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How to become a developer without a CS degree?

How to Become a Developer: Where to Start in IT, Which Skills to Learn, and How to Choose a Programming Path

  • Where to start?
  • How do you build a financial safety cushion?
  • Where and how should you study to retrain from a police officer into a front-end developer?
  • Is it already too late to change careers at 30?

Introduction: can you switch to a developer career?

Reading time: 5 min

Published: Jun 09, 2025. You've probably heard more than once: "A profession is for life! Choose wisely so you won't be disappointed later."

Yes, that used to be true

Our parents chose a profession once, found a job once, and then lived with that choice for life.

Even if they felt they were in the wrong place.

But in the 21st century, it is ridiculous to follow the traditions of Soviet-era HR.

Today, a person is not tied to a city, an employer, or a specialty. Want to change your life?

It's all in your hands and your head

Go for it! In our company's experience, people have entered IT after changing careers following 5 or even 10 years of work in a completely different field.

We gathered several stories from developers who made a major career change and asked them to share their experience.

Where to start?

Start with the decision to change your life and work

It doesn't matter what you do now: if you want to build a career in IT, all paths are open to you. Before diving into the IT field, you'll need to decide on two things.

Choose a path that fits you and has strong prospects

Back end or front end? Which technology should you start with? Where and with whom should you study? Where should you look for work afterward, in your city or after relocating?

Build a financial safety cushion for the transition period

Most likely, you won't find your first job right away, and even then you'll have to take a pay cut compared with your current income until you build up experience and skills. Story: Alexander, a back-end developer - "My background was far from IT. I worked as a car mechanic for a long time. Then I decided it was time to change something. I learned programming, changed several companies, and eventually came to kt.team. Here I got the opportunity for fast growth."

How do you build a financial safety cushion?

Here is how our employees handled it.

Option 1

- For the cautious: work and study at the same time. kt.team developers' experience shows that you'll need to spend at least 10 hours a week on learning. If you have the energy and determination to live for six months without rest or weekends, this option is for you. While studying, you'll have time to save some money so you don't take a financial hit while job hunting.

Option 2

- The shock approach: first build a financial safety cushion. Save part of your salary for 6-8 months, then quit abruptly and spend a month on intensive learning. This method lets you radically change your life without looking back or giving yourself a chance to change your mind.

Option 3

- A combined approach: take two weeks off and devote them to intensive learning, meetups, and practice. Then build a financial safety cushion while continuing to study in your free time. Finally, do a second intensive round: quit your job, spend another two weeks on learning and practice, and look for a job at the same time. All three options take roughly the same amount of time.

Where and how should you study to retrain into front end?

In today's Internet age, you can get the basics from open sources: YouTube courses, books, webinars, and freely available tutorials. Story: Vladislav, a front-end developer - "My degree is in power engineering. I worked in my field for a while, then spent more than a year in the police. But I felt none of it was right for me. Around the end of 2017, I started learning JavaScript. I preferred books - video lessons are too drawn out, and information sticks faster from books and documentation."

My first mockups were rough, but I kept learning and less than a year ago got my first IT job at kt.team. By then, I had already worked on projects at both the CIS and international level: Mareven, Maxxium, and Lapp.

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Is it already too late to change careers at 30?

Some believe that after 30, the "window of opportunity" closes. If you haven't changed careers by then, you're stuck with the profession you chose in your youth until retirement. Story: Evgeniy, a front-end developer - "My main profession is metallurgy, and I worked at a plant for 11 years. All those years, I felt bored. I learned an IT profession through YouTube lessons and practice. Then I got an internship, and just a week later I was offered a permanent job."

How do you find a job if your resume is empty?

  1. If you're a beginner, you won't be headhunted like an experienced specialist with a unique skill set and tech stack. You'll have to start with an internship.

  2. Many beginners are shy about reaching out to large companies, quite unnecessarily, believing that no one there is looking for interns.

  3. The reality is that people who are ready to work and grow are welcome almost everywhere.

  4. The exception is companies that require a degree in the relevant field.

  5. Story: Ruslan, a back-end developer - "I graduated from a technical college as an electrician, worked at McDonald's for two years, and then decided to change careers. I spent six months learning programming, came to kt.team for an internship, and stayed on to work here."

How should you communicate with a recruiter?

The IT field has been leading the rankings of attractiveness in recent years. So it's no surprise that thousands of people retrain every year in order to work in it. Recruiters therefore will not be alarmed or put off by your previous experience in manufacturing, window production, or journalism. Story: Svetlana, HR specialist - "We are completely comfortable with beginners and with the fact that they can't yet boast deep technical knowledge or participation in major projects.

Everyone starts out as an intern or junior at some point. The main thing in a job interview is not to lie or exaggerate your experience. The truth will come out in the first week of the internship anyway."

What comes after your first IT job?

So, you've landed your first IT job

But it's too early to relax! Be ready to keep learning constantly during both work and personal time: from a mentor, from books, in additional courses, and through hands-on task practice.

Story: Svetlana, HR specialist - "If you choose a career in IT, be ready for the life of a permanent student. New technologies and trends keep appearing, and what was relevant a couple of years ago fades away. To stay in demand and work on major projects, you'll have to keep your finger on the pulse of technology."

Two trends have emerged in recent years: demand for IT specialists is growing in the regions, and major clients are increasingly turning to regional developers. As the complexity of tasks rises, salaries at IT companies outside Moscow are rising too. So now is the perfect time to leave a boring or dead-end job and start an IT career in your own city.

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