
Ask HN: How to pursue a specific career path using MOOCs / online resources - determinedloser
Hi HN! I am a self-taught developer who is feeling pretty lost. I am asking for guidance on finding a focus point in my studies&#x2F;aims.<p>I have two goals:<p>-to be able to set up and run my own website which requires use of databases (not just static web pages)<p>-to learn any specific marketable skill well enough to get an entry-level job<p>I have taken CS50, MIT&#x27;s Python courses, and courses on web development by HKUST and Uni of London. I&#x27;ve set up basic sites by following these courses and tutorials, using frameworks meteor, React, Ruby on Rails...<p>The result has been a bunch of disconnected knowledge that hasn&#x27;t helped me achieve my two goals. None of the courses have been comprehensive enough to get a site up and running. I haven&#x27;t gained enough experience in any specific area (frontend&#x2F;UI, backend, testing, coding for mobile, etc) to get a job.<p>If anyone has advice, or can point me towards resources that I&#x27;ve overlooked, you will be a lifesaver. Thank you.
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FishMonkey1
I was in your boat a few years ago. I knew a lot of STUFF but all the strings
weren't attached to where I could build something worthwhile. I decided to dig
into Django. I had to do probably 2 tutorial toy projects just to get a slight
handle on things. Then I dug in, creating a site for myself. I struggled
through the docs (which are amazing) when I had an issue, and really dug into
the framework. It took a while, but in the end I had a beautiful site that
worked well for what I needed it to do at the time.

Really, my advice is to just CODE. Try to finish a project. Don't get
discouraged when it's not happening as fast as you'd like. Take things slow,
and focus on one implementation at a time.

