link by gcamacho079
edit : thank you all for the congratulation and encouraging response ! i go on vacation for a week and be wholly overwhelm by all the email and pms that result from this post when i return .
there be a lot of question to see my resume/cover letter ; i be by no mean an expert but i’ll try to address those question in a separate post very soon .
thank you all again and i’ll keep you update on the new job ! so it’s official .
start october 16th , i will be an official , salaried front - end web developer .
( ! ) here’s a look at my cod journey : receive my bs in chemistry in 2014 .
love the problem solving and be truly good at the subject but not wholly passionate about it… get accept to a chemistry ph .
d .
program and start in fall 2014 .
drop out of the program before xmas break 2015 .
i’d enjoy some aspect like troubleshoot experiment , refining procedure , and teaching , but dislike most organic lab work .
get hire for a part - time nanny gig i find fcc the week after i drop out and spend most of my ‘break’ learning .
learn on - and - away while nannying and explore other income possibility ( i .
e .
marketing , craft , write , etc ) start the web dev job search around march 2017 while i be still nannying , but have to leave town to take care of my mom so i put the job hunt on hold .
return home in may and continue my nanny gig ( i stop look for dev job since i be so grateful they’d keep my job open while i be go ) .
that become a full - time commitment .
didn’t do anything cod - relate for several month , until i find a part - time marketing job with a tech - related nonprofit .
be in a techy workplace inspire me to start cod again .
about a month ago , have some minor emergency that make get a dev job my highest priority .
after apply to ~5 job per day for a couple week , i get an email back from a company hire for a web designer/developer .
they want to interview me the next day .
how i prepare for the interview the job ad have be vague with no information at all about the company , except that they want someone with experience in bootstrap , front - end development , adobe design product , and the wordpress cms .
when i receive their info in the interview email , i immediately jump onto their website to do pre - interview research .
so note : this wasn’t an agency , but a small business look for someone to fill their sole developer position .
my focus in apply or reach out to company be to make myself out to be the problem - solver they’re look for .
the site this company own have a lot of issue - fix - size item in responsive container , div - itis and divs be use to center thing in container , but wholly break the layout on mobile… ahh ! to foster a more conversational interview , i make a gigantic list of topic to bring up so that i could position myself as an expert .
i bring my laptop and , during the interview , pull up chrome developer tool and pesticide , sang praise about version control and clean code , and so on .
the offer i know woman ( and in general , everyone face impostor syndrome ) can be wary about come away as arrogant or advocate for themselves when it come to thing like salary and career advancement .
i’m normally the quiet , non - confrontational type and i’ve never be in a situation of negotiate salary so i be catch a little away - guard during the interview .
in the interview , my interviewer let it be know that i be the last person of many be interview and that they be shoot for an hourly rate that be merely kind of…meh .
i wasn’t excessively thrill about it , so when they ask about my interest level i back away slightly and keep insist my salary requirement be higher than they be look for .
lo and behold , after the weekend , i receive an email ask for a second meeting with this company .
they start the meeting by say they talk it through and would meet my salary requirement , and they would be willing to further negotiation in 6 month time .
i accept ! more perspective - where i’m at i get my job offer ~22 month after start fcc .
there be time when i be cod every day for week on end , and then there be time when i didn’t code for month on end .
when i fell away the bandwagon , i merely pick up where i leave away .
sure , i have to do some backtracking but there be no need to wholly start over .
i haven’t even finish free code camp’s front - end certification , so don’t feel like you need to have a piece of ( virtual ) paper in hand to get a job .
here’s my portfolio for reference .
my cod advice get a local development environment up and run equally soon as you can .
i use part of the odin project to get my computer setup and get start use git and command line .
start a website - it doesn’t matter what it be .
have the experience set one up be extremely valuable , and it look great on your resume .
always be try to do thing better .
learn about cool thing like modular css and functional javascript and always be try to improve .
get out of your comfort zone .
hate css ? sign up for a challenge that will push you to improve .
( i’ve come to realize that hate of a language/process/framework/whatever be merely my brain tell me it’s uncomfortable with its lack of understand .
) don’t be afraid to invest in yourself and your skill .
i love , love , love free code camp and all the free learning material out there , but there be merely some thing that wouldn’t click for me until i find the right resource .
apis , i’m talk about you .
for example , treehouse have save me many time over with their insanely clear big - picture explanation and focus on best practice .
that’s not to say you have to go that route - merely know what work for you , and foster a learning environment that help you do your best work .
acknowledge how far you’ve come by help people who be merely start .
this can be a huge self - esteem boost when you’re feel stuck .
take break when you need to .
i can’t tell you how many time i’ve gotten frustrate with a project , take a week away to not think about it , and have a glorious a - ha moment where everything suddenly make sense .
cool job hunt resource how to write a good resume in 2017 : i follow the tip and resume template in this awesome post how to write a cover letter : once i start use these tip , i begin get way more response ( even if merely to say they appreciate my application and to reapply when i have more experience ) .
you can find my blog at lupecamacho .
com let’s be twitter buddy ! @ lupecamach0