I noticed that where I am currently (just finished Wikipedia viewer) there aren’t any more instructional lessons left in the Front End portion, and the TwitchTV app appears to be on its way out, so I decided to jump ahead to the JavaScript calculator project. It has been interesting thus far! But it got me thinking: I already have a degree in IT from years ago that mostly involved programming courses, though I think I have learned more relevant information and gained more relevant experience from what I’ve learned online in the last year or two. My goal for the year was to build some projects/websites that could be added to a portfolio, and Freecodecamp definitely provides that. What I am trying to decide now is whether or not to go for the FCC certification or certifications, or concentrate on just building some of the projects and using those combined with the earlier degree to break into web development. The mistake I made for years was hoping to get interviews/jobs with a certification and/or degree. It was in the last couple of years that I learned that building things and adding them to a portfolio was a more effective way of getting a foot in the door. I guess this wasn’t really a question as much as sort of a discussion topic to see if others here had similar thoughts/experiences. I’m sure I’ll be back with questions on the projects I’m working on.
I’m personally doing FCC program purely for the projects. As such, I jump around to do whatever projects I’m interested in. Right now, I’m working on the Voting App even though I haven’t completed all of the Front End projects.
By all means, do any of the projects in any order you like. As long as you keep adding completed projects that demonstrate your skills, you’ll be on the right track to getting web developer job!
I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive. Personally, I’m not sure how much the piece of paper from FCC matters. It’s a nice little milestone, but I don’t think it’s going to get me any jobs. It’s the portfolio and the interview.
That being said, the cert program is a nice milestone. It is a way to keep on track. I considered jumping around too (I too have some programming in my past) but I decided to keep to the track because it keeps me honest. I know I’m not skipping something just because I don’t know it as well. I trust that Quincy and the gang know more about the path to web dev competence than I do and I’m going to follow that. And I’ll get some cool portfolio pieces on the way.
I’m not sure that doing it along the certification path is any slower. And it will keep you from accidentally jumping to far ahead or skipping something out of fear.
Just my $.02.
Portfolio/Work Experience > Degree > Certificates
Certificates definetly won’t get you hired, but when competing for a position every bit counts. At the very least they show commitment to your goals. So it doesn’t hurt putting a few on your CV.
I think its just a matter of your personal goals…Even though this is set up with a learning path, its still self guided and its up to you which section to work in and how much of it to do. If you already know all the material and only interested in the projects to have something for your portfolio, then just do the projects, I see no harm in that.
As for going for the FCC certification, personally, I see it as a personal milestone, like ksjazz said… Im not under any impression its what will help me get a job. To me, the certificate will be a representation of my.personal sense of accomplishment and fuel my confidence. Im not chasing the certificate, Im chasing the knowledge I have t gain by completing the course.
Now, I started off as completely new to JavaScript, data structure, algorithms, so seeing how much Ive learned so far and looking forward to completing the course will be a personal accomplishment. On the other hand, I definitely can understand that someone who is already experienced, not getting anything out of doing the challenges because the are all easy to them and have nothing to learn here wont really care about a cert. At that rate, just do the parts that would benefit you the most.