How did you get your first software job?
Please include educational background.

I applied to a job and got it after 2 days of phone conversations. Before that, I worked for “free” for 2 years on a startup.
Bachelors degree in informatics. I was a slave/intern for around 2 years and a half in university, so I technically had almost 5 years of (bad) experience before I got my first real job.

I had been writing software as part of my job for 15 years as part of my controls engineering work. I have a background is electronics. Taught myself to program (tested out of the programming courses in college).

I found it harder to get a controls engineering job in my area so I started looking for a software job. Got one doing embedded C++ GUI work. Been doing that for 5 years now. I am also writing servers for automation protocols for use with the same equipment. This has given me immense experience with C++ (much better now that when I started) and working with legacy codebases. Finding and fixing bugs that have existing for 15 years in some cases.

I had been programming GUI software for desktop using Python for a few years before that. Still part of my controls work.

I applied for the job halfway through my BBA of Business IT studies, received a coding challenge, which I postponed for weeks due to sickness, half-assed the assignment, googled what the tech mentioned in the job ad were omw to the interview, and got the job. Prior to my starting my studies I had zero background in sw dev, and in fact had done an extensive career in a completely separate field in events management and physical security services.

@Demolishun your job is so cool

I fucked up school and got a diploma for system administrator, not programming. I did program since I was a little kid. The second time I applied for a programming job I got hired. It was an outsourcing company. I started my professional career on my 18th. I didn't have a diploma for software engineer - only one company actually asked for it. Mostly I get hired because I have a great resume

I have a master's degree (MCA) and pretty much got betrayed by my college in the name of campus selection.

I went on Indeed and put my application there and accepted a job which paid me so little I had to split the rent 3 ways on my 1-bedroom apartment.

was invited as a replacement of a leaving friend. had to do simple project to familiarize w/ all the new cool stuff like html, css, xml, php and mysql. the result was uaf but I got the job. self thought. ( had some 8 & 16 bit exp prio that )

friend during uni (started as game designer, but I kind moved into making some tools for them while doing that anyway), then another classmate while in uni. If nothing, the University is excellent place to find contacts.

Opportunities just seem to find me on their own. I went to a couple of interviews on my own, but I didn't like any of the companies I interviewed with.

I started programming when I was around 10-11yo. In high school I got an intern job at a company when I was 16, did some QA stuff, and 1.5 years later in 2016 I asked them to give me an FE role, and they did.

First few months I was building Android apps, then I moved to developing an Angular 2 app.

I left the company in 2019 because they didn't give a sh!t about FE (their BE devs fulfilled the requirements the client needed).

Went to an other multinational company where they tried to scam us into a 2 year fixed contract, then in the beginning of 2020 I joined my current place.

I'm doing Next.js, TypeScript, Redux-Saga here. Salary is okay, I have a big influence on the project and I'm working on my senior title currently.

It's kind of hard to sum up my whole journey in 1000 characters, lol

@retoor aaay I got my first Dev job when I was 18 as well!

@MammaNeedHummus Nice, congrats! :D Then you may know how it feels to be the youngest lad at the company and be memed for it

@in4sc and forgot to tell, I couldn't go to uni, I was too poor for that and needed money. I don't regret my decision for starting working so early, I see many new devs struggling to find interships / junior jobs. I have a high school diploma tho, and I'm located in Europe.

During my master study:

- Prof: "Oh so you can code?"

- Me: "Uhm yeah..." *despite only started programming 1y before

- Prof: "Why don't you join my dept as student assistant?"

- Me : "Ok"

The pay was only enough to cover my daily lunches in the uni.

But I get to put the experience to my CV.

Got my first role at the end of a work placement for the course I was doing, I was 17 at the time.