Quick introduction before I get into the reason for writing this post.

My name is Ken. Back in 2014, I got my first job as a junior dev without any formal education or existing professional experience.

It was a difficult process and I know many people out there are in the same position I was in, struggling to get that first job.

I have an excellent job now as a full-time dev and am shifting a lot of my attention from job hunting to helping aspiring developers launch their careers, regardless of where they are at now.

If that's you, I want to help in whatever way I can.

I'm currently working on a Breaking Into Web Development series here on Dev.to, as well as a full-blown course on the same subject.

But I want to hear from people individually and see what advice I can offer.

Full disclosure, I have two goals here:

1. Offer helpful advice from the perspective of someone who has gone down that route
2. Gather information so I can create the best course possible.

This brief post is my attempt to do both of those things.

So, if you're an aspiring developer looking to break into the industry and land that coveted first job, would you respond to this post and answer these two questions?

1. What is your biggest struggle when it comes to breaking into the industry?

2. What is your ideal initial career situation and what has prevented you from attaining that up until this point? What I mean by initial is what is your ideal next step for your career, rather than where you ultimately want to end up.

Thank you so much for your time and I hope I can offer some helpful advice to anybody struggling to make that transition to full-time developer!