How I Landed My First Role in Tech as a Junior Web Developer!

How I Landed My First Role in Tech as a Junior Web Developer!

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5 min read

After reading many stories about people landing their first roles in tech I have been inspired by their insights, and now, I am delighted to share my journey!

A LITTLE ABOUT ME👋

Hi, I'm Raza, a 23-year-old tech fanatic who loves to assemble creative websites/apps, play video games, and a geek for astrophysics! I completed my GCSEs and dropped out of college after a year and never planned on going to university either.

HOW I GOT INTO WEB DEVELOPMENT🕸

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After dropping out of college, I did a year-long apprenticeship in Mechanical Engineering and I was not satisfied with it so went into full-time jobs like:

  • 'Installation Engineer' at Virgin Media
  • Fulfillment Associate at Amazon

I always used to think that software/web developers are some technical geniuses that have some special degree but was always intrigued by the idea of being a developer myself.

One day as I was scrolling through my Instagram feed, I came across an advertisement from a company called 'OpenClassrooms'(OC) and the ad showcased, and I paraphrase, 'Get a bachelor's diploma in Software Development with no prior experience and land a job within 6-months of course completion, money-back guarantee!'. I was a little skeptical about the ad as it seemed too good to be true and in general Insta ads are 🤔. Nevertheless, right there and then I took a leap of faith and got in touch with the company to begin my journey. I didn't tell anyone about this right away because I was worried that others would discourage me from taking this step.

So, this is how the journey began…🚀


WHEN I STARTED TO CODE👨‍💻

  • Enrolled in the 'Front-End Developer' path at OpenClassrooms in June 2019
  • The course consisted of 9 projects

I was excited about writing code right away! However, it took just over a month before I used the text editor to write some code. This is because the first project was 'learning how to learn' and had no coding at all. This project got me in the groove of things and more familiar with how the projects are assessed on the platform.


MY DAILY ROUTINE🌅

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  • wake up at 6:30 am (sometimes even on my days off).
  • 10-hour shifts 4 days a week
  • Hit the gym after the day job

On average, I was spending 6 hours a day learning web development on my days off from Amazon.

"Dreams don't work unless you do" ~ John C. Maxwell

It was tough but I knew what I was chasing isn't easy and why I had started this endeavor. The days off from the job is when I had the most time, I would wake up and have a small breakfast; get to my desk to get productive. The early hours are the most meditative as there were minimal distractions with my phone away from me in ZEN MODE, Pomodoro timer, and obviously… LoFi beats on in the background🎶

By the way, it wasn't all just coding and job… playing video games was my break and time out from everything else. I would still spend some time with family and friends as I believe it is vital to do so.


SOCIAL MEDIA CONNECTIONS🤝

Since I had no real-life connections that were in the field of web development, it was hard to tell anyone about my issues and get support. So, I made a Twitter and LinkedIn account to start sharing my journey publically and connect with like-minded individuals in the same industry that would understand my ups and downs. Near the end of my course at OC on 6th March 2021, I set a public goal on Twitter to get a web development role before 2022. I pinned this tweet as a reminder every time I'd go on Twitter to explore the world of tech.

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On LinkedIn, I didn't post much and didn't have a fully completed profile at the start. I just didn't know how to get started and what to post. Meanwhile, on Twitter, I was meeting a lot of cool people in the same interests as me, and one person particularly Danny Thompson. His motivational and inspiring story of how he got a job in web development from frying chicken at a gas station for 10 years showed me it's possible for anyone from any background to do this! As well as this, Danny has a great series on his youtube channel about LinkedIn to find jobs which I followed to get started on the platform.

OpenClassrooms itself had a wonderful community consisting of students, mentors, career advisors, and success managers that I had so much support from; I couldn't have done it without them. An invaluable thing about OC is that they pair you up with experienced mentors that help you on your journey with any questions, problems, and overall guidance on becoming your best self. Alongside this, you have the chat platform 'Workplace' at your convenience to share your learning and ask questions to a supportive community.


DIPLOMA AND JOB APPLICATIONS📝

My 9th (last) project at OpenClassrooms was validated on 10th May 2021. Then on 1st June 2021, I successfully achieved my diploma! I felt really proud of what I was becoming but was still worried if I would be able to get hired, as I felt I am not ready or not good enough(Imposter Syndrome at its finest).

Firstly, I agreed with the fact that it is ok to fail and not get what I want right away and that it will take TIME! This set my mind free to do the things I needed to do in order to get the job.

Then:

  • I updated my LinkedIn and CV(resume)
  • Done around 200 job applications within 3 weeks
  • Most of the employers didn't reply and rejected me
  • 4 interviews
  • 1 job offer (8th September)

I was so close to not turning up to my interview as the email said 'Junior/Mid Level Developer. The 'Mid Level' scared me and made me question my abilities but I told myself to not miss any opportunity like this because you never know where it can take you.

It was one of the best decisions I made as I got what I have been working hard to achieve.

This is my journey, and it's not over🚀

I would love to hear your ideas and what you thought of this post.

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Thanks for reading, have a great day 🙂