- Going for a course that’s too short
If you’re new to this, keep in mind that it’s tough to learn a new profession from scratch in less than six months (even if you’re really dedicated). Pay attention to the number of classes, their frequency, and duration. The more classes per week, the better. My teacher recommended spending at least four hours a day on training. I studied about six hours a day, including lectures and homework.
- Believing promises of employment after the course when the program only covers the basics
First of all, I paid attention to the program. Why study an outdated language for six months and then learn new technologies on your own? Does the course have a lot of topics at the Hello, World level? Most likely, they will teach you the basics, and in the end, you will get “I’ve heard about the technology, but I don’t know how to use it yet.”
- Expecting too much from the course
There are no programs, workshops, master classes, or healing practices where you can come, pay money, give your time, and instantly gain the knowledge or skills you need for a successful interview. For me, the main thing was my desire and inner confidence that I was genuinely interested in programming. Put in as much effort as possible: read the documentation and all the materials that are sent for additional review. Even the most ideal courses will only be effective when both sides are truly interested in the result.
- Ignoring labor market trends
If your goal is to find a job, identify the technology stack that is in demand now and will be in demand in the future. Keep track of job openings, subscribe to IT companies’ Telegram news channels, and follow trends. Analyze what employers are looking for and compare this data with the course content. Maximum overlap? Then it’s the best choice.
- Choose a low-cost course
It’s no secret that a developer’s time is expensive. And if that specialist is also a good mentor, even more so. Therefore, the pay for such an engineer is unlikely to be low. If courses are cheap, there are bound to be shortcomings somewhere: the quality of information delivery and homework checks, the number of classes, the conditions. Either the teacher lacks the relevant practical skills, or the program skimps on conditions, where students are not provided with the necessary equipment and development environment, or something else that is not very pleasant.