I would like to talk about my chances to get a job as a web developer and about the salary and career possibilities.
Around 2-3 years ago coding became one of my hobbies. Alongside my studies, which are a combination of management and engineering, I started to learn HTML, CSS, JS/JQuery, MySQL and PHP. The basics. During my studies, we’ve also covered some basics of computer science and java. Designing algorithms, object-oriented programming, models of software development and so on.
Around 1,5 years ago I discovered Meteor and my interest became even stronger and I expanded my knowledge by Blaze, MongoDB and basics of NodeJS. The most necessary things at that time to develop a meteor based web application, which was for a study project. Later I started with React and Apollo, which I think is just awesome.
Today I am about to finish my Master’s degree. I have more or less good knowledge in web development. Well it’s hard to tell how good they actually are since I have no one to compare myself to. Sometimes I am very confident, sometimes I am very frustrated. But if I get enough time and internet access, I am able to develop a responsive and reactive good looking web application on my own. Preferably in Meteor + React + Apollo
I am still lacking knowledge in working within a web dev team and VCS, since most of my work I have done solo. My portfolio is still very small and most of the work is not meant for public.
I am 28 and from Germany but flexible for a job abroad and thinking about to make a job out of my hobby. I still have a lot of fun with it and I hope this won’t change if it will be my job.
Now the Questions:
Is my profile worth something in web development? Or will people just laugh at me if I start to apply?
My plan is to use the next months to build a strong portfolio. I was thinking to analyze the job offers and expand my knowledge according to the requirements. Maybe even visit some classes from the computer science studies, which is still possible for me for the next 6 months. Well and start to apply in that direction.
But will the effort pay off? Of course, sooner or later I would expect to get the tasks and payment according to the level of my education. But since I have no CS degree, will I even qualify for that level? Will I have to start at the very bottom as someone with no degree at all? At the end, I will have to pay my bills. How much can I expect to earn at the beginning and later?