It took me around 2-3 months to learn front-end tech like HTML, CSS, JS, Bootstrap, etc, and around 3 weeks of actively applying for jobs to finally land a Software Engineer (junior) position in a big logistics company here in my country.

I have no Computer Science degree, or any related work experience but still, a company said YES to me, believed in my potential, and said that they are willing to give me a chance. 😭 (Tears of joy lol)

So If you also don't have any cs degree or related experience, don't worry. I'm sure you can do it too!

A short background

I am in my early 30's, a father, breadwinner, and a violinist by profession. Events were canceled because of the pandemic so I lost my job as a performer. I have a family, so I had to find ways to earn and think long-term. Many things happened in between but to make the long story short, I ended up deciding to learn how to code.

Anyway, you are here because you also want to land a tech job right? I want to help you so here are 6 things that helped me:

1. Mentor 👨🏽‍🏫

One of my violin students at Learn Violin (a startup online violin school) is a senior developer. Because I had that burning desire to shift into tech as soon as possible(cause you know.. I was jobless), I made a deal with him to mentor me and ill teach him violin in exchange. This is a game-changer for me and one of the major factors why I learned fast. 😉

I highly encourage you to find a mentor. Maybe someone in your family, a friend, or someone in church is a senior developer already. Connect with them and tell them your situation.

If you don't know anyone, go join communities like Facebook groups, Discord groups, forums, etc. Go network with other developers and if you are going to ask someone to mentor you, prepare something to give back. Don't just ask them to help you for free lol😂. Offer something in return. You can pay him/her with money for teaching you, or maybe you can offer your services as well just like what I did. Maybe he/she wants to learn something, a skill that you are good at.

Here are links to communities and forums you can join now 👇🏼

1. Tech Career Shifter Philippines (Facebook)

2. Tech Career Shifter (Discord)

3. Stack Overflow

4. Free Code Camp Forum

2. FreeCodeCamp

This is the major platform where I was able to learn front-end tech. I finished Responsive Web Design and JavaScript and aimed to finish the cool projects to get the certificates. They have an amazing forum with helpful people. You can also ask help from the people there if you feel stuck in your current fcc course.

Check it out here 👉🏻 click me

3. SoloLearn

This website also offers free courses with free certificates 😁 I finished and got the CSS and HTML certificates from them. The way they made the courses are also great for me. I would definitely do the other courses they offer soon!

Check it out here 👉🏻 click me

4. Tesda eLearning

Tesda has tech courses available. I did the HTML course and the C# course they offer. It's free to create an account and also has many courses not related to tech like aquaponics or motorcycle servicing course if you are into that.

Check them out here 👉🏻click me

5. YouTube University

And of course, I watched hundreds of programming videos on YouTube and so far these guys below are the most popular and most helpful to my learning. (Thanks guys for being selfless and awesome people 🙏🏻)

Check out their channels 👇🏼

• Programming with Mosh
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfkTfcpWqAY

• Mike Dane
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny1g1eQHnCI&list=PLLAZ4kZ9dFpMSXUYwxDFOvyxlssug29Fu

• FreeCodeCamp
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU6anWqZJcc

• Dani Krossing
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItYye9h_RXg#

...and finally (drum roll) 🥁

photo by Greg Bulla

6. LinkedIn

I set up my LinkedIn profile as best I can. I wrote all the courses I took, all my skills(even the nonrelated skills like skills in music lol), and certificates(FCC & SoloLearn). In the "About" section I wrote down who I am, my past, and my tech stack(HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, Bootstrap, SASS, JQuery, Git, Github, C#, React).

Companies you applied to will most likely check out your LinkedIn profile so I recommend you make your profile attractive to employers. 😎

If you still don't have a linkedIn profile, you should start making one now. Here is the link to the website click me

I hope this helps you. All the best on your dev journey and hope to create amazing things with you in the future!