Most "learn to code" advice is the same recycled garbage: watch tutorials, build a to-do app, apply to 500 jobs.

Here's what actually works when you're self-taught and trying to land your first dev role:

1. Stop tutorial hell immediately.

If you've watched more than 20 hours of tutorials without building something original, you're procrastinating. Pick a real problem. Build a janky v1. Ship it.

2. Your GitHub IS your resume.

Nobody cares about your certificate. They care about your commit history. Contribute to open source. Build projects that solve real problems. Write READMEs that explain your thinking.

3. Learn to read code, not just write it.

Clone repos from companies you admire. Read their codebase. Understand patterns. This is the skill gap between tutorial-completers and actual developers.

4. Network where developers actually hang out.

Not LinkedIn motivational posts. Discord servers, open source communities, tech Twitter. Help people. Ask smart questions. Be visible.

5. Your first job probably isn't at FAANG — and that's fine.

Start at a startup, an agency, or a small team where you'll learn fast and ship often. You can always level up later.

The self-taught path is harder, but people who make it through are some of the best engineers I've ever worked with. The ones who didn't make it usually quit before they shipped anything real.

Don't be that person.