How do I get my first programming job?

Hey, so I’m a high school student and I don’t have the time or money attend college full time. Do you think if I practice coding online using services such as freeCodeCamp I can get a programming job within like one or two years? Also, do you reccommend getting any certain certifications or anything? Thanks!

Hey Jackt5, WARNING DO NOT LEAVE HIGHSCHOOL WITHOUT CALCULUS I & PHYSICS 12

Firslty – I understand you don’t have the financial backing to attend university, I live in Canada and there is a system called student loans here which allow you to borrow form the government to attend university. If you have the same system in your country I encourage you to study your mathematics instead of computer programming for now and do freecodecamp on the side. Pursue a Computer Science degree. You are a young kid with unlimited potential and for now a CS degree is your best bet for long term success.

Secondarily – If you are dead set against university there are many certifications like Cisco A+ Network+ that you could obtain to have an IT Background and be more valuable to a tech company. Other than that I would say with the new update of FreeCodeCamp.org you are set to be hireable if you work 5hrs a day minimum for the next year straight. Persistence is key and if you stay persistent I guarantee you success.

I am 22 years old with 2 years of university completed and i’m returning in Winter 2019. I’m attempting to obtain a dual degree in Computer Science and International Relations in order to become wealthy through my coding and understand international issues to create global applications to aid the worlds development and connection. Secondarily I would like to become a foreign minister of Canada.

my email is jasonzinn7@icloud.com if you need any further guidance and I have extensive lists of free resources. I have 19 siblings and love to help my younger ones and with some experience I am telling you either dedicate yourself to math and some coding, or completely devote yourself to freecodecamp after obtaining a high school diploma with senior level sciences and calculus I.

19 siblings. holy smokes.

also what did you mean by your statement on the new curriculum?
I don’t really understand the new curriculum. Mind elaborating your thoughts on it ?

Yes, its absolutely possible, but temper your expectations: it’ll not be easy, and on average it’ll take the same amount of time it would take you to do a degree/etc at university/college, so look at about 3-4 years and plan accordingly. This video is good w/r/t that, popped up on a mailing list I subscribe to:

Projects are the most important bit w/r/t FCC and really learning; they’re the closest to real-world problems, and are basically same level of complexity. The difference is that you get to build something from scratch using whatever tech you want, you don’t generally get that luxury in the real world.

As a rule don’t get certifications up front unless you are in some job market where they really matter. They cost a lot, and don’t mean a huge amount if you’re not a bean counter. Individuals don’t normally pay for them, if you get a certification, it should ideally be paid for by an employer. Big contracting firms working on public sector/enterprise contracts seem to need them more than anyone else, but they should be paying for junior employees to get them.

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