Will I know enough to get a job if I complete FCC?

I started on the Odin project and finished HTML and CSS foundations. But am very stuck and frustrated with JavaScript. I like how FCC does it. If I stick with FCC for the full program will I know enough to get a job after?

Just one woman’s opinion:

I think that the amount of study, practice, and independent research required to complete the freeCodeCamp curriculum does represent enough knowledge for a junior developer candidate.

Note that I am not saying that completing freeCodeCamp will “get you” a job. Not only do job markets vary dramatically by region, but there is so much involved in a successful job hunt than just technical knowledge.

I am also referring to the freeCodeCamp curriculum as a whole. If someone were to ask if doing a single section of the curriculum (like JavaScript) represents enough knowledge, I would say “no”.

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In theory yes, but there’s a number of things FCC wont go over that may be looked for in a job. FCC also only teaches really 2 core things.

  • Full stack MERN
  • Data science basics with Python

Depending on the job you’re applying for, this may cover the core requirements or not.

There is also what you end up doing beyond the curriculum. Unlike most jobs, being able to take the skills you learned and do something with them yourselves very important, as the “putting things together, and fixing things you find” aspect is essentially the job description.

So having your own portfolio, filled with a few projects you’ve done from the ground up with minimal guidance might be a key piece to getting noticed and getting a job. If you only do FCC, you may look too similar to other people who also only did FCC, and end up overlooked due to looking the same as everyone else. Its that “stand out” distinction that could make or break you, but also something you can’t worry to much about if your still gathering your core skills by doing FCC, its just something to keep in mind.

Keep at it, unlike HTML and CSS, JavaScript is a full programming language, rather than just pure syntax. Not only do you have to learn/debug the syntax, but the code itself could “do wrong stuff”. The knowledge you gain from learning JavaScript means you’ll understand more of the underlying theory of programming, which carries over from language to language.

Since you’re essentially “solving problems through a computer”, it takes time, and can easily go wrong. It’s one thing to write the wrong thing syntactically, its another to write syntactically correct code that does the wrong thing!

Good luck, keep learning, keep building :+1:

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Hi @CodingReceptionist !

Welcome to the forum!

If by full program you are referring to the full stack curriculum (first six certifications) then yes that will give you a good starting foundation.

As someone who used freeCodeCamp and landed a dev job here are some tips I can give you.

Use freeCodeCamp as your main curriculum and also use outside resources for topics you need more help with.
Also make sure to build your own projects outside of a class.
Building your own projects will help you grow more as a developer and help you stand out in the crowd of hopeful junior devs.

When it comes to the job hunt itself, don’t just hit apply to hundreds of applications and hope for the best.
A lot of people try that approach and struggle for months or longer to land a job.

The junior developer market is really competitive so it is important that you have a smart application process in place.

I suggest all beginners hoping to land a job to watch Leon’s video on smart tips to apply during the job process.

You should also look at Danny Thompson’s linkedin series

Having a smart approach to the job process will land you a job faster than just hitting apply to any application and hoping for the best.
Once you land the job, then you will start getting paid to learn and grow :slight_smile:

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