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How did you get a job as a professional programmer?

How can I get a web development job as an amateur programmer?

  • This is a question that can be generalized for  any other amateur programmers looking to get into software development,  and specifically startups. I specify Django/Python in my own details  below, but it can be replaced with PHP, Ruby, etc. As an amateur, how could I position myself to get in the door at an  established startup (i.e., not founding team) or web dev shop as a  junior Django/[insert language/framework here] developer? What could I  do that would give me a chance of getting a job? My guess is that  actually building something is the right way to go about this? Build a really simple web app? Build a web resume? Start a technical blog? Contribute to open source? (though as an amateur, making meaningful contributions is unlikely...) My own personal details, as to define what I mean by "amateur":  Academic CS knowledge: Non-CS degree Two Java courses in college as a non-CS engineer (4+ years ago),  which I admittedly have since forgotten, but helped me establish... Comfort with basic CS elements (i.e., classes, functions, basic data structures, control flow tools, etc.) Practical experience (from a failed startup and work): 1 year of HTML/CSS/JS 1 year of PHP 3 years of SQL (mySQL, Oracle, MS Access) 2 years of VBA development in Excel/Access (front-end and back-end)

  • Answer:

    Don't focus on what you want, which is a job. Think about what startups need that you can do. And, just as important, that you can prove that you can do. One thing that startups need is good programmers. Can you build something useful? Solid enough that it doesn't fall over and the code is maintainable? Then great, you might be a novice, but you probably aren't an amateur. How do you prove that you can build things? Go build things. For example. http://delicious.com is in the news because Yahoo's killing it. Can you build a simple clone of that? If you aren't yet at the point where you can build something useful, then you'd probably be a drain on a startup in a developer position. Is there something else that you can do? QA is often a good route into development jobs, especially if you're automating the QA. Or perhaps you could take a junior DBA or junior sysadmin position and work your way up. Be frank about that intention in your interview. If you aren't qualified for that either, then you can do like Ryan suggests and go the freelance route. Or you can find a larger company that can afford to hire junior programmers and get work experience from them. Or if your day job is solid, definitely jump in on an open-source project. They don't care who you are at all; they just care about your code, and they don't have deadlines. For more on this see my answer (and others') at

William Pietri at Quora Visit the source

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This is how I got my first programming job without a formal CS background: 1. Make an online portfolio of some of the sites you've built (keep it simple, pick 4-5 projects you think are really good) 2. Get some freelance work under your belt, and put some of these jobs on your resume. 3. Hit up craigslist and other job boards and e-mail everyone that's hiring entry-level or junior developers. It's important to keep in mind that you're probably not going to land your dream job right off the bat.  You have to pay your dues first and get some work experience.

Ryan Bednar

Sounds like you and I have similar amounts of experience, and I've been facing the challenge of trying to find a job despite being completely self-taught and having no prior corporate experience. I actually just got hired for my first job as a web developer. A portfolio makes it easier to show off the work you've done and give someone one place to find references to all your projects. This seems like almost a given, to make it as easy as possible for potential employers to see what you've done. More importantly though, I believe that having at least one bigger, innovative project that you were heavily involved in creating is the key to grabbing the attention of startups. This was my situation. I single-handedly developed and designed a language learning website, and this was invariably the thing most interviewers wanted to talk about. Not only does it show a breadth of skills, but also that you have some of those go-getter qualities that are key to startup success. While my other work showed that I knew what I was doing and that I could write code, this project was the one that showed them the most about my potential, personality, and capability to build something unique. I'd suggest that anyone hoping to end up working for a startup take the initiative to build something new and different. If it starts out as something you're not sure you can do or if it can be done, even better. You may have to do some cheap work for someone who has a good idea, but it will pay off in the end.

Jessica Alonso

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