I Just Had My First Developer Job Interview – A Bit Overwhelming but Exciting!

Posted by DogexOnyx@reddit | learnprogramming | View on Reddit | 16 comments

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to share something that feels huge for me. Today, I had my very first job interview for a developer position, and wow, it was a rollercoaster.

A little about me: I started programming games when I was 13. I’ve always been into programming—it’s been a passion of mine—but for most of my life, I didn’t really pursue it seriously. Instead, I worked in construction. But as the years went by, I realized I wasn’t happy and decided to finally go back to what I’ve loved all along.

Since then, I’ve been teaching myself everything—completely self-taught. No formal education, just a lot of late nights, trial and error, and a deep love for coding. And today, I finally got my first interview.

It was a panel interview with 5 people in a conference room. Talk about nerve-wracking! They asked me about my experience with PHP, using WordPress, building e-newsletters across different versions, and working with APIs. I got stuck on some of the questions, which made me feel a bit discouraged, but overall, I think the interview went well.

That said, I couldn’t help but feel a bit of imposter syndrome creeping in. I don’t have a degree or fancy credentials—just a lot of passion and self-taught skills. I guess I’m just here to vent and say that even though it was scary, I’m proud of myself for taking this step.

For anyone else out there in a similar boat: how do you handle the nerves or the self-doubt? And any advice for navigating interviews like this?

TLDR: my first interview went great.. I think.. I got stuck and confused by a few questions but aside from that I answered everything pretty decently.. just kinda hate feeling like I don’t belong because of my lack of formal education…

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Prior-Baseball-9155@reddit

Any tips bro for newbie like me? So I was planning to start learning how to code thru "freecodecamp"

wow congrats bro! You gave me hope, I'm trying to learn coding too eventhough I'm already old 30 yrs old haha. I still want to try to change my career.

James11_12@reddit

You’ve already accomplished so much by teaching yourself web development and landing an interview—that’s no small feat! You belong in the tech world because of your passion, skills, and dedication. Don’t let doubt steal opportunities. Celebrate every step forward, and trust that you’re learning and improving every day.

srhubb@reddit

Over the years, myself and others of my teams, were more excited about those with a passion for coding who could walk the walk than those with credentials who seemed indifferent or almost bored with development.

I myself have found small organizations and startups are more prone to hire the passionate uncredentialed than the large corporations who are often duty bound to hire based by a checklist of the job offering description bullet points.

I wish you luck and keep trying even if you don't get an offer the first few times out.

KiDNEXTDXXR@reddit

I’m 22 and just decided to take up coding tonight already made my first dice roll game. Hopefully I can get into it as a career🫡 good luck on that job man💯

Newdev818@reddit

Oi you, yeah you who just had your first interview. WELL DONE! be proud of what you have achieved to this point. Keep pushing forward regardless of if you feel like an imposter. As long as your not pretending to know things that you don't you will be fine.

Speaking from experience. Well done 👏

Ke0@reddit

I would like to give a slightly different take on the last bit. A core component of imposter syndrome is the person not realizing they know more than they think so they feel like they're pretending that they know things. Instead I say, explain upfront how much you know of a subject even if it's simply "I've heard of it but have no formal experience/hands on with it" and verbalize what you know and let the employer gauge if what you know is something that has potential or not.

Be honest in what you know, never feel like bc you don't know something that you need to lie. If you have heard of something and have a surface level knowledge, tell them that. If you have 0 idea, tell them that.

Be honest.

Completely agree, honesty is key

DogexOnyx@reddit (OP)

Heh thanks man! Definitely mixed emotions, I hear you on the pretending part. I was very honest with them about everything I knew and didn’t know! 🙏