How to land a web dev job from a degreeless Senior Engineer’s perspective /u/rgi_casterly CSCQ protests reddit

I’ve seen so many posts across all social media about how terrible the CS job market is right now. I can’t speak for compiled applications positions but from a web development perspective it has never been easier [ scratch that, I should have said “simpler” ] to get a job. Notice how I didn’t say it’d be fast?

I’ve hired multiple people, owned my own development company, and led multiple projects as an employee. From the role of a hiring manager I can tell you that we absolutely positively do not care at all what your GPA was/is, what clubs you were in, or what your hobbies are. We care if you can achieve results. To further that point, I personally ( as do many of my peers ) not even care if you have a degree. I don’t care if you can write a sorting algorithm with me watching over your shoulder because, guess what, that’s not how we code in the real world. Use books, use Google, use ChatGPT. This field lives and dies on “Get it done well and get it done fast”. How you do it is totally irrelevant. It’s OK to ask for help and it’s expected.

So, if you’re trying to get hired in 2025 here is my advice:

1. Trim your resumes way down to only reflect the absolutely most relevant information

2. Start a portfolio yesterday. Build things. It doesn’t matter if they suck as long as they work. Now read that again.

3. Ask EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. you know if you can build something for them that’ll bring value to them. Then put that in your portfolio.

4. Stop getting degrees / certs in super oversaturated languages. Every person is coming out of college knowing Python. Pick an older language. Why older? Because tons of places still use old tech like PHP, Rails, etc. And guess what? It makes a lot of money because they need people to keep it alive.

5. Quit applying to FAANG. Point blank…you aren’t going to get hired. Instead, apply to non tech companies that need tech workers. Example: I was a Senior Full Stack Engineer for a commercial construction company. Six figure salary easy and in a rural state.

6. Look local if possible. You can cut down on the competition IMMENSELY if you suck it up and take a work from office job local to your town / state. ( At least until you get a title and years under your belt )

7. If a company doesn’t have their salary posted, it’s probably a waste of time

8. If a company says you’ll have more than 3 rounds of interviews…it’s a waste of time.

Remember, Actual completed projects are always better than what you say you know.

And speaking of what you know..that’s even less important than WHO you know. Make connections and make them often. Almost every job I’ve had, I’ve gotten because of someone I knew.

That’s my advice as a grumpy senior dev. If anyone has any questions, I’ll do what I can to answer them as long as I don’t get too bored. I genuinely do wish you all the best of luck though.

I’ve seen so many posts across all social media about how terrible the CS job market is right now. I can’t speak for compiled applications positions but from a web development perspective it has never been easier [ scratch that, I should have said “simpler” ] to get a job. Notice how I didn’t say it’d be fast?

I’ve hired multiple people, owned my own development company, and led multiple projects as an employee. From the role of a hiring manager I can tell you that we absolutely positively do not care at all what your GPA was/is, what clubs you were in, or what your hobbies are. We care if you can achieve results. To further that point, I personally ( as do many of my peers ) not even care if you have a degree. I don’t care if you can write a sorting algorithm with me watching over your shoulder because, guess what, that’s not how we code in the real world. Use books, use Google, use ChatGPT. This field lives and dies on “Get it done well and get it done fast”. How you do it is totally irrelevant. It’s OK to ask for help and it’s expected.

So, if you’re trying to get hired in 2025 here is my advice:

1. Trim your resumes way down to only reflect the absolutely most relevant information

2. Start a portfolio yesterday. Build things. It doesn’t matter if they suck as long as they work. Now read that again.

3. Ask EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. you know if you can build something for them that’ll bring value to them. Then put that in your portfolio.

4. Stop getting degrees / certs in super oversaturated languages. Every person is coming out of college knowing Python. Pick an older language. Why older? Because tons of places still use old tech like PHP, Rails, etc. And guess what? It makes a lot of money because they need people to keep it alive.

5. Quit applying to FAANG. Point blank…you aren’t going to get hired. Instead, apply to non tech companies that need tech workers. Example: I was a Senior Full Stack Engineer for a commercial construction company. Six figure salary easy and in a rural state.

6. Look local if possible. You can cut down on the competition IMMENSELY if you suck it up and take a work from office job local to your town / state. ( At least until you get a title and years under your belt )

7. If a company doesn’t have their salary posted, it’s probably a waste of time

8. If a company says you’ll have more than 3 rounds of interviews…it’s a waste of time.

Remember, Actual completed projects are always better than what you say you know.

And speaking of what you know..that’s even less important than WHO you know. Make connections and make them often. Almost every job I’ve had, I’ve gotten because of someone I knew.

That’s my advice as a grumpy senior dev. If anyone has any questions, I’ll do what I can to answer them as long as I don’t get too bored. I genuinely do wish you all the best of luck though.