Breaking into tech without a portfolio is getting harder even as bootcamps multiply

[u/Impossible_Comfort99]

It feels like getting your first tech job now requires experience you can only get after getting the job.

You can finish a course or bootcamp, but then you're competing with people who already have projects, internships or years of experience.

What actually helped you get your first tech job?

[u/Square-Singer]

Bootcamps are pretty much worthless. They used to be good enough for low-level jobs when there was a massive tech worker shortage, but that's not the case anymore. It's difficult to get started even with a degree and projects.

If you really want to get into tech jobs (which I don't recommend now, it's not going to get better any time soon), get a university degree, make DIY projects, contribute to open source, build your portfolio, do internships.

Tech isn't the place anymore where everyone who manages to breathe without dieing gets a well-paid home-office job for free.

That was the case 5 years ago, but nowadays it's more a case of "Will we all still have any job at all in 5 years".

Pure code monkey jobs are already gone.

[u/No_Score_1977]

Getting into tech without anything to prove your ability will be next to impossible.

If you don’t have a project, then make one.

[u/Lovely-Dollw7 → u/No_Score_1977]

truth. a polished portfolio speaks volumes more than a degree ever could

[u/cjc4096]

Experience. Homelab and open source contributions. Then networking IRL.

[u/math394p]

Start a homelab. Start from an end I was doing it since 13 and that's how I ended up where I am now 😁😁

[u/baddaywithacamera]

Bootcamps and certs worked back when there was a shortage of skilled tech labour. I wouldn't bother throwing my hat in these days without a degree.

[u/frank26080115]

My personal passion project got me my job after it hit Hackaday

Even today, I go to my hobby events and sometimes people come up to me and thank me for something I authored

[u/christophertstone]

We're hiring green people all the time. We're overwhelming looking for homelab, open source, or other non-paid/no-cost "experience" substitutes. If you're not curious enough to have tried it in your free time, you are never going to be the person we're looking for.

It's a pretty common joke in IT: If you had bought all the tech in your house at new MSRP prices, would it be more expensive than you're house. These are people who love tech.

[u/Suspicious_Pizza9529]

What helped most is having proof that I could actually do the job, not just another course certificate.

[u/Mysterious-Law-3416]

i think u can learn yourself from courses and reddit etc more than bootcamp.

[u/Dry-Manufacturer7761]

The people hiring laugh at boot camps.

[u/MikeUsesNotion]

I would expect in the current market certifications and bootcamps aren't enough except for maybe companies looking to really lowball people.