How to learn coding

A guide to teaching yourself to code (and
getting a job!)
by Nicole Archambault
Avoid what you don’t need; learn and practice what you do
Like most people, I had no plans whatsoever to teach myself to
code. The decision came when I lost my Customer Service job
in 2015.
The transition came as organically as falling in love with a
soulmate. We were old loves—I had tried to make it work in
college, but the timing wasn’t right. Not to say it was easy! But,
it was so much easier with so much emotion to drive the
experience.
I got my first job in tech in about 10 months after I started
teaching myself web development, after an incredible amount of
work.
And please believe me when I tell you that if I can do it…
you can, too.
I’m quite sure there are lots of guides out there on this
topic—how to teach yourself to code and get your first coding
job. But this one is written by me, so it’s different. I think you’ll
appreciate my perspectives. :)

Now, I think it goes without saying that condensing the entire
process down to 5 steps is over-simplifying. I’m going to give
you the general sense of what to do. You have a couple of
options for filling in the gaps, and honestly, you should do both!
Option 1: Lean on your communities for support
Option 2: Get some dedicated help and guidance
Both are actually my specialty! I’m a passionate community
builder. I understand the importance of seeing and hearing from
people who are trying to do what you’re aiming to do.
Option 1 is an important part of your growth as a developer.
You’ll need a network of people. This industry is actually
particularly awesome, and a ton of fun. We grow along with the
tech—and each other. We see each other at conferences. We
participate in weekly Twitter chats. It’s dope.
Option 2 has some barriers to access. Essentially, it involves
having someone—ideally an experienced coach with a deep
understanding of your situation and goals—take your hand, get
to know you, explore your dreams with you, and plan out your
journey from where you are, to where you want to be. Then, you
delve into the skills with an actual map and pathway to your
destination. At that point, the hard work is yours and yours
alone.

Related: https://uii.io/codelearning
I LOVE working one-on-one with newbie coders, but of course,
with the level of attention and expertise required… it’s not free.
Most of us do what we can to support newbie coders via blog
posts, podcast episodes, books, and more—but some of us are
willing to give more of our time and presence than others! As
such, Option 2 is an investment in yourself.
So, this is indeed an over-simplified, but still a pretty thorough
overview of the process of teaching yourself to code, and then
getting your first dev job!
Step 1: Figure out what the hell you’re doing
I created an entire 14-page guide to this really early part of the
journey because it’s the most easily-overlooked part. It’s also
why a lot of people sputter out—they simply didn’t do their initial
homework.
13 reasons why you should learn coding:
https://uii.io/whycoding
First, why do you want to do this?
Have you been dreaming about coding since you were a little
kid? Or maybe you just heard that coding is the future, which
makes sense to you since technology is growing so quickly, so
you’d like to get on the train. Regardless of your reason, you’ll

need to establish that early on. It will be what pushes you
forward when things get really challenging.
You’ll need to create a budget for yourself, which I know sucks
because I, too, hate budgets. If you’re changing careers, you
need to be sure you’ll be able to make your transition with as
little stress as possible. Coding is tough enough as it is… do
your due diligence not to make it harder on yourself.
Is there even a web development industry where you live?
If so, tap into it, and start talking to folks. Attend Meetups. Get
to know people who do something similar to what you want to
do.
Ask questions about companies hiring in the area. Do people
like their dev careers? What are their salaries like?
If there isn’t a lively dev industry in your local area, you’ll need
to get creative. Remote jobs could be an option if that’s
something you’re open to. Alternatively, if you have the
resources and the flexibility, relocating to a new city could be an
exciting change alongside your new career.
The entire point of Step 1 is to ensure that if you’re looking
for a job, you’re not just jumping into things without
scouting the territory first.

If you jump in, you may find yourself feeling unprepared and
stressed out when bills come due, unexpected events come up,
and generally speaking… life happens.
Step 2: Choose a job title, and work backward
Alright, so I approach this differently than a lot of people out
there. When people start learning to code, one of the biggest
questions I hear is “what should I learn?” (also, “where should I
learn it?”).
Keep in mind, you’re not even coding yet by this point. Or
maybe you’re just poking around, learning the basics, but you’re
not actually building projects. You’re still laying the foundation,
and learning about your tools and the purpose behind them.
This is a super important phase!
With all those tools out there though… how do you know which
are going to align for an actual job title?
Wouldn’t it suck to learn a bunch of fairly unrelated skills and
language to a basic level, and then realize they don’t actually
get you a job? Or that you’ll need to flesh just a few of them out
with additional learning, in order to even be competitive for jobs
in your area?
Yeah… that’s what ya girl did.
Quick, relevant side story

I learned HTML and then added on CSS. I kinda hated CSS at
first, but we worked it out and we cool now. So far so good,
yeah?
Then, I got to JavaScript. Basic tools like variables and even
loops and some basic data structures, I was fine with. But, in
general… things started getting tough for me.
I have a non-verbal learning disability. It’s kinda funny that
wasn’t diagnosed until after I struggled through gaining the
required skills to get that first job 10 months in. My struggles
made so much more sense.
At this point, algorithms scared the crap out of me.
freeCodeCamp’s algorithms were super challenging. A lot of my
past learning trauma came up. I cried a bunch out of frustration
when I simply couldn’t contextualize a mental model for my
neuroatypical brain to “make it click”.
In a panic, I went off the rails. Or perhaps “on” the rails, as I
started learning Ruby. Got to the same point. Panicked again.
Switched to PHP and WordPress. Actually, I really liked them
both and primarily use them nowadays along JavaScript. But, I
got to that same freaking point, and finally basically collapsed in
exhaustion. What the hell was wrong with me?

I took a break around the time I wrote this article because I had
had an existential crisis, wondering if I was even fit for this:
That story kind of serves as a cautionary tale, to show what can
potentially happen if you do things out of order, or without an
initial structure. You gotta be able to build these skills for a job if
you want a job.
So here’s my question: why not just take the guesswork out,
and figure out what kind of work you’d like to do first?
And of course, this is going to change over time! We grow and
change not only as developers but as human beings over time.
We learn more about ourselves, and we want to change up our
goals. But starting with some kind of compass direction
REALLY helps.
How do you figure this out? You’ll want to take a really deep
inventory of your dreams, passions, and existing skills. Often, it
helps to evaluate this with the help of someone else (ahem, like
me). We have the skills and talents we bring to the table that
other people don’t… and that we ourselves often overlook.
Look at what’s available in your area. Search on job search
sites like Indeed. Ask in local online fora.
But the important part here is to pay attention to the skills that
are listed: both tech and interpersonal.

Yes, interpersonal. We have enough problems with a lack of
interpersonal skills like effective communication, empathy,
compassion, and inclusion. Don’t come here bringing more.
But those coding skills are going to give you guidance and a
path to your destination so that if you change your goals, you at
least know what you’re deviating from and to.
Step 3: Build your skills
By this point, you have a good sense of your local development
industry, and you’ve done your research on job titles. You have
an idea of what kinds of skills you’ll need to build on your way to
your first dev job.
Now, it’s time to build your skills.
It’s important to note that you’ll be doing this alongside Step 4,
and alongside anything else, you may be doing (we want to
keep those things limited). You always need to be learning and
building your skills while also building projects with them.
I generally recommend that web developers start with the
front-end since all roads lead to the user’s experience. But this
really varies based on those initial goals. See where it was
helpful to identify them first?
For example, your starting point will be different if your goal is to
work with data. Perhaps your goal is to learn, say, Python, since

Python is natively very efficient with data management. You’ll
naturally lay out your skills-building journey differently
depending on your end goals.
The important part here is that no matter where you’re headed,
you have a roadmap. You want to avoid getting caught up
learning things you don’t need because they will get in the way
of you getting a job ASAP.
You should have a list of resources that you know to work for
you. Knowing how you best absorb information is absolutely
integral to this part. Don’t waste time with books if you learn
best from videos. Again, time is of the essence, so you need not
just to learn but learn intelligently, efficiently, and effectively.
Spend a good amount of time on this section. You’re adding
tools to your toolbox, and you’ll be using them every day once
you start working.
Step 4: Build your portfolio and resume
Remember, Step 4 is happening alongside your skills building.
You’re learning daily, and applying what you learn. And of
course, there are a couple of really important parts here that I
find coding students overlook. So let me hit on those real quick!
Hot Tip™️#1: Projects get you The Edge™️as a self-taught coder
You don’t have the long resume dating back to your Computer
Science major at MIT. Neither do I. But, like… woe is us?

Nah.
As a self-taught coder without the CV to back up your skills,
you’re going to need to show whatcha got. So, even though you
will be focusing on your resume as well, you REALLY need to
put time into that portfolio. If nothing else, your resume will
grow along with your portfolio as you add skills!
Hot Tip™️#2: You don’t need a ton of projects!
First, you don’t need a ton of projects. I think a lot of newbies
get overwhelmed at the thought of having to build tons of
projects in order to show what they know.
This is why we’re aligning those skills toward the actual job
description. If you build even ONE project but maintain it
intelligently—you’re going to be leagues ahead of your
peers.
Ok, so you created one project, you’ve been posting some
commits on GitHub, and you’re already feeling you need to
jump onto the next one. Hold it right there, padawan.
Did you make the absolute most out of the project? Because
you’re learning skills toward a job, they’ll probably come
together as a stack. And you can more than likely apply many of
your newly learned skills to the same practice.
Let’s say you’re working toward becoming a front-end web
developer. You just built your first website.

Can you turn a website into a web app, so maybe users can log
in?
If you didn’t build your page mobile-first (you should have!), how
about refactor it as mobile first?
Take the time to look at your projects as not only an asset but a
glimpse into the inner workings of your brain. This is
INCREDIBLY important to hiring managers. They want to know
how you think, so they can determine if it brings something
valuable to their company and team.
So, to piggyback off Hot Tip™ ️#2…
Hot Tip™️#3: Become a storyteller, not just a coder
What better way to show people the inner workings of your
brain than to document your journey?
One of the most slept-on resources for getting a job is… drum
roll…
…your README.txt file.
This shouldn’t just be where you tell people how to run your
program. This is where you should be telling hiring managers:
● Why you added that feature

● Why you abandoned adding that other feature and
removed it
● Your next plans for expanding
● What you’d like to see in terms of feedback
● What you learned at each step
● What you feel proud of, and what you could’ve done better
Why are we ashamed of writing our stories? We don’t have time
for that we need to get you a job!
Make it funny, even. Make it epic. Your journey is epic.
But yeah, leverage your README.txt file, and you’ll seriously
be so much more attractive to the people checking out your
portfolio and considering you for employment.
Step 5: Apply for those jobs!
There’s SO much to unpack in this step, it’s just not possible to
cover it all in a single post! ? So, I’ll go with just dropping a
bunch of value bombs on all y’all.
Hot Tip™️#1: Just apply already
One of the most frequent questions I get is “when should I start
applying for jobs”? My response is something along the lines of
“yesterday”.

Seriously. Go ahead, apply. The worst they can tell you is “no”.
So, here’s the thing about applying for jobs as a newbie
self-taught coder. You want to do it right, and really
demonstrate:
● Your willingness to learn
● Your growth so far
● Your enthusiasm for the industry (and specifically,
company!)
When you communicate with hiring managers, you’re going to
want to be honest with where you are, while showing what
you’ve done. Those two components will put you on the radar.
You’re being vulnerable, and you’re still retaining some control
over your perceived image.
Another important thing to remember: when you apply to a
company, it’s not a one-shot deal. Many newbies make the
mistake of thinking it is.
Ok, so let’s say you’re rejected for an interview. Now, you have
a window to ask for feedback. If they respond, that’s a really
good company. ??

If you really like the company, and they know you’re self-taught
(they’ll know from your resume anyway, so just be transparent),
tell them that you’d like to grow your skills in their direction and
re-apply in the future.
Boom. You just formed a connection with hiring managers and
showed how determined you are to improve your skills in order
to meet their requirements.
Hot Tip™️#2: You need to develop solid tech interview skills
Alongside building your portfolio, you’ll need to grow those
interview skills. But not just any interview skills—tech isn’t like
every other industry out there. We’re edgy. We like you to prove
what you know.
This is especially important for self-taught coders. You’re going
to need to know how to do things like:
● Explain what different tech concepts are
● Solve algorithmic challenges—while explaining your
approach
● Write out your steps to the solution
● Read your interviewers
● Do a bit of a dance to maintain control over the interview
(this is my specialty haha)

There are lots of resources out there for this, like Gayle
Laakmann McDowell’s “Cracking the Coding Interview”. Plus, it
doubles as a blunt weapon.
You’ll need to be yourself. They need to want to hire you. It’s
hard to be yourself when you’re not sure what’s expected of
you, but why get hired as someone you aren’t? That just sounds
like fodder for a whole lot of Imposter Syndrome.
By this point
By this point, you have a growing toolbox of skills.
You’re learning every day. You’re building projects, but making
the most out of them instead of just ditching them and moving
onto the next thing. You’re telling a story with your GitHub
README.txt.
But most importantly, you have an idea of where you’re
going. That internal compass, alongside a supportive
community (like #CodeNewbie!) is going to be what saves you
when you get lost.
Build on, grow, and gain confidence in yourself. You’re a total
warrior, and you can do this! ??
Credit: freecodecamp.com

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