Things I wish someone told me before I got into Web Development.
By now, nearly everyone in the world has seen one of those online ads for a coding bootcamp that makes claims which are too outrageous for any reasonable person to believe. I mean seriously; you’re supposed to believe that you’re guaranteed a job making 75k/yr, and you can get that job within 6 months of starting the program? Clearly, this is too good to be true.
Well there is a catch. Actually, several. After being in the Web Development space for a little over two years, I’ve learned quite a few things that I wish someone had told me before I started. This article aims to clear up some of the misconceptions which commonly surround individuals who are wanting to step into the industry.
1: A good portion of freelance “Web Developers” are just teenagers who know how to use Wordpress, and Wix.
I know this because, well, I was one. Due to the over-abundance of do-it-yourself website building software, it is well within the scope of possibility to construct just about anything a client may need you to build without ever writing a single line of code. In my opinion, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
My Go-To software at the time was Wordpress, with the Elementor plugin. I’ve built more than 50% of the websites that I’ve ever been contracted to build using this platform, and the clients love it. It’s easy, its inexpensive, and it ties in nicely with Woocommerce in the situation that you may need e-commerce capabilities. Shopify is also a great mention, but I’ve found that multiple clients were not a fan of the “steep” $40 a month subscription.
2: The real reason you should learn to code.
Money. That’s it. Basically, any way I look at it, I learned code so that I could fix specific things within my own projects without having to hire someone at $75 an hour which made a considerable dent in my profit. At an average project cost of around $2000, I wasn’t happy to shell out $300 to a Dev for a specific feature to be implemented.
I should also mention that someone who doesn’t know how to code cannot take on high-dollar custom projects unless they’re giving away most of it to a team of Devs. This is a perfectly functional approach, but I don’t personally feel okay with spearheading a project that I’m not involved with the construction of. The idea of running my agency like that gave me a serious sense of imposter syndrome.
High dollar clients expect perfection, and you need to give it to them. They have a problem that they are hiring you to produce a solution for, and you are going to be the architect who plans it. If you want to swim with the big fish, and separate yourself from the Wix kids, LEARN TO CODE WELL.
3: The infamous 75k claim; and why you shouldn’t care.
Ah, 75k. The magical number that CONSTANTLY gets thrown around by coding bootcamps. Is this number BS? Well, no, but it’s misleading.
Most coding bootcamps can only guarantee you a job immediately upon graduation with the 75k payrate if you’re enrolled in the ISA payment plan. ISA stands for Income Sharing Agreement, and It’s basically the fluffy unicorns way to have your wages garnished. The coding bootcamp shoots your resume to a recruiter, who then finds you a job making 75k. You’ll receive a job offer for the 75k; an offer, which if you turn down, will render you immediately responsible for making loan payments to the bootcamp regardless of your income.
But you accept the job offer. Success! Forget that you’re probably working for a company that treats its employees like garbage, You’re making 75k! Now all you have to do is make continued child-support payments to the coding bootcamp that owns your soul until it totals a much larger number than you’re comfortable with telling people. Congratulations, you’re a Developer!
4: What you should actually do.
So, what should you do if you want to try your hand at Web Development? Find some type of free/low cost resource, and learn some HTML, and CSS to see if you’re even going to like it. Familiarize yourself with software like Wordpress, and Shopify. Chances are, even if you know enough to build projects from scratch; you’re going to end up working with these at some point.
If you’ve decided that Web Development is still something you’re interested in pursuing after you’ve gotten some exposure; find some good education. Pay for some courses taught by Developers that know what they’re doing. Coding bootcamps aren’t always bad, just don’t get caught in the financial scheme. It’s always possible to learn everything you need to know for free, but I find the lack of personal guidance to be a sizeable problem. Your best bet is probably to try, and find some type of well-price coaching program. I personally recommend Devslopes Web Academy.
5: The truth about salaries
Lets be real. If you come straight out of a coding bootcamp with no portfolio projects, and no degree; you probably shouldn’t expect to earn more than 45k-50k knowing HTML, CSS, JS, etc. That is, if you somehow manage to land a job with no portfolio.
The best path to landing a job around the 75k-90k range is to spend 6 months or more putting together an impressive portfolio of projects which showcase your expertise in the field.
Many Web Developers with experience, and a good portfolio will see north of 100k/yr, but this takes time to achieve. Obviously, this depends on the area you live in. If money is the primary reason for your interest in this profession, I will tell you that it is possible to 2x or even 3x these numbers as the owner of an agency. At 17, in high school, I was averaging $1000 a month working less than 4 hours a week building Wordpress sites for small businesses.
Final Thoughts.
Whether you’re looking for a career change, or you’re fresh out of high school, Web Development can be a rewarding choice. That being said, it isn’t for everyone. I’ve known several people who decided after spending thousands of dollars on education that they absolutely hated sitting down, and churning out code for hours. Honestly, it gets a little boring at times. What always keeps me going is the sense of accomplishment I feel when I hand over the keys to a brand new website, and see it generating revenue for my clients. But, what might be even more rewarding than that, is picking up the phone and hearing “Hey, I’m a reference from John, he said you could build me an awesome website”.
