PSA: My career switch stalled for six months until I fixed this one thing

I moved from graphic design to web development last year. I learned all the coding basics but had no real work to show. Job apps went nowhere because I had no portfolio. I was ready to go back to my old job. Then I started making websites for local shops for free. This built my skills and gave me examples to share. Now I'm employed and I urge everyone to build something real fast.

2 comments

2 Comments

harpermorgan4d ago

How did you actually approach those local shops to do the free work? That feels like the scariest part to me, walking in cold and offering to build something for nothing. Did you have a set pitch or just show them your own basic site first?

garcia.nancy4d ago

Funny enough, my first attempt at that was for a bakery down the street. I walked in with my laptop ready to show a basic site, but the owner was more worried about her oven timer going off. We ended up talking about her daily routine instead, and I learned that a simple ordering system would help more than a fancy website. In my experience, sometimes you just have to listen first before pitching anything.