I went into college when I was 17 (Associate’s Degree, which I regret), started my first job when I was 19 in a 10 people tech startup doing very simple tasks, went into another startup when I was 20, and then entered a large tech enterprise when I was 21, and now I’m 24 in the same company doing basically nothing productive or interesting.
My work right now is basically tech support, there’s no programming or technical challenge, but because the pay is good I got relaxed and stayed here for almost 4 years, and now I can’t find another job.
Throughout my “career” I’ve worked with a LOT of different technologies which doesn’t help, I wish I had focused on a single thing. As now I have 5 years of work experience but in multiple random technologies, which basically means I have 2 years of experience at max.
I really want to work as a front-end dev, as I love UI/UX and have a good eye for it, I know JavaScript, studied a lot of React, I worked with Git, agile (Scrum and Kanban), and I even worked with Node and have some backend experience. But as I only have basically 1 year of experience with them I can’t find a job that will be similar to mine (regarding benefits, pay, etc). I would gladly take a pay cut if it wasn’t 50-60% less like it currently is for 1YOE folks.
I feel like a junior for programming but a mid+ for the tech industry, and I don’t know what to do.
But to be honest, I was mostly focusing on studying React, and I’ve made some projects with my own design, but I wasn’t studying too hard, mostly because I was feeling like I went back years and was studying for my first job again (which is what I feel). Is frustrating having worked 5+ years and having subpar programming skills because I got relaxed.
Perhaps with time if I continue to study things will go into place, but will they really? Because studying does not equal work experience, so will I have to start as a junior dev anyway? Perhaps I could study hard and say I have more YOE?
Sorry for the vent, not sure if I succeeded in trying to express exactly what I feel.
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I’ve met many people (myself included) in the tech industry that have experienced similar feelings of stagnation and uncertainty about their career path. You’re not alone and there are definitely ways to get where you want to be. From experience, FUD can really eat you alive if you dwell on it.
Having a background in many technologies is actually a strength, not a weakness. It does nothing to hold you back from specializing. You have the ability to understand the broader tech landscape, and that’s a valuable trait. While it’s true that specialization is important, a wider knowledge base can help you see how different technologies work together, which can make you a more effective problem solver and innovator when you eventually specialize.
Whatever you do, continue to learn and upskill. It seems like you’re already doing this, but keep it up.
Some advice? Leverage your current position. It’s paying the bills and then some. Keep it around while you learn. You say your current job is not as technically challenging as you would like, this comes with 2 advantages.
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You can do the bare minimum to stay employed. Since you’re not trying to advance in the current field you don’t have to stress yourself. Do what you gotta do, no more no less. Use the extra time and energy to put into learning. You don’t have to worry about the bureaucracy or “doing the role you want to be promoted to” - often a pre-req to promotion.
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You can get “selfish” in the way you problem solve by pushing solutions that you want to work on. Look at this this way, you have the solution (something you want to work on) now find a problem in your org you can apply it to. It doesnt have to be optimal, as long as it solves something If you gey noticed, you will become that guy that can do X. This is how I’ve managed to shift my career in the same department. If you don’t get noticed, at least you have real experience applied solutions you want to work on.
See if your company can pay for some classes or trainings. Formal education is definitely not critical but depending on what field you want to break into, they might require either degree or YOE equivalent. So you can work toward a degree while working.
As for the experience question, it can be tough when job postings ask for a certain number of years of experience. Remember that these are usually more like guidelines than hard rules. If you can demonstrate your ability through your projects and show enthusiasm for the role, many employers are willing to overlook a lack of formal experience.
Do lots of LeetCode so you can ace the technical/programming part of the interview. For the rest, honestly just bullshit and be able to talk about how you applied the skill your interviewer is looking for in the domain you’re in now. One advantage to that is, since you have a broad view, you have many avenues to talk about.
It’s not too late for you. I had a friend that became a math teacher, no formal programming experience. After 10 years he wanted to program. He spent 1 year doing Leetcode and learning how to ace programming interviews and toy problems and now works at Google. SOB went from 60k to 300k, second job ever. What he works on? Google classroom. Can’t guarantee the same results, but you can do it!
That’s extremely encouraging, thank you!!
You’re welcome. But don’t let this, or any other advice comfort you up to the point where it’ll dilute the feeling of urengcy you have now. It is a good motivator; act on it. We all risk becoming obsolete if we get too cozy. Tech moves on; in this field you need to always be learning. I have no advice on how to juggle that and avoid burnout - still figuring that one out :D
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I want to add that job experience is not the only type of experience. You can enroll in a bootcamp program or just create and start something on your own. You can do this while working your current job and build up experience that way.
You should be very proud of what you accomplished already.
Look I think you’re blaming your troubles on the wrong thing.
I have 5 YoE. However, I have like 1 YOE with React, 2 YoE with Angular, 1 YoE with Vue, 2 YoE with NodeJs, etc. In my experience companies are more than willing to hire someone for a non architect position that doesn’t have X years of experience overall and a working knowledge of the tech stack they are working in. Sometimes, a similar technology is enough. In the actual interview process, the interviewers seem to either care more about (imo useless) white boarding or your experience implementing solutions on high level.
I don’t see tech stack knowledge as a big barrier to entry unless you have no remotely relevant experience or the position is looking for a greybeard.
I think the MUCH bigger problem is your lack of accomplishments and relevant work on a resume. To be frank, if you view your resume simply in terms of “worked with X language with Y” time, it tells me that you haven’t gotten out of a junior mentality. There should be concrete projects and accomplishments that you did which utilized the a technology. Simply saying “I have X years in react experience” without a real follow up will basically get you bounced from every company that isn’t a third party recruiter.
Also, despite what the internet will have you believe, the associates degree vs bachelors is a massive deal. There are a lot of companies that will simply autoreject you for that. It was easier to get away with in the tech bubble, but walking into this market without a bachelors or ridiculous experience is going to get you nowhere.
Assuming you are set on being a developer instead of leveraging your current body or work take a different career path.
- Online bachelors from WGU
- Find something at work that you can market as development experience. If there isn’t anything, ask for responsibilities.
- Work on a large body of side projects to demonstrate that you have proficiency in languages unrelated to your current workload.
I also only have an associate’s degree and I spent the first ten years is my career working on something that almost doesn’t exist today, and the next five working on JSF (which exists but isn’t used take at all any more). Fuck, to be 24 again! I’m fifty in a couple of months.
Your whole life is in front of you. See how many of those credits can translate to a 4 year degree if you want. You’ve got time to reap the rewards of that investment I don’t have (but I also don’t think it’s necessary - that’s only if you want to go back).
Invest some time in FOSS and personal projects. Bite the bullet and accept junior level pay since that’s what you’re experience level is. You’ll find as you progress that technical ability is a small, if critical, part of what makes a good senior developer. You spent a bunch of money going to college, right? An investment in your future? Think of a pay cut the same way.
But you have a job now and if I were you I’d be doing everything I could to further my experience and pad my resume while still making that money. Look for local user groups to meet folks in the industry to either share their knowledge or get to know you to maybe put you on touch with someone that is hiring.
You’ll be okay, my friend. Channel your frustration into constructive action and you’ll have a bright future.
