How To Become a Web Developer in 6 Months

Do you feel stuck with your dead end job? Do you feel you've been stuck with your job for as long as you can remember? What if you took risks in changing your careers? What if today is the day you make the decision to change your life for the better? Well in today's blog I am sharing how I would become a web developer in 6 months.

When you aim to become a web developer in six months, it doesn't mean you need to be an expert to a junior web developer. Getting a position like this in six months sounds impossible, but it all depends on how hard you're willing to work.
There are many aspiring developers out there who give up before they even start simply because of the below requirements, which include but are not limited to:

● HTML
● CSS
● JavaScript
● SASS
● LESS
● jQuery

And the list can go on and on. When people see these requirements they immediately think they're not qualified because they think they need to master everything to land the job. But that couldn't be farther from the truth.
What companies look for in a junior web developer, they’re not looking for someone who knows everything, because even I myself, who’s been in this industry for 5 doesn’t. What they look at are these three things:

1. Do you fit the culture?
2. Do you have potential?
3. Do you have passion?

If you have all three, the chances of you landing the job will increase significantly. So let’s prove to companies that you won’t only fit the culture, but also how you even have the potential and passion to succeed. Many believe that people are born of potential, but potential is shown through hard work and results.

What to learn in months 1-2: HTML,CSS and JavaScript

First, watch tutorials on how to do HTML,CSS, and JavaScript through YouTube or any medium you have available to you. Expect that you will forget everything that you learn. It’s okay. This is normal.

Your main goal here is to see HTML,CSS and JS works. You’re goal is not to master it. This is because you will never truly understand any of it until you get professional experience.
The amount of time you should be studying is three hours a day. Becoming a developer in a year or six months is not easy

whatsoever. It’s not supposed to be. If it was, anyone would do it. But you’re not just anyone. You want this. You’re willing to do whatever it takes. That’s why you're going to need to dedicate all your time and energy to learning. Even if it means you can only study 1 hour a day. Life happens. Just work around your schedule. You can do it.

What to do in month #3: Build Landing Pages using HTML, CSS and JS

So tutorials have been fun. They truly help build a foundation as a new developer. But, now is the time to stop depending on tutorials. You do not want to end up in tutorial hell (Tutorial Hell is when we finish a tutorial with a sense of learning and knowledge, only to chain another one after the first. Or the second. Or the fifth. And if you dare to try to write code for yourself, you feel overwhelmed. You don't know where to start or even what to do).

Now instead of depending on tutorials, it's time to put what you learned into practice by building landing pages. I suggest building a total of 3 pages to help show potential employers that you are willing to go above and beyond to show your passion for code. Don’t even worry if you forgot all of the code you’ve learned. That’s normal. Now act like a REAL developer and meet your new best friend for help: Google!

Just like developers today, if you run into any problem and feel stuck, just Google it. There will almost always be a solution. Trust me, there is not one developer in the world that doesn't use Google today. The most important thing here is that you have the mindset of not giving up and remain persistent in finding a solution, even if you don't understand what you're doing.

What to do in month #4: APPLY TO JOBS NOW

Now that you have created three landing pages, it's time for you to start applying to jobs everywhere.

Now you might be saying 'Why would I apply so early, I've only been doing this for three months, I need more experience'. That may be true, but by the time you get "more experience", the jobs that are open right now will be gone in a month, if not in a couple of weeks.

Say that you applied to a job thinking that you don't have a chance, but what if they actually get back to you? Just like that you have an interview.

My friend Leighanne is now an intern for a small web developer firm. I’ve been mentoring her for five months. And after only five months of learning code, she got her first job as a web developer. She barely knows javascript yet. But still, they gave her the opportunity simply because of her potential.

I’ve heard so many stories of this happening all around the world all the time.

But, if you don't land the job, guess what? You still get something out of it. You have just gained experience as an interviewee. Now you know what you don’t know. And now you know what you need to know to make sure you can do better next time. This a learning experience. Don't let rejection steal your thunder, it's normal. And you have nothing to lose by applying. JUST APPLY.
Apply for a job with the mentality that there is a chance you will be hired, not vice versa.

As the famous saying goes: "You'll never know unless you try".

Month #5: Learn How To Use GitHub

Whether you're hired at this point in time or not doesn't change the fact that learning how to use GitHub is essential. GitHub is where you can upload your code for the world to see (such as potential employers). You will show them that you know the basics of making commits, pull requests and it will also allow them to see your growth over the last 5 months.

These are things that developers do on a daily basis and multiple times in a day, so learning how to do this, on your own even, is mandatory. So later when you have an interview and the employer finds out that you learned to do all these things, they're going to think "what more if someone with experience teaches him?". The company benefits from hiring you and you landed a job as a developer. Everybody wins.

Month #6: Learn How To Work With Databases

Being a developer means you will eventually work with a database, so you're going to need to learn the basics in things like manipulating data. This may seem intimidating at first. It is. But it is easier than you realize. With consistent effort you can learn things like SQL in a matter of 2-3 weeks.

Now after following this schedule for 6 months, one thing I can assure you, is that future employers will not only see your dedication, but it will push them to the point where they would be stupid to not hire you. Everyone has their own style of learning, so don't stress yourself out if you can't follow this to the letter. As long as you have the drive to become a dev and the mentality to not give up despite what happens, you will make it.

I know people who have become devs in 2 months. I also know people who never gave up and reached their goals in 2 years. So don’t be too hard on yourself. Don’t compare. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day.

Chris Sean
Developer Relations Engineer @New Relic