

Ask HN: How to get a job in Tech industry without long education? - diggan

I'm currently trying to find startups or companys that are looking for young, creative and engaging people but without any education. I'm 20 years old, live in Barcelona and have no education related to IT what so ever but have been building websites and web apps since I was young. I've provided examples for jobs that I've applied to but every time, my lack of education seems to ruin it for me.<p>My question is as the title, how can I get the first stepping stone experience within the tech industry when all positions require long education?
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Capricornucopia
I know how you feel, diggan. Go to my startup's About Us section on our
website (which I develop! <http://cyberialabs.coldstream.ca> ) and read my bio
(my IRL name is Kimberly Crawley). I have a mere CompTIA A+, but like you, I
have a self-taught web development background (since 1995, age 11). I've done
some consumer tech support (Windows, x86 hardware). But it was really tough
for me to get my tech support job (it was before I got my A+, even!), where we
weren't paid much and treated like crap. Now, my only real employment is in my
co-founded IT security/data centre startup. We got our first client (few days
ago) but our business has yet to have revenue (we're getting there pretty
soon, first client). In addition to everything else, I'm a woman. One who
looks even more feminine than average. I've got to fight tooth-and-nail to be
taken seriously in this "boy's club" industry. At least my fiance and co-
founder is a Computer Scientist (who, even with his amazing IT security
career, including working for the military and international public transit
systems, and contributing to data security laws here in Canada), finds it
tough to make money these days, hence our startup. I'd gladly take you on,
especially if you have some skills outside of web development, and you can
remote into our work in Toronto, Canada and South Africa. We could pay you
once we start making SOME money... I'd have to learn more about you though,
honesty.

~~~
diggan
Thank you so much for your response Kimberly! I've sent a reply via email to
you at your coldstream.ca address with some more information about myself and
how I look at things.

Thanks once again for the opportunity!

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Mahn
I think your best shot, if you don't care about the money short term, would be
in trying to get a traineeship job; here in Germany for instance most
companies are always willing to take extremely cheap employees regardless the
background, as long as you show you can do stuff, and a 6 months traineeship
at a middle sized company would do wonders to your chances to find you a job
afterwards, imho.

Other than that, either find a friend/relative who could recommend you to a
company, or make money on your own, for example by building a small web SaaS
and charging for usage, since you seem to have the tech skills for it, and
what is not technical (e.g. how to charge customers, how to set up a business)
is trivial to learn with a bit of research on the internets.

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bprosen
Sounds like you have a portfolio of work. If it's quality work you can use it
to get a good job. Follow these steps - Find the right companies to target,
locate the hiring manager (not HR) and develop your personal marketing
campaign. People get hired to solve problems. Use your marketing campaign to
show that you know the problems the hiring manager is facing and offer
solutions. Done well, it leads to that all important interview, - As a veteran
CEO, I developed this process to help people in your position get a job.

Stay the course!

www.mycareeraccelerator.com

Bob Prosen CEO -The Prosen Center

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byoung2
I make 6 figures as a software engineer with an English degree. I used my
freelance portfolio and experience in a different field (test prep) to land a
job at an educational tech startup. I then used that experience to apply for
the next job, and so on. Try to find a company in a field where you have non
tech experience and get them to hire you as a developer. A CS degree is not as
useful as someone who gets the industry.

~~~
diggan
"Try to find a company in a field where you have non tech experience and get
them to hire you as a developer."

How can I get a company to hire me as a developer without any real experience?

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soneill
Feel free to shoot me an email (address in my profile); depending upon the
languages you know, I may have some work for you.

~~~
diggan
I've sent away a email to you, explaining my current skills and what skills
I'm trying to evolve.

------
ishener
one simple rule: be cheap.

don't ask for a salary that will make the graduate seem more appealing. after
you gain experience, ask for a higher salary.

~~~
diggan
The salary isn't really the thing I'm after. I just want to build things that
people use...

To gain the experience, I need a job which gives me experience. And to get
this job so I can get some experience, I already need experience.

~~~
ishener
from my experience I can tell you, that employers can trade your lack of
experience for a lower wage.

