How I Landed a React Developer Job During My #100DaysOfCode Challenge

Background

For years, I dreamed of becoming a professional developer, but I doubted my ability to learn to code. Despite having a computer science degree, I never felt confident in my programming skills. I made a few halfhearted attempts over the years to learn Ruby on Rails and JavaScript, but I would quickly get frustrated by bugs and convinced myself coding wasn‘t for me.

But the regret of not pursuing this career ate away at me, especially as I saw more and more people sharing their success stories of learning to code and changing their lives. I was in my early 30s, married, and had two young kids – was it too late for me?

I decided I had to give it one more serious try – and hold myself accountable. That‘s when I discovered the #100DaysOfCode challenge. The concept is simple – code for a minimum of 1 hour every day for 100 days and share your progress publicly. I figured even if I failed (yet again), I would have only wasted 100 days. I had to do this for myself.

My #100DaysOfCode Goal & Plan

I publicly committed to the #100DaysOfCode challenge on Twitter and decided I would learn front-end web development and React. My goal was straightforward – code for 1-2 hours every single day, no matter what.

To hold myself accountable, I:

• Tweeted my progress every day with the #100DaysOfCode hashtag
• Blogged weekly about what I learned and built
• Committed code to GitHub daily
• Joined online coding communities for support

Rather than jumping between tutorials and languages like I had in the past, I mapped out a focused curriculum:

I started with the basics – HTML, CSS, JavaScript. I completed freeCodeCamp‘s Responsive Web Design certification, read beginner books, and did a Udemy web dev bootcamp course.

After gaining a foundation, I took on more advanced topics specific to my goal, like ES6, React, Redux, etc. I read the official docs, followed egghead.io courses, and built projects to apply what I learned. I made sure everything I learned built towards making me job-ready.

My Coding Routine

I treated the challenge like a daily habit:

• I blocked off 7-9pm every evening to focus on coding
• Outside that time, I consumed supplemental resources like podcasts, articles, or videos
• Every week, I wrote a blog post reflecting on what I learned and built
• Throughout the day, whenever I had an idea or got stuck, I‘d jot it down to return to later
• I pushed code to GitHub daily to see my streak grow

Some days I coded for the minimum 1 hour, other days I reached a state of flow and coded for 3+ hours. But I never missed a day no matter how tired or busy I was. Building this consistency was crucial for my learning.

Key Milestones & Achievements

Along the way, I hit some key milestones:

• Day 30 – Earned freeCodeCamp‘s Responsive Web Design certification
• Day 45 – Built my first React app, a Markdown Previewer
• Day 55 – Scored in top 5% of 150k+ developers in JavaScript on Codewars
• Day 60 – Completed a 20-project JavaScript course
• Day 70 – Landed my first coding freelance client
• Day 80 – Earned freeCodeCamp‘s JavaScript Algorithms & Data Structures certification
• Day 90 – Built a full-stack MERN app modeled after dev.to as my capstone project

By the end of the 100 days, I had:

• Completed 2 freeCodeCamp certifications
• Earned 200+ points & reached top 5% in JavaScript on Codewars
• Built 30+ projects, from simple HTML/CSS sites to full-stack MERN apps
• Gained 500+ Twitter followers and made dozens of developer friends online
• Written 15 blog posts documenting my journey
• Contributed to 5 open source projects

Most importantly, I proved to myself that I could learn to code and was ready to start applying for developer jobs.

Creative Job Search Strategies

As a new developer, I was at a disadvantage compared to experienced devs in the job market. So I had to get creative to stand out:

• I developed an interactive resume that looked like a code editor to show off my personality and skills:

  

• I treated my GitHub profile like a portfolio and made sure each project had a beautiful README with screenshots, demos, and detailed documentation of what I learned. This painted a story of my growth:

  

• I was super active in sharing my projects and learnings on Twitter, LinkedIn, and dev communities. This built my network, got me valuable feedback, and helped me connect with hiring managers.

• I applied to jobs I wasn‘t 100% qualified for. In interviews, I was honest that I was a new developer but made up for it by showcasing my eagerness to learn, passion for coding, and ability to quickly build quality projects.

Within days of beginning my job search, I had interviews lined up with multiple companies, from startups to large tech companies. After a few weeks, I had 3 offers for React developer roles!

Landing the Job

It felt surreal to achieve what I had dreamed of for so long. After years of false starts and self-doubt, I proved to myself that I could become a developer through hard work and dedication. The #100DaysOfCode challenge gave me the structure and public accountability I needed to stay committed.

For my first developer role, I chose to join a startup that was rebuilding their product using a modern React/Node stack. It was a huge opportunity to learn and grow alongside a talented team. Over a year later, I‘m still there and have been promoted to lead our front-end team.

Looking back, learning to code has been one of the most rewarding challenges of my life. It gave me tangible skills, reignited my love of learning, and unlocked an exciting new career path. But more than that, it gave me confidence in my ability to take on tough challenges and transform my life.

If my story resonates with you, I encourage you to take on the #100DaysOfCode challenge for yourself. Start small with a commitment you can stick to daily. Build coding into a habit. Focus on learning technologies specific to your goal. Create and share your projects publicly. Strive to learn and improve a little bit every single day. Don‘t give up on yourself.

Trust me, if a busy 30-something year old parent like me can do this, you can too. It won‘t be easy, but it will absolutely be worth it. Happy coding!