Finished freeCodeCamp’s curriculum, now what?

[luisclaudioc]

Hey everyone,

I have recently finished the freeCodeCamp curriculum. This has been a long but rewarding journey. I went from little to no knowledge at all, to very confident about the skills that I mastered. Before this, I didn’t know any languages, I didn’t know how to use a terminal, or what VS Code even was. freeCodeCamp didn’t teach me all of that in detail, but it definitely made me look it up to be able to work through all the projects.

Each module is a great journey, and the final projects of each one were the parts I had most fun with. Nothing is as good as when you finally get your code to pass, or fix a bug you have been trying for a while, or when you see the result of hours of work and find it amazing. Some steps were definitely harder than others, in some I still need a lot of practice, and that is why I write this post.

What is next after finishing such a complete and well-guided course? I do feel a bit lost and scared right now, as there is SO MUCH I still don’t know. It can be overwhelming. How do I now take the next steps in order to land my first job in tech?

I know I will now start working on personal projects using the language and libraries I feel are the ones I want to work with. I want to create apps that I would like to use, start projects from scratch, write every single line of them, read and watch people’s codes, use the skills I learned but did not have a lot of practice with, collaborate to open source… Those are just some of the paths I see ahead of me in order to master fullstack development with JavaScript.

I would be happy to read about any suggestions to what are good next steps, so if you have any, feel free to comment them down. I am on a serious mission to making this my full time career and I will use any help I can get with joy.

Finally and most of all, I want to connect with people. People with more experience than I have, who can help me with feedback on my work. People who are in a similar situation, so we can help each other. And other coders, so we can collaborate on projects and maybe work on something bigger. I am on GitHub and Instagram as luisclaudioc, on LinkedIn as Luis Claudio Costantin, or send me an email at email redacted for security reasons.

For the ones still working their ways through the curriculum: don’t forget to have fun doing it. The projects I enjoyed the most were the ones I was able to put my own spin and use my personal hobbies to come up with something I would enjoy using. Code everyday, read, research, and don’t freak out. And also feel free to reach out to me for help or connecting, I’ll be happy to do it.

Thank you freeCodeCamp for the continuous work on the platform, I will stick around!!

[nickrg]

Congratulations on finishing the curriculum!
I am just finishing the first certification, so I am quite the beginner. You have accomplished a lot and have my admiration. I only comment here to let you know that your post encourages me a lot and your advice gives me a sense of orientation that I am doing the right thing. I go very slowly, but I pour my heart into every project and always give it my all. I’m sure you will build many amazing apps and land a job, my friend! I wish you all the best on your coding journey.
Please share your work time to time here on the forum - good programs always inspire and encourage us beginners to keep making the most awesome stuff we can manage on each of our unique levels. And knowing that someone who started from zero coding knowledge (like me!) and learned to write awesome programs through fCC motivates all of us, I’m sure. So please share your work here from time to time and tell us how you did it, what inspired you to build it and how you overcame obstacles along the way.
Software is machinery in numbers and symbols that can do amazing things and make our lives that much easier. Keep solving problems, fellow coder, just like all of us. It’s what we do as coders. It’s our mission.
Nicolas, 17