I do not have a background in programming or web developing. I have a bachelors degree in Criminal Justice and work full time…so going back to school is not really an option. I heard about this from a friend, but just really want to know before I invest all this time…can I really get a job just from completing the entire curriculum, without having any background in computers?
Thanks for all your help
My background was in Music (with a tiny bit of programming, decades before). I finished FCC, spend another year learning new things, building things, polishing my resume and portfolio, practicing interviewing skills… After a A LOT of interviews, I got a job at 49. #ymmv
You will not qualify for every job. But you don’t need to - you need to get a job. There aren’t many fields like web dev and dev work in general - they care what you have done and what you can do. There are places that will only want CS grads. There are jobs that will need CS grads. But there is also work out there where it doesn’t matter as much. But it’s going to take a lot of work to get there.
Thank you for your response. That is promising to hear.
I didn’t want it to sound too promising. 
There is a lot of hard work ahead and this will take longer than you hope. Getting a job will depend on a lot of factors - where you live, your personality, the job market where you are, how well you interview, what kind of contacts you have/grow, etc. And luck. But I believe that if someone is at least of average intelligence and aptitude, if they work hard and don’t give up, the odds of them landing a job will increase over time until the law of averages catches up.
Hi @ruslana1115 !
Welcome to the forum!
I started learning how to code in June of 2020 and now work as a junior developer.
My previous career was in music and never learned how to code before.
I used freeCodeCamp as my main learning resource, built my own projects on the side, joined developer communities and built connections along the way, shared my learning online like on twitter, and landed a job.
Your best chance of landing a job is to build a good foundation, build unique strong projects outside of class, learn how to network with other developers, be active in the developer community to learn about job opportunities, learn how the job process works.
The biggest mistake people make is they think all they have to do is learn how to code.
But there is more to getting a job than that.
You need to study people who landed jobs and understand what they did.
You will start to see some similarities in their approach and start to understand why they were successful in landing a job.
Read through dozens of posts here on the forum, about the dos and don’ts of landing a job.
Learn from it and apply it to your approach.
Hope that helps!
Hello! This is indeed inspiring as I am a first-year college student taking Computer Science without any knowledge of Coding.
I just want to know if you don’t mind, some courses you took in order for you to create projects and land with your first Job?
I thank you so much.
Welcome to the forum!
That’s awesome 
Make sure to take advantage of the career resources your school has to offer.
As a CS student, you will have access to internships, fellowships and other opportunities that self taught developers without a cs degree don’t usually have access too.
I completed the first three certificates of freecodecamp and did some of the exercises in the backend certificate.
After that I was building personal projects and being active in the developer community.
I was able to land a job by building personal projects outside of a class and networking with other developers in the field to learn about job opportunities.
Hope that helps!
You can get a job without going to a paid course, or having professional education, however completing the curriculum alone might not be sufficient. The knowledge presented here would be enough, but you will need to practice it, in order to acquire it. My answer is YES, you can land a job, relying on this curriculum, but you want to back that with working on your own personal projects, to learn the material and also look for outside sources to tackle problems which are not part of the curriculum. There are great many sources outside of fcc. Part of becoming a good programmer is knowing how and where to find needed info, such are the documentaiton on all kinds of technologies. There are also planty of video guides on youtube on various topics. You dont even have to finish the entire curriculum, just make sure, what is presented here you learn and practice well and you build on top of it, until you feel confident to find a real job(or find one which requires only the said knowledge).
Hey! You’ve mentioned being active in dev communities a few times. If you don’t mind, could explain what you mean by that? I’ve been working with FCC for a couple months now. The idea of being part of a community and making connections is fantastic. I just am unsure how to go about that.
Leon Noel has the best videos on practical tips for networking. I always suggest new developers to watch it because it removes the mystery out of getting involved with tech community and making connections.
As for my approach, I started learning with freeCodeCamp and first got really involved with the forum.
I spent months answering posts and sharing my story as a new learner.
That led to me getting some part time contract work as a junior developer.
I also started writing articles for freeCodeCamp which introduced me to more developers in the community.
Then I started getting involved with twitter and twitter spaces.
There are a ton of twitter spaces you can join and listen to and even request to speak and ask questions.
Tech twitter is pretty active.
If you share your progress with projects you are working on, and comment on other people’s posts, you will slowly start to build out a following.
There are also plenty of online and in person meetups where you can build up a network of developers.
I had joined a community called Virtual Coffee. I got involved with their weekly meetings, got involved with the conversations on their slack channel and participated in some of the events.
The goal is not be involved with 50 different meetups.
Just find 2-3 groups that you like to be involved with and participate in their meetings, discords, slacks, twitter, events, etc.
You can ask questions about tech. Celebrate people’s success. Support other’s youtube videos and articles and reshare.
There are plenty of ways to get involved with the dev community,
When you start looking for jobs, your community might have openings in their work or might know others that are hiring. That is how I landed my current job now.
Hope that helps!
That is super helpful! Thanks for the advice!
you dont have to finish the whole curriculum to be employed?
You don’t have to complete anything to be employed, if you can find someone to employ you. The point is the odds of getting a job. The more you learn, and the more you can do, the odds of you getting employed increases. There is no checklist that before you complete it you are unemployable and once you check that last box, you are 100% employable.
But I would say that getting the first 3 (RWD, JS, Libraries) you are employable, but just barely - it’s still a long shot. When you get the b/e stuff done, you are reasonably employable - but will still have a hard time because you have no real experience. If you build on that and get some nice projects, some open source work, etc, your odds of landing some entry level position is possible.
For me, I did the complete FCC curriculum (as it was then, before the Python stuff), spend another year learning new things, building more complicated things, etc., and then did a few freelance things, and then that got me an entry job. #ymmv
A lot of it will depend on your aptitude, where you live and what the job market is there, how your job market matches up to your skills, what types of position you are seeking, how well you interview, how well you network, etc… and luck. Those will determine it. But just as a warning, it will probably take longer than you hope. A lot of people assume that if they get a few FCC certs, that they’ll get a job. It has happened (maybe they just need someone to do some basic HTML and CSS) but for the vast majority of us, it will take more. And the more you learn and have done, the more those odds increase.
Hi @timokinyi !
Welcome to the forum!
@kevinSmith and I have similar paths to our first jobs where we both built personal projects outside of classes, got involved with open source and did some freelance/contract work.
Even though I didn’t complete the backend certs, I had to learn that stuff anyway when I was doing part time contract work for this small tech company.
Think of the curriculum as a good starting point to build up a good basic foundation. Then you will spend some time building out your own projects and continuing to learn beyond that.
For me it took a year and a half of learning, freelancing and building before I landed my first full time role as a junior developer. Even when I landed that job, there was still TONS of stuff I had to learn and I am still learning every single day.
Hope that helps!
Interestingly enough, I also pivoted from professional musician to software engineer.
I started coding in 2018 while I was still in music. In 2020 when Covid wiped away all of my income, I attended a bootcamp right away, and after a few jobs and few more years of experience, I currently work in a tech company.
In terms of free vs not-free resources, it depends on what you have available. If you can afford a lot of time, I think figuring it all out by yourself through forums and other communities is possible. If you don’t have time but you have some money, I think a good resource (mentor, bootcamp, etc…) can multiply the return of your studying time.
Like @kevinSmith mentioned, I won’t sugarcoat it. Comp sci majors are studying for hours every day with amazing resources (knowing what to study, being able to ask the prof for help, having access to internships, etc…) so for those of us without a technical degree, we have to work even harder and smarter.
That being said, I highly recommend doing a lot of FCC before paying for anything. I would spend a few hundred hours here to know that you like coding! Good luck!
I am unable to suggest that you would job ready. What I can say from what I read; watch on Youtube, is this. I’ll give you an example of a job you might be familiar with like coding. Lawyers still have to learn and research for the whole career. Coder’s have a little joke that they call themselves professional google and Youtube researchers. Coding is not for the faint of heart. If you do not have time, you are not going to make it. This is not a type of degree where once you graduate your good forever. Code changes or updates, just like laws.
Hello, I’m also new here just beginning my coding journey, I’m currently a car mechanic and worried people will see my current role and not look twice. Currently taking a “100daysofcode” Udemy course and also found FCC recently.
A lot of reply’s to this seem to be build your own projects, build a portfolio etc and online. When would you start doing this? As the projects I am currently doing are not really impressive hehe.
Also I don’t like the idea of twitter as in what if my current employer catches wind of it?
Thanks!
Coding is considered A whole new language. People do not actually know this. This is why it takes time. Being an automotive technician is not considered an automatic no. The reason why they suggest projects is due to showing that you have focus and are going to be able to work in the field. If I showed you my projects, You would say oh that is me. This field as I stated is something That you will have to keep learning and researching on your own. Computer technology always advances. Try not to worry about what type of job you do. I also do not join any type of networking sites like twitter or facebook. Github and Linkedin Is what I suggest for networking. I also suggest Youtube videos from people in the field. Watch out for them if they are trying to sell you their bootcamps.
Just thought this regarding this topic. I also have a question. I am seeing a bunch of people who were tired for email templates only. It seems more basic and easier to start with for a career. Is this still a job out there or not. They mostly just know basic html table formats and basic css and photo shop?
sorry hired for not tired for