
Job market for a 30+ person learning to code? - rburgosnavas
Hi there,<p>I was wondering if anyone has any experience in the job market after learning to code later in life. I'm 37 years old and I have about 4 semesters (probably a year and a half) worth of coding classes with a focus on Java and Android. I think that at the pace that I'm going I will be able to claim some level of expertise by the time I'm 39 or so, but my fear is being to old to be employable.<p>What's your take?
======
nostrademons
Something to consider: a lot of the reason people discriminate against older
programmers is because it's a signaling quality for other, harder-to-measure
qualities that are really important for programmers. When someone sees a
37-year-old mediocre programmer who's been programming since he was 22 and
spent 10 years at his last company, they think "Why haven't you advanced? Why
are you still doing the same stuff you were doing 10 years ago? Are you lazy?
Not passionate? Don't have the mental capacity or will to learn new things?
Have you gained no new skills in the last 10 years?"

This logic doesn't apply to someone just starting out at age 37. Here there's
a really easy explanation for why you're mediocre: you just started out. And I
find myself viewing someone who, say, just got out of the military at 35 and
is now trying to get a job as a programmer at 37 very differently than someone
who has been writing CRUD-screen apps for 15 years.

I wonder if the reason why programming tends to be more ageist than many other
professions is because learning new things is really a core part of the
profession. An accountant can take their core skills and jump into any job,
because the rules are basically the same everywhere. A Ruby-on-Rails dev can
take their skills, but they will have to learn a good deal about the existing
codebase to be productive regardless of whether it's using the same framework.
So someone who shows they haven't learned anything new in 10 years is toxic in
the software industry.

~~~
dromidas
The inability to keep up with new technologies is something that ended even by
my own generation (I'm 30 now). I can't think of anyone under 40ish that
hasn't been able to grasp some new concept.

People like myself who have been programming or working on computer tech stuff
almost their whole life would have learned how to consume and adapt new
technologies simply as a way of life. I think the whole ageist concept is out
of date already and will just continue to deprecate even more as people who
grew up with changing technology and embraced it will become the majority in
the field.

~~~
rburgosnavas
That's a good point. If one is passionate about what they do and considers it
innate, then I guess the only way to stop progress is by making a conscious
decision to quit, or by an unfortunate event.

------
donretag
You will need to create your own opportunities. Simply taking courses in
coding is not going to cut it. Take what you learned so far and apply it to
something concrete. Studying Android? Build an app and put it in the market
place. Blog about it. Get people to use it. You will soon discover larges gaps
in your knowledge. Study those concepts on your own. You can't wait for a
course to teach you.

You are in a difficult spot. It is not so much that younger developers are
better, but developers that start young shows that they have passion, and are
not simply chasing a paycheck. You need to prove that you are not only a
competent developer but also that you are passionate about the field. Start
reading ... A LOT.

~~~
yyyt
Good point. Every piece of information is remembered a lot better and fits
into your brain if you have a problem for it to solve.

------
donnfelker
1\. Learn to code (You're doing that now) 2\. Write down ideas (10 a day)
about businesses you can start with software (thank you James Altucher for
that tip) 3\. Once you have a solid idea (dont do your first one) start
writing an MVP. Not sure what an MVP is? Listen to the Lean Startup book on
Audible (or buy the real book if you like to read) 4\. Build a MVP product and
ship it. Get a couple customers. 5\. Work hard. 6\. Eventually get paid and
not work for anyone, other than you and your customers.

You're 37 now, you definitely dont want to be in a cube farm with a bunch of
other resentful folks who write code for a fortune 500 company. I'm sure you
have some domain knowledge around something else. Perhaps you were a flooring
installer prior to code. Maybe you were a plumber, who knows. Take that skill
and think about what software could have helped you during those times. Look
for competitors, evaluate the market and then once you find that idea in that
proper niche market. Go for it.

Another book to listen to: Start Small, Stay Small

Good luck!

~~~
rburgosnavas
Ah, "MVP", a new term to add to my repertoire, haha. Your advice is very
valuable sir, thank you.

I'm well aware of the concept of sitting down with a piece of paper and a pen
and trying to come up with ideas for projects. Unfortunately I'm struggling
with the right balance of "reading to learn" and "doing to learn". I know that
doing things, implementing ideas, etc., is probably the most productive and
beneficial thing I can do for myself, but I get into this "I most read about
this and that" loop that is not efficient.

The little amount of time I've spent trying to come up with projects have been
unsuccessful but only because I do not spend considerable amount of time
brainstorming. Your advice on how to approach this is excellent. As I wrote in
my updated YC profile, I think we need more music apps for Android, but real
music apps, not toys, so this is something I should put my attention on.

~~~
GFischer
To get past your problem of your not "brainstorming" succesful ideas, I
suggest you watch these slides by the creator of the Business Model Canvas:

[http://www.slideshare.net/Alex.Osterwalder/successful-
entrep...](http://www.slideshare.net/Alex.Osterwalder/successful-
entrepreneurship-5747012)

there are a ton of resources on Stanford's Entrepreneurship Corner:

<http://ecorner.stanford.edu/>

and Steve Blank's blog:

<http://steveblank.com/tools-and-blogs-for-entrepreneurs/>

Steve Blank wrote a book called Four Steps to Epiphany which is really good
and advocates his "Customer Development" strategy:

[http://www.stanford.edu/group/e145/cgi-
bin/winter/drupal/upl...](http://www.stanford.edu/group/e145/cgi-
bin/winter/drupal/upload/handouts/Four_Steps.pdf)

You'll see a common theme on most of those sites, which is basically to listen
to the customer, "get out of the building" and validate your idea early (thus,
the MVP)

If you need some inspiration for brainstorming and protoyping, Stanford has
some advice on their Design School site

<http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/exed/dtbc/>

and some material is available here:

[http://dschool.stanford.edu/wp-
content/uploads/2011/03/Bootc...](http://dschool.stanford.edu/wp-
content/uploads/2011/03/BootcampBootleg2010v2SLIM.pdf)

look up "pretotyping", and the book Pretotype IT, it will inspire you:

[https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0QztbuDlKs_ZTk2M2RhZWItYzk3...](https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0QztbuDlKs_ZTk2M2RhZWItYzk3YS00ZDZmLTgyZjItY2Y2ZWIyYjZkOTE3/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1)

~~~
rburgosnavas
Great stuff, thanks!

------
djtriptych
tl;dr - Ship something, THEN look for a job.

In the real world, your age is a handicap, no matter what people say. Look for
differentiators. A great one is the ability to point to something reasonably
complicated that you built from scratch and shipped. Very few programmers can
do that, and the ones that can are a class above in the eyes of many
employers.

One thing you have going for you is actual life experience that a fresh
college grad can't possibly have. I'd try to figure out a way to emphasize
that in the interview process. Certainly it's a better strategy than trying to
hide your age.

I earnestly recommend going WAY, WAY past whatever you're learning in class,
and becoming a subject matter expert in whatever you like working on most. If
it's Java, read the entire JVM spec, for instance. Many employers will test
primarily for raw problem-solving ability and general CS knowledge in
interviews, but I find that intimate, detailed knowledge of one or two areas
can also be a powerful differentiator.

Of course, make sure you can actually code. The only way to do that is to code
a lot. Remember it's possible to know a lot, and even be able to explain a lot
of technological concepts, and still not be able to code worth a damn. Don't
be that guy. If you ship something substantial, you're going to have no choice
but to do a good deal of coding, and enough server admin / networking / etc
work to get an idea of how everything fits together, and a taste of the sorts
of compromises one makes in actually getting something out the door.

I suffer from a different, though similar, disadvantage in the interview
process: being black (and dressing, acting, talking like it unabashedly). I've
learned to live with reduced initial expectations over the course of my
educational and professional career (not interested in a debate on this; I
have dozens of unambiguous life experiences to confirm). The upside is that
people are primed to be surprised by what you can do. Try to view that as an
advantage.

~~~
abc_lisper
Don't read the entire VM spec. This thinking of knowing something inside out
helps you how to use it is bunk. You don't have to know the how the rules of
chess came into being to play chess.

Or you could go that way, and do it as the parent says, and end up like me,
somewhat dazed and confused a decade later.

Just because you invented radio _does not_ mean the programming you put on it
is the best. Realize that programming(computer) is a skill that most can
achieve only through rigorous grind.

There, I saved a few years of frustration to you. Knowledge is power. Amen.

~~~
SkyMarshal
_> Knowledge is power._

I do not think that phrase means what you think it means, given the rest of
your post.

~~~
abc_lisper
:) Good catch. Meta-knowledge is power.

------
nanijoe
Presumably, you have been doing something with your life these last 39 years.
I would venture to say your best bet is to take the experience you have in
what ever field you were previously in, combine it with your new found
programming knowledge and build something.

------
callmeed
This is an interesting question and one I've thought about a lot too. I'm 37
and an experienced developer/entrepreneur. I've been self-employed for 12+
years but if I ever had to "get a real job", it's something to think about.

First off, remember that it's not legal for a US employer to ask your age.
They can only ask if you're over 18. Of course, if you want to be sly about
it, you'll need to craft your resume carefully (putting the year you graduated
from high-school or college can tip off). Also, your looks may or may not
belie your age (I have no gray hair and can look late-20s if I shave my
beard).

Also, I think the biggest (perceived) issues are that either (a) employers
don't want to hire older developers because their experience demands higher
pay or (b) they want younger developers who can work insane hours. I must say,
_I don't know if these are generally true_ (they aren't when I hire people).

But for you, (a) shouldn't be an issue. You're a new developer so you probably
are fine with a entry-level salary.

~~~
geoffschmidt
Two other issues that seem to come up in the bay area are "culture fit" (which
is sometimes a euphemism for "we want to have fun at work and it doesn't sound
very fun to hang out with someone who is old") and "trajectory" (which is a
euphemism for "if you were really an A player, you'd have a senior role by
now; since you don't, there must be something wrong with you, even if we can't
figure out precisely what it is in an interview.") That you've just started
out should logically eliminate the second concern, but it doesn't really,
since it's a stereotype and people are not rational about stereotypes.

It's probably best to avoid companies that think about hiring in the way that
they'd think about selecting frat pledges, in favor of companies that think
about hiring in terms of increasing their capacity to get work done. But if
you really wanted to get a job at the former kind of company, my advice is (1)
try to build a rapport with your interviewers somehow, so that they look up to
you and think you're cool, rather than pity you for being old and wanting to
be let into their treehouse, (2) contextualize yourself as having gotten
really excited about programming all of a sudden, after a few decades of
kicking ass in other fields, and then having made a lot of progress in
programming very quickly. That's something that anyone can respect.

~~~
rburgosnavas
The "culture fit" is definitely an aspect that I consider intimidating, and
yes, I live in the Bay Area. I know it shouldn't be intimidating in my case
because I think I'm good at accommodating myself to an environment pretty
well.

------
wturner
I'm in exactly in the same boat as you but I'm focused on javascript and
HTML-5 technologies. I started off doing 5 months of C++ and realized that my
ability to make anything tangible (and more importantly enjoyable) with it
probably wouldn't come to fruition for at least half a decade. I decided to
focus on HTML-5 technologies and a niche focus on audio based applications as
a catalyst to learn and have fun. I will tell you this, the few opportunities
that I've had have come out of having little projects visible online for
people to "see". Having "real" projects up and viewable is an absolutely huge
differentiator, and here's the kicker, they don't have to be that "good", they
just have to demonstrate competence and ability. Right now I'm working with an
entrepreneur and former coo of one of the biggest tech companies in the world,
and all I did was respond to a craigslist ad. I unabashedly told him I was new
at this and older. We talked for an hour , laughed alot and the exact same
thing happened with the phone conversation I had with his tech lead who's been
doing back end work for 30+ years. If you're proactive and have the coding
"brain disease" others who are infected will more than likely take to you. For
the record I've only been doing it for a year/year-and-a half (not including
the C++ stuff). But I also want to emphasize one thing , I've never taken a
class and am self-taught. I _want_ to do this and I _personally enjoy it_.

~~~
rburgosnavas
That's great and encouraging story. Thanks for that. I see that in the end you
sell yourself honestly as someone who lives and breathes hers or his field and
that learning is an obsession, then you have an advantage.

------
tinco
I don't think you could ever be too old to work as a programmer.

When people say they would rather hire junior programmers it is because of
their drive to learn new stuff and their use of the most modern techniques,
not their age.

Java is a great basis to work off, and I bet you'll get a fine job with it,
but also consider learning a more dynamic language like Python, perhaps learn
it at codecadamy.

I don't personally have any experience with being 37 and looking for a job,
but I don't see a reason why someone should turn a fine developer down because
of his age.

Also, 37 is not very old at all..

~~~
khill
I think people want to hire young ("junior") programmers because:

1\. They are cheaper

2\. They are more likely to have less focus on work-life balance (i.e.,
willing to work crazy hours)

3\. They can be more easily molded to a company's development philosophies or
culture

------
shuzchen
My take is that your age should not the biggest thing you should be worried
about. If all you have are coding classes on your belt, and no actual projects
in the wild (stuff you did outside of class, apps you built that are on the
market, open source contributions) then that should be something you should
aim to rectify.

------
franze
well, if you would put a contact information in your
<https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=rburgosnavas> HN profile (in the about
field) i would contact you for a freelance project (if you do freelance).

i recommend to stop seeing age as an obstacle, see it as an asset - what did
you work before? see your new programing experience in context of your
previous work experience.

note: i'm 35, i love starting over

~~~
rburgosnavas
Thanks for the tip about updating my profile. Sure, I would be interested in
freelance. Like a lot of people have mentioned, it would be a great
opportunity to get the exposure and knowledge I need.

I currently work for a non-profit as a "database administrator" which actually
translates to MS Access manager, and I do other things like update their
website, edit, write, etc. I've been able to use a lot of the skills I learned
from my MySQL classes with Access, and web development from doings lots of
Google searches about PHP, CSS, etc.

------
emileleon
If you are okay with an entry level role and wage for the first 1-2 years then
you are on the right track. In fact that is one of the best ways to learn best
practices is working alongside experienced developers. You'd be getting paid
to learn! You're in the market with the highest demand for workers right now
so fret not, keep on learning and you'll be fine.

------
ShabbyDoo
Consider getting a low-level job in a shop which is doing Java/Android work
(presuming this is your interest). You might at first do 2nd-level customer
support, testing, or other non-programming things. However, especially if you
position yourself to employers as someone taking on such a role so you can
learn on-the-job, you'll be able to finagle your way into more challenging
work. Maybe there's some manual testing which can be automated. Now, you've
shown you can write code. Before long, you'll find yourself in a development
role, and you'll have been paid while learning. By letting potential employers
know of your intentions, you can induce selection bias in your favor -- the
employers who want testers who will shut-up and do as told will throw your
resume away, but those who want motivated people who can take on greater
responsibilities will love your goals.

~~~
mb_72
I disagree. If you want to program, program. If someone can't bluff / impress
/ negotiate their way into some kind of programming position - and they need
'a job' - then they are better off improving their skills or addressing
whatever the issue is that is stopping them succeeding. These days 'lack of
experience' should not be an issue - one can always start doing something on
their own, help out an open-source project and so on. I guess I approach this
from the point of view that you should never settle for less than what you
want to do. Sure, some 'careers' involve a 'start at the bottom and work up'
or 'start somewhere and work sideways' component, but I do not believe that
coding / software development is one of those areas.

------
jaynate
Oh please don't refer to 37-39 as old! I'm not quite there myself, but I I'm
not far. :) it is never too late to kick ass if you want to kick ass. Best of
luck! Like others have said, go create your own opportunities.

If you get good, your skills will speak for themselves. And besides,
discrimination based on age is illegal in many countries.

------
spaghetti
First of all my advice is go for it. Don't let pre-conceptions about age hold
you back. In my last job the older engineers were far more talented and
productive than the younger fresh-out-of-college or college drop-outs.

Another thought: younger engineers are sometimes preferred simply because
they're teeming with naive energy. When I think of hiring someone who I know
will spend majority of their time grinding down a mountain of technical debt
who do I look for? A naive 20-something college drop-out who will work
themselves to the bone for 80k, beer and foosball? Or a 40 year old pro who's
been through a successful acquisition, has enough money to not have to work
and will figure out in about 2 days how lame the founders are for letting the
technical debt grow into such a monstrosity?

------
RandallBrown
There's an intern on my team that is going back to school for a second degree
in CS. He's 32 and will likely have a full time offer locked up by the end of
the summer.

Most of my team is in their 40s and I don't think they would have any trouble
hiring an older person as long as they had talent. Honestly, you might be a
better hire because you're less likely to leave the company in a couple years
than a 21 year old that's still trying to figure out what to do with their
life.

------
mamcx
The conventional wisdom say age is a handicap in any industry, because young
replacement are by the dozen and cost less.

However, in software, barely decent developer are very rare. I have interview
more than 100+ people before I start my own startup and another bunch for it,
and hardly I can point to 3/4 people that at least solve my interview:

\- Code in paper this: Have word, reverse it \- Say to me why that is wrong
and/or how make it work for very large datasets.

The majority fail hard with the first one. Not matter if come from university,
college, work before as developers, etc.

So, if you can do basic programming well, you will have a job. If also, can
bring something else to the table - any other skill related to the job - then
you will have a better job.

You can try with sell your services in something like odesk.com (I don't see
how can age be relevant in that kind of market) if found hard get your first
job.

However, I think a person of your age have a BIG advantage over younger: You
must be, at this time, more mature, better communicator, more professional,
better attitude, etc. That is very important, because everyone wanna have the
best hackers, but in reality, prefer professionals ;)

------
localhost3000
if you freelance and do remote work no one need know how old you are. the
surest way to get started freelancing is to build something of your own and
just start showing it off. If it's good people will ask you to build things
for them. So as you learn you should be hacking together something tangible
and useful. When you're done you'll have become competent and you'll have a
portfolio project to show.

------
yyyt
I got a decent programming job only at 28. Though I coded a few programs since
I was 17, only at 26 I was assumed at a "developer" position, as PHP junior
dev. Then learned Python and used it wherever possible, and at 28 got full-
time Python developer job, now I'm 30 and work as Python Team Leader.

Several years ago things like lambda functions, scope and closures were weird
and hard to comprehend for me. It took time, but after all you can become
fluent.

As I see now, it doesn't take as much brilliant mind as it takes just "flight
log hours" to handle complex problems. A guy who won a national programming
olympiad (Russia) told me he won by "outsitting" the others, ie. he took more
time to prepare and knew more cases. Although it was a disappointment for him
(that problems became all the same and boring), it's a nice surprise for us:
we (not-CS-graduates) can eventually cover the "flight hours" gap.

------
vineet
When people are looking for older developers they are often looking for
experience - for someone who have enough technical understand to command
respect and lead a team of less experienced developers.

I do not believe that this first group would be the right fit for you.

However, there are some developers that are worth their weight in gold. In my
opinion, age does not even come up in such discussions. These people are
usually very good at one thing.

The thing that you want to be good at could be something current like Node.js
(which will eventually become an old technology), or it could be something
timeless - like 'shipping'.

My suggestion, try to be the person who has shipped multiple products. Think
of the smallest products that you can build, then try to remove 99% of the
features, while still keep them useful, and build them.

If you have a couple such products under your belt, I doubt that you will ever
be job hunting.

~~~
rburgosnavas
Awesome, I had to look up what you meant by 'shipping'. Thanks for that. This
is a pretty interesting article on that subject
<http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2009/09/23.html>

~~~
vineet
Yup. 'Shipping' comes from the old days, when we were trying to ship a product
to (from development to users). In the web era, this is as simple as
publishing to a server, but you very quickly realize all the tiny things that
you need to do to make something that people actually want to you.

------
calciphus
Build something small that you like and are proud of. Whenever we look to hire
developers (especially Android devs) - those with a few apps in the store
immediately get a pass on the first round of interviews and make it to the
next level.

Honestly, building something tangible skips through a lot of the other pieces.

------
zwieback
You don't mention if you have other skills you could use in a software
development job. I think that's something many older employees can bring to
the table. It might be harder to work for a social/mobile company than a
company in a vertical that requires other knowledge.

------
degroat
As someone with experience hiring developers, my concerns about "older
developers" were two-fold.

First, the cultural fit. If the company is all mid 20-somethings, would you
fit in with the team. ?

Secondly, are you really set in your wise regarding your code and almost as
important, what SDLC you're comfortable with (because we aren't using
waterfall here!)

So I wouldn't ever not hire someone just for being old, but those are two
concerns that I'd have with any candidate and they're a little more of an
issue with older developers.

That said, regardless of your age, what is going to get your a job is
networking. Start getting involved in the community now. Take on freelancing
projects. Attend meetups. Get to know people.

------
ryanisinallofus
Age doesn't matter. If you are smart, work hard at getting better all the
time, and stay up to date on the latest tech/langs/methods you will be
hirable.

All but one of the best devs I've worked with are older than 37.

Though the ramen/YC/bootstrap companies get most of the press there are so so
so many jobs at larger, more established companies with great benefits and
work/life balance where you get to solve hard problems. They are actually
pretty fun places.

Seriously, don't think about this again. You are wasting time you could be
spending learning a great design pattern, or making your own Android app or
whatever.

------
zafka
I graduated with a degree in Computer Engineering when I was 36 years old.
Except for a couple of year break when I was running a pottery shop/art
gallery I have worked ever since. I tell the other 50 something guys I work
with that I am in a better position than they are. A quick glance at my
resume, someone thinks I am about 38 due to my graduation date. This gives me
a chance to at least get an interview.

------
bbunix
If you discover you love programming, then you're all set - all will follow
from there.

If you don't, then you may be wasting your time.

If you're not sure, keep going until you are.

------
Zigurd
If you can demonstrate you are productive and adequately grounded in general
computer science, you should not have trouble getting contract assignments in
a hot area like Android programming. You can use the contract assignments to
build your resume. Or, if you have the means to write some apps for Android
app stores that look good and get good reviews, you may be able to skip that
step.

------
nsoldiac
In my experience if a candidate is willing to accept the pay level of a
younger colleague (just because they have similar number of years of
experience) then employers don't care much. However, if it's a strategic job
opening to be filled by someone expected to build a full career, it'll be
harder to sell yourself knowing that your first 15 years are already gone.

------
timedoctor
One thing to consider is that you are competing with the entire world. So
average developers in the US will have trouble. Doesn't matter so much if you
start at 30, matters more how good you are in comparison with younger (or
older) men and women.

------
borlak
build something you can show off, then apply for jobs.

a lot of employers are going to also ask: what do you do to keep up with the
changes in technology?

also, learn SQL. it's easy, and necessary. pick a database, install it, become
somewhat familiar with it.

------
Mistone
if you have skills and work hard - you should be in a really great spot to
find a cool job, start or join a cool startup.

------
edwinyzh
Not sure about the job market, but if you find coding to be interesting, or
even exciting, things will be much easier.

------
rburgosnavas
Wow! I am amazed by the overwhelming response. Thank you guys!

------
nirvana
I became a startup founder when I lost a position at a startup because they
hired a younger (cheaper) person. I have 20 years of experience with several
patents, etc. Literally we were expanding the team, I interviewed the person,
he got the new position, then I was let go. Totally age discrimination, but I
couldn't prove it, of course.

Even 20 years ago, Microsoft, et. al. focused on hiring kids right out of
college... they're young, easy to mold, cheap, etc.

I won't say the job market is closed to you, but I think that the best power
you always have comes form making something yourself. IF you have trouble
getting a job in this field, building your own startup -- and I mean, a real
business that sells someting to people, SaaS, or whatever business model works
for you- something like patio11 -- would be making your own job.

These days we don't need the capital concentration that companies represent,
you no longer need to do time as an employee. You can make your own job.

~~~
aliguori
If a company thought someone could do your job for less money and let you go
that is not discrimination. That's a healthy labor market.

They may have, mistakenly, undervalued your experience but that's a bad
leadership decision, not discrimination.

~~~
jamesjguthrie
You can't legally be fired for that reason though.

~~~
kragen
In what jurisdiction? In the US, most jobs are "at will", and you can be fired
from them for no reason at all. There are some reasons that are actually
illegal, but I don't believe "we think we can hire someone cheaper" is among
them.

~~~
biafra
In Germany it is not allowed to fire someone because you found someone cheaper
and can be challenged in court.

~~~
jamesjguthrie
Same in the UK. You can only be fired for disciplinary or performance reasons;
or if your position has been made redundant then they must offer you another
job if one is available. I'm sure it will vary in the USA in different States.

~~~
kragen
Same here, too, but I think nirvana lived in the USA before being accepted to
Startup Chile, so that was probably where he was laid off from. And I don't
think it does vary significantly between states in the US.

------
locopati
It's not about age, it's about skill. It can be hard to find honestly skilled
programmers, even with how many coders are out there. Know your tools (the
whole ecosystem, including version control, testing, profiling, etc). Know
your languages. Know how to estimate your work (which only really comes with
experience, but you don't need to wait for a job to build that experience).
Know how to communicate what you are doing and how you're doing it and how to
convey that what is being asked cannot be done in the time allowed (by
suggesting alternatives rather than flat-out 'can't be done').

Most coding jobs, especially for junior devs, are going to want code-samples -
that's where you have a chance to shine. Contribute to an open-source project
or create something you can share (even if it's a 'how to get started with X'
kind of project, it lets you demonstrate your coding/documentation approach).

~~~
nimeshneema
thanks for the piece of advice. I am sure a lot of people young and old will
find it useful

