hey guys it's been awhile i have 10 tips to share with you guys on how to land a coding
job without a computer science degree i know a lot of you have been thinking about switching over to
computer science so i thought these tips would be really helpful for you guys because i personally
have used them before and they worked for me and they got me to where i am today so i don't know
you guys can try it out and let me know what you think and without further ado let's get started
so my number one tip is to create a portfolio this kind of makes up for the lack of degree and
it shows to the interviewer that you are able to create a basic website you should also customize
it to showcase your personality a little bit so they kind of get to know you and it definitely
leaves a good first impression if your portfolio is good on your website you can give a little
summary of everything you do all the projects you made and maybe some prior education that might not
be in computer science degree you can put on there you can also leave a resume and if you are able to
create some nice website this will definitely give you a lot of bonus points and this may even be the
reason why you move on to the next round number two apply to job 10 jobs at least every other
day so that's what i did i applied to when i first started out with no prior experience no degree i
applied to at least 10 jobs every other day i kept an excel sheet of it of what the job position was
where i found it and what day i applied and all of that just in case they did email me back
so my schedule used to be apply to 10 jobs on monday it usually takes an entire day because
you have to write cover letters and all that you want to make sure that you are customizing your
application to fit that company culture and then the next day i would study algorithms and then it
would go on like that remember not to be too picky especially if it's your first job any experience
is better than nothing so when i started out i applied to jobs even if they said like require two
to three years of experience i would still apply it's really hard to find a job that says like
require no experience and no degree so i would kind of just ignore that part and apply anyway
it worked for me i got a lot of rejection emails but i also got a few interviews so i think that
is something that could work for you guys too my next tip is to practice algorithms you most likely
will get tested on some kind of algorithm i try to practice them and i always cheat and look at
the solution which is totally not something you're supposed to do but i used um hackerrank leetcode
is popular uh code wars but basically if you just google sites to practice algorithms there will
be a bunch that come up and when you do line your first interview you want to make sure that you are
as prepared as possible so that way you can move on to the next round they can be very daunting
but just try to do the easy ones first and slowly move on to the more difficult ones my
next tip is to study concepts so you have to study algorithms and you have to study concepts you will
definitely get a lot of browning points if you answer all the theoretical questions correctly
watch some youtube videos i linked one a long time ago that really helped me with javascript
it was called fun fun function i will leave it the actual link down below and there are also a
lot of books out there that can help you with the interview process i have one called programming
interviews something i didn't actually get to finish it but it was helpful in the beginning
i will link all the books that i know down below in the description box reading those books will
definitely do you more good than harm i feel like even if you fail the algorithms but you get all
the theoretical questions correct the interviewer will be pleased and maybe you will move on to the
next round my next tip is to create a project that you can talk about uh for many projects that way
if your resume is kind of looking a little empty from your lack of education and experience you
will have your projects there and that also is a good conversation starter between you and the
interviewer usually they will ask you like oh what is something you've worked on in the past
and if you have no actual prior work experience then at least you can talk about your project
in boot camp i created a i was in a group and me and my peers we created a dating product
so that was a really cool conversation starter i would bring that up a lot and it's also something
you can add to your portfolio or else your portfolio might look really empty too if you
don't have any your any of your own projects make sure you add some cool technical stuff to it so
that will impress the interviewer as well and that will definitely give you some brownie points
in the beginning i really like to focus on how we deployed the dating app and we also bought a
domain for it so the interviewer can actually go to the website check it out obviously it's not
there anymore my next tip is of course to have a great resume make it visually pleasing make sure
you go into detail about your boot camp or however you learn um programming especially if you don't
have any other things to really talk about so just make sure you go into detail of what you learned
maybe how you learned it and if you have a project go into detail about that have a summary there
on what you're looking for the kind of culture you're looking for the languages you would love
to work in cater it to the company that you're applying to if you have a degree in something
else put that on there this is gonna be our first impression so try to make it good i have mine as
one page but two columns i try to make it easy to read not too long but it doesn't look too empty
i've learned this tip from my friend but i've had a qr code on my linkedin profile on my resume
so that way they can just quickly glance on my linkedin real quick um oh yeah also created
linkedin that is super valuable as well my next tip is to go to a networking event go to as many
as you can well um it's a bit difficult right now with coven i know i'm sure there are a lot of
online ones i haven't really looked but i'll try to look for you guys and i'll put it down below if
i find any but definitely go to one in person once this pandemic is over i went to a lot when i was
first applying i used meetup and eventbrite and usually they would list the companies that would
be there so for me i actually landed one of my first interviews at from a networking event and it
was a pretty big company and i don't think i would have landed an interview if i haven't if i didn't
meet that person if i didn't meet that person in person um so that was a pretty cool experience and
it showed that going to networking is actually very very beneficial this is when i had no
experience no education or no real education in computer science but i um i went with a couple of
my boot camp friends and they talked me up a lot i think you guys should definitely take advantage of
networking events especially if you see a company that you want to work for that is going dress your
best have resumes printed out give them out to everyone be ready to talk your heart out and show
off my next tip is to try to conduct as many mock interviews as possible maybe ask your fan a family
member or a friend to help you in this because having as much experience in these interviews
is going to help you out like i mentioned i tend to forget everything when i am in the
interview i've actually had one where it was so bad i just wanted to hang up i did not prepare
for it i thought it was just gonna be like a re like the it was the first interview and i thought
it was just gonna be like a recruiting interview so i didn't prepare as much as i should have and
when the interviewer started asking me all of these technical questions i just started
freaking out and i blanked out and like even the most basic questions i could not answer
i literally just wanted to cry and hang up but i knew that was going to be very unprofessional so
i kept kept it going um but yeah that was probably my one of my most horrific interview experiences
i'm glad it was over the phone and not in person so just try to practice as much as you can
practice makes perfect preparation is the key to success my next tip is just try to be as confident
as possible on interview day eat breakfast don't think about it too much don't cram because i don't
think i think crabbing will just make you more nervous and stressed out so just make sure you
are as confident as you can be before an interview sometimes i would listen to some really great
some really good feel good music that i love and that just makes me feel really confident inside
be early to your interviews you just want to make that day as easy as possible my last tip for you
guys is don't quit the only way you'll lose in all of this is by quitting so just don't quit keep
trying i've had plenty of horrible interview experiences i still remember the first day
i got my first rejection email it was also the first day that i got into my first car accident
um it's a very memorable day but i did not quit after that i kept on applying and yeah it took me
about like a month and a half to land my first job and just remember even though you have a million
of horrible interviews at least you're learning from them learning from them
and the more interviews you have the easier it will become i'm hoping one day i will be
so good at interviews i will not freak out at all and i will just be super confident
something i'm still working on but yeah those are all my tips for you i hope they are helpful
let me know which tip has worked for you like i said before i personally have used all of
these tips to get to where i am today so have an amazing day everyone and i will see you next time
bye