First job

How people landed their very first role in tech. 3 stories.

First job1 min read
Self-Taught at 13, First Job at CollegeHumor, Now an Engineering Leader
A self-taught developer traces his path from learning Visual Basic at 13 to building ASP websites for local businesses at 17, then landing his first professional role at CollegeHumor after college. He eventually moved into engineering management at startups, having never finished a CS degree. The post reflects honestly on what he wishes he had done differently and what actually mattered.
First job1 min read
No GitHub, No Portfolio, Commerce Degree: How I Landed My First Dev Job
A self-taught developer who coded since age 12 landed their first full-time developer role at the University of Toronto just before graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance. They had no GitHub account, no portfolio, and no formal CS background, but aced a 12-question technical test in the interview. Five years later they had progressed from developer to Architect.
First job2 min read
Bad Grades, Cold Emails, and Landing at a Toronto Startup in 2011
A new grad with zero experience and poor grades spent 2-3 months targeting startups with looser HR filters so he could reach developers before transcripts came up. He cold-emailed every company on a 'Canada's Top 100 Start-Ups' list and landed at one where he still works years later. Now a hiring manager himself, he shares what actually moves the needle when evaluating new grads.