[kgthegreat]

1. Open a github.com account

2. Use that as a base to build a public portfolio

3. There are many code golf based platform such as https://www.hackerrank.com/ - Get an account and practice. Others without account - https://projecteuler.net/

4. Also sites which may or may not be great at job hunting - https://hired.co.uk/, https://linkedin.com/

5. Go to meetups - find meetups in meetup.com or google mailing lists. Search for User Groups in your area. London is obviously the best place(sheer numbers) to do this in the U.K. but Edinburgh and other cities should have in some form or another. Universities. A lot of companies keep holding tech events in their offices - that is a good way to get a foot in the door.

6. Build something useful and demoable - search for things you have interest in.

7. Apply to early career/internship programs at companies

All the very best.

[fearingreprisal]

I'll second 1/2. This is something I did and it definitely helped me.