Become a Highly Paid programmer.
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I landed my dream job.. and won a Microsoft MVP award!
Christos matskas
Microsoft Glasgow
"Your material offered the inspiration and guidance I needed to propel my career forward.
In just over a year I managed to build up a successful blog, which got me invited to speak at over 20 different conferences.
Two months ago, I was able to join Microsoft as a Senior Software Engineer."
start programming
the right way
learn to code & enter the industry
Pick your most viable, profitable & fun career path.
Computer programming is one of the most interesting and well-paid professions you can choose.
$85,000/year average Entry-Level Programmer salary in the US. Emerging positions like Blockchain Developer or Cybersecurity Engineer promise even salaries upwards of $100,000 per year.
You don't need a degree to work in these jobs either -- it's possible for you to find great success as a self-taught programmer.
Master the best programming language(s) for your goals. Front-end, back-end, blockchain coding languages.. Whether it's JavaScript, Python, Solidity or others -- have your pick. If you're ambitious, become a full-stack developer who has conquered multiple languages.
Get the fundamentals of naming, clean code & debugging right. Understanding concepts, designing systems, and knowing how to solve problems. Those will take you much farther than just memorizing syntax.
Equip yourself with the best resources to level up.
In my experience, investing in the right materials, books and up-skilling resources helps you speed up your learning and gets you real-world results much faster.
Become a full-blooded coder. Immerse yourself in this pursuit and you'll be amazed at how -- when you slip into the role of "professional programmer" -- you'll quickly develop the skills to justify the title. At this point, also consider getting the best coding hardware & software for beginner software developers.
Start learning "developer career skills". After years of consulting and coaching developers, the #1 thing I've learned is:
Increasing your technical skills is not enough! As a software developer, you need to be well-rounded.
Start making good money with your new-found abilities -- feel free to leverage some of my best advice: My "Complete Software Developer's Career Guide" became a #1 best-seller in the Amazon store for computer and technology books and has helped many programmers launch a successful career.
"John’s is the most valuable advice I’ve gotten about how to boost my career. It opened my eyes.
Now I knew exactly where I’d been going wrong before.
Not only has it helped me by showing me my mistakes in black and white. But it also educated me on all the do’s and don’ts.
It traced a clear roadmap for me to gain visibility and improve my value as a professional."
José Nieto Android Developer, London, UK
win your dream job
as a programmer
score in the job hunt & ace your interviews
Build your portfolio.
Get experience. The more projects you create, the better you'll get at important developer skills. You'll not just be learning to write shippable code in different languages, but along the way you'll also become good at problem-solving, project management and -- in many cases -- teamwork, marketing and sales.
Get your name out there. The best way to get recognized and build influence is by creating great stuff for others. Building your portfolio opens doors: It lets you build a following, make valuable connections, and set yourself up for future launches of profitable products and services.
Get bonus points from recruiters. You make it easy for people to hire you when you've already proven your expertise as a developer in the real world (preferably multiple times). An impressive portfolio is one of the "cheat codes" to getting into the most desirable tech jobs.
Make a great resume.
How do you stand out from hundreds of applicants? Make sure your resume is top-notch. This is a combination of:
- having interesting experiences and relevant projects on there
- presenting your info in the most engaging way
- attractive, readable formatting that conforms to the standards
I also recommend getting extra professional help with your resume. You've got little time to make an impression with whoever sees your resume -- so it makes sense to invest into making it as eye-catching, but slick, as possible. Feel free to check out my article for resume tips and recommendations.
master the interview game.
Learn exactly what they're looking for. From the topics you need to have down pat, to frequently asked questions, and the patterns for solving them. Prepare well so you can crush your coding interview.
Present yourself like a pro. Your confidence, charisma, and behavioral attributes are having a huge influence on your interviewer's opinion of you -- so make sure to level them up before your interview.
Execute a sound preparation plan. Use my free advice for creating your study plan -- then execute relentlessly for a few months. Or, if you'd like more assistance and everything laid out for you, you could consider an interview preparation course. I've compared the best ones in this article.
free guide: Level up your performance
Make Exceptional money
and Join the 1%
for entrepreneurs / those who want more
'Skip the line' for cream-of-the-crop jobs. Companies are filling their well-paying positions by recommendation of their trusted peers. By building your influence and connections, you'll be able to get high-end job offers not advertised on a job board.
It's also how I managed to get consulting jobs at companies like Verizon paying $300/hour, for example.
As you upgrade your "soft skills" as a developer (my first book "Soft Skills: The Software Developer's Life Manual" explores them in detail) -- and you learn how to market yourself like a pro -- you'll get access to these most interesting and lucrative positions.
Start your own business. Freelance development work can be highly profitable -- as can be creating your own products. If you're looking to give yourself a raise above what any company will grant you, striking out on your own could be for you!
Scale your value. Enter the business game with an effective strategy. Learn how to nail product creation, project management and marketing. With the right product-market-fit, you can scale your business to income levels you couldn't match with a 9-to-5.
Invest your money. It's smart to look beyond your nice hourly rate and think about how you can make your money work for you. Once you have that Software Engineer (or CEO of your own software company-) salary coming in, you have the opportunity to buy wealth-producing assets with your surplus.
This is the end game -- in which you start generating money in a more passive way, and you end up building generational wealth, fueled by your software developer career.
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