[HN Gopher] Ask HN: Best "entry tech" jobs to learn coding?
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       Ask HN: Best "entry tech" jobs to learn coding?
        
       Hi all,  I'm curious as to which jobs (if any) someone would
       recommend if I'm learning how to code on the evenings and on
       weekends. At the moment I'm just doing it for fun, but it'd be nice
       if there was a potential route, long-term to get a job if I still
       enjoy it down the line. My current job is working as a Paralegal in
       a non-technical role.  I've been applying for other positions in a
       variety of industries (currently have an offer for a remote SDR
       role selling a SaaS product, but debating whether I should take it
       because it's just for the money and feel it could get quite time-
       intensive if I have to hit targets consistently).  Obviously I
       can't get "paid to learn" how to code but are there any entry-level
       jobs where I'd get general exposure that could aid/speed up my
       learning? (in any programming language) I guess working at a
       company with software developers could help (like the SDR has), but
       they might be remote/in other departments.  I've seen people
       recommend tech support at a small-mid startup or Quality
       Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) - on the other hand I've seen
       others say that since you wouldn't actually be coding and as those
       jobs require a completely different mindset to a programmer, it
       wouldn't help.  So, I was wondering if anyone would agree with
       this/had other suggestions, or is a bootcamp more "practical" if I
       wanted eventually to turn it into a career (in the long-term, one
       day) or should I just continue self-teaching on my own, in the
       evenings/weekends.  I'm UK-based for what it's worth.
        
       Author : Wazflame
       Score  : 12 points
       Date   : 2024-02-07 22:36 UTC (24 minutes ago)
        
       | dudus wrote:
       | Why don't you try to write scripts or code to automate your day
       | to day activities as a paralegal? Working on something close to
       | an area of expertise of yours can be a great way to learn and
       | still use your background somehow.
       | 
       | Either create something new or try to use/collaborate something
       | open source. As you get more experience you'll get to learn more
       | about different options such as frontend vs backend.
       | 
       | Once you are done with your second or third personal project I
       | promise you'll have the confidence to apply to an IT job and
       | you'll have a better idea exactly where and doing what.
        
       | LZ_Khan wrote:
       | Frontend dev seems like a low complexity environment to start in,
       | you'll also get exposure to backend devs and their code.
       | 
       | You could also try some freelance gig work on one of those
       | platforms all over the internet.
       | 
       | It's not easy b/c usually companies don't pay you to learn, you
       | should already know at least a subset of what you're hired to do.
       | But I agree getting paid to learn is nice :)
       | 
       | Oh, also maybe focus on Leetcode. Company's these days don't
       | really test you on your ability to code but rather to solve
       | algorithmic brain teasers. Passing the interview != knowing how
       | to code.
        
       | pjot wrote:
       | [delayed]
        
       | aussieguy1234 wrote:
       | Contribute to open source. Alot of projects have a "Good First
       | Issue" tag. This will give you actual work you can show. I have
       | known people who were hired on the basis of their GitHub
       | contributions alone, where the employer said not to worry about
       | sending in a Resume.
        
       | sjwhevvvvvsj wrote:
       | In all honesty, at the rate LLM coding ability is increasing I am
       | not sure how many entry level roles will be left for people who
       | don't have a solid grounding in computer science.
       | 
       | Generally speaking, I believe this is a bad thing as coding
       | careers have historically been open to anybody with the aptitude.
       | 
       | I'm not sure anybody can provide solid advice beyond doing give
       | money to a boot camp.
        
       | danbrooks wrote:
       | Breaking in can be tricky - but getting a position as an entry
       | level developer sets you up on the software engineering/coding
       | trajectory.
        
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       (page generated 2024-02-07 23:01 UTC)