This developer’s 5-month guide to learn code and get hired is all you need

Last year, I wrote a post on how to go from zero to being hired as a developer in five months. Since then, things have changed, so I wanted to offer an updated and improved version. If you are a junior developer or are curious about the industry, this post is for you. If you are an established developer, you may find some useful links in here as well.

If you find this post too long, you can skip over to the “5 months, step-by-step” section. But you’ll hurt my feelings.

OK, you’re still here. Great! Let’s keep going.

Using online courses and mostly free tools, you can gain a valuable skill that will allow you to be employed in a rewarding and challenging industry and move around the world (more on this later).

Let’s get started.

Why Coding?

Before we talk about becoming a developer, we must first dive into why you would want to go down this path. Here are a few possible reasons:

• You want to be working in an industry where there is a high demand for the skill and many possibilities to be in important roles at the top of the food chain.
• You love being location-independent. You want a skill that allows you to go anywhere in the world and still find a job easily.
• You think change is good and that learning should never stop. So why not do something new?
• You’ve noticed the difference between 2002 and 2017 and how much technological progress we’ve made in those 15 years, and you want to be at the forefront of an industry that is impacting the world.

But you might think, “I don’t have a computer science degree and I don’t even know how the internet works!” Don’t worry, we will use that to your advantage. Keep reading.

When choosing a new career path, here are some good must/nice-to-haves:

1. It must be relevant for the next 10+ years.
2. The demand for people with this skill must be higher than the supply.
3. You can have a high salary regardless of your years in the industry.
4. It’s an industry that doesn’t require a specialized degree from a university.
5. You can catch up to the top performers in the industry in the shortest amount of time.
6. You can have fun.

In my experience, coding hits all of the above. Evaluate this yourself and see if it’s right for you.

IMPORTANT: Keep in mind that the first two months will feel like climbing an insurmountable mountain. Every tutorial, course, or lesson will make you feel like you are the only person in the world that doesn’t know this stuff. Stay strong. You will get there and you will have increasingly more “aha!” moments as time progresses. We call this the Impostor’s Syndrome. Rest assured, we all feel this way when we learn something new.

Why should I listen to you?

Wow, you’re aggressive! But I guess that’s a fair question.

A few years ago, I wanted a career change and decided to teach myself computer programming. I spent the first month avoiding any tutorials or books. Instead, I spent it looking at the best way for me to learn and get hired. I studied other people’s experiences, looked at job postings, spoke to established developers, reviewed online courses, looked at bootcamps, and even read articles by futurists on where we will be with technology in 20 years. Based on those, I created a curriculum for myself focused on efficiency (the critical amount of learning to be employable in the shortest amount of time).

Although I spent a month planning my studying instead of actually studying, it was a benefit in the long run because I wasn’t running blind. I knew where I was going and I had a map to the finish line. You will too.

What language are we going to learn?

5 months, step-by-step

Let’s recap

Biggest takeaway

Motivation