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Hack reactor was the gold standard.. I applied once and didn’t get in then I tried a different route found a job as a product editor -> front end dev -> ruby dev -> php dev -> so on…

Thanks for sharing your story!

They let you pass because you are the very definition of grit. Colleges really look for good character, and your courage and persistence prove that you are a worthy graduate.

Love to hear your story man! Growing up I definitely had a different point of view on you I thought you came from a rich family and I always thought you were a really smart kid. Listening to your videos makes me really happy for you!

The vulnerability and honestly in this video sets it apart!

🔥 video trust me these are definitely helpful and inspiring. Appreciate you making this content!

What does the adobo have? Is it a mixture of seasonings?

Great story man. Brings be back to the cut-throat UCI Bio days. I studied my ass off and failed classes. I graduated, but grades were not even close to good enough to apply for dental school like I planned to. I ended up just leveraging the 4-year degree by working in biotech. First year of pay was 18 an hour. Being a "failure" in my own eyes motivated me to study financial literacy and investing. I just NEEDED to have some sort of edge since I could never keep up with the smart kids in the Bio program that probably went off to med school, dental school, pharmacy school ect. Eventually my salary increased but wasnt anything crazy. However, having good investment habits and living below my means paid off. Everyday I thank god that I was never as book smart as I wanted to be. Because I worked instead of being in dental school, I actually had money to throw at the market March 2020. At this age, I would have just gotten out of dental school with 500K in debt. The net worth between hypothetical dentist me and the real me is almost 1 million dollars apart. Hoping to get to your level one day. Real estate investing is gatekept now but there are other ways. Lets see what happens!

Hey, I don’t usually leave comments, but I just wanted to thank you for sharing your experiences. This video really resonated with me, especially when you mentioned being the person with the lowest grade. I went through something similar in my Linear Algebra class a few years back, where I ended up at the very bottom. I was wondering, did you eventually find a mentor? If so, how did you connect with them? Also, how do you personally approach learning new things, and what keeps you motivated when your self-esteem takes a hit, especially with pressures from family or expectations from others? Do you have any advice for new graduates dealing with these challenges, or just advice in general? Lastly, I was wondering if you had a LinkedIn and would be open to connecting, but if not, no worries at all! Thank you again, and I hope you keep making content like this!

hi jeff, really love your content and its really helped me get a better idea on how to succeed in finding a swe job. I sent an email hoping to get some advice if you had a spare 15 minutes sometime. No worries if not tho :)

What does this actually mean though? They're not gonna pay you to start from scratch. Seems like you need to be a self taught genius to get a job

Thanks for sharing this bro. My wife applied for 500 jobs before we realized that there are many ghost jobs. She was only able to find a job by going direstly to company websites. Im now builing a jobs board to help people avoid this crap. Would love to discuss.

Hey, i'm curious what is your current tech language stack you work with?

Thanks man, you should make a video on what you think about the future of Computer Science

Would you consider that your CS degree helped you get your job in the field?

I am 34 and a dad of two with a history of working in food/ doing hard labor. I am in the process of trying to transition into data analytics and love your videos. They keep me inspired to keep pushing!

👏👏👏👏👏

What I gathered from this video 1.) don’t go home, bring a change of clothes and find a good environment like a library to study at 2.) do NOT skip a single day, even if it’s 30 mins, keep that habit going and going 3.) meal prep if you can, but otherwise you might need to rely on quick meals from fast food restaurants. Cooking everyday is too time-consuming 4.) use filler time to listen to topics you’re study with some earbuds (this is more secondary than primary learning). At the very least it will help keep you motivated to study later. 5.)

Thanks for sharing your experience! I'm currently struggling on how to find the time for drawing and sketching after an exhausting work day. Listening to this video (while working ;D) made me realize that hey, if you can pull it off, so can we! Thanks for the giving us inspiration!

And after all that struggle you finally manage to learn programming. What next? You find a job again. Make boring software for some slimy boss all day. Making his company develop and succeed. And the job is harder. What do you get? A paycheck just like in construction, maybe a bit bigger. What's the point? Need to find a way to make money without sacrificing your life (like the boss above).

I'm currently studying towards a IT support job with an end goal of landing a SOC analyst role. I'm working a job that I don't hate but it isn't one that I can see a future for myself. Hopefully, I can come back and say that I have landed that IT job. Thank you for the inspiration boss.

I have been thinking about this for awhile. Working in the construction for almost 10 years and I am still learning new things everyday especially for a guy that got out of college with a degree in architectural engineering. I don't do drawings whatsoever, BUT I do read a lot of drawings and my job is to translate that information into the job site with a crew. It is a pretty rewarding experience because you spend most of the time trying solve problems and connecting the pieces together just to see the overall design at the very end of the project is nothing but breathtaking. The downside is working with people that gives you a huge headache who don't follow the instructions closely and it usually ends up costing me money whether that's from workers making mistakes or the clients requesting changes.

Exactly in the same spot I’m in except I’m studying marketing and web design with Framer. I’m thankful my job lets me listen to TH-cam videos 8hrs a day. 😊

I tried learning coding using free coding apps from app store, but you really can't practice what you learn without a desktop or laptop. Learning through phone is different then doing it hands on.

When I was in high school everyone around me was going to college and I thought to myself why would I want to get in debt before my life has not started why would I want to owe the government tens of thousands of dollars before my life even started it never made sense to me

Do you have any advice on small team software endeavors, specifically involving full stack development? I have an app idea I want to pursue as a potential SaaS product, but the implications of such a program are just so complicated and difficult that it’s demotivating. I’m studying full stack in college (IT), but my practical skills are still very green. I’m best in C++, should I just try and build a dummy backend using only console input and worry about the front end later once I get to the point of picking a framework (if the backend proves to be a good idea in function)?

I’ve done landscaping and stage tech (festival biz) work for the past 2 summers, and I’m happy I’ve got to experience some real grunt work before I graduate college. My summer work has made me worry less about finding work after college, because I now have the confidence that I can make work and be self-sufficient no matter what, even if I’m just a barista making $20/hr. I know how to shop frugally, I know how to cook, I know how to save. I just now need to figure out a budgeting system that works for me

I did the exact same thing, I spent years putting aside my hobbies and fun and other goals in life to learn programming in order to finally get that good job only to start applying around the same time all the layoffs started happening. Now there fewer jobs and a ton of experienced devs on the market, meaning theres no more room for a "newbie" like me. The reality is that programming doesnt work out for everybody. Some of us are just destined to be doing dead end work for the rest of our lives.

i feel the same. I was about to be a senior in computer engineering at my home country before moving to the US.I got a brutal reality check after i've been rejected by hospital jobs,data entry, office assistant, i got 2-3 tech online assessment ( that i failed). I realized transfering to university (for cs) would be better. I currently hate my retail job.It's crazy i'll have 9 months there.But i promise myself i won't work in retail anymore. I am trying to have some IT certifications while building my tech skills.

Deeply inspirational and pathologically humble. Subbed my guy. This is only the beginning of your success. You deserve everything.

A little confused, so did you move to tech because of a better pay or because you felt you going to college and being in construction was not the right thing to do ?. If construction paid as well, why move ?. Coming from a person in tech.

🫡

There’s kid in top 20 cs colleges finding it hard to land a full time role

You said you are from Oakland California. Do you feel like crime has gotten worse in that area?

nice video

As a self taught developer, having to study with a full time job is really having two full time job. If you were able to do this while having another job, then that's a huge accomplishment and definitely not an easy task to do. I had to quit my job full-time to study and learn enough to break into the software industry, which took about a year. It's been almost 6 years and I'm glad I made that choice. Similarly, I was working a blue collar job at the time, finished my degree with a science background and coming out of school not having an idea of what to do. The fact that you felt lost and saw years ahead of what your life would have been without the switch was the same eye-opener I experienced. For those who are thinking about switching careers to better your future, if you have the support group or able to quit right now, I highly recommend it. Your energy is limited, if you have a full time job, its exhausting and energy is something that is going to be your most valuable asset in learning a new skill. Kudos to you and the fact that you persevered through your hardships made you a stronger person and being able to reflect back on your past makes you much more grateful for what you've accomplished.

The fact is the construction work is worth doing as much as other kinds of work. We have this comparison between occupations, which is absurd and we should only use it as a tool to decide which to do. Once you get it done, and you can do it, make your money, contribute to the society through your tax and the result for the client, I think it’s one hell success. There will be lingering thoughts about your previous studying process but now you can focus on working this job. It’s all good.

Wait you did bootcamp and went for senior role for 100K ? USA is really a different ball game, I am making 35k a year with masters in Information Security and 4 years of experience in Eastern Europe.

great video, listened to everything you had to say

What was ur degree in

I never finished college dropped out and instead self taught myself Linux and System Administration and a bit of codding. I do a lot shell Scripting on the job as a Sr. Desktop Support and Linux Administrator. The future is automation with DevOps automation tools and generative AI. I have been going pretty deep with understanding LLMs after i built my own AI server.

This was really helpful because you humanize the situation where you have to deal with having a hard job while studying on your own and pursuing another career path--it's hard to find motivation when you're not actually in school, and the lack of peer support is isolating. But you did it, offering great hacks to get yourself in the "zone" and just crank out the hours. That's a great idea, just go to a local college library and surround yourself with people studying. But how did you get in without being a student? Also, you mention going to boot camp: do you think it was worth it, and do you think you would've been as successful without the connections boot camps provide? Thanks again for this helpful video.

How long did it take for you to get a job i.e from coding to a job. How old were you when you started and how old where you started coding when got the job.

Hey thanks I really needed to see this. I have a job and if you’re coming up on Tuesday with a really good company. It’s a tech interview. I’ve been studying pretty hard. Trying to make sure I make it through this. I feel like if I do, I’ll be at home pretty soon to get a job over 160k. As a fellow dad, you got my sub. Looking forward to hear more your stories and possibly connecting!

algorithm!

I admire you.

Really appreciate this upload as someone who’s trying balance web Dev with uni, Uni is a waste of time tbh so real studying is done after uni

that was just the recruiter being a jack-ass so he could brag about how bad he ripped you off thinking it's going to ingratiate himself to the employer

my advice is make sure to build, best way to layer your learning, and testing it, is building. I was a prisoner of doingthings for sake of doing things, getting the certificate or build projects, but had very little to no clue, how and what does what. BUILD and code is the most effective way to learn

You really gave me some inspiration to keep going. Very inspiring story, I'm currently 18 months into learning programming, I can relate to the discipline you have and I want to keep pushing. Programming is my passion so it's much easier.