more into the development space or data science ( currently learning python on pluralsight). I take it there are not many junior developer roles because most fresh grads get those spots, but wanted to know what else I could do to move towards that space. The idea i have currently is to work on learning python and getting some stuff on GitHub that I can show to potential employers (let me know if that is the right way to go? Thinking kaggle for projects as well) Any suggestions would be great and really appreciated Tldr: trying to get into dev space can't find a junior developer role. Finance and economics background, need advice.
The biggest problem with having no official experience is it's difficult for companies to determine if your going to work out. Another option could be to start contributing to open source projects on GitHub. This could serve as your portfolio and show employers you talent level. Mostly it's just about getting your foot in the door since after that it will be a technical interview and if you meet the bar your in.
Check this site out: https://www.freecodecamp.org/ There is a community forum that shares stories of first ever software jobs. It is JS not python though.
Thank you I've seen this site and it was helpful for the database parts , but still trying to stick with python. I've tried to supplement this with local meet ups in the area. Definitely helpful and a good place to start though
Make sure you have an active github with lots of projects. When they want your github link, make sure they see something produced by someone they would want to hire
I've seen lots of very early startups hire Junior (zero experience) developers. They will pay shit, if they pay anything. But if there is someone there who you can learn from, it will really help you get experience, build a portfolio and get a real paying job down the line. Try searching on angellist.
@ashana385 I'd love to hear a follow up on this post a year later. Best of luck!
I ended up making this move early in my career. It can be tricky and annoying to get your first dev job but after that I had zero problems. Not a lot of places will take someone with zero experience. Since it sounds like you work close to developers I would try to start contributing to your project on the side if you can convince your employer.
Thanks that is useful to know sadly due to the way the organization is structured I'm not allowed to code so I'll have to do it in my off time