I know a number of people who have gotten programming jobs just by learning on the internet (or General Assembly in one case) and then building cool projects in

I know a number of people who have gotten programming jobs just by learning on the internet (or General Assembly in one case) and then building cool projects in lieu of experience. I'd hire such a person tomorrow (if you are in Delhi or Pune, hit me up) if they showed up. The steps are codeacademy/whatever -> cool project -> hired. You can't skip step 2.