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.
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.