I'm 18 years old and I have studied Software Engineering and Fullstack Development on my own at home.
I believe I already have enough knowledge to develop a medium-sized website or app. So I'm looking for my first formal job.
However, companies require a degree or previous experience.
Being a self-taught, I don't have a degree. and being young, I have no previous experience.
How can I get my first job?
Employers are looking for some evidence that you can be successful in the job. In the past they would have been looking for a college degree. Many employers are becoming more flexible in what they will consider, but there has to be something more concrete than "I believe I already have enough knowledge..."
The best you can do is build something that shows you actually have the skills. You can do this in a number of ways:
Any of these things can get you in the door for an interview where you will have the opportunity to explain to them how good your skills are.
Its going to be hard. You will most likely have to take a job that you will probably feel is well below what you feel you deserve. Most likely you should look for internships, possibly having to take extremely low pay.
You can do a few things to improve a bit as well. I would recommend working on some open source projects to start. That will give you the missing experience that you badly need. This is the only big improvement you can make and prove that you can actually do what you say you can do. Possibly take some accreditation courses as well, though they are not always looked on that highly. This is always taken with a grain of salt, and many jobs will pay you to take them (once hired) but you have to get to that point first.
