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Start your free trialBrendon Brooks
8,802 PointsFinding Jobs as a Junior ASP.net Developer
This may be an easily one to answer, but how does one actually break into the business? I see many job postings asking for a developer with 5+ years experience. Is it just good practice to build an app without any users? Or, do companies look for developers that have experience with the product?
Does the industry operate like "Field of Dreams"? If you build it, will they come?
2 Answers
Catherine Gracey
11,521 PointsThe first step: learn to code. The better your code is, the more people will want to hire you. Since learning to code is really tough without writing code, make yourself a portfolio and put it on GitHub. You don't have to write the next AirBNB or replicate FaceBook, but think of some small pieces you could create to test some of the skills you're learning. Putting things on GitHub demonstrates that you can use git (very important) and it demonstrates that you know how to code. It also demonstrates that you've been coding over time, which is good to get around the years of experience catch. If you've just finished a tutorial here about making an app, what is another app you can create from scratch that uses the same concepts? Don't worry if your apps seem a bit small and pointless - if you can inject a bit of humour and personality it will count for a lot. Games can be a fun way to do this. There are also a lot of coding challenges that people use for interviews, so with a bit of googling you can find examples and give them a go. The main thing is to make sure you're writing the best code that you're capable of doing and following conventions. Creating a portfolio in isolation can really suck. If there are any meetups in your area where other programmers tend to loiter around pizza boxes, go and talk to other people about what they're doing. Since you're already creating a portfolio, when they ask about what you're working on you'll have something to tell them. "I'm writing an online version of table tennis" always sounds more interesting than "I'm a noob with no experience". Once you start meeting those people, connect with them on LinkedIn. Companies will notice you thanks to your connections, and if you have your GitHub link on your LinkedIn profile then they can see the sort of work you can produce. I don't have 5+ years of experience but, once I got my GitHub portfolio right and started connecting with senior devs in my area, I started getting job offers weekly. I work in JS and Ruby, so I don't know how that would translate to ASP.net, but there's no reason it wouldn't work for you too.
Brendon Brooks
8,802 PointsThanks for the advice Catherine!