Question How can I start my new career in computing etc

[Angel 👼]

Hi everyone I'm new to here and I'm trying to better my education and hopefully start a new career in computing I'm interested in computer programming, coding, networking and web development them kind of things I've been doing a few free coding courses online doing html and css I only know the basics so far so please could anyone tell me on what's the best way for me to go with my learning and how I can teach myself better what should I concentrate on and which would be better for me to build a career in please could someone tell me how to go from here thanks.xx

 

[Quanticriver]

have you tried https://www.w3schools.com/

 

[Angel 👼]

have you tried https://www.w3schools.com/

Yeah that's one of the free apps I've been using learning html and css also I've tried solo learn , khan academy, code academy, Alison and you have to pay to go on most of the courses which is a downer especially when you start one and then all of a sudden you have to pay to go any further with the course apart from solo learn which I've just downloaded and I'm starting on it now I've also looked at open university and open learn but I've not seen any courses which was suitable it's all over whelming really and I'm not sure what route to go down what would you suggest would be the easiest and best career for me to follow from here.

 

[Gam3r01]

If you are looking at a career path then college is probably going to be your best bet.
Not only would there be a laid out curriculum for what you want to study, but not many jobs are going to care about "self taught", they just want to see that degree.

 

[Angel 👼]

If you are looking at a career path then college is probably going to be your best bet.
Not only would there be a laid out curriculum for what you want to study, but not many jobs are going to care about "self taught", they just want to see that degree.

Thanks for the advice i think you can get a degree or a qualification or certificate for completing the course and doing the exam but you have to pay for the exam I only go on them free online courses coz I can't afford to go pay for a course and I think you have to pay at college I definitely agree with you that it would be better for me to learn coz like you said there would be a curriculum for me to follow and also people there to help you if you need it and you can ask questions as well I would love to go to college it's just been able to afford to go which at the moment I can't so until I can I'm just trying my best to teach myself but I'm still not sure what would be the easiest and best way to go and which career would be better to follow.

 

[Gam3r01]

The problem is you arent going to find anything substantial from free services, yeah it might be good practice for you, but you are going to have to invest to get this going.
Even those paid online courses arent going to mean much to employers.

I would start talking to admission departments at local colleges or a college of your choice, they can go over your financial situation and give you a decent idea of how much it would cost to attend. There are massive amounts of grant money out there for people who cant afford it.

 

[USAFRet]

2 pathways forward:

Experience or degree/certifications.
Or both.

Experience
This will require a LOT of displayable stuff.
What have you actually built? Contributed to an open source project?

Degree/Certifications
College courses or actual certs you've passed.
For instance, Security+, A+, Network+....just to start. Not just perusing free online sources, but actually passing the test.
This will, of course, cost money.

 

[ss202sl]

When I started, I went and got some certifications an expense of about $5,000 20 years ago. I then began applying at a certain place that was one of the largest employers in the city. I applied for every job in the IT section whenever a position became available. eventually one of the managers there called me and said that I should go get a job with their contract company(he had already mentioned me to them), and from there they would most likely hire me. I got the job working with them as a contractor for about 9 months, until the next full time position opened up, I was hired.

 

[Nemesia]

One of my friend is using this website - https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-how-to-code

Pretty good online website to learn coding. it's free and there is a lot of coding languages on the website you can learn straight on the website with lessons and practices and exams.

 

[MDemerse]

There are thousands of MOOCs (massive online open courses) available to learn from, including courses from places like MIT and the U of Penn. You can do these through places like Coursera and Udemy to get a certificate, or you can access them directly from the colleges by searching site:edu MOOC and the type of course you're looking for.

Personally, I think you're better off going through a traditional program at a local university or college. If money is an issue, look for scholarships. There are so many available scholarships that people don't even know about. You can do the same kind of search (site:com scholarship or site:edu scholarship and filter by the type of scholarship or something about you, like that you play MineCraft (there's literally a MineCraft scholarship out there....) or that you have dreams of having your own business someday. There are thousands of scholarships like that. I found both of those in less than two minutes.

Good luck, no matter what you decide to do.

 

[Ralston18]

And, if at all viable, consider the military.

That is a very tough decision for multiple reasons but many people have benefited by making and taking that choice. Then continued by working hard to learn and advance.

 

[MDemerse]

The military is actually a very good route. My stepson is in the Army right now (actually due back from the Middle East in a few weeks.) He's a drone maintenance specialist. I know he's going to have some great opportunities ahead of him.