51–60 of 137 posts
I was homeless too, a rough sleeper throughout the UK for 3 winters. This was a long time ago, and I've been an engineer and now am a manager. I may not have a role (in London) that is shaped for you but I'm happy to look at your CV, see what roles we have that may fit you, and advise on what people look for in a CV. My email is in my profile.
I'm based in the North East (Newcastle) and am happy to have a look at your CV or point you to opportunities I know about in the toon. I mention this as you said you're currently in the North. As others have said, in lieu of a recent degree, you need a portfolio. Happy to help you understand how your previous experiences or projects might map to a portfolio - work with what you've got :) This doesn't necessarily have…
I got my previous degree in 2016 but I really don't want to do anything related to my previous degree unless it is in robotics/ autonomous systems because it is now mostly software driven unlike in the past.
The only advice I can actually give you is: interview, interview, interview. Assume that no one will hire you and you'll fail all interviews. Don't even try to pass the interviews. Instead, view it as a way to extract information from the interviewer. Ask tons of questions. Ask about everything you can think of. If they mention something you don't know, ask them about it. You want to learn what the interviewer knows and how the interviewer thinks. Your ultimate goal should be to become a carbon copy of the interviewers. Coming from a place of homelessness and non-tech jobs, you may be rejected as a bad "cultural fit". But if you can transform yourself into a clone of the typical tech interviewer, they'll be more likely to accept you.
There are lots of software engineering jobs here, mostly JavaScript, other web dev, and machine learning (though, admittedly, fewer entry level positions).
You don't need a degree to get a job but you have to demonstrate skills and professionalism.
- Set up a GitHub profile and fill it with your coding exercises/pet projects. The more of your own code the better. Code style and commit messages matter. Show that you can push professional code. I always looked through GH profiles of potential candidates when available. - Set up a LinkedIn profile. This will allow headhunters to find (and spam) you. You may not have professional coding experience yet but you have a degree and have been learning programming for a while. This is an asset. Include information about programming languages - you need keywords. And link to your GitHub profile.
Edinburgh (and other cities) has lots of meetups. They are free and good for making new connections. And you may hear about open positions.
It's probably obvious, but so many people don't do it: when applying for a job, triple check your CV and all communication for typos. When reviewing job applications we looked for attention to detail and professional communication. A great communicator with a strong will to learn would often be a better fit than a more experienced person who couldn't communicate.
If there's a position/company you really want to work for, be persistent. Ask for feedback after unsuccessful applications. Some places won't send any, but it's always worth a try and it will help you improve.
It's ok to reapply to the same place.
Don't underestimate covering letters - they help you sell yourself and can be the difference between you and another candidate who didn't bother writing anything. Think about your strengths and point them out.
This is not an endorsement, but FYI, if you feel you need help improving your skills and making professional connections, there are coding schools available (e.g. in Scotland we have CodeClan).
I'm based in the North East (Newcastle) and am happy to have a look at your CV or point you to opportunities I know about in the toon. I mention this as you said you're currently in the North. As others have said, in lieu of a recent degree, you need a portfolio. Happy to help you understand how your previous experiences or projects might map to a portfolio - work with what you've got :) This doesn't necessarily have…
Newcastle is just a little bit north of where I am. I'm happy to send you my CV, do you have an email? I got my previous degree in 2016 but I really don't want to do anything related to my previous degree unless it is in robotics/ autonomous systems because it is now mostly software driven unlike in the past.
I taught myself to use AWS to back up data on S3 from the command line and learned how to use git for version control, in addition to github, bitlocker and gitlab in order of most to least familiar. I am also an avid user of vim.
I sincerely appreciate the overwhelming response to this post. I am proud to be part of this great community.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Newcastle is just a little bit north of where I am. I'm happy to send you my CV, do you have an email? I got my previous degree in 2016 but I really don't want to do anything related to my previous degree unless it is in robotics/ autonomous systems because it is now mostly software driven unlike in the past.
I reckon you should give London a try as most tech jobs are in that area. Obviously there are some in other parts of the uk, but demand being so high in london there is a good chance you will find one there. Try cwjobs.co.uk and monster.co.uk. Good luck!
I'm in the US, but I'm sympathetic. You'll probably have more luck if you're more specific about your capabilities. The first questions prospective employers are likely to have, on reading your post, are "How have you been teaching yourself to program?" and "What technologies have you been using, and what have you done with them?" If you're able to edit your post, you may want to include some information along those…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> in the absence of a CS degree you need a portfolio If you can demonstrate good programming skills I think most companies would still hire you even without past job experience (I assume that's what you mean by portfolio - if you mean Github projects then in my experience nobody really looks at those). A CS degree is also irrelevant - pretty much all programming jobs in the UK just want any technical degree. In all t…
> if you mean Github projects then in my experience nobody really looks at those This makes me so sad. As a hiring official I love reading through an applicants commits. It says so much about their personality, what they choose to say, when they choose to commit, their attention to detail when they think nobody is “really” looking.
I've spoken to recruiters who pretend I didn't say anything when I mention my GitHub account. I think if enough people don't have open source / pet projects, it seems hard for a non-tech to evaluate it.
Whereas a CTO / hiring tech lead would probably learn more about a person by viewing commits than the resumé.