How I Learned to Code in 4 Months & Got a Job! (No CS Degree, No Bootcamp)
How I Learned to Code in 4 Months & Got a Job! (No CS Degree, No Bootcamp)
I went from being a college dropout with zero technical skills to landing a software developer job in 4 months. This video is about how I became a self-taught software developer and how I learned how to code without a computer science degree or coding bootcamp.
Connect With Me:
⭐️ Main Site: https://www.timkim.me/
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/TimKimMe
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timkim.me/
Courses To Help Supplement Learning:
(COUPON CODE FOR 10% OFF ➡️ FRIENDS10)
📚 Learning How To Learn: https://bit.ly/TK_LHTL_ZTM
🛠️ Build JS Projects Step-by-Step: https://bit.ly/TK_JS_ZTM
🟣 React: https://bit.ly/TK_React_ZTM
🅱️ Node: https://bit.ly/TK_Node_ZTM
🧐 Coding Interview Prep (DSA): https://bit.ly/TK_DSA_ZTM
Learn How To Code Playlist:
• How I Learned To Code
Mentioned Resources:
⭐️ https://www.coursera.org/learn/learni…
🏕️ https://www.freecodecamp.org/
🔎 https://watchandcode.com/
Find Remote Jobs:
💻 https://remoteok.com/
💻 https://weworkremotely.com/
Tools I Used For Learning How To Code:
· Laptop Stand - https://amzn.to/3PgoMvU
· Pomodoro Timer - https://amzn.to/3NqoxgC
· Bose Headphones - https://amzn.to/3CseP7f
· Vertical Mouse - https://amzn.to/3JaWtLA
· Apple Keyboard - https://amzn.to/43SSRFX
· Laptop Backpack - https://amzn.to/3qFCu1p
Behind The Scenes:
🎬 https://www.timkim.me/ep-3-the-coding…
Disclaimer: Some of the links are affiliate links so I can feed mi familia while I make these videos for you guys. 🙏🙏🙏
Content
0.17 -> I dropped out of college, was
in debt, working 60 hours a week,
3.235 -> hated my job,
and most importantly, I felt stuck.
5.802 -> This is the
story of how I learned how to code
within four months, and I got a job.
9.364 -> I did it with no computer science
degree or a coding BootCamp
12.372 -> I am going to explain
exactly what I learned, how I got
a job, and how much that job paid.
17.204 -> Let's go.
21.97 -> Before
I got into tech, I was working
a lot of dead end sales jobs,
25.155 -> because I dropped
out of community college and
I didn't really have any other skills.
29.09 -> I didn't like the
idea of always having to hop from
job to job If I didn't like something.
33.42 -> I wanted something with a little
bit more career mobility long term.
36.562 -> I didn't
even really know what coding was.
38.492 -> I just
knew that the tech industry was,
let's say, a great environment for
42.656 -> $180 grand now
43.936 -> $200 ish
44.726 -> $250,000
45.632 -> $400,000 annually
47.03 -> growth... Yeah.
48.48 -> By the way, I'm not knocking sales.
50.08 -> I think sales
is a really important skill to learn.
52.544 -> I just needed a change, and it
really just wasn't for me long term.
55.322 -> And I wanted to gain the ability
to build something of my own.
58.66 -> The idea of building
something from zero to one
seemed like a superpower to me.
63.012 -> Day one,
63.684 -> I just went on
Google and I typed in how to code.
66.488 -> That's when I found a site called
FreeCodeCamp, and I started
to learn about web development.
70.974 -> I quickly learned about HTML, CSS,
73.438 -> and I learned
about my first real programming
language called JavaScript.
77.294 -> There's
a bunch of different programming
languages that you could learn,
80.076 -> but I personally
chose JavaScript because
I wanted to build web apps.
83.618 -> Even
major companies like Uber and
Airbnb use it, and there's a massive
demand for it in the job market.
88.828 -> By using FreeCodeCamp, I started
to learn the basics of coding.
92.07 -> I learned things like variables,
loops, objects, and functions.
96.71 -> But even after
doing the tutorials, I didn't really
feel like I could apply to anything.
101.168 -> And I still didn't
even know how to do something
as basic as building a website.
104.628 -> And I realized that I learned how to
code, not exactly how to program.
108.292 -> I was writing
code to solve logic problems,
but I didn't know how to program,
113.044 -> which is using
the code to build something useful.
115.898 -> At this point, though, already
I was starting to love the journey.
118.942 -> I really liked problem solving,
and I could see myself doing
something like this long term.
122.91 -> So
I did what any sane person would
do and I quit my job and I moved
to Korea to minimize my expenses.
128.958 -> And I decided to learn full time.
130.539 -> Learning full time
was a lot harder than I thought.
132.86 -> I've
actually never studied anything
this complicated or tough before,
137.196 -> and I was quickly starting
to realize that I didn't really
know how to study at this pace.
141.666 -> I would sit in front of my computer
and hours and hours would go by.
145.04 -> That was when I went
online, I typed in how to learn.
148.144 -> And
I found a course called "Learning
how to Learn" by Barbara Oakley.
151.302 -> This course was life changing.
153.046 -> My two main
takeaways were one, it taught me
how to learn in space segments,
A technique called Pomodoros.
160.122 -> And the course
taught me that I needed to create
a dedicated space for learning.
163.62 -> So I joined a Coworking
space, so I could focus better.
166.628 -> Now,
armed with new knowledge, I got
back to studying. And it worked.
169.604 -> Here's
what a normal day looked like.
171.252 -> 08:00 a.m wake up.
172.436 -> 8:30, Head to the train station.
174.394 -> 09:00
a.m. Arrive at the coworking space.
176.604 -> 9:15, Coffee Journaling
reviewing the curriculum.
179.586 -> 9:30 to 12:30,
I would have my first study session,
182.57 -> where I did 30
minutes increments of Pomodoros.
185.082 -> From 12:30
to 1:30, I would eat lunch and take a
small break, then back to studying.
189.482 -> From
02:00 p.m to 6:30, it was more 30
minutes increments of Pomodoros
until I was ready to head out.
194.692 -> From 6:30 to 7:30,
I would gym three times a week,
197.492 -> And then 8:30
to 9:00, I would eat dinner with
my grandma, then help her clean.
200.9 -> This was my schedule
for six days a week, no exceptions.
204.042 -> The next part of FreeCodeCamp
was a lot more challenging.
206.978 -> Front end projects.
208.306 -> They essentially give you a list
of projects that you have to build
using HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
213.346 -> To me, this felt like
a massive jump because I never
actually built anything before.
217.74 -> I felt stuck at this stage
until I found a YouTube channel
of this guy named Stephen
222.278 -> who would stream himself
building these projects line by line.
225.76 -> By copying him
and recreating what he was doing,
229.87 -> I was able to
use that experience and build the
next couple of projects on my own.
233.876 -> I also found a great resource
called watchandcode.com,
where you watch and code.
239.588 -> By following along once again
and modeling others, the concepts
really started to take hold,
244.98 -> and I was really starting
to understand what I was doing,
not just solving a math problem.
249.384 -> In exactly one month, I ended
up earning my FreeCodeCamp
Front End Developer certificate.
254.958 -> I was
learning a lot, but I never actually
built anything full stack before.
259.18 -> Something with a
front end or an interface, the thing
that you see within the browser.
263.234 -> A database where all
the information lives, essentially,
267.09 -> and a server
which handles and manipulates
all the data in the back end
272.012 -> by taking
in requests from the front end.
274.528 -> So I still felt like an
imposter and not a real developer.
278.198 -> You're not an intellectual.
You're a fake and a fraud.
280.342 -> So to
become a programmer, I decided
to build my first full stack project.
285.236 -> Remember
Stephen with a YouTube channel?
287.076 -> I reached out to him
to get his assistance to help me
build my first full stack web app,
291.556 -> we decided
to meet three times a week.
293.652 -> Here's what we did.
294.596 -> We picked one
major overarching project which
will teach me the basics of CRUD,
299.502 -> which
is Create, read, update and delete.
301.95 -> These are the foundations
for any web application.
304.616 -> I decided to clone Pinterest.
306.126 -> I honestly don't think
I would have gotten a job without
this next part, so pay attention.
310.258 -> I asked Stephen
to treat me like a real junior
developer working at a company.
314.796 -> We implemented a project
management tool called Jira.
317.906 -> We used
Jira to compartmentalize the entire
project and write the requirements
of exactly what I'd be building.
323.504 -> This taught
me how to estimate my work
and plan how to build an entire
web app from zero to launch.
329.478 -> We also set
the project up on GitHub, which
is a version control application.
333.712 -> This taught me how to develop
different branches for when
I was working on certain features,
337.882 -> and I could learn how to control
different versions of the code.
340.724 -> Most tech companies use some
version of the two applications
344.538 -> because being a developer isn't
just about knowing how to code.
347.524 -> It's about knowing
how to work collaboratively
with other people as well.
351.124 -> Stephen grilled me on
our pair of programming sessions.
353.562 -> He was
very strict about me keeping the
deadlines and the estimates that
I originally wrote out for myself.
358.316 -> He would constantly question
why I was doing what I was doing.
361.06 -> And
he even taught me the concept
of DRY, just Don't Repeat Yourself,
364.708 -> or essentially
just making reusable code.
367.556 -> I had to learn how
to build by Googling for answers
and using sites like Stack Overflow.
372.17 -> And he
would leave me a lot of comments
on things that I needed to change.
375.14 -> So I learned
how to debug my code on my own.
377.54 -> This made
me feel like I was a real developer.
380.394 -> at this time, I supplemented
my learning journey with
Udemy courses on React and Node
386.386 -> because these
were the two frameworks that
I chose to build my Pinterest clone.
390.194 -> As a result of building
my first full stack project, I ended
up learning how to do things like
394.924 -> how to design a database, build
APIs, set up Auth, and eventually
push the app to a cloud server.
400.466 -> These
are all things I would have never
learned by just doing tutorials.
403.99 -> And
in around two months, I finished
my first full-stack web app.
408.096 -> I remember when I finished the
app, I felt like a real programmer.
410.902 -> That's when reality
set in and I realized I'm still broke.
414.342 -> I haven't made a single
penny in over a couple of months,
and I still needed to find a job.
420.02 -> It was time
to see if everything that I learned
was actually worth anything.
423.428 -> First,
I defined the job that I wanted.
425.38 -> I wanted to be remote. And most
importantly, I wanted to work for
a small to medium sized company,
430.76 -> because I hate working
in a corporate environment.
433.358 -> I found
all the jobs that fit my parameters
on sites like weworkremotly.com
and remoteok.io
439.89 -> And instead
of just applying to these jobs,
442.594 -> I found
the contact information of the
hiring managers and developers
who worked at the company,
446.683 -> and I messaged
them to introduce myself.
448.556 -> I explained
exactly what I had learned up until
this point,what I was looking for.
452.976 -> I even included
the link to my GitHub so they could
see the projects that I had built.
457.104 -> Most importantly,
I included an offer that
I know that they couldn't refuse.
461.206 -> I offered to work for free.
462.912 -> And I understand
guys, not everyone can afford to do
this, but I had originally estimated
467.722 -> that this was going to take
me around four months anyways.
470.026 -> And I had
another month of time that I could
essentially dedicate to learning.
473.748 -> I knew all I had to do
was get my foot into a company,I
could essentially learn there
478.456 -> and then prove
my worth over time to leverage
that into a real job long term.
482.813 -> Overall, I found around
22 jobs I thought fit the parameters
of what I was looking for.
487.256 -> I got
around six responses. From those
responses, I got four interviews.
491.65 -> And out
of the four interviews, I ended up
getting three legitimate job offers.
496.145 -> Even
though I had offered to work for
free, after the technical interviews,
499.97 -> the employers thought that I had
enough skills at that point where I
was worth hiring for a full time job.
506.159 -> I ended up choosing the company
with the best opportunity to learn,
509.232 -> and that
also happened to have the best
compensation package as well.
512.415 -> My first salary was
514.289 -> $50,000 a year,
516.004 -> and
then after my probationary period,
I was making $65,000 a year.
520.5 -> My benefits
kicked in like health and dental.
522.713 -> But the
biggest perk for me was that I got
to work remotely the entire time as
long as I worked the US time zone.
528.842 -> I'm
not saying that you'll be an expert
developer if you follow this plan.
531.764 -> I'm just sharing what I did to
learn just enough to land me a job,
535.372 -> as
most of the progress that I've had
as a developer all came on the job.
539.18 -> No luck here, just focused effort.
541.146 -> Now, I've been
working in tech for over a decade,
543.338 -> and let me
be the first to tell you that nobody
cares about your credentials.
546.426 -> Learning
how to code was mainly two things
548.66 -> learning how to solve problems,
and two, persisting until you find
the answer that you're looking for.
553.7 -> If you're interested in seeing
us learn more cool stuff, make
sure to subscribe to the channel.
558.548 -> And also, if you want
to see me apply these principles
to something other than coding,
562.874 -> like something
artistic, click on this video.
566.684 -> Where we're going to put it?
568.06 -> Here?
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR1ydijTx5E