Going to School vs. Being Self-Taught in Web Development
This is an excerpt from a longer post about my journey becoming a web developer in my 30s, but I thought it might be useful as a standalone piece to address this topic in particular.
I went to college to learn web development and, even though there are better and cheaper resources you can use to learn web development online, I believe going to school has some big advantages that still make it more worthwhile than trying to teach yourself.
School helps you meet people you can learn with
School puts you together with people who are also trying to become web developers.
This is such an important part of learning how to do anything: to be around other people who share the same goals as you, other people you can work with, hang out with, and learn together with.
You don't need to go to college to find that necessarily, but college is a pretty surefire way to get it, if you put the effort in.
If you can find people who share your goals, who you like being with, and who you like working with, that will really help sustain you through the work you need to do, and even make it fun. Going back to school really helped me to find that.
School gives you deadlines
School makes you finish what you're working on and makes you finish it by a certain date.
Sure, you don't need to go to college to get that either. If you have the discipline to finish several 3 hour video tutorials all the way, and finish all those coding project ideas for your portfolio, that's great.
But for myself, I found it tough to stay disciplined enough without having something external to hold me accountable.
Schools have connections with companies
I was in a co-op program at school and so I had some terms doing work placements. It was ultimately my responsibility to find a placement, but a lot of companies had postings for co-op positions through the college that I wouldn't have had access to otherwise.
Not only that, but a lot of these were companies that regularly hired students from the program. So by being part of that program, I had a leg up in getting interviews with good companies to help me find my first job.
It can be hard to get your first job in a new field, and many of us have experienced the frustration of seeing a job posting for a junior position that's asking for 5 years of experience.
Since it's a lower risk and a lower cost for companies looking to hire or bring on some help temporarily, getting into a co-op program can be a really great way to land your first job and get those crucial first years of experience. Plus it's very common for co-op students to get hired on full time after their work term.
Becoming a web developer is a long-term commitment
The main thing about learning how to become a web developer is that it's a long-term, multi-year process. It can be hard to stay motivated that whole time if you're trying to do it on your own. College helped me with that because it connected me with other people, gave me structure, and gave me the motivation to work hard.
This all being said, everyone is different and other people might find that going the self-taught route works better for them. There's nothing wrong with that at all.
It's worth mentioning, too, that colleges have tons of problems. Some of the classes I took were very boring, or badly taught, or completely irrelevant. I'm not lying when I say that there are plenty of videos you can watch for free on YouTube that are better quality in many cases.
And it's great to have those resources. Even with my job now I'm still using YouTube and other sites to help me learn things.
Ultimately, it all comes down to your personal circumstances and preferences. And it's great that being able to teach yourself is a valid option to take.
But whichever route you choose I think it's worthwhile to consider these things I've mentioned: finding a community to learn with, a system to hold yourself accountable, and a way to network and access good-quality opportunities.
If you're interested, you can read more here: My Journey Becoming a Web Developer in My 30s