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by oinopion 5842 days ago
Maybe it's not programming that you're interested in. Maybe it's just making money? If that's the case, consider changing studies.
1 comments

I love programming; Been learning by myself since I was in high school, its just now that I'm in university I figure out there are much better people out there who would be hired before I am. I wouldn't give up programming for anything!
Don't be afraid to start small. Companies aren't always necessarily looking for the best and brightest. My first programming employer was specifically look for entry level. They didn't have the resources to hire a top level programmer, nor did they want to undermine the current staff in IT, none of which I would have considered top level at the time. I didn't have a degree, never stepped foot inside a college except to deliver pizzas and they hired me. I still don't make anywhere near what I would assume a "good programmer" would make, but over the course of 4 years my income at that job went up 150% from my starting pay.

Which made getting my 2nd (and current) programming job much easier and more lucrative.

Point being, there is always someone smarter than you out there in the world. It's also highly likely there is someone smarter than you in your current town looking for the same work, but that doesn't mean you count yourself out immediately. As a few people said above, be confident.

Cool. If you love it: learn git. Learn css. You can likely learn git in a day. css in a week. Just get really good at it. Also, learn all the hip web stuff. Amazon web services. Python. There's no reason you couldn't learn a lot of that in a year or so, and then you'll be much more employable. (if you already know all this stuff apologies I misread the post)
While learning, try to tuck away concepts and patterns (not necessarily Formal Design Patterns), idioms. Those things will translate across language barriers and offer new perspectives of doing things in other languages. Learning that way (while doing the practical stuff) will make you much more adaptable. You'll be learning Language X and you'll be like, "Oh, that's just like such-and-such in Language Y... I wonder if I can flex it like... cool."
Besides python and a bit of html & css I know nothing else in that list. Thank you, nice to see I could have a chance of finding a job in a year or so. :)
I'm sure you can get a job meanwhile, but learn more and you'll get better jobs :)