Thank you everyone for the suggestions and feedback!
@RandellDawson: The thing about open-source projects is it’s hard to find one with a language I know, and isn’t thousands of files large. Even for the Hacktoberfest contest last month I had trouble finding projects that I could understand, so I made somewhat mediocore contributions. ie: Adding quotes to a chat-bot.
@Gilbert1391: I attached my resume and portfolio to the original post. I have a cover-letter template but I customize each one for the job post, researching the company and using keywords from the job post.
@veilance: I’m not being picky at all; I’m basically applying to everything Junior, a few intermediate, never Senior. The reason it’s at least 2 a day is I try to customize each cover letter to the posting. IDK, it’s what our career coach suggested. I don’t have my CS degree but I completed a bootcamp course so I did a lot of hands-on work in a short period of time.
@Etra: I live near Toronto, so I’m applying here and a few major cities nearby. Should I be applying to other provinces as well?
@Anon551122: I haven’t been cold applying, just directly to job postings. I like the extra step, I’ll try to do this as well. I’m not sure about the generic cover letters though, shouldn’t it be tailored specifically to impress the company?
@simonebogni: I live near Toronto, which is one of the major tech capitals of Canada. I built one additional project for my online portfolio, I’ve been trying to get a second one together. Maybe you’re right, I should try to do some cold-emailing as well.
@markthomastheolder: I’m not entirely sure, I’m kindof in the same boat.
@JacksonBates: I need to get some experience to go from young Junior to older Junior.
@DanCouper: That makes a lot of sense, but it’s also frustrating. 
@TechCoder: Those are both good questions, but I’m not sure.
@SoldierCoder: I attached my resume and portfolio to the original post.
I am basically in the same boat. I have been applying to every position that pops up. I have at least had 2 interviews but no luck landing a job as of yet… I am taking the time to improve and better myself in the trade while searching.
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Hi Adam,
Congratulations on all your acomplishments thus far and taking the step to start applying for jobs! Here are my experiences and suggestions:
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If you don’t have a twitter, make one. If your twitter is personal and you want to keep it that way, make a new professional twitter. There is a lot of community on twitter and people post a lot of jobs there.
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Network Network Network - Go to your local meetups, volunteer at local conferences and code camps, reach out to people you may know in the industry.
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Apply to as many jobs as possible. I applied to easily 100+ before getting my first developer job.
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Although you may be chomping at the bit to start writing code full time, don’t count out jobs that lead into dev work well (QA, Support Engineer, etc). You could spend a few months at that position and then move to a dev role within the company.
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If there is a company you like, even if they don’t have a job posted, reach out.
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Don’t give up!! It can be discouraging when you don’t get responses but there is a job out there for you! In the meantime, keep building projects and working on improving your dev skills.
GOOD LUCK!
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I went through the least predatory C2C corp I could find!
I had no college education, only raw skills. I didn’t even know Java only knew Visual Basic from back in the day. I found a company called Brilliant Infotech but there’s lots of other C2C out there, just be careful of some of the practices.
They should provide:
- Housing
- Training
- Job Recruiters
- Stipend (800-1700 dollars typically)
Careful of the cancellation fees! I went with Brilliant because their cancellation fee was only up to 5000 dollars, but some like the one that tried to recruit me (a college no less!) had a 45000 cancellation fee!
SO you’re going to have to EAT the loss of wages, they will only pay you 50-70k your first two years. Meanwhile they’re making the same amount! (Yes programmers make that much, and usually they give you extensive knowledge in the field so you can land a high level job). Then after two years you either stay on at a 70-30 split of the wage, or you go W2/1099 and make the money for yourself.
Now, the advantage of C2C is usually there’s only one or two interviews. It’s really that easy to get a job if you know the answers to the questions.
I’m not going to sugar coat it though… If you’re a junior dev, the only C2C positions are mid level to senior level. So you’d be applying for high level, and yes they still consider you because they’re that desperate for people, especially US Citizens at the contract level!
Get the experience, and start making the money after only two years. This is how I got in the field. Just expect to do a ton of interviews, field a ton of vendor calls, and have to move every year to a new location.
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