Tips for self-taught (uneducated) devs looking for salaried jobs?

[ek1]

I just finished my resume and I didn't even bother with an education section because all I have is 2/5 of an arts degree.

I had talked with admissions of a good school in my city last year about doing a CS degree there but the whole thing was so gross I couldn't go through with it. They're really just taking your money and your dreams and churning you out. It was when they insisted I wouldn't be able to complete the degree without at least 4 electives - electives I'd have to pay for - that I walked out.

But I'm realizing that if the hiring manager is only going to spend 30 seconds on your resume, having one line that 'proves' I know what I'm doing is a lot easier for them than going through my website and my github and my client testimonials etc.

I am going to complete CS50 with the certificate so I can put that on at least. I'm also going to talk to the comp sci department specifically, to see if we can work something out. I JUST paid off my student loans from art school and I'm not super keen to go back into debt.

Any other ideas? Am I bumming myself out over nothing? Is one good project worth as much to my resume as an education?

 

[Gummibeer]

I have no idea how it's in your country/region/city. But in general degrees don't prove anything. Most tech HR know this. The real life experience is important.
And to prove them having a working project or a public GitHub profile with contributions proves a lot more than a school degree.
I would always choose the one with open source contributions over one with a school degree only.

Coding isn't about theoretical knowledge. It's about real project experience - how to work with shitty code, how to choose the right tools and why hyped doesn't have to be right, how to keep a project running longer than the hypetrain and so on.

And there's a ton of these super small but important things no one can teach you or would need months/years to do - primary because a lot of things are subjective.

And a proper set of soft skills is much more important!

 

[Gummibeer]

And as addition two women in tech accounts who could help you.

Emma Bostian 🐞

Emma Bostian 🐞 (@EmmaBostian) on Twitter

The latest Tweets from Emma Bostian 🐞 (@EmmaBostian). Software Engineer | Design Systems @logmein; previously @ibm && creating content @ladybugpodcast @codingcoach_io | American living in Germany 🇩🇪. Karlsruhe, Germany

twitter.com

Samantha Geitz

Samantha Geitz (@SamanthaGeitz) on Twitter

The latest Tweets from Samantha Geitz (@SamanthaGeitz). Nailbiting manophobic hellbent feminist she-devil who shrieks from the top of a thousand tall buildings She/her 💙💜💖. Chicago, IL

twitter.com

And also a man I really honor/respect who could have some advice for you is Matt Stauffer Matt Stauffer (@stauffermatt) on Twitter .

I hope you will find something!

 

[tom]

And as addition two women in tech accounts who could help you.

Emma Bostian 🐞

Emma Bostian 🐞 (@EmmaBostian) on Twitter

The latest Tweets from Emma Bostian 🐞 (@EmmaBostian). Software Engineer | Design Systems @logmein; previously @ibm && creating content @ladybugpodcast @codingcoach_io | American living in Germany 🇩🇪. Karlsruhe, Germany

twitter.com

Samantha Geitz

Samantha Geitz (@SamanthaGeitz) on Twitter

The latest Tweets from Samantha Geitz (@SamanthaGeitz). Nailbiting manophobic hellbent feminist she-devil who shrieks from the top of a thousand tall buildings She/her 💙💜💖. Chicago, IL

twitter.com

I'd add two more:

Sara Vieira

Sara Vieira (@NikkitaFTW) on Twitter

The latest Tweets from Sara Vieira (@NikkitaFTW). International agent of JS Bullshit 🚀 Developer @codesandbox 📦 Queer master of @queerjs 🌈 Wifey to @AlxSavage ♥️. Berlin, Germany

twitter.com

Sarah Drasner

Sarah Drasner (@sarah_edo) on Twitter

The latest Tweets from Sarah Drasner (@sarah_edo). stupid like a fox ★ Head of DX @Netlify Core Team @vuejs Co-organizer @ConcatenateConf https://t.co/vhOERxzOOl 💻 https://t.co/1cManf7L7S, she/her

www.twitter.com

Also have a look at Vue Vixens if you didn't know them already: Vue Vixens - Workshops for Foxy People to Learn Vue.js

 

[ek1]

@Gummibeer thanks for your advice! Was just a little freaked out by advice I kept seeing for resume writing to "keep it short and concise because they'll only look at it for 30 seconds" and by job postings requiring a degree. Since thinking on it and reading your reply and others online I've come to the conclusion I wouldn't want to work somewhere that wasn't willing to ensure it had good talent anyway.

Also thanks all for the great femme inspiration! Was going to make a post specifically asking for this sort of thing so this is fantastic. Emma Bostian is part of LadyBugs which is a favorite of mine but I'd never heard of the rest.
Just confused about how a thread looking for resume advice turned into a list of inspirational femme devs?

 

[Gummibeer]

@Gummibeer thanks for your advice! Was just a little freaked out by advice I kept seeing for resume writing to "keep it short and concise because they'll only look at it for 30 seconds" and by job postings requiring a degree. Since thinking on it and reading your reply and others online I've come to the conclusion I wouldn't want to work somewhere that wasn't willing to ensure it had good talent anyway.

Also thanks all for the great femme inspiration! Was going to make a post specifically asking for this sort of thing so this is fantastic. Emma Bostian is part of LadyBugs which is a favorite of mine but I'd never heard of the rest.
Just confused about how a thread looking for resume advice turned into a list of inspirational femme devs?

No problem. And yes, for sure there are HRs not even checking your profile for 30sec. But they don't filter too much but too few/less. And yes, I wouldn't want to work somewhere only checking degrees either. And since I'm in OS I haven't wrote a single resume/CV or anything. Who wants more than my GH profile and what's on my website isn't the boss I want. And exactly that's what I write recruiters. I'm a developer in a web business - why should I do something else!? 😉

And related to these profiles: it's hard, as a man, to give advice for a job seeking women. Even if there are more and more it's still a thing that womens are discriminated. 😔
So my idea was to give you some others to ask via DM for advice. Possibly they know a company or can tell you something about their experiences.

 

[emmzee]

In the beginning, it may be easiest to go through recruiters. You probably won't get a salaried gig right away, but they'll likely be able to get you something to get started, and that can lead into something else.

My first contract through a recruiter was a 2-week contract gig, then my next was 3 months, then 6 months, then a year and a half, and now for the last 3 years I've been full-time salaried. Try to parlay each smaller opportunity into something bigger.

 

[remote.io]

I just finished my resume and I didn't even bother with an education section because all I have is 2/5 of an arts degree.

Formal education doesn't matter as much as most people think. I personally have sent out my resume with college excluded completely and received 6 figure + equity offers from publicly-traded companies.

Any other ideas? Am I bumming myself out over nothing? Is one good project worth as much to my resume as an education?

You'll want to detail all languages or projects that you've worked with. Even if they aren't live projects, explain what the project was (or was intended to be), why it was necessary, and what problem it solved.

Your resume is essentially a sell sheet. You're selling that you're capable of completing tasks and critical thinking, not that you're a trained monkey that can repeat tasks 1-5.

You will want to include as many technologies as possible that you are at least familiar with. It's fine to just have a comma separated list, but you need them to pass the applicant tracking system screening before your resume will even be viewed.

Apply to as many jobs that seem interesting as you like. Even if you decide not to take their offer, the interviews will help you become more confident and know what to expect. It's likely going to be a lot of random questions to see how you think, talk about your knowledge, and see how willing you are to learn new things.

If you're looking for remote careers, check out my site, www.remote.io. It's mostly development oriented jobs and interviews will be video chats and phone calls.

 

[Adam]

Erin I saw this Twitter thread and thought of you, might be worth a browse!

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1217518126881034241