I wanted to take a minute to explain a summary of my success using FCC. I will try to keep it brief, but I remember how motivational these posts were to me while I was in the process of trying to get my first developer job. Here is my brief summary:
- I started learning the basics of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript at the end of 2015. I used FCC, and cheap subscriptions to Treehouse and CodeSchool to help me solve challenges on FCC.
- I spent at least 20 hours per week working through FCC and taking courses through CodeSchool and Treehouse. I used time after work and on weekends. I also spent time on CodeWars for extra JavaScript challenges.
- After about six months, I purchased a domain and hosting and put up my portfolio (I would link to it but, unfortunately, I took it down after the I got a job to avoid the ongoing costs). As I was going through my classes and working through challenges I would try to implement the skills in some way on my portfolio site. Sometimes this was just linking to another page that displayed the skill. Other times, it was just implementing the skill/principle throughout the site.
- In September, I saw a posting for Front End Developer at my local College (also where I earned my BS in Social Sciences in 2012). I decided to take the leap and put in an application.
- I didn’t hear anything for about a month so I figured I was passed over, but then I received an email wanting source code submissions and for me to go through an online coding challenge (3 questions). I then received a call for a phone interview. After the phone interview, I was invited in for a panel interview that entailed both basic questions and then a longer technical interview with other web developers. A little over a month ago they offered me a job.
A few notes about the interview process. I never tried to exaggerate what I knew or where I was at in terms of knowledge/skill. I was forthright that I would still have a lot to learn but I emphasized my proven ability to learn based on going from basically zero knowledge to where I was at during the interview in less than a year. I also tried to emphasize my other soft skills from other industries (education and social services) that I would be bringing to the table.
So now that I’ve been in the job for over a month, I can say that I made one of the best decisions of my life. The pace of learning once I’m in an actual professional dev environment is incredible. I’m also happy to find out that in this particular position I will be learning/implementing a full stack skill set. Because it’s a very small team, we really get to manage the whole process (design, front end architecture, back-end architecture, etc.). Also, now I have access to Pluralsight as part of my job and am encouraged to continue learning every day.
Last, I want to speak directly to anyone out there who is getting discouraged and wondering if they should continue working through FCC and their journey to become a Web Dev. It was only a few short months ago that I was wondering if I was just wasting this time and if anything would ever come of it. I had a decent job, two young kids, and plenty of things to do. I often wondered if it was possible to switch careers and even if I did get a job if I’d be in over my head anyways. All I can say is please stick with it. Try to stay positive and just keep doing as much as you can each day. I can’t say when you will get a dev job, but if you are truly passionate about it and keep building the necessary skills, and eventually put yourself out there for a job, I think someone will take a chance on you. My coworker is also self-taught and in general I think other developers/programmers appreciate someone that is passionate/curious enough that they pursued this career in an informal way. Also, as far as I can tell, they are looking for ongoing learners because even after you get a job, you will need to constantly be learning new technologies to stay current.
I hope this is encouraging/helpful to all readers out there!
Matt
Congrats! 
