(on my way toward) Getting a developer job

Career Advice
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Hi all–

I haven’t been around FCC for a while, but I thought I would drop in with this update.

I did not (yet) get a developer job, but a website I built is being integrated into use at the company where I work. Right now, I’m starting “beta testing” with a small group of employees so we can work out the bugs and improve features, etc. before it goes live throughout the whole company. So, I’m getting to spend (a little) time on the job now to see things along. Not coding, but training people on using the website, logging bugs and answering questions, etc. I still have to keep up with my normal job duties for now, which is a bummer, but it’s still progress. They’re giving me a bonus once it actually goes live, so this will be first time I’ve actually been paid to code.

In case you’re curious, the website is a single page application written on the MEAN stack. Long story short, part of the duties at my job involve looking up information from a couple different databases and pulling that together in a certain way as evidence for part of a larger legal document. I got an excel spreadsheet of the relevant information from one database (built a tiny code to parse that into JSON) and built a web-scraper (based on regular expressions) to pull all the information from the other database and merged (just the entries we were concerned about) together into a single database. The website pulls information from a client’s (i.e. our business clients) profile (again, via a web scraper with lots of regular expressions) and stores that info client-side (i.e. browser). Since the data is never, ever, formatted in a consistent way, I then have a ton of options for the employees to edit, update, compare, etc. all that data and update what’s in the database. It’s not huge, maybe like 1,000 to 1,200 entries, so the main benefit is the interface.

Things that FCC taught me that were hugely helpful to making this were:

  1. Regular expressions (the beta content was a huge improvement over the original)
  2. API projects (twitch, wiki viewer, weather app, etc.)
  3. Well, honestly, everything. I started at FCC about 8 months ago knowing nothing. I’ve branched out to use a few other resources, but I learned all the basics here.

I built the website in Angular, and though FCC doesn’t have content for Angular, I wouldn’t know anything about JS (and hence TypeScript) or HTML or CSS or anything if I hadn’t started here.

So, basically, what I’m saying is that if you can get through these projects, you can build something that someone will find useful and will pay you for. Of course, I’m still not in a developer job, but I feel like this is a good step along the way.

TL;DR Keep going! People probably half as talented as you are already achieving mild levels of success! (yay)

(Sorry, I tried to be encouraging, but I am a chronic pessimist)

2 Likes
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That’s awesome news. Great job!

Sometimes we have to create the job we want within the company we currently work for.

I have similar story, About 20 yrs ago, I have the unchallenging job of being a CAD operator. Then I found out that AutoCAD software can be programmed using LISP and DCL language. I studied that language and learned how to manipulate the system and automate tasks.

I began to write a lot of little utilities for my personal use, that pretty much soon was being used by all CAD operators and then all the Engineers in the company. It was saving the company hundreds of hours a month (i.e. Lowered costs, reduced overtime and weekend work, resulting happier employees).

My “non-official” job soon was noticed and recognized by my boss, and pretty much gave me tacit permission to just create programs and utilities for the company. Also gave me a big raise!

That opened the doorway to me becoming the company’s IBM Lotus Domnio developer, then company network administrator, which afforded me learning about internet and websites, etc.

Keep up the good work and I hope this opens up more opportunities for you!!!

1 Like
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That’s a great story. I hope things take a similar trajectory for me. Thanks for the encouragement!

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You are too much LOL Thats awesome that you are able to use your new skills in your current job!!! Its a great leaping off point!! I had an opportunity like that many, many years ago when I wrote up a program to automate financial reports (I worked at a PBS station…my official job was in the membership dept answering the phone…I hate answering phones) they loved what I did so much that in exchange for developing new ways to organize our members/ financial reports I didnt have to answer the phone at all. In hindsight, more pay was in order, but really hate the phone, so I felt that was fair LOL

Later, PBS developed a system across all the stations for doing the same thing I had been building and sent people to train us on it…I delved into it and the people who were sent to train us offered me a job. Life being what it was at the time, I declined…I have very few regrets in life, but that is very high on the list. So from that I say, theres a whole lot to be said for making your own opportunities, and come heck or high water, take any opprotunites as they come. Btw, none of this would be happening if you werent talented LOL I know you were kidding but that really cracked me up. Good going!!!