How can I move forwared

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Hello, I’ve always wanted to learn to code and now I’m taking a break from college and I thought that is my opportunity to decide whether I should drop out and continue on my coding bath or continue in college I’m studying organic agriculture btw.

I’ve been learning for about 2 months now from different sources started with CS50 and I found FCC recently, I’ve completed the Responsive Web Design Certification and I’m doing the JavaScript Algorithms and Data Structures.

My goal was to learn basic HTML, CSS, and javascript to become a Shopify developer as I continue learning to become a full-stack web developer but I can’t get any gigs on up work even the very simple ones that do not require high skills.

I also don’t know how to start working on my portfolio I don’t think I’ve enough knowledge to make something that stands out and I’m running out of time I don’t know what should I do, I need to do something to make me feel that all of my time and efforts are not just going to waste.

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If you’re doing FCC curriculum up to Quality Assurance, together with TheOdinProject, you’re going to be fine. IMO. I observed that takes on average about a year, at least, to be -about- job ready. A lot of people can get a job after 2 years self-taught, part-time, learning to code. People who got job earlier than a year most likely has something extra that helps them get a job (e.g. STEM background, relation, connection). You got the big picture.

Nothing is wasted on learning, specifically coding. Even if you don’t plan to have a career at one, you can create small projects to make your life quality better, at the very least.

Patience. Don’t rush.

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” - Lao Tzu

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Hi @nashat.msamy !

Sites like upwork and fiverr are very competitive.
There are thousands of people looking for work.

When it comes to freelancing, the more experience and skills you have the better you will be able to compete in the marketplace.
Also, freelancing requires another important skill set which is the ability to sell yourself so you can attract clients.
It will take time to land gigs and build up a clientele.

Well it sounds like you are still early on in the learning stage.
So the best thing you can do is build up a solid foundation in the fundamentals.
When you are on the job, you will be asked to work with technologies you have never worked with before.
If you don’t have a good starting foundation then it will be tough to get started with the job.

I just started a new job and I have to learn two new javascript libraries.
But since I took my time learning the fundamentals of javascript it is making it easier to pick up these new technologies and make progress on the tickets that are assigned to me.

Don’t rush through this process and create serious holes in your education.
Take your time and learn it right to the best of your abilities so you can be successful on the job.

As for the portfolio, I would just focus on building tons of projects for the experience.
Most of the projects you make early on won’t be used on your portfolio anyway.

I built tons of small projects just for the learning experience and never bothered deploying them.

As I continued to learn and build I would make sure to keep challenging myself and build on project complexity.

Once you get to the point where you can build projects with some good features and some complexity to it, then you can add that to your portfolio.

Remember your portfolio should contain projects that take a few weeks to build and have some substance to it.
Not projects that took an hour or two to build and are small and basic.

Without prior programming experience, your portfolio should demonstrate that you can learn and will be up for the challenge of a full time developer job.

Hope that helps and good luck :grinning:

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Thank you for taking the time and giving me this answer and I wish you the best of luck in your new job

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I’m always kinda in rush thanks for correcting my idea of the big picture I thought people do it in about 6 months so I thought I must be doing something wrong

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6 months is a good number for goal. Just don’t get desperate if it doesn’t happen.
I am still job searching right now. This is my 8th months since I started learning to code.

If you can, get into the habit of coding at least 8 - 5, as if you’re already working a full time job, and always thinking out loud when you’re solving coding problems, you’ll need this one skill for technical interview.

This might be subjective, but my biggest regret of doing FCC is that I prioritized doing FCC projects rather than starting my own project (I have lots of projects idea), so I “wasted” “too much time” thinking how to get pass the FCC test specs, which at some point is completely irrelevant to the learning process (IMO - at least I can say it passed the point of diminishing return).

For a picture, by the time I got into FCC’s issue tracker project, which I could not passed the specs, so I quit doing it, all my friends in a bootcamp has done 1 group projects and 2 personal projects, all full-stack that they could flash in their resume, while I have none to brag on.

Test Driven Development approach is a good thing to get familiar with, with FCC test specs, but if you already have an idea of a personal project, and have a big picture on how to start it, I’d say prioritize it over doing FCC projects, because at the end recruiters are more interested in projects that is unique / not common rather than “curriculum projects” like todo app or weather report.

Just take it with a grain of salt. I have no mean to discredit FCC. I am what I am now thanks to mostly FCC, but everything is only good up to a point, and that point is relative, subjective, and circumstantial.

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Join an FCC meetup or any meetup that requires you to discuss what you have learned or a topic. You will accountable. You will also be proud to turn a button red. The group should be proud but ask you to make it rotate in a NavBar for the next meeting.

Do you have an FCC meetup in your area? Regardless, of the answer find the like minded people and grow with their criticism, shared lessons, and camaraderie.

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Thank you, i have a big project idea I will try to work on it as I learn and improve it along and good luck with your job hunt :grinning:

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Thanks I will try to find one

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Have you looked into Catchafire?

It’s a place where you can find volunteer projects that require specific skills (like coding and web development). It might be easier to get some experience this way, and then you will have more projects for your portfolio which might help you get more gigs on Upwork or even get hired someplace. Something to look into.

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Thank you i did not know about this website

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:+1: You’re welcome!

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