I'm a self taught programmer from South Africa. My advice to anyone that's struggling to land a job is to build a clone of a popular product from start to fini

I'm a self taught programmer from South Africa. My advice to anyone that's struggling to land a job is to build a clone of a popular product from start to finish and to open-source it. Then include that as part of your portfolio of work. It does not have to be completely functional. Pick a product that people use daily: Chat apps, calendars, music players, etc. "It's X-product, but in Y-tech." You will learn, you will prove that you can ship, and you'll have something to start a conversation.