Working as an IT specialist, one can build a really prominent career in the tech field. It’s a difficult road and requires a huge amount of effort and time to learn HTML, CSS, Java, PHP, and other technical things, but it is worth it.
Statistics show that computer, internet, and technology positions are paid much higher compared to other positions in the job market. If you are ready to start your career in the tech field and want to become one of the top online recruitment candidates, we will guide you through the process.
Where to start?
Before you start looking for information on how to become a programmer from scratch, think if you need it at all. This question does not apply to those who already have a knowledge base.
If you had a hard time with mathematics at school and other technical sciences, then maybe it is better to consider another profession. For example, you can try copywriting or content management if you are good at writing texts. However, if you have firmly decided to develop in the tech field, then let’s figure out what it takes to become a programmer.
You can start by choosing one of the 4 methods proposed below:
Self-education
On the Internet, there is a huge number of programming courses that allow you to get a good education. Moreover, many of them are available for free. Also, the Internet is full of various thematic articles, videos, and audio materials. In general, you will not get lost, the main thing is to dig deeper, no one will hand you everything in the ready-made form for free.
Build a study plan, for example, 1 topic per week. Study it in detail and do not switch to a new one without fully understanding all the subtleties of the previous one. The absolute advantage of self-education is the fact that you build the program yourself, based on what is needed to achieve a specific result.
Specialized courses
As a rule, such programs do not capture all the aspects of programming, they allow you to dive into a separate narrow topic and learn specific technologies or skills. For example, with the help of one standard course, you can study adaptive typesetting from A to Z in less than 30 days.
Higher education
This path will be long. And it cannot be said that you will have a great advantage in knowledge because the educational program will also include other sciences that are not that useful for your career. So, decide if such a financial and time investment is worth it.
Mentor
A mentor will show the way and will correct mistakes, pointing at them. You can always ask your mentor for help in case of difficulties. If there is no time, the mentor will at least recommend useful books or other educational materials.
The only catch is that it is not so easy to find a mentor because most often these are super busy people who have a lot of work. It is your persistence that will determine if you can find a specialist to guide you in the tech field.
What knowledge is necessary?
The knowledge you need to acquire depends on what you want to specialize in. Each person has one’s own goals and preferences. In any case, first, you need to decide on a suitable programming language (JavaScript, PHP, Java, Python, Ruby, etc.). The following 3 parameters can be the selection criteria:
- The availability of vacancies in the labor market. Study the market, see what language is in demand, and based on that, start your education.
- Low entry level. If you want to become a programmer without spending too much time learning the basics, check which language you can learn as quickly as possible and get started.
- The pleasure from the process. If you don’t like the language you work with, you won’t be able to become a good programmer.
How to get your first practical experience?
After you have decided what kind of programmer to become, it’s time to move on to practice. Without it, you won’t be able to get a job or get a good, expensive freelance order. So, you need to immediately apply your knowledge in practice in parallel with studying.
Having received a certain knowledge base, it’s time to think about where to take the first project. For this, you can go to freelance platforms. It will be very difficult for beginners to get an order, but start small. Get the project done for cheap or for free. Then do several projects to the best of your ability and package them in a portfolio. After that, the task of finding clients or a position in the company will become much easier.
