Found this experience from internet : -
I do not see a lot of discussion on here for people who are not following the standard path of highschool -> 4 years of uni with some solid internships -> fancy job. I am glad there are a lot of resources for you.
This post is for everyone else. Maybe you want to change careers. Maybe you're in your 30s/40s/50s. Maybe you were in your country's military. Maybe you studied literature or history or did not even go to university. This is for you.
I liked math in high school. I was even considered for my nation's math olympiad team. I graduated high school in 2009 and subsequently accomplished almost nothing for the next 8 years except play video games and work at hourly jobs. In 2017 I was broke and working part-time delivering pizza.
While I enjoyed math, I had never really programmed much before except for a single class in high school. I had been browsing Coursera one day, and I was impressed with their computer science selection. Programming languages, algorithms, theory, data structures... sounds interesting, though I am not sure if I will enjoy it. It's free though, so I enroled in a cryptography course (Dr. Boneh) and and an introductory algorithms course (Dr. Sedgewick).
I absolutely loved the algorithms course. Those assignments were more fun than games. Each was like a puzzle--first you start with the obvious/brute force solution. But then you watch the lectures and realise there is a better way. I would think about the assignments while I was showering, or cooking, or delivering pizzas.
Lesson: if you're passionate, you don't need to motivate yourself, because it doesn't feel like work. It's just what you would be doing anyway, even if there was no reward.
And to think--people get paid to do work like this! I knew I had to find a way to get one of those jobs. So with my newly found passion and a few online certificates I did my best to polish up a resume. I looked for local companies that needed a simple programmer. Nothing fancy. And of course I was happy when people were actually interested in discussing with someone who had no experience.
... just kidding. No one ever reached out to me. My applications went no where. In 4 months of hustling I got literally zero interviews.
Lesson: Doesn't matter what you know. It's about what you can show that you know.
I did consider attending university or a local college, but it's very difficult to do. I was already in my late 20s and had to support myself. Bummed out, I figured this was a dream that would never happen for me.
I kept doing some courses, but more because I just enjoyed them than because I expected them to turn into a career. And on the side I started doing competitive programming, including leetcode contests, and Google and Facebook's competitions. It was tough at first, but eventually I was scoring decently enough to feel like I was atleast competing (though no where near the top). I even won a T-shirt in CodeJam 2018.
Lesson: I can do this... I am not just playing around anymore.
And I was even contacted by a recruiter based on my competitive results. We set up a phone call for the next week.
I think this was probably the weirdest call the recruiter ever had. She was was kind--but to put it bluntly, clearly not interested in hiring someone to FAANG who had absolutely no experience, no degree, and no clue how a real developer works. She did offer to pass my info through, but indicated it was a stretch. Sure enough, a few days later she let me know they would not be moving forward. Not even a phone interview or online assessment.
Lesson: Following a different path is hard, and the world does not care.
I was not expecting much anyway, so I was not terribly disappointed. But the next day I got another email from someone at the same company. He had seen my application, and knew some people who were hiring at his previous company, a regional bank. He also let me know the salary would probably not be something to get too excited about, but he could pass on my info if I wanted.
I was thrilled, but at this point I did not expect much. So when I was contacted the next day by the hiring manager from this bank, I did not even try to convey any excitement. But to my shock, he offered me a virtual interview, even knowing I had no experience.
When the interview came around, I was surprised how easy it was... design this function parameters, sort this list, design this API.
And a few days later I received an offer. "We can start you off at 55k." This was more than 3 times what I had earned in the past year.
Lesson: Success comes in unexpected places. You can pound on the door and shout and never get in, but it can crack itself open as soon as you turn away.
I worked at that bank until the summer 2021. I never thought of myself as a particularly great developer... just 'good enough'. A sort of 9-5 dev. I switched to a new role for the second half of 2021. There I met a co-worker who was literally the best programmer I had ever seen. This was a person who would finish what took others a week by lunchtime.
His stay was brief though, and I could tell he was destined for something better. He left just a few weeks after I joined. To my surprised, he reached out a few days after starting his new FAANG job, and said I should join him. He set me up with a recruiter, and I found myself getting an actual FAANG phone interview!
Around the same time, a recruiter from the first FAANG (the company that reached out based on my performance in their competition a few years ago) and asked what I was up to. I now found myself interviewing at two FAANGS!
Lesson: Doors seldom shut for good. Sometimes you just need another way to open them.
And I eventually received two offers.
Lesson: No matter who you are, you have a shot. This is a booming industry, and if you want to, you can probably find a way in.
I have not decided on which yet. I received my first offer two days before my 31st birthday. This is the greatest birthday gift I ever had. I know a lot of people my age are much further in their career, and I wish I had made better choices and not languished for so long. But I can only change the future.
Lesson: You are in charge of your career. If this is a second chance for you, you cannot just be 'as good as' the 23 year old uni grad. You need to be better. 10x better.
Just don't tell them I would probably do the job for free if it did not pay so well :p