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I was in exactly your situation 3 months ago. I'm also 17 and can code okay-ish I threw my resume out there and eventually landed a paid internship. I realized

I was in exactly your situation 3 months ago. I'm also 17 and can code okay-ish I threw my resume out there and eventually landed a paid internship. I realized that I don't want to code for other people. The cool part about coding for me was that I could make anything I wanted, but when you're working you're stuck implementing someone else's vision. My advice is to hire yourself. Start selling apps or whatever, but don't sweat it too much. You're at the age where you're allowed to do stupid shit and get away with it, so just enjoy it while you can.

epicide 9y ago
General advice: - Writing code that works is only the first step. - Writing code that works and is written in such a way that other people can understand it and maintain it takes a lot longer. - Treat "yourself in 6 months" as another person because you WILL NOT remember why you wrote it the way you did. This goes way beyond just writing good comments and documentation. - Coding for your self is how you get hooked. Coding for other people is how you get booked (paid). These are NOT mutually exclusive and there is a delicate balance. On the subject of getting hired: - Writing code that works is the bare minimum. It will make you hire-able but it won't get you hired. At least 50% of the other people applying for the job can probably code better than you. - There is ALWAYS somebody better than you and that's okay :) - I'd much rather have someone whose code isn't as good but is better in a team. Again, there is a balance. - Good interviewers will look for people who can work in a team. Frankly, this only comes from experience working with other people. Contributing to OSS is a great way to show you can work with others' code.