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Ask HN: Did Online Course Lead into a Job for Anyone?

• drewrv 10y ago
  Not sure if this is the anecdote you're looking for, but my spouse did a few online Python classes, decided she enjoys it, and enrolled in a coding bootcamp. She's set to graduate in a couple weeks and already has an offer.
• mindcrime 10y ago
  I've done a lot of online classes, and I have a job. But I also have 15+ years of experience as a developer, so it would be hard to suss out exactly which attributes did or didn't contribute to my successful candidacy the last couple of times I changed jobs. Subjectively, I feel like that stuff helped, but it's hard to be sure.
• deleted 10y ago
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• jmportilla 10y ago
  I teach online courses and have had students report back to me that the course helped them get a job or pass an interview, but it's pretty much always in addition to their own self study and experience. an online course can definitely help you get a job, but it alone probably won't be enough. although more and more I see online courses or degrees that guarantee a job or your money back, do that might be with checking out.
• JulesRosser 10y ago
  I completed a couple of courses offered by Coursera and Udacity on Android development and managed to get a great role in a decent company a few months later with no previous professional experience. The courses are mostly entry level, but they gave me just enough motivation and knowledge to create my own apps, which I feel is the real reason I was hired. The difficulty come from having no prior professional experience, so showing that you can design, build and ship a project in your own time really helps you to stand out. The only thing about the course that you linked is that its not specific to a certain field. I would suggest that you try a couple of different courses and find a subject / stack which really interests you, then build small but increasingly more complex projects using what you've learnt. I list the courses I've completed along with links to any verified certificates on my resume, but not once have they been referenced in interviews.. It's always the projects that make me stand out. I'd be happy to answer any other questions you have! Also, the forums are also great place to meet like minded people!
  • urahara 10y ago
    Is it possible to see what projects you had on your portfolio when you were hired and what courses you took? Just to have a better idea about your story and the possibilities.
    • JulesRosser 10y ago
      Sure, sorry for the delay. I built an extremely basic portfolio website to show all the apps and describe them, however it's no longer online and I've lost the assets unfortunately. Projects Listed: Birthday Reminder App (https://github.com/Julesssss/BirthdayReminder https://github.com/Julesssss/BirthdayReminder) & Podcast Player (https://github.com/Julesssss/PodcastPlayer https://github.com/Julesssss/PodcastPlayer) Followed by all the apps I created as part of the courses below. They were all basic apps, I just listed what I learnt and added a few screenshots. At the end of the courses you'll have a nice amount of projects to show off. Courses: https://www.mooc-list.com/course/creative-serious-and-playful-science-android-apps-coursera https://www.mooc-list.com/course/creative-serious-and-playfu... (No longer available), https://www.coursera.org/learn/android-programming https://www.coursera.org/learn/android-programming, https://www.coursera.org/learn/android-programming-2 https://www.coursera.org/learn/android-programming-2, Followed by a couple of these beginner courses: https://www.udacity.com/courses/android https://www.udacity.com/courses/android
• sgslo 10y ago
  Anecdotally, I get many, many emails from people who have taken my React courses on Udemy (https://www.udemy.com/user/sgslo/ https://www.udemy.com/user/sgslo/) and go on to get jobs. They generally have some previous programming experience, but I assume if they are taking the time to write me an email then they figure the course helped them.
  • connorl33t 10y ago
    I am one of those people! Thanks!
• nstart 10y ago
  My entire career at this point was jump-started by udacity web dev course. Prior to that I was flitting around with developing scrapers and some basic desktop systems. After I took that course, I went from one level to another and am now working remotely with buffer. As of late I've been looking back on this experience and wondering how much I'm losing out on by not taking more courses. Hoping to change that from March this year.
  • Bashmaistora 10y ago
    Did you take the Front-end or the Full-stack course?
    • nstart 10y ago
      It was this one. https://www.udacity.com/courses/web-development https://www.udacity.com/courses/web-development I did it in the early days before the tracks were introduced and where it was still single courses
      • Taylor_OD 10y ago
        Sorry it looks like your link goes to a number of courses. Which one in particular did you do? Thanks.
        • nstart 10y ago
          Yikes! I shared the course directly from the udacity app. Looks like I got the wrong link. https://www.udacity.com/course/web-development--cs253 https://www.udacity.com/course/web-development--cs253 That should take you to the right one hopefully. It's basically Steve Huffman's course on how to build a blog. :)
          • Taylor_OD 10y ago
            Great! Thank you!
• lalwanivikas 10y ago
  Yes, for many people! How do I know? I am actually building FirstDevJob and am interviewing such people. I have published two interviews[0][1] with people who used FreeCodeCamp. More are in the pipeline! It is absolutely possible. But just don't depend on one course or site. Be flexible and willing to learn from many different places to develop your skills enough to land a job. [0] https://firstdevjob.com/stories/dan-minshew/ https://firstdevjob.com/stories/dan-minshew/ [1] https://firstdevjob.com/stories/taylor-milliman/ https://firstdevjob.com/stories/taylor-milliman/
• deleted 10y ago
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• Jtech78 10y ago
  I tried Edx for a while, yes online courses are great and don't solely rely on them. Taking courses alone won't help you get a job. Build something practical that you can be proud of. Build real world applications and add them to your portfolio. Another great resource I'd recommend is this one https://ilovecoding.org https://ilovecoding.org