My Journey to Get a Job as a Software Engineer without a Degree

[nakamura]

All the best for you. I don't have any degree for software development or anything like that as well, but I have been approached by companies like ByteDance, etc.

The best thing you can do right now is joining this "Build in public" groups on Twitter/X and also on Threads. Also post on LinkedIn. Post everything of what you do. Most importantly: Build a portfolio. The people will only judge you by your work. They don't really care about degrees anymore. They only care about results and your actual product.

If you get this right, you will get contacted by 100%. Most importantly, your portfolio must have high quality products.

 

[ghostoftheuchiha]

I am a 27 year old college dropout. I dropped out of college thinking I'd make money online. I did make some money online here and there but I wasted my potential a lot.

I had already start coding when I was 14-15 years old but instead of pursuing that, I pursued internet marketing. I wasted 6 precious years running behind something I wasn't even passionate about. I made only a fraction of money I'd have made if I pursued software engineering.

I can't get back the time I wasted but I can make something out of the time I have left. I won't be going back to college but I will be learning from books and building open-source projects to showcase my skills to employers.

I am planning to grind 10-12 hours everyday so that I can catch up to the current technologies.

This is day 1 and I am going to polish my knowledge of JavaScript and start building a web application.

I will try to keep this journey updated as often as possible.

Same here: When I started learning programming in 2016, I jumped to conclusions about my own capabilities and quit without really trying. I explored CPA and marketing, but I didn’t earn much and felt like I was wasting my potential, so now I’m on this journey too...

Check your PM. let’s connect on Discord.

 

[Faceless Men]

UPDATE:

Sorry for not updating my journey. I got busy these past couple of weeks.

I came across devops / cloud engineering and fell in love with it, as that's what I've done for the past 3 years or so.

I am already familiar with Linux, Docker, AWS, etc., so getting job-ready is really quick for me.

I have built my resume, but I'm going to update it to be more ATS-friendly.

I will update this journey again after Diwali (Indian festival) as I'll be busy the upcoming weeks.

 

[Galaxy169]

If you are from India (Assuming from Diwali festival) then I would highly recommend you to get a college degree in CS, Unfortunately most companies here asks for college degrees like B.Tech or BCA/MCA.

Devops and cloud engineering have higher entry requirements for freshers compared to other tech stacks.
Take Udemy courses, build projects and don't get stuck in tutorials hell. Apply to masses in startups for internship with PPO and asks for referrals in LinkedIn. Make your resume in LaTeX using overleaf. If you want I can review your resume and give feedback using my experience of 1.5k+ job applications and received feedback of software devs from LinkedIn and reddit.

We can also connect, I am a full stack dev and trying to enter IT sector after graduating.

All the best for your journey!

 

[ranaldjanssen]

Respect for the honesty and self-awareness. What matters now is that you’re taking action. Grinding 10–12 hours a day with focus on real projects and consistent learning will pay off fast. Stick with it.

 

[LinkZenith]

Respect your determination!
Stay consistent
you’ve got this.

 

[Faceless Men]

If you are from India (Assuming from Diwali festival) then I would highly recommend you to get a college degree in CS, Unfortunately most companies here asks for college degrees like B.Tech or BCA/MCA.

Devops and cloud engineering have higher entry requirements for freshers compared to other tech stacks.
Take Udemy courses, build projects and don't get stuck in tutorials hell. Apply to masses in startups for internship with PPO and asks for referrals in LinkedIn. Make your resume in LaTeX using overleaf. If you want I can review your resume and give feedback using my experience of 1.5k+ job applications and received feedback of software devs from LinkedIn and reddit.

We can also connect, I am a full stack dev and trying to enter IT sector after graduating.

All the best for your journey!

One advantage I have is that I have a startup (a private limited company which also got recognised as a startup by DPIIT) where I've done the real-world projects using technologies like Kubernetes, Docker, CI/CD, AWS, and so on. I can show 3 years of real-world experience, which I'm sure is more valuable than a degree in CS. Take a look at the Linux Foundation's report, and you will see that experience, projects, and relevant certifications matter more than a degree.

I'm not saying a degree is not important; it's just that its ROI is negative in my case, considering my age. But I'll pursue an online degree once I've got a job because it might come in useful in future (for marriage maybe)

Respect for the honesty and self-awareness. What matters now is that you’re taking action. Grinding 10–12 hours a day with focus on real projects and consistent learning will pay off fast. Stick with it.

Thanks, I'll stick with it no matter what.

Respect your determination!
Stay consistent
you’ve got this.

Thanks for the encouragement, bro

 

[Globira]

Solid resolve—how are you managing 10-12 hours/day without burning out?

 

[Faceless Men]

Solid resolve—how are you managing 10-12 hours/day without burning out?

I did get burned out. First it was great, but as the days went by, I got a little bit sick. Headaches, a mild fever, etc.

That's why I dialed it down a bit. I spend time on screen only when necessary and I've also printed some ebooks I downloaded so I can read them while walking on terrace.