Hi, I’m new to this site and somewhat like a super senior CS student (I’m 29) that’s kind of in the middle of finishing my degree (which is probably gonna take some time for a lot of reasons), not currently working, but have done a QA Selenium automation internship in the past. I’ve been working on FCC to learn more outside of what I’ve been doing at school, and also have like the projects and help me get experience while starting to add to my portfolio. Was hoping that by studying FCC getting certs from it while building my portfolio and my own projects that I might be able to land an job while I’m in school before I graduate.
What I was wondering is would I most likely need to do all the certs in order to find a job? I’ve read posts where people just did front-end, and not sure if the just the front-end libraries, responsive web development, and QA sections like one or a combination of any of these would be enough? I’m trying to learn as much as I can to possibly get a job as soon as possible and wanted to get others feedback and experiences, especially with covid going on. Thanks.
Hey @noa.wright!
Well I think it is definitely possible. There is a lot of competition for entry level jobs but you have a lot of things on your side.
You are currently working on finishing your cs degree which is a plus and you do have internship experience. You also have the advantage to use the career services and alumni network at your school. So I would definitely use that to my advantage. I am currently working through the FCC curriculum myself without a tech background or cs degree. But when I was in school for music I went to all of the career services and alumni events and made really good connections that helped with get started with my career in music.
I don’t think the “what is the minimum I need to do” approach is a good idea. This is a field that requires constant learning.
But to your question, can you get a job with just one section of FCC? Sure. Is that likely? No. Every thing that you learn increases the odds.
You mention the certificates - don’t focus on those. Those are for you to have a sense of accomplishment. But no one is going to get a job because of a bunch of internet certificates. What may get you noticed is what you learned and built with what you learned by getting those certificates. The certificates aren’t a degree. Without a degree, it’s all about what you know and what you’ve done/built. Obviously, if you finish that degree, it will give you a leg up.
I always recommend to finish the MERN stack stuff - that’s everything up to the Python sections. A MERN stack is a very marketable skill. Of course, it would be bolstered by some awesome projects after you finish. The Python stuff is good too, but I think of that as a separate track - and if you’re in a CS program you’ve probably already done Python so it should be pretty easy.
But just build and learn and learn and build - that is my motto. If you keep doing that, eventually a job will happen.
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But if you can find a job that will take you, go ahead. I might look for an intern thing. I know that my company just took on a few CS student interns and it’s online. Does your school not have any information? Often they have connections with local firms.
Thanks, I hadn’t thought about using the campus career resources that’s a good idea too. I was worried that I’m at a disadvantage to grads by alot
That’s understandable, and I do want to eventually have enough experience to be a full stack developer. Somewhat out of my situation where I was immediately looking for work and cant take too many classes I was wondering if there was a way that I could find work in the tech industry if I work hard enough and study.
Ill definitely make sure to work on some projects and keep learning too. I wasn’t aware of the MERN stack and will try to learn up to that point too. I can try to reach out through my school for internships. I had applied through a job app we have access to, but the ones so far ended up not selecting me though.
Yeah, to work in web dev, you need some kind of stack. There are other alternatives and combinations - this is just the one that FCC teaches.
Yeah, getting that first job is insanely difficult. At the risk of yet more shameless self-promotion, I once wrote a doc with my thoughts on getting that first job.