Coding, you know you want to.
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I love seeing people passionate about something. We meet so many people who know they want to be programmers but don’t quite know where to start.
If you’re bright, passionate about technology and eager to learn, a good team of mentors can teach you to code, but how do you get to be a part of their team?
You need to be able to show them your potential through your resume and online profile so that they want to meet you. You don’t have to have a B.ComSci or a Masters of IT to be a great developer. Or, even if you have a list of tertiary qualifications as long as my left arm, you still need to be able to demonstrate your development skills.
Get coding. Start a project (or 10). Be present online.
Steve has talked a lot about Github or GTFO and it couldn’t be more relevant for anyone trying to get into commercial software development. Get a Github, Bitbucket, Stack Overflow profile, personal website or blog going. They are all ways that prospective employers can become interested in meeting you. They provide insight into what you’re interested in, what you can do, and, to a certain extent, how you think and what you’re potentially capable of doing.
Put them on your resume. Include what you’re passionate about and anything you’ve done to demonstrate what you like. Tell me how you have used particular technologies and why you used them. Tell me how you actually did it rather than a list of what you did. This doesn’t have to be long (and preferably isn’t) but you need to spark your readers’ interest.
Get involved in the community. Sign up and contribute to community mailing lists. Get to meetups. Conferences. Seminars. Talk to people. There are so many initiatives out there like , Girl Develop It and InstallFest that help people break into web development.
The technical community here in Sydney, and beyond, is really active and full of friendly and passionate people who love to welcome new faces. They’re great places to meet new people, network and learn about technology. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to develop something cool every day, there’s so many ways you can get there and a lot of great people are willing to help you - get out there and get coding.
