I finished the last project on the front-end libraries certificate two days ago. I want to build my resume, set up my LinkedIn profile, and start applying for jobs. However, I don’t have any experience and I’m not sure if the projects I’ve done in FreeCodeCamp are enough to land me my first job(beside some projects from YouTube tutorial). My sec problem is I’m not from the USA so I guess my only gate for work is to work remotely as they don’t accept developers without CS degree in my country (morocco). Does anyone has a similar experience or does anyone have some advises?
Should I put the certifications from FCC in my resume education section ?
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Hi,
Yeah, I don’t think the FCC projects are enough to get a job. It’s possible, but unlikely, imho. I think you need to keep building and learning and do some more advanced projects, things that you imagine and create.
It is also very, very, very difficult to get your first job as a remote job. It is already scary for a company to hire someone with no degree and no experience - now you’re asking them to do it with no direct supervision. Plus, hiring someone in a foreign country is also an issue.
I think you should keep building and learning and maybe start looking for some freelance work. It won’t pay enough, but it will be some experience. And I would not give up on Morocco - there must be someone willing to take on an entry level person. You may not be good enough yet to do it, but it should eventually be possible. I would want to finish the first 6 FCC certs to at least get a fuller picture, to at least get a little backend.
Also, don’t forget that the EU is nearby - they need developers too.
I once wrote up a doc with my advice on how to land the extremely difficult to get first job.
The most important thing is not to give up. The first job is a long and difficult process, no matter where you are.
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Should I put the certifications from FCC in my resume education section ?
Sure, especially if you have nothing else. I don’t think FCC certs are going to get you any job, but it at least shows that you’ve done something, it might make them take a second look.
When you get done, post your resume, etc. and we can take a look.
Thanx for your clarification.
It’s not about my experience, or if I’m an entry level or a senior. The problem is how things works here. It’s not like USA that hires ppl without a degree and what matters is skills. here if you don’t have CS degrees nobody even gonna look at your experience. the first job requirements here is diploma.
Yeah, I get that, that different countries have different ideas about things like this. I’m just saying to not give up on it.
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here is the resume I’ve built today. it’s my first one actually as a web developer. I’m not sure if the descriptions I gave to projects are good and accurate . Thank you in advance for you feedback
yeah I would not give up about it. But I’ve just state the my conditions for more clear picture.
The other things I’d say (with regards to jobs in Morocco) - people often say that they need more requirements than they actually do. I would recommend applying to some of the low level jobs - what have you got to loose? Also reach out on linkedin and try to build a relationship with some developers and hiring managers. Don’t ask for a job, ask for advice.
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Looking at your resume…
First of all, do you have it in a pdf format? But yeah, remove your personal info.
You have a link to your github? What if they print this out?
Your “mission statement” at the top - I would keep that more clinical. What position are you looking for? They are not looking for your passion, with violins playing the in the background - save that for the cover letter. They want to know why you are sending them their resume, what are you looking for.
I think your skills is one of the most important things. I would fill that out a bit more, move it above the education, and make it more prominent.
You seem to have a lot of languages skills. Your English is good. You speak French as well? I would include that.
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That is also a great advise from you, actually nothing to lose !! I will set up my LinkedIn as my next step and try to make my network there. Btw one another question (kind of, out of this thread) I’ve heard of Microverse and they claim they help you find a job after you finish their curriculum. Do you have any thoughts about it ?
I recommend doing all of these things, except start with looking at what jobs require. Regardless of what your doing, what jobs are asking for (or what is even out there) is the metric you need to gauge yourself against. For example, you might of learned the MERN stack with freeCodeCamp, but most jobs you find in Morocco is looking for C# devs. Its true you could get in using some unrelated technologies, learn or find someone using what you know, but “learning what’s being looked for” will increase your chances.
It’s possible you will lack the “years of experience” required for jobs, I’d just get an idea of how many they are looking for, and just try to make up for it in terms of raw skills. For example, if a front-end job requires 3+ years of experience, you can apply with front-end and back-end skills you’ve built up over a year or so.
The other thing about freeCodeCamp project’s are they don’t stand out as much anymore, as everyone going through freeCodeCamp ends up with the exact same projects. You might want to go out and build 1 more project that integrates more stuff to “show off”. I highly recommend making it as complex and fancy as possible so it can stand out.
Finally its worth noting all you projects are front-end only. This is fine if your front-end skills, including your design skills, are up to date and you can build fancy/solid UI’s of different levels of complexity. Otherwise its easy to get drowned out by no-code/low-code editors, like Wix and Wordpress. If your design skills are just “ok”, I’d highly recommend looking at what is being looked for jobs-wise, and possibly continuing down the curriculum.
The “I don’t have a CS degree, so I can’t work here” is true basically anywhere, but there are always ways around it. But you need the skills to get the job regardless of the background. Having experience, and making connections through networking is a good way to “get around” these sorts of blockers, but again you need the experience and connections to do it successfuly.
Regardless of what you do, good luck, keep learning, keep building, keep growing 
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I can’t thank you enough. I will modify those stuff what you pointed out. and yeah I do speak French and Arabic as well. so, I’m going to include both. what do you think about the projects descriptions ?
Thank you for your advises. So do you suggest me to have some back-end or full-stack projects as well ?
Applying as a full-stack developer is in another realm than just a front-end one.
The main reason for this is again due to those no-code/low-code platforms. You can be one hell of a designer but only know front-end stuff and still not find much well paying work because everyone can just jump on Wix and drag and drop their site they need.
Its only once a project’s requirements get more complex does a developer need to come in. If that developer knows the full stack, they are more valuable than just knowing 1 isolated part of the stack, as if they only know front-end, or only back-end, you need possibly 2+ developers, which again might not work in some situations.
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Sure. I would want to keep them tight and efficient (you want to keep this under one page) but I might want the technologies used - you want those to pop. Some of them are just scanning your page for keywords.
And I agree with Brad that you need some backend/fullstack stuff. Even if you only want frontend work, understanding the backend is useful. A lot of frontend jobs expect at least a little backend knowledge.
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careful with typos, those depending on who looks at it may reject you just for that - did you start school in the year 20016?
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yeah, Thank you. I haven’t notice.
Thank you for sharing your story, it motivates when you read other people’s struggles and successes.
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