Day one was purposely set for the first day of the year. January 1st 2022. One year after I decided to make the change from an entire decade of answering phones - getting yelled at, setting appointments, and getting yelled at some more- to getting a job as a Front-End Developer. Those of you who know, know. Customer service.
"One day I just knew, as sure as you do when you're falling in love, slowly, and then all at once, that I indeed hated my job."
I decided that the next career I'm in will be one that I am passionate about, where I can grow, and never get yelled at by the general public ever again. But anyways, that was a year ago.
A couple semesters down, a bootcamp finished and a portfolio made, I started #100daysofcode.
I knew that I needed to learn and do a few things in order to get hired. I will spoil it for you now, no I haven't been hired... yet.
Initially, I started in the knowledge that I needed to really learn React, add 3 to 4 really good projects to my portfolio and apply to a lot of jobs. Well, that was just the beginning.
I'd like to share some stats before I tell you what I've learned:
Jobs Applied to: 85 Direct Rejections: 23 Responses from Networking: 4 Next steps (coding challenges/initial recruiter calls): 7 Interviews: 3 Offer Letters: Zilch... yet.
So.. first. When people say they applied to 500 jobs within 4/6 months with 79 direct rejects, 10 failed interviews and at the very end, 1 offer letter. They meant it.
If you are starting at your day one, take it from a mid-life job cri- I mean 100daysofcode mid-life job-searcher, and maybe consider the tips and advice I'm giving myself.
Apply to 10 jobs a day. Stop feeling under-qualified just because you're inexperienced. Apply to 10 jobs a day. Pick one book about coding and read a little bit a week. Apply to 10 jobs a day Pick a great, big, grand project that you feel excited about and more importantly that you couldn't finish in a week or a few days, but one that would take a month. Break it down into small pieces and sections and focus on learning the skills to accomplish that one part. As you build and update new code every day your Github will light up, you'll really understand how a whole site works, and it can help you stay focused on enjoying the journey. Keep learning something new each day. Have fun, oh and don't forget to apply to 10 jobs a day.
So for me:
I'll be reading Eloquent Javascript by Marijn Haverbeke. I'm starting on my own big project (that I've been apprehensive about). I'm applying to 10 jobs a day, even those where I feel that I'm not experienced enough (6 years experience for entry-level, I mean, come-on who is that would still consider themselves entry-level?).
I'm 50 days in, and I am determined to get a job in tech before the 100 days is up. In the words of a man who never stopped trying to be in the position and role that [he felt] he belonged,
"I am burdened with glorious purpose."