I’m new to the FreeCodeCamp experience, I just finished the HTML/CSS certification and I had an absolute blast with it. I’m excited to start Javascript and I’ve started looking at steps to take if I really want to try and make this a career, just because I’ve enjoyed it so much thus far.
I find that when I look at things like job postings, career advice, front/back end, etc. a lot of stuff goes right over my head. I find that FCC is a great resource for learning to code, but maybe not so much for getting to know the industry. Can anyone suggest some resources that I can use to learn the industry, what employers are looking for, what skills and experiences are sought after, etc.?
You are already referring to the single most relevant source, which are job postings in your area. If your goal is to get hired, looking at what is expected to get a job in your area is the most relevant knowledge for you. From knowing what companies are looking for, you can find more relevant information on those topics.
The first step in learning anything, is knowing what you don’t know. If you realize you don’t recognize what companies are asking for, then looking into those aspects should be a first step to get an idea of whats out there.
This doesn’t mean you aim to be an expert, only to get an idea of what there is to learn, and know. That way you can get a better idea of how far you need to go, or at least what your missing out on. I believe in knowing what you know, and don’t know more useful than trying to know everything.
Once you get an idea of whats out there, or what I like to call “understanding your knowledge horizon”, you can then go out there and explore all those individual things you heard about.
For example, you might of seen a nice to have for git and github. Using those terms, you can go out and learn that git is used to keep track of versions of your code, and github provides services that integrate with git to help you build software, from managing issues, to tracking work, to automating aspects of your workflow. With that high level knowledge, you can invest time into learning those when your more ready.
As such, learning git isn’t much use if you can’t code yet, or creating a github account wont help if you don’t know what git is (or even that there is a difference! which is a common early misconception)
If your enjoying what your doing, keep it up, keep learning, keep building, good luck!
@bradtaniguchi advice is really on point. If your aim is to get hired than look for what job requirements are being posted. If several companies are looking for web developers and if you are interested in it then look at the requirements they posted for web developers maybe ReactJS, or maybe some other framework, maybe a little bit of backend with node or express, or creating APIs.
Now try to learn one thing at a time. Let’s say you’re interested in web development and particularly frontend than start with frontend and don’t mix backend with it for now. Then figure out what are the things required in frontend, HTML, CSS etc and learn it little by little. There’s no need to overdue it. You will probably get bored learning theories so try to create some projects. You have learned HTML CSS from FCC so go signup for codepen and start creating pages using HTML and CSS. If you don’t have design ideas for the pages then look on sites like behance.net or dribbble.com to get some design inspiration and then try creating those.
Go slow and learn little by little. I tried to learn everything from the get go but didn’t learn anything. There’s plenty of time so there’s no need to rush. I’m on the same stage as you, a newbie/beginner/confused soul so if you ever want to talk just DM me on twitter @justAbajit
