Trying to find a job

Hello, so I’m a self-taught front-end developer I’ve been studying HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for about 7 months now and I am very skilled in this field but I got sick of studying all day and I really want to get a job. I tried freelancing online but it’s not working for me because it depends on competitions and it’s hard for a starter like me to compete with other professional developers. I also tried to look for a job on indeed and similar websites but there’s no company in my country hires a developer who has less than a year of experience. What should I do? please give me an advice that can help. thanks!

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start applying anyway, keep getting experience of the interview gig, and show what you can do

  • Start applying, but just be prepared that you won’t be considered for a lot of the jobs you are applying for because of your inexperience.
  • Keep studying. Trust me: you don’t know as much as you think you do. Even if you have been doing nothing but programming 8 hours a day for 7 months, you’re still very early in your journey.
  • Keep working on improving your resume.
  • Keep working on improving your job hunting skills and your interviewing skills. Remember that getting a job is a different challenge than doing the job.
  • Build a portfolio with work samples:
    • Just because you haven’t been paid to make a web application doesn’t mean that you can’t make professional quality ones.
    • Get involved in an Open Source project. If you have a consistent history of meaningful contributions to a project, include that information (as well as a link to your GitHub profile) to your resume and portfolio.
  • Use those freelancing competitions to measure yourself. You say that you can’t get freelancing work because it’s hard to compete with professional developers. If you are applying for jobs that means that you believe that you have the skills of a professional developer. I’m not saying that you should expect to win against experienced freelancers, but you should at least feel like you belong in the competition.
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Thank you so much for your comment! I am sure those advices will help me throughout my journey. But don’t you think that studying and coding all day affects your psychology and social life? I have like a cabin fever because of that.

Mahmoud-farargy where are you from? Did you try to first start contributing in open-source projects? that helps a lot in learning how to use Git and show code to other people. You’ll get used to improve all the time you’re coding too so it might help in your Github personal page.
Have you also tried with Remote jobs? or sites like freelancer.com? I suggest you to start small and progressively. I can tell you about my experience but first I would like to get an idea about your context.

Cheers

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I’m not suggesting that you should study and code all day. (I code all day, but that’s because it’s my job.)

I’m from Egypt. Open-source projects like what?
Yes, I tried using sites like freelancer.com and upwork but most of the projects there are about PHP, Angular, and wordpress (things I haven’t studied yet). Secondly, there are a lot of people bidding there so my chance of getting picked up for a project is very low.

freecodecamp is an open source project
Habitica
many libraries…
just find something interesting for you, use the search feature on github, or google for “open source projects in [language]”

I’ve dealt with freecodecamp and github, in fact I have made about 6 different projects on github but privately. Anyways I try to figure this out by myself. The first thing I’d do is to create a cool looking portfolio because I don’t have one so far, I’ll keep on studying and applying for jobs hopefully I’ll get a job opportunity soon. I can’t thank guys you enough for all your suggestions and caring about my matter. I am very hopeful and I believe I’m in the right track to success but everything needs time.
Have a good one y’all!

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Yes, all those posts about How to Improve Your Portfolio are mostly right, you could have a personal website where you talk a little about yourself and show some cool links to your github page, personal works, projects and everything that you think is useful. And of course your contact.
In my personal experience that helped me to make my potential employers to get interested and then ask me questions in the interview (if they called me after), then talk a lot about what i’ve been through to reach the main goal and all that stuff.
So, try to make and awesome portfolio or at least make it look cool no matter how inexperienced you are. That can attract potential employers (The could be big, medium or small companies, even when they’re looking for internships it’s a good idea).

Keep trying and improving nonstop and opportunities will appear at any moment!

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Companies don’t hire you, because they don’t trust you, you have no track record.

Start to build one, e.g. a Portfolio.

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I was actually thinking about making a Portfolio but I was too busy studying JavaScript. I can make one, no biggie but I will host it on codepen because I don’t have a domain.After I create it, where should I put it’s link to make it accessible?

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CodePen is a decent (not great) scratch pad for whipping things up, but it’s not at all good for hosting long-term projects like your portfolio or the projects it points to. Keep your projects in something like Github, and use github pages to host the site. Don’t worry about having your own domain, you don’t need one.

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Ok, sure thanks for your advice!

Yes. chuckadams is right. You can use Github pages and don’t need more, I use it !
https://guides.github.com/features/pages/

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Host it on Netlify. No domain needed. It’s free & and has many cool features like form data handling.

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Build a portfolio, host it on Netlify (free), if you build a server deploy to Heroku. Apply anything you wish to showcase into your portfolio, and build projects to showcase additional skills. Also, keep going.

Reach out to your friends and family or even contact companies/people on linkedin etc and ask them if they do not need a website. For now, you can start pro-bono but this will allow you to get your foot in the door eventually. Angellist could be a place for you to look for some pro bono work for some time and then you can easily find something that is paid.

You can try searching Remote Jobs on these trust worthy portals -

  1. FlexJobs
  2. Remote
  3. Remoteok
  4. Jobpresso
  5. Weworkremotely
  6. Dailyremote
  7. Toptal
  8. Fiverr
  9. Crypto Remote Jobs
  10. Workew
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I think the suggestion that everyone provides are legit. One thing that I want to add is putting habits of writing blog posts about programming, showing that you are passionate and understanding deep knowledge about your craft.

Blogging allows you to cement new concepts and technologies, and provides a platform in which you can go deeper into exploring those concepts. It sets you apart from others in the job search. When an employer sees that you have a blog, it shows you’re unique, passionate, and productive on your own time. And guess what? Hiring managers want to hire people who are passionate and driven.

Even more, blogging shows a lot more than a resume does. On a resume, you simply recall your experience, accomplishments, and what skills you have. With a blog you show what you can do. It ultimately provides more information on you and your personality than a resume alone.

Aside from standing out to employers, maintaining a blog keeps you sharp. It gives you the opportunity to put your skills to use. Skills like developing and designing your website to writing content.

Blogging also gives you the opportunity to engage with other bloggers, and vice versa. It is a great way to engage with others and build relationships with people in your industry.

Blogging is an investment in yourself. It’s a space in which you can showcase what you’ve learned, strengthen and explore what you’re learning and contribute to the larger tech community.

These are the things that I want to share, hope this help for you! good luck!

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