
Ask HN: Woman (34) trying to become a front-end developer – is this possible? - jagoda_k
Hi all,
I&#x27;m thinking of a rather radical change as far as my professional career&#x27;s concerned. Until now I&#x27;ve been a language teacher and translator but for some time I&#x27;ve been trying to switch to programming. So far I&#x27;ve grasped some firm (I think) skills in HTML5 and CSS3 and basic in Bootstrap and Sass.  Everything I know is self-taught. I&#x27;ve cut some layouts (just to practice) and I&#x27;m currently voluntarily working on a design actually to be put on the web.
I totally realize that in order to be treated seriously on the market I need to learn JS, at least jQuery, but I feel I&#x27;d need somebody to help me with it in order to develop. To be blunt - where I am is the furthest I could go on my own.
I&#x27;m a 34-years old woman and I&#x27;m afraid I&#x27;ll be treated like some sort of a dinosaur in the programmers environment. E.g., last year I had an interview for a front-end developer internship led by people who were all about 10 years younger than me - a pretty devastating experience. And questions like: &quot;How would you feel working in a male-only team?&quot;... Basically everyone seems surprised that a person (and a woman) my age with no actual experience is trying to find a place to start from. I&#x27;ve got the impression that currently I&#x27;d have to be really good at programming to get a chance (obviously not the case) or just drop it and think of doing something else.
So here are my questions: 
What do you think are the next steps I should take? 
Would you consider employing a person like me? 
How to find somebody who could help me with developing my skills? 
What else could I do to increase the chances of being hired?
======
namaemuta
Sarah Drasner among other people were giving some free mentorship:

[https://twitter.com/sarah_edo/status/878950382759813120](https://twitter.com/sarah_edo/status/878950382759813120)

Also you can go through
[https://www.freecodecamp.org/](https://www.freecodecamp.org/) to have a basic
knowledge about how to code.

IMO you'll have more chances of being hired by learning from others, making
visible your work and meeting a lot of people in the field.

~~~
jagoda_k
Thank you very much for the comment, especially the freecodecamp link. I've
completed some Code School and Codecademy courses, but neither of the
"schools" offers a community I could join and work with. I'll also have a look
at what Sarah Drasner said on the subject - and hopefully find there something
helpful and inspirational.

~~~
namaemuta
Many of the communities nowadays use Slack or any other team collaboration
tool to keep in touch and communicate quickly with each other, so it's not
difficult to join them. Emberjs for example, has a very friendly community, if
you are interested on it.

Go step by step to avoid feeling overwhelmed by all the things you have to
learn. Be also aware of the "imposter syndrome"[1] which many people feel
despite of being great professionals. Try not to compare yourself with others
too much and congratulate yourself when you achieve something important for
you, even if it looks like something small.

A big part of the job will be to keep a good state of mind and leave aside any
negative thought like "this is too difficult", "I can't do this", "I'm too old
for this", etc.

Good luck!

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome)

------
happy-go-lucky
To begin with, I would learn and come to grips with the syntax of a beginner-
friendly language. Then, put to use what you’ve learned by trying to solve
some beginner exercises. For example, you may want to take a look at
[https://github.com/karan/Projects](https://github.com/karan/Projects) and a
recent discussion about the same at
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14481941](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14481941).

Get yourself familiar with some algorithms and data structures. Personally I
benefited a lot from Problem Solving with Algorithms and Data Structures using
Python:
[http://interactivepython.org/runestone/static/pythonds/index...](http://interactivepython.org/runestone/static/pythonds/index.html).

Learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript, some popular code libraries, a web framework, and
a database language.

After the above, I would choose to work on a problem of my own. Think of
something interesting and start building it. Start with something small. When
you’re stuck on something, seek help.

Last but not least, find another serious learner and learn things together.
You could also look for a mentor that’s willing to help.

Hope that helps.

~~~
jagoda_k
Thank you very much for your advice. I'm a bit overwhelmed with the links'
content but it's good to know where to look for valuable exercises once I know
more. You're absolutely right about finding another learner to study with (not
such an easy thing as it would seem though).

------
tmnvix
I am not a woman but I did start learning development at around your age
(front end first with a little backend, then more backend, now a good deal of
both). Prior to that I delivered mail.

I now consider myself to be competent. I'm currently doing fullstack
development with a combination of python/django on the backend,
javascript/react on the frontend, and AWS for the infrastructure side of
things.

90% of what I know was self taught. The other 10% was part of a formal course
I did with the Harvard Extension School - a professional certificate in web
technologies. I would say it was a good course that helped give me a solid
grounding. It suited me at the time as I wasn't prepared to give up three or
four years to study CS full time. I was also mostly interested in the
practical side of things. The only downside was the cost.

Like yourself, I was also a bit concerned about being seen as 'old'. Turns out
it hasn't mattered at all. That might be partly because of the path I ended up
taking. Once people knew what I was up to I started getting a lot of requests
for help from friends and family. Pretty quickly this lead to a lot of work
with designers that needed someone that could actually build stuff. That was
great as I didn't have to deal with clients and had a lot of say in terms of
what technologies I would use.

If you'd asked me three or four years ago if I thought I'd be able to do what
I'm doing now I'd have told you "hell no!". Obviously, I would've been wrong.
You'll surprise yourself. You just have to be persistent.

To answer your questions:

What do you think are the next steps I should take?

Try to find a graphic designer to team up with. Gradually introduce JS into
your work (you can go a long way with very little).

Would you consider employing a person like me?

I don't see why not (not that I am an employer).

How to find somebody who could help me with developing my skills?

Meetups might be a good place to start. I've always found the people there to
be very welcoming and they usually range from beginners to experts (who in my
experience have always been very generous with their knowledge).

What else could I do to increase the chances of being hired?

A portfolio of projects is a must (it shouldn't matter much if they are paid
or personal).

As for the odd questions from people that are surprised to find you are a
woman; ignore them, but don't ignore red flags.

~~~
jagoda_k
Thank's a lot for your extensive comment. It's good to know there are people
out there who had similar doubts/problems and managed to overcome the
difficulties. You seem like a living success story :) Persistency is the key
word here, since it's a quality I keep on missing. Maybe I get discouraged too
easily. Thank you for answering my questions and words of support.

------
thinkxl
I started my self-taught career at 29, now 33, I've a full time job as front-
end developer.

I switched from sales in the construction area in a different country. I came
here with no English, no friends, no contacts.

So I think you can become a front-end developer.

It went like this:

* 29 to 30 freelancing

* 30 to 31 full time at a mid-size design agency

* 31 to Today full time at a big company

Ping me if you need help or advice (if I can provide any) at twitter @_jolvera
or email jolvera at posteo.de

Edit: formatting

------
bahjoite
You might consider registering a profile with Freelancer sites (e.g.
PeoplePerHour, Upwork, etc.) and bidding for one-off jobs. This is a good way
to gain experience, develop skills and build a portfolio of work.

------
checker659
What is your motivation for the career switch? Just looking for greener
pasture or you found your calling here?

