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Video came out exactly when I need to hear it. It’s not discouraging but it is nonetheless a reality check. It’s actually encouraging me that I’m going the right way about it. Appreciate the transparency.
Reading the comments, also want to share this was excellent timing- I’ve been on the fence about a bootcamp at Springboard, but felt a bit anxious in my gut and have hesitated, only to realize recently that it’s best to go a slower and more consistent route, give it time, and not rush the process. Really appreciate your content- it really helped in my own journey and decisions in regards to coding.
this is one reason why I'm doing a part time camp. I enjoy learning, and now I enjoy learning even more! I work 60hrs a week, and do about 15-20hrs for my bootcamp/learning to code! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take DonTheDevoloper's words serious.
Good to her this. I have always been thinking how the Recession and the layoffs affect entry-level and aspiring developers looking to break into tech. It will take time and one has to be smart about it. Thanks alot. Applying this on my own trajectory.
I just graduated college and aspire to be a developer. I must say it is absolutely brutal trying to find a job with no actual connections. The job market is swamped with aspiring developers from traditional paths and non traditional paths and littered job openings that require an unrealistic level of experience or expertise. I won’t give up the goal of landing a job and growing in the industry but man, it is certainly discouraging at times when you spend your free time practicing dsa and apply to jobs only to see you’re 1 applicant if a possible 30-1,000 ( if visible). Saw this video come across my feed and I couldn’t agree more. Especially for those without a degree. (I’ve gone to a boot camp as well)
That ending when you looked into the camera deeply and said, "You would be surprised at the opportunities of financial freedom it will unlock later down the road for you... *you really would*..." ...Man, I know you were talking deeply into everyone's soul. It's a hard message to get across when people haven't experienced it, but I think your gaze executed the depth of your words perfectly.
Thank you. I hope so. I feel like I had a couple of moments while recording that made me pause and think about a few memories and emotions I've had along the way, with that definitely being one of those moments.
I have come across so many different types of videos within this field trying to give myself a realistic timeline for how long this is going to take me and how I want to learn. I work full time and have 2 kids under 2, and as inspiring as it is to see new developers land jobs within a year or less, I realistically see myself taking probably double that time for my personal situation. I just genuinely don’t have several hours that I can dedicate to coding each day as if it were more full time job and do not want to put myself in a stressful financial situation if I were to do a coding bootcamp. I feel like more people need to hear this and if they can understand their expectations, I can see more developers sticking to it in the long run.
I agree wholeheartedly. I'm in a similar boat. I don't have kids, but still have family/relationship/financial responsibilities. My job also often has me working 12hr days, which makes it a challenge to squeeze in even an hour or two at night. I've realised that you can set yourself all these time-goals, but life gets in the way. I've been at this for 2.5 years, although I did learn Python for a year before switching to JS since there weren't many entry-level Python jobs in my area, so that set me back a bit. I'm at a point where I'm building projects for my portfolio with the time I have available, and with a sense of urgency, but I've stopped putting a certain deadline on finding a job. It just takes the pressure off a bit.
Im 4 months in and just finished the fundamentals, ive learnt alot, got myself a senior developer as a tutor 😎 taking an online bootcamp and doing projects at the same time, I think a year will do it, I refuse to let it be any longer, 8 months time I wanna be working as a junior developer. Dont wish me luck, failure is not an option 💯 👌🏾
Self taught web developer, have been working professionally for 8 months and i agree 100%. This is good advice. This journey is harder and longer than you think.
I'm glad it helped. Coding bootcamps can certainly increase your chances of getting a job, but rushing into one too quickly can also severely hurt your chances. It's definitely not an easy decision.
This is a great video. It really put things in perspective for me. I have another source of income that is somewhat steady and is well paying and I've been putting off transitioning my career to tech. This gave me motivation to just get started and take my time and to love and enjoy the process
I appreciate your honesty. It seems most have been talking as if things are normal. I don’t have a due date on when I will find a job but I do have small mild stones to reach. I am self taught and I don’t have an end goal. Because I am enjoy the process of learning and tinkering and creating. Thank you for sharing this video
I’m not sure if it was comforting or helpful either, but it was honest. Much appreciated…plus, I love your style of delivery and your enthusiasm for the profession . Keep on keepin’ on 👍🏻
Another great vid Don! This is why I decided to pursue a second degree instead. Gives me the option of having access to student positions and qualifies me for government IT positions while I learn to program to get that first swe job
Such good advice! Thank you! I recently got approved for the VRRAP program for veterans. It’s 12 months of education benefits and a monthly housing allowance. It’s only approved for certs or associates degrees. I was SO tempted to use it for a bootcamp but held off. I decided to go the long route of using it to pay for my gen ed courses/some cs courses, and then transfer to a University for a BSCS. All while continuing to do the self taught route.
I am trying to get through the first wave of learning my first language (Java). But I have it very difficult, because I never had contact with the subject in my life until a couple of months ago and I certainly feel incredibly stupid. But it's something I want to do, even though sometimes I think about throwing in the towel.
I think you should take the time that you think it's going to take you, then add at least a couple of months. As you mentioned in one of your previous interview videos, the dev sphere is a way more complex situation than you realise when you just start out, at least for me anyway. It's not just about learning a language.
Very much guiding and inspiring. Your words are from the heart and will save aspiring developers from being prey to ‘Become a Rocket Scientist and Work at Nasa in 2 Weeks ‘ things.
If you have a job right now that gives you the time to learn and you can keep your job until you can get a new one, then part time learning is your best bet.
This is what I'm doing right now but it's quite difficult because I have to wake up at 2am every morning to have a roughly 4 hours of coding time before going to work. The major downside of learning to code on the side with a full-time job is you don't get to have much free time for doing anything else other than coding which may lead to burnout.
@@christianjamesguevarra6257 I have a family, a full time job, and I am in a part time bootcamp. I have no time for anything else. But I know the investment in my self will be worth it.
I dont comment on videos to often, but just wanna say, I like how you are just being blunt: Yeah great career choice. You can't learn it all in a bootcamp or six months. Yeah the job market may be slowing up, but these things always ebb and flow. What is it worth to get "a job" to pay the bills while you continue learning, building a bigger portfolio, network and continue to pump out applications? If it takes another 12 or 18 months and in several years, with experience under your belt after landing a job, you are able to make 80k-100k+...then how bad was that timetable really? I just closed down my families business as it was just too much anymore working 60-80 hours, 6-7 days a week for prolly the last 10 years. So...start now and count my blessings down the road? Yup I'll take that any day. Thanks man, you keep being authentic, it is the best of us when we are.
I'm telling you, if you've managed a family business with that much effort, you're going to eventually land a developer job. Everything you've shared gives me quite a bit of confidence that you got this.
Im not worried about the recession. It comes and goes. Its a cycle and not a permanent thing. The one that worries me is AI making this job obsolete in the next 5 years.
I’m looking to become a data analyst. Would you have the same advice for us?? I’m really considering bootcamp and I’m taking the Google data analytics course online.
As a general heuristic, take the optimism of people who sell programming courses with a _block_ of salt If you were in their position, seeing a downward trend in, say, demand for new developers, and you were making money from the business of telling aspiring developers that there's more demand than people to fill positions, what incentives would you get? To me it seems that most of the super optimistic-sounding of these people are just trying to squeeze every last penny out of the "preparing people to become developers" market before potential customers could realize that that market had already gone somewhat bust. Very few people with the incentive of displaying optimism will tell you to be cautious and not invest everything into the silicon gold rush.
Good video man. I enjoyed it. I think you got the right idea. I do wonder though if it applies to everywhere. I think it is possibly more of na American point of view. For the reasons of salary. I feel like in the USA being a developer is indeed possibly highly lucrative. I believe in Europe salaries are much more conservative. Still good, just... Yeah. Then again, with remote work and ez travel, perhaps locality matters less.
Thank you. Yeah, you can't expect my advice to have the same application in every country. You have to account for your own economy, government, and culture.
Hi I’m a senior manager in a big 4 audit firm having 10+ years of experience earning a six figure salary. But I don’t like the work and really want to switch to coding. I have designed a website in my teens using html I learned from a book. I really like puzzles and problems solving. Do you think I should leave my lucrative career and dive into the programming world? Would it be worthwhile for someone at a mature level of their career?
Ofc i have concerns and i don't have the clearest sight on the industry's market because it's very noisy. It seems that, for a well paid job, for a beginner without recommendations, you have to compete with super talented and/or very skilled people. It seems that, at least the biggest companies, they requires you a lot of stuff (technical proficiencies, important stuff in your portfolio, multi-year experience) through scanning your resume and many interviews, they expect to have the best possible candidate and there's no possibility of success. You should be the son of Linus Torvalds in order to get a job as developer for....idk, Google/Microsoft/Apple, just few examples. What you have to do if you know that you're not a talented person, that you're a mid aspiring developer with some good stuff in your portfolio but nothing relevant or unseen? if you're not a fast learner but you're looking for a great career in a big company? And what should you choose between a 2-years Artificial Intelligence Master degree or 2-years Software Security Master Degree beside personal preference?
I feel like every advice I hear is so broad that it's almost impossible to follow. Some say, learn horizontally (ie learn python, learn rust, threejs) if you want to become a web developer because no one is looking for a standard front-end developer anymore. Others say start with QA and move your way into front-end world. Others say learn web fundamentals, you are not hired because you don't learn fundamentals. While in reality, the only reason why companies used to be hiring more was the availability of cheap money in the US (and, by extension, the entire world).
The like to dislike ration on this video speaks for itself - 250 likes to no dislikes. It's clear you're not just selling snake oil. Always appreciate this insight.
This is great and realistic advice. Jumping headfirst into a $15-20k bootcamp unprepared can create a lot of stress and rush to see results. I am in a position where I'm trying to transition from a stable career into software engineering. Because I have a decent income, I have been able to take the time to self-study while researching dozens of bootcamps that will provide the structure I personally want to take my skills to the next step. Thanks to this patience, I was able to connect with software engineers in my city who provided info about two free local bootcamp programs that has a direct partnership with a local Fortune 100 company - they offer employment (with mentorship and decent salary) to every program graduate who passes the interview.
Oh man what an opportunity!! That’s awesome. Would you mind sharing the info? I’d love to find something like that in fl that’s NOT exclusively in Miami/ft lauderdale metro hub. (More north )
If you enjoy the content, we'd love to have you as part of our junior-friendly Discord community. Feel free to join us here: discord.com/invite/H69QqZ8MVJ
Video came out exactly when I need to hear it. It’s not discouraging but it is nonetheless a reality check. It’s actually encouraging me that I’m going the right way about it. Appreciate the transparency.
Glad to hear that!
Reading the comments, also want to share this was excellent timing- I’ve been on the fence about a bootcamp at Springboard, but felt a bit anxious in my gut and have hesitated, only to realize recently that it’s best to go a slower and more consistent route, give it time, and not rush the process.
Really appreciate your content- it really helped in my own journey and decisions in regards to coding.
this is one reason why I'm doing a part time camp. I enjoy learning, and now I enjoy learning even more! I work 60hrs a week, and do about 15-20hrs for my bootcamp/learning to code! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take DonTheDevoloper's words serious.
This video is so on point, you have no idea. Thank you.
Bro your video popped up in my hardest moments. Thank you
Candid and honest advice is hard to find online. Don't stop what you're doing, Don!
Thank you for this video. I will continue to take my time. 🙏🏽
Good to her this. I have always been thinking how the Recession and the layoffs affect entry-level and aspiring developers looking to break into tech. It will take time and one has to be smart about it. Thanks alot. Applying this on my own trajectory.
I just graduated college and aspire to be a developer. I must say it is absolutely brutal trying to find a job with no actual connections. The job market is swamped with aspiring developers from traditional paths and non traditional paths and littered job openings that require an unrealistic level of experience or expertise. I won’t give up the goal of landing a job and growing in the industry but man, it is certainly discouraging at times when you spend your free time practicing dsa and apply to jobs only to see you’re 1 applicant if a possible 30-1,000 ( if visible). Saw this video come across my feed and I couldn’t agree more. Especially for those without a degree. (I’ve gone to a boot camp as well)
Thank you for this video really helping me a lot
That ending when you looked into the camera deeply and said, "You would be surprised at the opportunities of financial freedom it will unlock later down the road for you... *you really would*..." ...Man, I know you were talking deeply into everyone's soul. It's a hard message to get across when people haven't experienced it, but I think your gaze executed the depth of your words perfectly.
Thank you. I hope so. I feel like I had a couple of moments while recording that made me pause and think about a few memories and emotions I've had along the way, with that definitely being one of those moments.
I have come across so many different types of videos within this field trying to give myself a realistic timeline for how long this is going to take me and how I want to learn. I work full time and have 2 kids under 2, and as inspiring as it is to see new developers land jobs within a year or less, I realistically see myself taking probably double that time for my personal situation. I just genuinely don’t have several hours that I can dedicate to coding each day as if it were more full time job and do not want to put myself in a stressful financial situation if I were to do a coding bootcamp. I feel like more people need to hear this and if they can understand their expectations, I can see more developers sticking to it in the long run.
I agree wholeheartedly. I'm in a similar boat. I don't have kids, but still have family/relationship/financial responsibilities. My job also often has me working 12hr days, which makes it a challenge to squeeze in even an hour or two at night. I've realised that you can set yourself all these time-goals, but life gets in the way. I've been at this for 2.5 years, although I did learn Python for a year before switching to JS since there weren't many entry-level Python jobs in my area, so that set me back a bit. I'm at a point where I'm building projects for my portfolio with the time I have available, and with a sense of urgency, but I've stopped putting a certain deadline on finding a job. It just takes the pressure off a bit.
Wow, this is so reassuring 🙌 I wish I had come across your videos sooner. Thank you.
Im 4 months in and just finished the fundamentals, ive learnt alot, got myself a senior developer as a tutor 😎 taking an online bootcamp and doing projects at the same time, I think a year will do it, I refuse to let it be any longer, 8 months time I wanna be working as a junior developer. Dont wish me luck, failure is not an option 💯 👌🏾
I have given my self 8 months too. Before this year ends I will be a junior Software dev. No more excuses. All the best 💪
How is your journey going on so far?
So, how are you doing bro?
Thanks for your honesty and objective advice.
I got into it without backup after college lol never knew it was like this. Went from bootcamp to self taught. Now job searching is the longest part.
What did you go to college for?
yo.... this is a great advice. Thank you for this content Don
Self taught web developer, have been working professionally for 8 months and i agree 100%. This is good advice. This journey is harder and longer than you think.
Can always come to this channel for some real talk!
Thanks, Don👍🏾
Always
Again another great video. I was about to jump into a bootcamp but with your advice I'm going to hold off and keep being self taught
I'm glad it helped. Coding bootcamps can certainly increase your chances of getting a job, but rushing into one too quickly can also severely hurt your chances. It's definitely not an easy decision.
Sound/ sensible advice. Easy to get sucked into marketing advice from boot camps. Keep up the good work!
This is a great video. It really put things in perspective for me. I have another source of income that is somewhat steady and is well paying and I've been putting off transitioning my career to tech. This gave me motivation to just get started and take my time and to love and enjoy the process
best advice I heard thus far for people who are considering coding as a profession. you should have more views!
One day!
Thanks man
I appreciate your honesty. It seems most have been talking as if things are normal. I don’t have a due date on when I will find a job but I do have small mild stones to reach. I am self taught and I don’t have an end goal. Because I am enjoy the process of learning and tinkering and creating. Thank you for sharing this video
I’m not sure if it was comforting or helpful either, but it was honest. Much appreciated…plus, I love your style of delivery and your enthusiasm for the profession . Keep on keepin’ on 👍🏻
Another great vid Don! This is why I decided to pursue a second degree instead. Gives me the option of having access to student positions and qualifies me for government IT positions while I learn to program to get that first swe job
Such good advice! Thank you! I recently got approved for the VRRAP program for veterans. It’s 12 months of education benefits and a monthly housing allowance. It’s only approved for certs or associates degrees. I was SO tempted to use it for a bootcamp but held off. I decided to go the long route of using it to pay for my gen ed courses/some cs courses, and then transfer to a University for a BSCS. All while continuing to do the self taught route.
You're welcome! Ahh, so it sounds like you get more funding for a longer education (aka more housing funds). If so, that makes sense. Best of luck!
I am trying to get through the first wave of learning my first language (Java). But I have it very difficult, because I never had contact with the subject in my life until a couple of months ago and I certainly feel incredibly stupid. But it's something I want to do, even though sometimes I think about throwing in the towel.
I think you should take the time that you think it's going to take you, then add at least a couple of months. As you mentioned in one of your previous interview videos, the dev sphere is a way more complex situation than you realise when you just start out, at least for me anyway. It's not just about learning a language.
I’m glad i have a full time job but it does take discipline to continue self-taught route. But I keep reminding myself to just keep at it.
Thank you very helpful video
Yes I love to Code it is the only place that I can feel me
Very much guiding and inspiring. Your words are from the heart and will save aspiring developers from being prey to ‘Become a Rocket Scientist and Work at Nasa in 2 Weeks ‘ things.
If you have a job right now that gives you the time to learn and you can keep your job until you can get a new one, then part time learning is your best bet.
This is what I'm doing right now but it's quite difficult because I have to wake up at 2am every morning to have a roughly 4 hours of coding time before going to work. The major downside of learning to code on the side with a full-time job is you don't get to have much free time for doing anything else other than coding which may lead to burnout.
@@christianjamesguevarra6257 I have a family, a full time job, and I am in a part time bootcamp. I have no time for anything else. But I know the investment in my self will be worth it.
thanks chief
I dont comment on videos to often, but just wanna say, I like how you are just being blunt:
Yeah great career choice. You can't learn it all in a bootcamp or six months. Yeah the job market may be slowing up, but these things always ebb and flow.
What is it worth to get "a job" to pay the bills while you continue learning, building a bigger portfolio, network and continue to pump out applications?
If it takes another 12 or 18 months and in several years, with experience under your belt after landing a job, you are able to make 80k-100k+...then how bad was that timetable really?
I just closed down my families business as it was just too much anymore working 60-80 hours, 6-7 days a week for prolly the last 10 years.
So...start now and count my blessings down the road?
Yup
I'll take that any day. Thanks man, you keep being authentic, it is the best of us when we are.
I'm telling you, if you've managed a family business with that much effort, you're going to eventually land a developer job. Everything you've shared gives me quite a bit of confidence that you got this.
Im not worried about the recession. It comes and goes. Its a cycle and not a permanent thing. The one that worries me is AI making this job obsolete in the next 5 years.
nice content! would love to get these as audio only, are you on audea?
www.buzzsprout.com/948958
spitting facts
I’m looking to become a data analyst. Would you have the same advice for us?? I’m really considering bootcamp and I’m taking the Google data analytics course online.
No idea
As a general heuristic, take the optimism of people who sell programming courses with a _block_ of salt
If you were in their position, seeing a downward trend in, say, demand for new developers, and you were making money from the business of telling aspiring developers that there's more demand than people to fill positions, what incentives would you get? To me it seems that most of the super optimistic-sounding of these people are just trying to squeeze every last penny out of the "preparing people to become developers" market before potential customers could realize that that market had already gone somewhat bust. Very few people with the incentive of displaying optimism will tell you to be cautious and not invest everything into the silicon gold rush.
I got this! Only concern is being a noob at my age.
Good video man. I enjoyed it. I think you got the right idea. I do wonder though if it applies to everywhere. I think it is possibly more of na American point of view. For the reasons of salary. I feel like in the USA being a developer is indeed possibly highly lucrative. I believe in Europe salaries are much more conservative. Still good, just... Yeah.
Then again, with remote work and ez travel, perhaps locality matters less.
Thank you. Yeah, you can't expect my advice to have the same application in every country. You have to account for your own economy, government, and culture.
Hi I’m a senior manager in a big 4 audit firm having 10+ years of experience earning a six figure salary. But I don’t like the work and really want to switch to coding. I have designed a website in my teens using html I learned from a book. I really like puzzles and problems solving. Do you think I should leave my lucrative career and dive into the programming world? Would it be worthwhile for someone at a mature level of their career?
I'm in the same boat as you and thinking about going head first into a full time bootcamp
Ofc i have concerns and i don't have the clearest sight on the industry's market because it's very noisy.
It seems that, for a well paid job, for a beginner without recommendations, you have to compete with super talented and/or very skilled people.
It seems that, at least the biggest companies, they requires you a lot of stuff (technical proficiencies, important stuff in your portfolio, multi-year experience)
through scanning your resume and many interviews, they expect to have the best possible candidate and there's no possibility of success.
You should be the son of Linus Torvalds in order to get a job as developer for....idk, Google/Microsoft/Apple, just few examples.
What you have to do if you know that you're not a talented person, that you're a mid aspiring developer with some good stuff in your portfolio but nothing relevant or unseen? if you're not a fast learner but you're looking for a great career in a big company?
And what should you choose between a 2-years Artificial Intelligence Master degree or 2-years Software Security Master Degree beside personal preference?
doesnt matter if theres a recession , wont last forever. if u start now u will be in box seat when there no recession
I feel like every advice I hear is so broad that it's almost impossible to follow. Some say, learn horizontally (ie learn python, learn rust, threejs) if you want to become a web developer because no one is looking for a standard front-end developer anymore. Others say start with QA and move your way into front-end world. Others say learn web fundamentals, you are not hired because you don't learn fundamentals. While in reality, the only reason why companies used to be hiring more was the availability of cheap money in the US (and, by extension, the entire world).
The like to dislike ration on this video speaks for itself - 250 likes to no dislikes. It's clear you're not just selling snake oil. Always appreciate this insight.
This is great and realistic advice. Jumping headfirst into a $15-20k bootcamp unprepared can create a lot of stress and rush to see results. I am in a position where I'm trying to transition from a stable career into software engineering. Because I have a decent income, I have been able to take the time to self-study while researching dozens of bootcamps that will provide the structure I personally want to take my skills to the next step. Thanks to this patience, I was able to connect with software engineers in my city who provided info about two free local bootcamp programs that has a direct partnership with a local Fortune 100 company - they offer employment (with mentorship and decent salary) to every program graduate who passes the interview.
Oh man what an opportunity!! That’s awesome. Would you mind sharing the info? I’d love to find something like that in fl that’s NOT exclusively in Miami/ft lauderdale metro hub. (More north )