Not a silly question at all. Tech is a very large field that has many branches. The best way to decide which branch to join is to try a bunch of things (data science, web dev, app dev, etc…) that might seem interesting and see which one you like the most and stick to that. If you want to get started with a language, Python would be a great start as it is easy and has a wide variety of applications.
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Good luck with the Career Path!
There’s a few different things to keep in mind for portfolios. As far as visibility goes, I’d recommend hosting your portfolio on GitHub. Make sure to include not just your raw code, but also ReadMe files explaining your process, what kinds of decisions you made, and what your takeaways were. It is really important that your portfolio doesn’t just communicate that you can code and build models, but also that you can communicate about them.
As far as the individual projects go, try to pick things that are interesting to you! Your portfolio should reflect who you are and what kind of work you want to do, so find datasets and ML problems that interest you, specifically. This will also help you keep going, since portfolio projects take a lot of work!
Best of luck!!
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I was confused too, but this is the event.
I think we type questions and receive answers
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Hey there! Great question. In my experience, I think it’s important to grow your tech skills alongside your soft skills in order to market yourself as a well-rounded (potential) employee. For example, let’s say your focus is on data science. While it’s super important to be able to analyze data and keep up with current industry trends, it’s also important to be able to communicate your work and its importance to non-technical stakeholders.
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Hi! That’s a tricky question, and I completely get the concern. In terms of what content to take, I would say it depends on what you’re specifically trying to get into. As a software engineer, you’re well-positioned to be able to pick up new skills and branch out, which is great!
As for how to move within your company, I would try starting by speaking with someone on your team, especially your manager, if you have a good relationship with them. Taking on small responsibilities or just meeting with team members who work in areas you’re interested in could also be a good place to start.
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This is a good question… how feasible is it to get hired after the 60s?
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How can I overcome negative feelings of being left behind by my peers who are progressing faster in their learning journey? Are there any recommended books or advice that can help me improve my learning style and mindset to overcome these negative emotions?
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Hi!
Switching careers is always difficult, but it is definitely possible. I don’t have personal experience switching careers at a later career stage, but I can answer your second question.
The key in data science is to demonstrate that you can do the job, so my recommendation would be:
- find areas in your current job where you can start doing more data-driven work! since you are a project manager currently, i’m sure there are plenty of places where you use data to inform your job. start trying to make that a bigger part of your current role, so you can advertise that on your resume and in interviews.
- your portfolio is really going to matter. as you take Codecademy courses, there’ll be opportunities to create projects. start elaborating on these on your own and building them into full-featured projects (if you take one of our Skill or Career Paths, we have portfolio projects to help guide this.) Host your portfolio projects online somewhere so you can show them to prospective employers.
Good luck! Those classes you are planning to take are definitely the right ones to start off with!
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Hello,
Good question! I’d say the first thing is making sure you have a profile that represents yourself well. One way of doing this is making sure you have a robust About section that highlights your past experience and interests. If possible, I’d also recommend seeking out people who could give you recommendations that live on your page.
In terms of seeming active, this is where we go more into the realm of personal opinion. I see a lot of people who post long-speeches around things like how what they ordered on their sandwich for work reflects their work ethic. I do not find these to be incredibly helpful in representing a person. What I would recommend is that if you have any projects or articles that you are proud of, sharing them and stating what your thinking was when you created it. You could even use it as an opportunity to solicit feedback. Here is a post from one of Product Marketing Leads that I think does an excellent job highlighting his skills and interests.
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What would be the best way to go about it if you are trying to make a complete career change…?
From an educator to a full stack engineer?
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Thanks for the answer.
I do understand the amount of work to build a proper portfolio.
What bother me a little is how to approach the job seeking phase.
I’m 40 and I want to change the type of work. I had a degree in Mechatronics Engineering and I am actually working as a project engineer to support both the manufacturing and testing of Railway vehicles.
Learning is not a problem since I had already the basis with my degree. I have strong foundations in maths and I used a lot Matlab so learning Python was not so difficult.
My doubts is how to approach the interviews and how to showcase an eventual protfolio and the certificate that I hopefully will have with Codecademy.
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Hi!
I think a lot of people relate to this feeling - I know I have. I think it’s important to remember that every person’s learning journey looks different. The fact that you’re doing the work and taking time to learn should be celebrated! This is easier said than done, but try not to compare your learning journey to others! My advice is to focus on your goals. Compare where you are now to where you started and see where you’ve grown!
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Hi! The best place to start would be with a Career Path. If you’re looking to become a Full Stack Engineer, then the Full Stack Engineer Career Path is the best fit since it requires no prerequisites and starts from scratch.
If you’re unsure as to what tech role you’re interested in, I would suggest taking Choosing a Career in Tech to learn about other options.
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I am also feeling the same thing…
The Full Stack Engineer Career Path was supposed to take only 6 months. I am currently at 13 and about done.
I realize that I could have finished in the time frame if I had been more motivated, but sometimes I feel that I am being left behind and have inferior skills.
My Dad who is a Software engineer says that he did not think that the timeframe was reasonable.
Are there people who do finish that course in 6 months?
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Adding on to what Alex said, I recently read a book called Range by David Epstein. It examines how those who often thrive long-term in their careers are people who specialize later who can draw from multiple diverse past experiences in their current role. So what may look like struggling for you right now may be you setting yourself up to be more flexible and innovative later!
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Hi everyone, I also misunderstood and was looking for a Zoom link or so. 
My question for you is whether career switchers like us without any relevant prior experience or IT degree have actually a chance to find our first job in tech in the current economic situation? Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that even candidates with a CS degree from a prestigious university have trouble finding a job at the moment.
So what is it in your opinion, that we can do to prevent companies from throwing our resumes away without even speaking to us? And please don’t say that we should create a good portfolio because for total beginners with no mentorship I think this is quite hard.
Thanks.
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I complete BackEnd & FrontEnd Engineering paths and have almost completed Full Stack. So, is it enough to complete the paths, I mean how take the pro certification support a successful job hiring? It seems obvious but, the question is how valuable those certifications are in the mind of employers
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One tip for the job hunt as your switching careers is to try to show interviewers the ways that your current job skills translate to something like ML. While obviously different fields, I’m sure that some of the problem solving and other skills involved in project engineering will be relevant in your new career!
For the portfolio, make sure to tie your projects to the skills and techniques in the job description – if they want to see that you can use a particular technology, for example, you can say “here’s a project that uses that technology”.
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I have over 30 years’ experience programming legacy systems. I was at the top of my tree, and stopped to travel the world for 10 years… a long gap.
I have now returned to The UK for good, aged 63, and am looking to get into software development/engineering using either Python or JavaScript… an age-perception problem.
To that end, I’ve taken a government-sponsored Web Design Bootcamp and I’m self-learning Python.
My intention is to create a skills/project portfolio on GitHub.
Questions:
- At my age, would it be better to go freelancing/contracting than try to land a permanent job?
- Do you have any age-related suggestions that might help us land employment?
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Hey,
If a person were to work on that career path for an hour a day for 6-7 months, they could finish it in that time (though internally we are always looking for opportunities to give better time to complete estimates).
That being said, I’m sorry to hear that you feel sometimes that you are being left-behind or that your skills are inferior. I think that’s something that almost everyone struggles with at one point or another. I’d argue that the important thing is that you have developed these skills and you have them, the fact that it took you a bit longer than another person doesn’t change that fact.
If you are looking for motivation in general, I’d recommend seeking out new projects or challenges that perhaps push you to use a new skill. That could break up any feeling of grinding, or reduce frustration if you feel stuck on something. You may even find that something you were stuck on is simple once you have stepped away from it for a bit to work on other things.
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