You gonna say, Andrew, what are you talking about? What numbers and how will they help me to learn programming and get a job?
Let me explain.
By saying numbers, I mean statistics. During your studies and job search, you should know every single stat.
Because success in programming isn't magic.
There is a very simple formula for going from 0 to being a good developer and then getting a job.
But most people are very chaotic about how they study and search for a job.
Moreover, if you're not tracking your numbers, you won't have enough data to make the right decisions, and you'll act based on emotions, which is a huge mistake as well.
If you are still slightly confused by what I'm saying, don't worry, we'll break everything down right now!
How and What do you need to track?
The simple formula to succeed in IT looks like this:
study + build project + apply for jobs = success
Of course, it's a simplified formula, but overall, these are the only 3 things you'll need to do.
To be productive on every step, you need to track what are you doing.
Let's cover what to track and how for every one of those steps.
Study
Here you need to know how much time you dedicate to your studies every week.
By seeing how much time you spend and how much you've learned over that period, you'll be able to see if you need to study more to move faster.
Also, instead of 'feeling' that you study a lot, you'll actually see if you study a lot.
Practice shows that quite often, even if you feel that you are productive, over 3-5 months, you have a lot of gaps and pauses which significantly slows down your progress.
So track your time, and try to dedicate the same amount of hours EVERY WEEK.
Otherwise, your studies could be a better use of time.
Build Projects
This is the easiest part in terms of tracking.
The only thing to track here is once again your time.
For study projects, use the same approach as described above.
But for portfolio projects, track separately the time that you dedicate to it.
Because most people have sh*tty portfolio projects, to stand out you have to build something good.
And building something good takes time.
Based on my experience, you need at least 100-300 hours to build a good portfolio project.
Sometimes even more.
So track the time you are spending on the project, and if it's less than that, your project is probably bad.
Apply For Jobs
After studying and building your portfolio, the last step is getting a job.
Tracking your numbers here IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.
Even if you skipped tracking during the previous 2 steps, you have to start doing it here:Track how many times you applied (per day, per week and per month)
How many responses have you received
Getting a job is a game of numbers.
So the more you apply, the higher your chances.
BUT
More than just applying a lot is required.
You have to constantly adjust your approach.
And knowing your numbers will help you to make the right decisions.
So if from 100 applications, you received 3-5 invitations for interviews, it's a quite good rate.
Just keep applying and preparing for interviews.
But if from 100 applications, you received 0 responses. Most likely you'll get 0 responses even from 500 applications.
It means that you need to change something about your approach (different resumes, more personalized applications, direct reachouts, etc.).
Also by tracking your applications, you'll know if you actually apply enough. It might feel that you apply a lot, but in reality, you applied to just 20 companies in 2 months, which in most cases is not enough.
So don't trust your feelings, trust your numbers!
Track the hours you are spending on studies, and hours you spend on projects and count your job applications and you'll be way more productive and increase your chances to succeed!
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