DonTheDeveloper Podcast
DonTheDeveloper Podcast
Why Most Aspiring Devs Give Up Within 1 Year (Brutally Honest Advice)
Breaking into tech is tougher than most people think, and the journey to becoming a developer is filled with misleading promises and unrealistic expectations. In this video, I’m pulling back the curtain and sharing the brutal truth about why most aspiring developers fail to land their first job—and how you can avoid making the same mistakes.
We’ll dive deep into the biggest misconceptions about salaries, the harsh reality of the learning curve, and why simply knowing how to code isn’t enough. This isn’t about discouraging you; it’s about preparing you for what’s ahead so you can succeed where others give up.
Whether you're just starting or feeling stuck in your coding journey, this video will challenge your mindset, ground your expectations, and give you the no-BS advice you need to keep going when things get tough. If you’re serious about becoming a developer, you need to hear this.
---------------------------------------------------
🔥 Webdev Career Help - https://calendly.com/donthedeveloper/coaching
🎮 Join Discord - https://discord.gg/TpQe2k8Ab3
❤️ Support What I Do - https://www.patreon.com/donthedeveloper
Disclaimer: Some product links are affiliate links which means if you buy something I'll receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
===========================
WEBDEV COURSES I HIGHLY RECOMMEND:
🎓 Learn Frontend - Scrimba (20% off): https://scrimba.com/the-frontend-developer-career-path-c0j?via=donthedeveloper
🎓 Learn Backend - Boot.dev (25% off): https://boot.dev/?promo=DONTHEDEVELOPER - Get 25% off your first payment with code "DONTHEDEVELOPER"
🎓 Already Experienced? Level Up Here - Code Crafters (40% off): https://app.codecrafters.io/join?via=donthedeveloper
Most aspiring developers give up within about a year. A lot of people come into this with a burst of motivation, false expectations, and they feel like they are finally entering a career path that is going to make their life better and it's going to be better than their previous workplace and they're really excited for it, which there's nothing wrong with that. But a lot of aspiring developers prop themselves and their path up with false expectations which end up significantly reducing the chances that they ever land that first developer job. So I want to go over some false expectations and I want to just talk about things that you should look out for and challenge in your own beliefs about what this career path is, uh, what the result is going to be for you, what it's going to be like working as a developer, how long it's going to take, et cetera. Uh, because I I think if you're aware of these things, you can ground yourself in, really be critical of, like why you want to become a developer and form a better vision for yourself, something more stable and long-term to pull you through this entire career path until you actually lay in that position. So let's dive into it. There are four reasons I'm going to talk about, and a lot of this just has to do with mismanaged expectations. So the first one is a misconception about what you're going to be getting paid.
Don Hansen:A lot of people think that you know their previous career path and you know them making 100 to 200K is going to transfer over because they, you know their previous career path and you know them making 100 to 200k is going to transfer over because they, you know, had a high responsibility, high pay, so they think that that is going to transfer over to them getting a high pay or high starting salary for their first debt position, which is just not true. You know companies are going to pay you based off the value that you bring and also that you negotiate. But ultimately, there are a lot of people that think they're going to be making, you know 100k because I hear some people in reddit or twitter saying, yeah, I started off with 100k and I uh, you know I'm in the industry now, I'm excited and, uh, you know you can do it too. Right, got this in, uh, uh. Or I landed my first position within like six months, nine months we'll talk about that in a bit but, yeah, I, if you want to make 100k, become a developer.
Don Hansen:Everyone should become a developer, everyone should learn to code, and you know you get these anecdotal stories and that's the key word is anecdotal of people that claim that they make that much, few of which who actually do, without professional experience. A lot of those are in big cities like New York City or maybe even San Francisco, and have high starting salaries because of the high expenses of the area that they live in. There's a lot of other variables that go into these few anecdotal stories telling you how you're going to make 100k immediately when you become a developer, and for most it's just not true. Be very careful about that right. Be humble enough to be willing to start with a lower salary. Ultimately, you just want something to be able to pay your bills. As you progress and grow as a software engineer, that salary will increase. Give it time as a developer. But I think that's one reason why a lot of people want to get into this industry because they just think they're going to make a bunch of money without a college degree. And the people that do make that work are people that are typically passionate about coding, that have probably been experimenting with this for a while or just really spend a lot of time and make a lot of sacrifices to just constantly be learning, building their projects and building their network and really going hard with the job search strategy so you can make over $100K with your first position. It's just extremely unlikely.
Don Hansen:Another thing is underestimating the learning curve. Maybe you are way more intelligent than I am, but I feel like I would. I'd say I'm about average intelligence. In terms of a lot of other developers, I have more insights and, uh, I pick up certain stuff faster than other people and I pick up certain stuff faster than other people and I pick up certain stuff slower than other people. I find that comparing intelligence is one of the most worthless things that you can possibly do, because generally, you know what you have experience with is what you're going to be intelligent with, what you constantly train your mind to think about and the types of problems that you solve are. Those types of problems are going to be easier for you to solve versus someone else.
Don Hansen:It's just about training. It's about skill development. That's it. That's how I see a lot of these intelligent developers, because I used to put them on a pedestal and think they were just brilliant people and I could never be like them and all they did was work at it. All they did was make a shitload of mistakes. All they did was learn from their mistakes and they grew from them.
Don Hansen:But I think a lot of people are going to be humbled trying to become a developer. I think a lot of people are going to feel stupid. They're going to be feel frustrated with themselves, especially when you forget stuff, especially when you deal with a bug and you don't get any feature work done for like maybe days, weeks, even in the beginning, when you're still kind of getting accustomed to like really fundamental stuff to even be able to debug something. It's frustrating. You're gonna feel like you're stupid. Many, many times I did many other developers did, and I've met people and I mentored people that get very frustrated very quickly at themselves because they think they should know something and it's an ego thing.
Don Hansen:You need to truly realize how we'll use a kinder word ignorant. You are in this field year after year after year and the more you learn, the more you're going to realize how little you know. And if that is not a realization, I question how much you're truly growing. And it's really self-defeating to realize that this is a career path that most people are not ready for. Most people trying to become developers right now will never become developers.
Don Hansen:This idea that everyone needs to learn to code and try to make a career, even in tech, is a lie. Most people are not meant. Why? I would say most people are capable of getting into tech in general. Most people are not capable and it comes from mindset uh of becoming software engineers. Most people aren't. Most people, most of you, are going to fail. That is the truth. It's going to take a long time to get these concepts down and it's going to take a lot of repetition, a lot of application of these fundamental concepts to really deeply understand them. I think most people that I see that think they are hireable right now. Most aspiring developers have very shaky fundamentals. They're able to piece things together, but there's been a lot of dependency on copying code and themselves enough to solve problem after problem until you go into deeper and deeper and deeper problems.
Don Hansen:To truly grow as a developer, a lot of you just need a lot more time to grow, and that's just it. You need to give yourself way more time to grow, and that's just it. You need to give yourself way more time to grow, but a lot of people have not given your a lot of. You have not given yourself enough time to let these concepts sink in and build a lot of shitty applications until you get to a little bit more complex applications that are less shitty and less shitty and less shitty. You're just building a lot of really bad stuff until you can build something better and something better than that and something better than that and something better than that. It takes a long time and I think a lot of people just struggle with pacing themselves when learning to code and they give up because they realize how deep this rabbit hole really goes and they're just not ready for it. They just wanted a career transition. They wanted to make more money. So do 500 applicants that are applying for the same position you do. So that comes to the time it takes to become a developer.
Don Hansen:There are still courses, there are still programs, there are still content creators that are telling you you can become a developer in six months and, yes, 0.01% of developers might achieve this. But that is not true for the majority and is extremely misleading. And that is not your fault misleading. And that is not your fault. It is your fault if you watch this video and you still take it seriously that you're going to become a developer in six months, a professional developer in this market If, after this video, you still believe that, that's on you. But there are a lot of misleading anecdotal stories and people with different incentives with their selling courses that are trying and discords and reddit posts and twitter, like a lot of people, need a reality check with this.
Don Hansen:If you're not ready to spend over two years trying to become a developer, you're probably gonna fail. You can aim for something a little bit shorter, but if you're probably going to fail, you can aim for something a little bit shorter. But if you're not willing to spend years really building a solid foundation to become a developer, you're probably going to fail. And I think most of you are probably going to skip over this video when you hear this and just listen to advice from other content creators that they alleviate your concerns and tell you oh, no, no, no, you can become a developer, you know, in less than two years and you just got to be efficient with your time, you just got to do a lot of the right things and they kind of give these like what would you call them? Like generic platitudes, as platitudes are correct where. But they give these like generic pieces of advice that kind of alleviate some concern, but they don't go deeply into what the exact type of person is that is a rare circumstance that will get a job very quickly. They don't go into the grind and the sacrifices that that person has to make to achieve something like that.
Don Hansen:It's going to take you a long time If you aren't willing to spend at least years trying to become a software engineer and you're going to have to back your ass up financially. Stop trying to fix your financial problems with software engineering. This is not a path to immediately fix your financial problems. You need to get those stable first before you try to become a developer. Stop quitting your job to become a developer. Stop it, pay your bills to become a developer. Stop it, pay your bills, take care of your responsibilities. This is going to be a long path. I'm serious. Buckle in. It's going to be a very long ride. Make sure you are financially stable Because when you have that financial pressure, you are not thinking about deeply understanding things.
Don Hansen:You are thinking about understanding the bare minimum possible to go on to the next concept that you think is going to lead you closer and closer to landing that job as quickly as possible. I know what it's like to have that financial pressure. I dealt with it. I moved from home to home when I was becoming a developer because I started with very, very mismanaged expectations, talking about like I'm going to become a developer in three months. It was years ago and that still wasn't even realistic. I hope you're not in for a rude awakening there, because that is where you get into dangerous territory and I know some of you have kind of bet the farm on becoming a developer and you've dropped your job. You've been sold a lie and I'm truly sorry for that.
Don Hansen:Pick up part-time jobs, go back to your old job, do what you need to to be able to pay the bills, because when you have that financial pressure alleviated at least mostly, where you're not wondering if you could pay the bills at the end of the month Now coding gets fun. Now you can get curious. Now you can dive into things and explore things. You don't have to try to go through this quick, templated path which is going to fail you anyways, because everyone else is trying to go through that path. Now you can become a unique developer and bring something unique to teams that they're going to want to hire you for, because you are obsessed with animations, and that is what this specific product needs. It needs a developer like you. It's going to take you a long time.
Don Hansen:And the fourth thing what you think being a developer is an idealized perception that a developer life is a cushion life, one where you go up to the rooftop and you code on your laptop as the sun's beating down on you while you're drinking your Starbucks coffee. If I ever catch any of you doing that in my community, you are getting kicked and we are having a serious talk. That is not real for most companies and I think a lot of YouTube videos and people that claim that they work at Fang light companies, um, just portray software engineering as this really relaxed lifestyle and you are just very comfortable and no pressure whatsoever and you get paid all of this money and drive your really fancy car and go into your very expensive apartment in the city and you've been lied to. Developer jobs can pay quite a bit down the road, but most developers I meet, I talk with, they're very responsible with their money because they are very responsible people. They need to be responsible people for this type of position. They work hard, they make a lot of sacrifices. I don't know if you haven't noticed yet, but there are companies laying a lot of people off. There are products that aren't making as much revenue. Do you think, because you want a perfect work-life balance, that you aren't going to be replaceable when a product isn't making enough revenue and you, potentially, are going to get a big investment if the developers work 50 hours, 60 hours that week, the next week, to be able to push this product out, you're not going to be sitting outside in the sun beating down in the sun. You're going to be more realistic about it and saying, hey, I'm in this for the long haul, I want to cool down. I'm going to go into the office, I'm going to put some headphones on, so noise canceling headphones. I really need an affiliate link for these, to be honest. But I think a lot of people have this. They put the developer job on this pedestal and I want to be very realistic with you.
Don Hansen:Developer jobs are high pressure. A lot of people want these positions. No-transcript say that Bugs fixed very quickly. You're going to have pressure from managers. You're going to have pressure from different stakeholders within the company. If you're doing agency work. You're going to have clients that are very frustrating to work with that you hate to your core, but they are bringing in a lot of money and you are going to be told to suck it up and you are going to hate your job for that month while you work with that client. You're going to hate it, you're going to hate yourself for working it, but you're going to do it if you really want this career. It's a really high-pressure job in a lot of different companies. Most developers that are professional developers right now truly enjoy coding. There's a lot of shit they have to go through, but they go through it because they love building shit, they love solving problems with code, they like to code and that's what drives them.
Don Hansen:It's not this chance at a remote job. It's not this chance at a glamorous life or high pay right away, or you thinking you're going to work on this like evergreen or not evergreen, this brand new project where you get to start from the very beginning. You don't have to work on legacy code. You're going to be working on legacy code. You are going to be stressed. You are not going to have necessarily the flexible hours on every single deposition that you want, and remote work is very, very competitive. There's a high chance you won't have a remote position for a long time. It is not glamorous. You need to love this, you need to love what you do and you need to find enjoyment in that as you learn to code. Because if you don't, and you put this developer job on a pedestal and you aren't willing to develop grit and grind out the shitty parts of learning to code, to grind out the shitty parts of being a developer, you're going to quit, like many other developers have.