Finding a programming job without a degree

Q: How does a self-taught programmer find a job without having any work experience? I live in India and having a degree is a big thing here.

Create a real, side project.

Yes, that’s a simple answer — but really, it will give you the work experience that you need.

The caveat, is that it has to be a *real* project, not something to show that you can code. It should help real people (even one person) solve some kind of problem that they have.

Make sure its working and up in the real world somewhere.

Pick a series of technologies that you like.

If you don’t want to do this, then maybe, just maybe you are not self-taught at all. Because the only way to teach yourself anything — is to actually do it. This is why medical professionals have to spend so much time actually helping patients and not just going from the classroom to their own practice.

Now you might say… “Ericson” I have no time for work.

But you just need to re-focus your priorities and put some long time into doing this.

Trust me, it pays off. I’ve never been turned down for a job when I showed any of my side projects — even though I’m entirely self-taught.

And now that I’m an employer, I leap at the chance of interviewing and hiring the person who has their own project that others have used. Who has code to show from that project and who has the initiative to start something from scratch, shepherd it through to launch, then deal with customer feedback and consistent improvements.

One does not pass up potential employees like that — not matter how small the project was.

Good luck my friend!