How I Became A Web Developer In 3 Months
Summary
TLDRIn this video, the creator shares their inspiring journey to becoming a web developer in less than three months. Faced with financial struggles and working as a flight attendant, they discovered a passion for web development. Starting with minimal resources and learning from books, they built an internal website for their company, which led to career growth and a role in web marketing. The video emphasizes the ease of learning web development today, encouraging viewers to pursue the field by starting with real-world projects, and assuring that formal certifications are not necessary to succeed.
Takeaways
- 😀 Becoming a web developer changed the speaker's life, and they accomplished it in less than three months.
- 💡 The speaker had to support themselves financially from a young age due to family circumstances.
- ✈️ They worked as a flight attendant but realized it wasn’t their dream job, leading them to explore web development.
- 📚 Learning web development in the past was harder, with limited resources, but the speaker learned through books and self-study.
- 💻 They started by identifying a problem at work, where files weren't being synced, and proposed building an internal website to manage inventory.
- 🛠️ The speaker learned foundational web development skills like HTML, CSS, PHP, and MySQL, along with tools like Photoshop.
- 🏗️ The speaker emphasizes the importance of working on real-world projects to speed up learning and progress in web development.
- 📈 They successfully completed their first web project (a mini intranet) in less than three months, which led to a career advancement opportunity.
- 🎨 The speaker is passionate about creativity, combining design, development, and video in their web projects.
- 🚀 The speaker encourages others to pursue web development, emphasizing that formal degrees aren’t necessary and that building a strong portfolio is key.
Q & A
What prompted the speaker to become a web developer?
-The speaker was in an uncomfortable financial situation and needed to find a sustainable career. They had always been interested in web design after a family project, and decided to pursue web development to improve their situation.
How did the speaker begin learning web development?
-The speaker initially started learning from books, as there were fewer resources available online at the time. They purchased a large book on dynamic websites and worked through it, despite the difficulties and errors they encountered.
What was the first project the speaker worked on to gain practical experience?
-The speaker identified a problem at work with managing furniture stock through Excel sheets and decided to build an internal website (intranet) to manage the inventory, even though they didn't yet know how to build websites.
What challenges did the speaker face while learning from books?
-Learning from books was challenging due to the size of the books, errors in printed materials, and the need to wait for corrections online. This made learning frustrating and time-consuming.
Why does the speaker believe it’s easier to learn web development today?
-The speaker believes it’s easier today because of the availability of free resources on platforms like YouTube, as well as structured learning websites like Codecademy and Treehouse, which weren’t available when they started.
What advice does the speaker give to people starting out in web development?
-The speaker advises focusing on real-world projects as they accelerate learning, not giving up when things get hard, and starting with the basics like HTML, CSS, PHP, and MySQL. They also suggest not trying to learn everything at once to avoid feeling overwhelmed.
What is the importance of building real-world projects according to the speaker?
-Building real-world projects helps you progress much faster because it provides practical experience, similar to learning a language through immersion rather than just studying from a book.
How did the speaker’s career evolve after building the intranet project?
-After building the intranet, the speaker applied for a position in the newly formed web marketing department, which they got with the help of a recommendation from their boss. This opportunity allowed them to advance their career further.
Does the speaker think formal certifications are necessary for becoming a web developer?
-No, the speaker believes that formal certifications or degrees aren’t necessary to become a web developer. They emphasize that having a strong portfolio is far more important to employers in this field.
What additional skills did the speaker acquire after becoming a web developer?
-The speaker expanded their skill set by learning design software like Photoshop and incorporated video production into their web development projects. They also became a freelancer, giving them the freedom to choose their own projects and hours.
Outlines
🛠️ Overcoming Challenges to Become a Web Developer
The speaker shares their journey to becoming a web developer in less than three months. They recount their difficult financial situation, having to support themselves from age 17 while their father was in a war-torn country. Initially, they became a flight attendant but soon realized that it wasn’t their dream. After recalling a positive experience with web development during a family project, they decided to self-learn using books, despite limited resources at the time.
🚀 Real-World Projects Accelerate Learning
The speaker emphasizes the importance of working on real-world projects to accelerate progress in learning web development. They compare learning from books alone to learning in a real-world environment, arguing that the latter provides faster and deeper understanding. They give the example of someone learning a language by immersion versus studying alone, drawing parallels to their own experience of building an internal project for their company, which led to a promotion and a shift into web marketing.
🎨 Embracing Creativity and Freedom in Web Development
In this section, the speaker reflects on the life-changing impact of pursuing a web development career. They highlight the creative freedom it offers, noting how it allows them to work with different media—text, images, video, and sound. After building enough skills and confidence, they transitioned to freelancing, which gave them control over their own hours and projects. They discuss the challenges of being financially independent but appreciate the freedom it provides. They also mention their hybrid role as a front-end developer and web designer, now mostly working with WordPress.
💻 Tools and Tips to Start a Career in Web Development
The speaker encourages aspiring web developers not to be discouraged by a lack of resources or experience. They reassure the audience that no formal degree or certification is necessary to succeed in this field, emphasizing the importance of building a portfolio over academic qualifications. They share their personal experience of feeling imposter syndrome despite having built numerous projects. The speaker advises beginners to focus on mastering the basics and working on real-life projects to make steady progress and be ready for junior positions in as little as three months.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Web Developer
💡Self-Learning
💡Real-World Projects
Highlights
Became a web developer in less than three months, although it felt longer due to continuous learning.
The turning point was when I realized the potential of web development during a family project where I built a webpage.
Worked as a flight attendant, which was a great job, but it wasn’t my passion. I desired a more fulfilling career.
Applied for an IT department job, even without web development experience, and started working in first-line support.
Identified a problem in the IT department where an Excel sheet wasn’t synced properly and decided to build an internal website to solve the issue.
Learned web development by reading books, which was challenging due to errors in the books, but pushed through with determination.
Started learning HTML, CSS, PHP, and MySQL, which were the foundational skills I needed to build my project.
Built the internal website, which became a 'mini intranet,' in less than three months and presented it to my boss, who was shocked by the outcome.
A year later, a new web marketing department was created, and I applied for and secured the job, thanks to my initiative with the intranet project.
Progressed rapidly by working on real-world projects, which accelerated my learning and skill development.
Realized that today, learning web development is much easier with online resources like YouTube, Codecademy, and Treehouse.
Gained confidence in my skills over time, and after working for others, I eventually became a freelancer, building my own company.
Overcame imposter syndrome, even though I had built complex projects, and later got a web developer certification, but never had to show it to any employer.
Encouraged others that you don’t need a degree or certification to become a web developer; real-world experience and projects are what matter most.
Emphasized that starting small, focusing on the basics, and working on real projects is the key to rapid growth and securing junior developer positions.
Transcripts
hey youtube
today i want to share my story of how i
became a web developer in less than
three months and why i believe it's
easier today than it was back then
now the truth is i didn't even realize i
had achieved it in such a short time
because you never stopped learning but
he did change my life and that's the
story i'm gonna share today
so as a young adult like many people i
was in an uncomfortable situation
and i had to sustain myself ever since i
was 17
not because my father didn't want to
help me but at this time he lived in
another country and there was war over
there so he tried his best and even
within war he was trying to help me the
best he could
but you know
it's like i had to man up you know i
wanted to help him too and i know he had
a lot on display so i had to fly you
know on my own
so like i said financially it was really
uncomfortable and i couldn't keep
studying so i had to drop
my studies and i decided to go and stop
working
now the thing is i didn't want to pick
any job and just be bored and
since i was good with languages
i applied as a flight attendant i got
the job so i started traveling
it was kind of cool you know i made
decent money i was traveling a lot met a
lot of nice people the thing is
flight attendant is a great job but it
was just not my dream
so i was looking for myself like many of
us and i started thinking and reflecting
on my life and i remember the feeling i
had the day i built a web page it was a
family project and i loved this
so i decided to start digging and trying
to find information and bear in mind
there weren't as many resources as you
can find today here on youtube for
example so i started looking through
books of course i went through websites
but i started you know looking at buying
books and learning on my own and
precisely at that time so i was working
as a flight attendant like i said but
there was a job opening in the it
department
so i decided to apply and i got the job
i was good with computers so i got a job
it was just to help fix you know first
line of support
so i got a job and then i had my plan
because now it became a reality because
i wanted to be part of the web team
so my plan was to identify the issues
and how i could help
with the web
so i quickly identified an issue within
the it department because we had a list
of furnitures and it was an excel sheet
it was supposed to be synced on the
network but
you know my colleagues used to make
copies and it was never synced and that
led to a lot of issues with people
needing the furnitures
so i thought why not build a website
internally so that we can manage the
stock
basically i wanted to build an internet
now the issue is i didn't know how to
build websites and much less web
applications so i had to learn
so like i said i bought some books
about a really thick book i mean
i was just discouraged by looking at the
size of this book but it gave me a
promise that it could teach me how to
build dynamic websites so
i used this book there was a project
like i think it was i don't know a book
rental or something like that but i just
wanted to grasp the concept and i
thought if i figured this out then i
could build this mini internet
so i started learning and because now i
had a better schedule you know i had a
regular nine-to-five schedule then i
took any opportunity to actually start
learning more and more
at noon in the evening even at nights
and i kept working so so hard
now trust me
learning from a book
it's crazy hard especially at that time
when
there were many errors in the books and
then you had to wait for the online
version to be corrected but in the
meantime i mean you would go
crazy and that's why in the beginning i
said that i believe that today it's
easier but more on that later
so i learned with the book but at this
time i didn't know if i wanted to be a
front-end developer a back-end developer
a full stack developer or a web designer
because i always loved the design part
more but at the same time
i was intrigued by the code and all the
magic feeling you know when you code
something and then you build it yourself
so i had to learn
the basics html css php mysql
and that was that was a good start as a
skill set and it was a lot to learn plus
i had to learn a few softwares like
photoshop i knew photoshop a little bit
already but you know i wanted to get
better at it so
got a long story short i had to learn a
lot of skills to be able to complete
these projects
and by the way in my opinion
if you want to progress fast the key is
to first of all don't give up but that's
true for everything in life
because the first time it's hard the
second time it gets easier and on and on
but you already know that
but the real takeaway here is that
if you build a real world project you're
gonna progress so fast
so of course it was hard it was really
hard like i said today you can pretty
much learn anything for free here on
youtube
and if you want something a little bit
more structured you have websites like
codecademy or team treehouse and many
others so really there's no excuse
nowadays
but the thing is like i said
if you craft i mean if you
study because you have to complete a
real war project you're going to grow so
much faster you're going to progress way
faster it's a little bit like if you
want to learn a language
just
in a book
by yourself
or
you want to learn a language you have
the book but you go to a foreign country
and then you're stuck there and you need
to talk to people
you're gonna learn on the spot you're
never gonna forget the vocabulary you
will know the expressions you know the
language inside out i mean if you stay
there long enough
but
you know i can practically bet that
someone that stays two years in a
foreign country
and someone that studies at home
just by themselves for two years
the level is going to be so different
i think we can all agree with that
so back to my story
i completed the mini internet project in
less than three months and i hadn't told
anyone i was working on it i mean at
work
so once i finished i went to my boss and
showed him the mini intranet
and i had built the documentation
everything
he was shocked he was really shocked but
positively shocked
and to cut a long story short a year
later a new department opened it was the
web marketing department okay it's
laughable because nowadays you know all
companies have
some kind of web marketing department
but at the time
in that company there was web it was
commercial and
at this time they decided to merge web
and commercial with marketing and do a
web marketing department
there was a position i applied and my
boss put a very great word for me and i
got the job job that many people wanted
and
when i left the department he told me
i probably shot myself in the food
because i wanted you to stay here in the
department but you deserve it so go and
have fun
and i did
so when i say that embracing a web
developer and web designer career
changed my life it's an understatement
because basically i went from feeling
financially insecure
uh just lacking confidence to actually
embracing a career that i love having
fun being paid to be creative while not
getting bored i mean okay it's not all
always
like this sometimes you get bored but
most of the time i don't get bored i
have fun
and there are a lot of challenges plus
the web is evolving and nowadays for
example i use more and more videos so i
do a lot of video production that i
incorporate in my websites and my
projects
and when i think back about all of
what happened to me and i look at my
friends some of my friends that had a
better startup in life than i had
and
then i saw them going to jobs that they
hate and it kind of made me sad for them
i even tried to put word for them to let
them know okay maybe you need to do
something else but what i realized is
when you don't have the choice
you're gonna do it
so if you're in a spot right now where
you don't make a lot of money you don't
know what to do with your life and if
there's any chance that you could like
or even love web design
it's a great career
for me gives me a lot of freedom like i
said i'm a creative person and
i've explained in another video
all the jobs that i tried in my life but
the thing is
with web design
i'm feeling myself actually with all
things creative but what i like with web
design is that you got text you get
images you got video you got sound get
everything everything creative and the
cherry on the cake is that after a few
years working for other people i had
enough skills and confidence to actually
start flying on my own so i became a
freelancer and you know building my own
company
it feels great i can choose my own hours
i can feel the freedom now i work a lot
because yes you get to choose your own
hours but if you don't work you don't
get paid so
you need to get past that barrier of
being scared to find your own money but
once you've done that i mean it's great
now i consider myself a hybrid front-end
developer web designer even though i've
done some back-end development and
sometimes i still do lightweight but
sometimes i still do
even though nowadays
most of the projects i do are wordpress
projects because where i live this is
what the target demographic wants if i
want to make a living where i live i
need to do wordpress
and
to be honest i don't want to reinvent
the wheel every time i start a project
but still
i still love web development and i'm
trying to incorporate some kind of
manual custom web development in each of
my projects
now
as mentioned in the intro the reason why
i'm doing this video is because i want
to give you hope
no matter where you are in life if you
like web development and web design you
don't know where to start fear or not
because you can start for free you can
learn a new craft a new skill set and
you can make a living you can quit being
scared of what you're going to do or
financially how you're going to cope
you can do it
and these are not just words me and many
others have done it
so as long as you have a way to watch
this video i assume you have some kind
of device and you have an internet
connection and of course it's better to
have a computer it's better to have a
computer than a tablet if you want to
become a web developer but some people
can learn on tablet if you have one but
if you can get your hands on a computer
even an old computer that's all you need
to get started you don't need all the
fancy bells and whistles even though
with time you want the bells and
whistles you want a fast computer
because you want to try a lot of stuff
but just to get started just to learn
html css php mysql even with an old
computer a very cheap one you can get
started now one thing that really helped
me back when i was getting started and i
want to help you with this is that i
really thought that you absolutely
needed a degree or some kind of
certification to get hired and i could
not be further from the truth because
in our discipline you don't need a
certification you don't need a degree
now of course some companies they're
going to ask for a degree up front
because you know they they're really
trying to choose between all the
applicants
but most of the employers
what they need is to see your portfolio
now the funny thing is
at the time i still had that mentality
so even though i was already a developer
and i didn't realize it because i had
impossible syndrome i had built a mini
internet then i was building a lot of
stuff
but still i had imposter syndrome so i
went back to take evening classes
and i got myself a web developer
certification
but the thing is i never had to show it
to any employer
not even once in my whole life not
i don't even know where it sits right
now i know i have it i don't know where
it is
and i know it may be hard to believe
especially if you come from an education
where your parents told you that you
absolutely need a degree of
certification to make it in life
now don't get me wrong i'm not saying
that it's bad to have a degree or
certification but what i'm saying is if
currently you have no money you need to
make some money you don't have a lot of
time and resources then
i want you to feel safe and know that
you don't need to get into debt to
change your life
just don't try to learn everything at
once otherwise you're gonna feel
overwhelmed start with the basics work
with a real life project and see
yourself progress
and if you put your time heart and soul
into it in three months time you'll be
applying for your first junior positions
and start a new chapter with your life
you
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