How do you guys get your first developer Job?

i have been learning programming for about 1.5 years and got my feet wet in web development 8 months ago. I just got my first developer job in my very first developer interview, and the salary is also pretty good in terms of a junior developer in my location. The key is to be well prepared by learning more things(for me they are framework, front & back end) and building something presentable. If you are a self taught developer, it's very important to have showable skills. It's dosen't have to be a whole website, it can be only a page, a component or whatever you want. So if you think there are something you can show to the interviewers, don't forget to bring your computer with you to the interview. Good luck, everyone!

I'm in Australia and got my first web dev job after 5 resumes sent with half an IT degree, a vague description of a music mod generator I wrote for Stellaris and getting 80% on a (written) basic programming (in java) test (even less complex than fizzbuzz) they made me take. The pay was on par with any other entry level dev job and after a year of being the only entry level guy I was training up the new ones, then left for a bigger and better dev role elsewhere.

As the lead developer at my company, I interview all developer applicants. The only time I get a peek into the person is from what they tell me either in the cover letter, or the email they sent sending me their resume. And I really like getting that additional "inside" information that tells me a bit about the candidate himself (or herself, or itself, or whatever). The cover letter is where "you get to be you" instead of "you being one in a dozen identical resumes on my desk", and where you can really set yourself apart from the others mirror image resumes I'm looking at in the stack on my desk. And it sounds "cliche", but it's true. I really am interested first in people who really have a passion for coding. Because I know that people who try to treat this profession as "just a job that earns a lot of money" will end up hating their job in short order, and will become unproductive if not outright useless. The job is exciting..... at first. But like ALL things, the initial excitement wears off, and some days it's just sheer determination and passion that push you through it. Those are the guys and gals I'm looking for. People who do it for the challenge and who are the sort of person who will rise to the challenge, every day, day after day, even when it's tough going.

Sounds like the concept of landing a job is like sales. The more you apply the higher the chances you get to landing a job. Thanks for sharing the omitting the "Jr" in Web Developer job when searching. I have made that assumption in my in searches. I will focus on Web Development and see if I can at least get a shot to prove myself. Thanks!

My first developer job grew out of my (then) current job of "computer operator" evolving into a developer job. yeah, there used to be an actual job that was focused on simply operating a computer. In my case, a VAX PDP-11. That turned into a developer job when it was decided that some of our reporting requirements needed more than just "list processing" (basically "mail merge" - if anyone still even remember what that was, even). So, the takeaway here is that you should be on the lookout for opportunities in whatever your current job is to see how it might turn into a developer job.

I applied to about 45 jobs as well. 2 phone screenings, 1 interview, and 0 coding challenges. The biggest challenge is just getting the freaking interview

A degree don't guarantee you make it in the field, a phd don't guarantee you get into the field, experience helps you get into the field. This is because of the chicken end egg problem, that if you are not hired, then how you get experience. This stem from the fact that the person doing the hiring are incompetent, and their only measure of you as a qualified candidate is experience. This obsession with tech companies with experience, and unwillingness to train has hurt many US companies because alot of smart people are sidelined. Chinese companies are willing to look over these artifacts such as experience, and focus on core competencies by training