Your job is on the line. Robots are taking over the world; human labor is becoming less valuable. If you want any semblance of job security, it’s a good idea to get into tech. Web developers, programmers, and designers are in high demand right now and can often be found on online job posts nowadays.
In 2015, an estimated three billion people were online. As the internet grows, so does the need for new talent.
If you want to earn a six-figure salary, your best bet is to become a developer. This could lead to roles in a management career track.
So what do you need to do to start your career? Here are a few ideas.
Know the Basics
Before you quit your day job, you need to get a feel for programming. You should know the lingo of the languages you want to learn as well as the basic concepts. If you’ve never heard of WordPress hosting, or if you don’t even know what web hosting is, for example, it’ll be difficult to understand your programming classes.
Becoming a web developer isn’t easy money. There are certain skills that you absolutely need to have. That’s why you should try to figure out if you actually like programming before you commit yourself to your new career.
Learn to Code
You can’t be a web developer if you don’t know how to code. You may eventually rise to a position where your sole role is to manage other programmers and developers, but you can’t get there without understanding how to do the work yourself.
Learning from a coding school can also immensely help you in becoming a developer. You can learn coding online as well but, if you live in the Bay Area, you might want to check out the best coding school near the Bay Area who you could help you a become professional developer with their programs of study.
You can learn how to code no matter what your budget is. Your options range from enrolling in computer science classes at college to reading online tutorials and teaching yourself. No one understands your learning style better than yourself.
Before you start your journey, you need to pick a programming language to focus on. You may be familiar with most of the top languages, but you need to be an expert in at least one. The competition for great jobs is very stiff.
Use Your Resources
Sites like StackOverflow and Quora are you life-savers. You can find answers to almost any question that you can think of. Programming is often a very dense subject. It’s easy to get confused, especially if you’re trying to teach yourself.
There’s absolutely no shame in asking for help. If you don’t need to ask a question yourself, reading past questions and answers about programming and being a web developer can be very useful.
Create a Portfolio
Schooling helps, but many successful web developers never went to college. You need to impress potential employers with your portfolio. All of your projects should be recorded in some way.
Your code is everything. Messy, hard to understand code will stand in your way. Your portfolio is more important than your resume. You may even think about taking on a few low-paying gigs when you’re just starting out so you can have something to show other employers.
Go Freelance
A well-paying company job is difficult to land if you’re not very experienced. Finding a decent freelance project to work on is much easier. Once you get into a roll, you can start commanding a good income.
You may decide that you’re only willing to work freelance jobs. There are a lot of benefits to this strategy. You’re in complete control of your time and you get to work from home.
Getting new clients might be a hassle at first. But you’ll find that it becomes easier as you get more exposure and your network grows. In the meantime, you need to haunt to job boards. Send out as many applications as possible.
Start Now
The best time to get started is five minutes ago. There are so many free resources for you to take advantage of, there’s no reason to wait if your dream is to become a web developer. You can learn how to code on your phone.
Standing in line at the grocery store? Look up a few coding tips on Google. You’ll need to really immerse yourself in the programming world if you want to master it.
Try to come up with a plan for your studies. The haphazard method is usually less efficient. With clear goals, you’ll be able to check your progress. You want to move along at a brisk pace. Why? Otherwise, you’ll get bogged down in little details and lose interest.
The developer lifestyle is a fantastic choice for people who love to code.
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