r/PythonLearning • u/EvitiSempai • 1d ago

How did you get your first python job?

I'm currently looking through pages of job listings. I've found the overwhelming majority of Python developer positions require quite a bit of experience. This seems to be a bit of catch-22, so how did you get your first job developing software in Python?

4 Upvotes

70% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

3

u/ninhaomah 1d ago

It's been this way in IT since early 2000.

I was rejected for IT Support job after graduating because I got no exp as IT support.

In 2004/2005. All I needed to know was how to restart PCs , install printers and so on.

You tell me.

3

u/WiredOtaku 1d ago

I broke in through a coding bootcamp after years of customer service jobs. No CS degree, no prior tech internships. The bootcamp gave me a portfolio and an alumni network, but honestly most of my cohort didn't land data jobs. The difference for me was grinding on personal projects that solved real problems, even tiny ones, and learning to talk about them in terms of business impact. Also, contract gigs and temp agencies are underrated; they'll take a chance on you when full-time roles won't. Once you have that first 6-month contract on your resume, the "no experience" objection vanishes.

1

u/Inner-Peanut-8626 9h ago

I was working as a financial analyst, some of my co-workers learned R in college. I had used R a little at my previous job. I had heard about Python when I was younger. SAS was already going away. Nobody really used SPSS. When I did my research I learned that Python was up-and-coming. Then I heard we were hiring a data science intern so I read as much as I could as quickly as I could. I helped the intern build a forecast model. He found another data science job. I operationalized and maintained the model for 2 years. I subsequently automated most of my job, received multiple promotions, and got to do report-outs to the CFOs and corporate controller during the time I saved everybody (not just myself).

I found Python useful as an analyst. I didn't find a Python job. My current job found me (on LinkedIn) due to that experience.

1

u/silly_bet_3454 8h ago

I would recommend actually that you don't organize your job search by programming language. A language is just one small part of the job, especially in the AI age. Moreover, python can mean a lot of things. Everyone uses python in some capacity. Some people make webapps using flask or fastapi etc, some people do data science, some people just use it for utility and orchestration.

Even many of the jobs that would require mostly work in python would not advertise themselves as such. So I think it's better to think about what domain do you actually want to work in.