A record of a graduate student in chemistry who has no programming experience until he gets a job offer from a web company as a new graduate.

Introduction

Nice to meet you! As a result of job hunting, I was able to get a job offer from a web-based in-house development company from a completely inexperienced state, so I will keep a record. It will be hired as a new graduate engineer, not mid-career. I saw many articles about people who have changed jobs from other industries to engineers, but I felt that there was little information about new graduates, so I decided to make an article. Of course, I think that it will be helpful for those who are engaged in job change activities.

Situation before starting learning

--A graduate student at a certain university, doing research in chemistry ――It's a perfect idea in the laboratory, and as a result, I made a presentation only once at a small academic conference in Japan. ――Monday to Saturday is soaked in research from 10:00 to 23:00 (so-called Black Laboratory) --As of May 2020, a second-year master's student in graduate school, a generation called "21 graduates" in job hunting ――Neither research nor undergraduate years touched on programming at all --Start from the state of 0, which does not know the words such as SIer and Web system.

People who want to read

――People who are currently engaged in job hunting with the aim of becoming a web engineer ――People who want to become web engineers from now on ――People who want to go to the IT industry somehow -** University (graduate) students suffering in the laboratory **

What i want to tell

I entered a laboratory that was incompatible with me, and I was frustrated and desperate, but I was able to study programming with the idea of starting over on a new stage and restart as an engineer. Through this article, I would like to tell people who are struggling in various situations ** it is not too late to change fields **.

From starting job hunting to getting a job offer

Take the Basic Information Technology Engineer Examination (October 2019)

Around the summer of 2019, I became keenly aware of my lack of talent in my research field, and started thinking about getting a job in the IT industry. I was completely inexperienced, so I decided to study for the time being, so I applied for the Fundamental Information Technology Engineer Examination around July. I will write about this learning method in another article, but I passed it after about three and a half months of learning.

I don't think that the qualifications were directly linked to the job offer, but what I learned broadly and shallowly here was useful for later learning, and it also became a source for interviews.

Information gathering while researching (November-December 2019)

From the end of the basic information test to the end of the year, I was busy with research, collecting information at research sessions on weekdays and at joint briefings on holidays.

I also watched YouTube by Kenta Katsumata (@poly_soft). I learned about the difference between SIer and Web-based companies around here, and although I wanted to go to a Web-based company, I had never programmed, so I thought it would be impossible.

First experience with programming (January 2020)

I had some time during the year-end and New Year holidays, so I suddenly decided to start Progate and dot installation.

I did the above in about a month. By now, I think it would have taken some time, but I think I was able to write and implement the code for the appearance of the website by myself.

Create portfolio (February 2020)

I had an interview with one company at the beginning of February. As a result of the special attack without a portfolio, I received a prepayment, so I immediately started creating a portfolio.

In about two weeks, I created an SNS web application and deployed it on heroku. (February 2020) I tried using the GoogleMapsAPI, but there was nothing particularly noticeable as a function, and it was a portfolio of "progate hairy".

By the way, I also posted to Qiita about this experience.

I haven't touched the portfolio since then.

Information session, interview rush, and informal appointment (March-May 2020)

In March, briefing sessions and interviews began in earnest. During March, I did job hunting-like things such as entry sheets, self-analysis, and company research. I tried to avoid SIer and SES companies, and entered places where Web companies could enter.

There was an interview rush during April. The coronavirus hit me directly, but I felt like a web-based company, so I immediately switched to an online interview and was selected without any problems.

Finally, I received an informal appointment in May.

I'm not sure about job hunting, but due to lack of technical skills, junior and senior high school club activities, universities, research, etc. ** How can I contribute to the business by utilizing what I have gained so far **? I felt that was important.

Looking back and reflection points

Learning time

If you roughly calculate the time spent on learning ――Since January was in parallel with my research, I was studying for 2 hours from Monday to Saturday and all day on Sunday, so it was about 20 hours a week. So about 80 hours a month. ――In February, the research went down, 5 hours from Monday to Saturday, and all day on Sunday, about 40 hours a week. So about 160 hours a month.

From the above, I think it took about 250 hours to start programming and complete the portfolio.

Also, for three and a half months to qualify as a basic information engineer, I was studying for about one hour a day while occasionally skipping, so including that, 300 to 350 hours. I think it will be about.

good point

Creating a portfolio

In the job change market, it seems that there is no talk without a portfolio, but there were companies that could be evaluated just because they had a portfolio for new graduates. I think the fact that even a sloppy thing with hair on Progate was created and released for the time being was quite important.

I didn't spend too much time on basic learning

This is something that many people are tired of mentioning, but learning to do ** Progate for weeks is useless. ** I myself did Progate only once each and immediately started working on the portfolio. I was studying in the form of reviewing and checking the slides each time I had forgotten something. As a result, I was able to create a portfolio within two months of starting programming.

I gave up the Web system as a new graduate and did not go to SIer, SES company

Since I am a non-information system and have no programming experience, I was thinking of joining SIer as a new graduate until just before I started job hunting, and then changing jobs to the Web system. However, while watching a video like Why it is not a good idea to use a new graduate card at an SIer company I came to think that it was a waste to go to SIer as a new graduate. As a result, I was able to challenge a web-based company and get a job offer. I'm glad I didn't give up before I received it and tried it even if it didn't work.

Did not spend more than necessary

The cost of learning programming is about the membership fee of Progate and dot installation, totaling about 5,000 yen. I don't go to a programming school that costs tens of thousands of yen. I think there are pros and cons about school, but I personally think that it is not always necessary to attend school when a person who has no programming experience becomes an engineer. I was lucky, but I didn't go to school and got a job offer from a web-based company, so "I have to spend tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands to go to school to become an engineer from inexperienced." I think it's a waste to think that and give up.

Bad point

I should have put more effort into my portfolio

Using the entry sheet and interview preparation as an excuse, I stopped creating the portfolio when I deployed it on heroku. We should have even worked to incorporate technologies such as AWS and Docker into our portfolio to differentiate ourselves from other applicants.

Portfolio material

In portfolio creation, what kind of technology is used is important, but ** what is it made for ** is also important. At interviews, I was often asked why I created my portfolio. Since I decided on the subject of the portfolio without thinking deeply, I was often pointed out the contradiction between the reason for aspiration and the deliverable. Rather than just making it for programming practice, I felt that it was easier to talk during the interview by ** choosing a subject that suits my reason for aspiration and background **. Example) I used to work in the medical field in my previous job → Healthcare apps, etc.

I should have done a long-term internship

I think I should have done a long-term internship at a venture company somewhere instead of a part-time job during my undergraduate years. It is a great deal to be able to experience team development that many people want to experience even if they pay money at school etc. while receiving a salary. If you are a student, there are quite a few places where you can hire even if you have no experience. If you are a third-year undergraduate student who has begun to be aware of job hunting, we recommend that you join us as it is still in time.

I have narrowed down the companies to receive

I was given priority to companies with notes such as "inexperienced" and "technical skills are not required", but it was useless just to narrow my potential. Especially for new graduates, I think that there are many companies that can evaluate the parts other than technical ability, so I should have entered more companies without setting restrictions on my own.

Finally

I got information about many engineers on Qiita, YouTube, etc. and managed to get a job as an engineer. I would like to express my gratitude to those who have provided such useful information, those who have interviewed me, and my seniors who have consulted me when creating a portfolio and preparing for an interview.

If you follow this article, it will not work, but I hope you can refer to it as one of the samples. I hope it will encourage those who want to work as a new engineer.

Referenced articles, etc.

Articles of people who changed jobs from inexperienced to web engineers, which inspired me to become an engineer -What I did to change jobs to a web engineer in 4 months from inexperience -From complete inexperience to a web-based in-house development company

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