I ’ll be honest. Whenever I would ask people for advice on how to get a job in the tech field, I felt even more confused by their response. While I often received great advice, I struggled with learning how to apply it. How would I network with others? What events should I go to while balancing a full time job as a teacher? What questions do I ask? What projects should I work on or showcase? I soon learned that none of those things will have much effect on one’s progression until one has worked on themselves. Telling someone to “work on yourself” is vague, but I believe the point of this phrase lies in the person’s ability to honestly self-reflect and establish what aspects of their life need improvement.
This was my issue. I didn’t know exactly what I needed to focus on because I distracted myself with so many options all at once. This is why it is important to take a break or some time off from your typical leisure time activities, preferably on a weekend, and just be still and be honest with yourself. Engage in the kind of self-care that does not promote escapism, but rather insight into your current progress and brutal honesty with yourself. If you do not do this, it will be hard to accurately determine where you are going wrong on your journey.
When my contract was due to end at my first developer job at a local, private agency, I knew that I needed to find something soon in order to continue paying my bills and buying what I needed to sustain myself. I unfortunately was not able to secure another job in the tech field. During this time, I received my official teaching certification from my state education department, after a year of waiting. I decided to swallow my pride and return to teaching until I could find my way back to the tech field. I had to be honest with myself, my skills and confidence were not one hundred percent there. The market I was looking for jobs in was tepid at best. I got several interviews, but no real offers. The companies I interviewed with were not willing to pay me the average salary a Web Developer starts off with, and the healthcare and retirement benefits were non-existent.
You deserve a job that will provide you with the ability to comfortably meet your needs. Don’t rush yourself.
– Toni
Many people questioned my decision to return to teaching. They didn’t understand my situation and what I personally had to do to advance myself. In my experience, having a job while improving my development skills helped me to avoid accepting offers in desperation. Employers of shady and exploitative companies can and will use this to manipulate you and get quality work out of you for less than what you and your skills are worth. It was tough to balance, but I needed to build my skills as well as provide for myself and help my family. To help me learn at my own pace while working, I turned to Udemy. I enrolled in Colt Steele’s Web Developer Bootcamp and a couple code interview courses. These courses helped—and continue to help—me to be more consistent in my practice and gain confidence gradually. I would work on this after a long day at work teaching 5-6 different subjects to 10th, 11th, and 12th graders.
Once I set a foundation with a job to support myself and a learning routine, I moved on to the next step: networking. I went to events when I had the time, and I made sure to go to ones that I could consistently go to. I signed up for an apprenticeship program and even joined a team of developers working on an app for an owner’s startup company. This helped me to apply my soft skills in the developer arena. I learned to talk to people about what I know, what I am learning, what I have completed on a project, and what I am about to complete a project. I learned how to get comfortable utilizing the appropriate technical terms. This stage really catapulted me forward because I solidified what I was learning; I was using the language repeatedly. This stage also helps you determine whether or not you actually enjoy your work as you apply what you learn and collaborate with others.
The last step for me was the job search. Be honest with yourself about your skill level and experience, but do not downplay your capabilities and knowledge. Try freelancing to start. You can build HTML or WordPress themes and sell them to make income. You can also make a website or blog for yourself, a family member, a friend, a client, or a co-worker. Join a local coding group and work on an open source project with them. You can include that as freelance work on your resume. This way, you show that you have been constantly applying your skills to projects. Also, don’t be discouraged. The companies I applied to that turned me down, which I won’t name, are still looking for that unicorn developer to demand the most from and pay very little to. You deserve a job that will provide you with the ability to comfortably meet your needs. Don’t rush yourself. You got this! It took me about 6 years to get to this point. You are not alone, give it time, and always check-in with yourself on your journey.