[zabana]

I got my foot in the door via a front-end job/internship in England. What I did was I would find free website design templates (this was in 2014) and turn them into live websites. Then I quickly created a portfolio, hosted it on GH pages, linked to my github account at the time and started applying. It was easier for me because it was a paid internship through an EU funded program. They made me an offer and later on retracted. But thankfully right before the end they were nice enough to hook me up with a couple of other companies who were desperately looking for a Junior Dev (whatever that means). I must say I'm really greatful for the oppotunities because it exposed me to much much more talented devs and I got to learn tonnes of things (vim, back-end dev, basic devops, linux) I barely do front end anymore.

So to answer your question I guess, it depends on your area of expertise. It's easier in my opinion if you're a front-end guy because you'll have "something to show". If you're a backend developer you can always cook up a library in whatever language you use and share it with the community, that along with a blog can go a long way in helping you landing a job.

Hope this helps