I Am a Fullstack web developer that started working at the tender age of 16 (lol), Ask Me Anything!

Richard Anthony B. Abear on September 29, 2018

So, First off, I have no actual onsite office experience, but I have been working online (full time) as an offshore developer for the past 7 year... [Read Full]
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I'm 27 y/o. Zero work experience in tech. Knows basic web design/HTML/CSS. Any tips on how to get employed in tech?


Kabayan! Hello! :)

I had zero work experience when i started as well. All i worked on were personal hobby projects of mine. (no OJT/Internship)

The best advise i can give you is just believe in yourself and put yourself out there.don't be afraid to apply to jobs that you think are "new" to you. When im taking a look at on-boarding junior devs into the team, I personally dont look at experience, because at some point, that's going to be irrelevant. Commitment and perseverance. are what I look for.

Create passion projects, and put your heart and soul into them. showcase them to your potential employers. Don't be afraid to try things outside of your comfort zone.

Never stop learning, keep that fire in you that says i want to know more about this or that. And just put 110% into this craft and if you really want it, you'll get there. im sure.

Goodluck bro, keep in touch, and update me. Im sure youre going to get it.


Hi Richard! We have a similar history. But I started at 19. First job at 21. Now (25 yo) I work full time as Solution Architect (leading I+D+I) and Full-stack JavaScript. To the date I've been working remotely for almost 4 years but now I feel the need to get an office job. Did happened to you something similar? Any advice to improve the home office environment?


Hi brian wow thats awesome its amazing to meet people woth thr same history. 😁

Also, yes. Constantly. I guess the best advise i can give you is tk separate work from home. I know its not practical but it does wonders for me. I rent an office space now instead od working from. Its a coworking space so its soet of like a shared working space youll find ithers witb similar backgrounds and fielda to work with and you wont feel isolated everyday. This can be an amazing productivity booster


Yes! I thought about that. I didn't see any profit on paying for space I don't need but few month ago it started to have sense. So it will be that, or live like a digital nomad, working from different country haha. I think the key of the question is move and seeing people around. Thanks for the answer!

Yes i think just the movement of life is stronf enough for us to spark our creativity


You said you've been working online. How did you get these jobs. I have been looking to work on kind as well but I'm not getting any work as at now. I have little experience working with react and react native.


Hi charles, what kind of experience do you have? are you working already and looking to get into just working from home?


I have experience in front-end using React and React-native for mobile and a little back-end knowledge with laravel and expresss framework. I ma not working at the moment as im still looking to find a junior dev job to get my hands on some working experience in real organisations. I have done some freelance jobs for some companies. And yes i am looking to work from home desperately.

Any way out for me..??

Hi charles, first thing is, amazing bro. thats really good and im sure you'll be able to find the perfect fit for you.

I think my first tip is, heres the thing, as a junior dev, we don't expect you to know the entirety of the development spectrum. i recommend focusing on one thing and making it you're main selling point. So you know react and thats something that generally a lot of people are looking for. Let's focus on that, and just try and strengthen your skillsets in that general area.

When sending out resumes, DO NOT send out a generic block of text thats meant for everyone. Send out a resume that's tailored tot hat specific company. Some key points to target. Why me? Why React? and Why you?

Why you - Why do you want to work for them. And dont give them some generic one liner that says "In order to grow with your company".
Say something like - I really loved the application you did. ____________ (insert application name here)

you get the drift.

So basically as a junior developer with no proven track record, you have to work 10x as hard trying to secure a job, just because it is 10x as hard for companies to even consider giving you a second look.

Target Individuals and small businesses. Dont apply to large companies that have advertised job postings everywhere.Look at job hiring boards, freelancer boards, even approach someone directly perhaps on a forum or social network that you frequent.

Basically its all about putting 110% of yourself out there.


I'm curious about your anticipated job from developer to team lead. How does this work if you are remote? I would have thought there would be other job steps (mid, senior developer, etc) before team lead.


Hi Shannon,

Yes i went through a lot, I worked my way up. I started as a junior developer worked my way up to senior, then finally team lead.

If you are a team lead, usually in remote work, you are given the choice to hire either remote developers as well, and communication is based solely online, or given the opportunity (by some employers) to form a team in your local area.

Currently i have a team thats both based in my city and also online.

usually contractors will be online based while permanent team members will be from around my area or at least in my timezone/country.


Good for you!

What do you consider the most challenging aspects of being working remote OR being relatively young web engineer/team lead.?

On Working remotely:

As a remote team lead, it is 110% x more difficult to get a good grasp on the business logic or requirements that you're given. again this completely depends on the culture and methods that the business has put in place, but even with a solid foundation just the fact that meetings are based online, and basically every interaction is based online makes it difficult to keep track of everything thats going on. (internet could cut out during a meeting/ you could miss interpret something and just a ton of noise could interfere with the process). However if you keep yourself organised and maintain a good balance and of-course the occasional followup, you will be able to succeed.

Being a relatively young team lead:

Other people in the industry will find it boastful. Others will look down on you for being so young (will assume you got you're way there via connections). Other team leads will expect you to fail. Team members will question the validity of your knowledge from time to time (especially newer senior engineers). Basically its being the "underdog" that everyone just puts a label on you because of your age. However, there are also those that are genuinely impressed and that (in my opinion) builds a stronger team. My team members are generally young/younger. I am a firm believer in growth within instead of finding talent outside. I will pick team members who are A.) Excited to learn and B.) Ecstatic to teach.


Did your parents said anything about your actions? (Haven't graduated college, started working at 16, etc.). I'm in the same boat, though I've started working at 18, and there were a lot of heated discussions with my parents about not graduating college, etc.


Hey bro,

Yes of course, especially for our parents, this is a very sensitive topic. But I was able to talk them into it by providing them with the facts, and i also eased them into it instead of just laying it on them.

Here's what I would do, gather the facts, here are some things they will definitely want answered.

a. Finance - A major factor is that they might be thinking oh, how much will you make? will you be able to live a comfortable life? Fortunately for me, my first job paid really really well. For my living standards at the time, i showed them how much i make a month, and the opportunity for growth in this area.

b. Longevity and continuity. - Will it be sustainable in the long run. I showed them all the other success stories of freelancers who worked their entire careers online. Also before i even came at them with the idea, i was already working for 6 months before deciding to stop college. Note, i did take my first year college but i dropped out to pursue work.

c. Contingency - what happens if it doesn't work out? I laid it out for them. "Give me a year to show you this is worth it, if not ill give up and go back to college.".

The thing is, it would be pointless to force you into getting a college education, if you dont have the drive for it. Im not saying college is meaningless, but for me, I was able to learn almost everything on my own, I was hungry to learn but college was not the best avenue for me.

Overall, it wont help to get into heated discussions, I would talk this out rationally. I come from a very family-oriented culture, and fortunately enough for me after we discussed it thoroughly, i got their blessing.

Im sure if you are able to convey the message and make them understand that there is an opportunity up for grabs, they will see it from your perspective as well.

Goodluck I hope you get them to understand.

Update me on this im very curious to find out what happens with you. have an amazing day :)


Kamusta sir!

Yes, I've been actually slowly working up to it. And im graduating this march. I took a few subjects every sem for the past few years just to build up to this point. its been a journey, but im glad i went back in the end.


Glad to hear. March of 2019? That actually makes us batchmates then :D

Anyway, best of luck to your endeavors. That diploma should be extra sweet when we consider the path we took. Cheers!

Definitely. It's more of a gesture for my parents. they always wanted me to finish, but they gave me the freedom to follow my own path. but as a sign of gratitude for them I opted to get the degree.

Good luck to you as well. :)


How did you manage to grow your skills and think like a problem solver? I personally feel like I haven't learned a lot.

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