--- title: "Why Self-Taught Developers Could Be Your Company's Secret Weapon" description: "Unlock the potential of self-taught developers! Discover how their unique skills can benefit your company's growth and success in this insightful article." canonical: "https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/why-you-should-hire-self-taught-developers/" last_modified: "2026-04-17 05:46:17" --- [Back to blog](https://coderpad.io/blog/) # Why Self-Taught Developers Could Be Your Company’s Secret Weapon February 22, 2023 5 Minute Read By Nathalie Figuière [Hiring Developers](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/)![self taught developers](https://coderpad.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/coderpad-self-taught-developers.png) Computer programming is shifting with the likes of Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg (who both taught themselves to code in middle school) and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey (who dropped out of university to devote his time to independent learning). > “The best way to learn to code is to code.” – Eric Elliott – and that’s exactly what developers are doing: according to report [State of Tech Hiring in 2023](https://www.google.com/url?q=/survey-reports/coderpad-and-codingame-state-of-tech-hiring-2023/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1676650088395865&usg=AOvVaw3vm3q_mIAdzoqqjpSZRmHQ) [,](https://www.google.com/url?q=/survey-reports/coderpad-and-codingame-state-of-tech-hiring-2023/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1676650088395865&usg=AOvVaw3vm3q_mIAdzoqqjpSZRmHQ) over 50% consider themselves to be self-taught. Are you on the lookout for hidden gems for your tech teams? What if the next addition to your company was a self-taught coding maestro? ## If you haven’t started hiring self-taught developers, here are 6 reasons why we think you should: - [1. They have fire in their belly](#1-they-have-fire-in-their-belly) - [2. They’re not alone](#2-theyre-not-alone) - [3. They keep pace](#3-they-keep-pace) - [4. They’re “ready to rumble”](#4-theyre-ready-to-rumble) - [5. They’ll have a plan B, C and D](#5-theyll-have-a-plan-b-c-and-d) - [6. They’re already part of the biggest, most inspiring companies](#6-theyre-already-part-of-the-biggest-most-inspiring-companies) Wait a minute! Disclaimer: in no way do we wish to bash developers who do have a formal university qualification. This remains an incredible and respectable achievement. We would simply like to shine light upon self-taught developers who deserve their fair share of attention and consideration. > Oh, by the way, we’ve put [all of our articles and resources on how to find and hire tech specialists here.](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/) < ## 1. They have fire in their belly Self-taught developers are generally passionate about what they do. It takes a great deal of self-motivation, dedication, focus and discipline to teach yourself computer programming – and there’s little chance you’d go through with it if it wasn’t what you enjoyed doing. Enthusiastic about what they do, great self-taught programmers thrive on technical challenges and opportunities to stretch their creative coding muscles. ![Self-taught developers are passionate developers](https://coderpad.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sparkler.jpg) Passionate about what they do, self-taught developers have that spark Bearing in mind that happy employees are up to 20% more productive (according to Fortune.com), the fact that self-taught developers undeniably love what they do is a significant advantage for your business. ## 2. They’re not alone Although a large part of self-teaching is working independently, self-taught developers will, most likely, have built their own solid network along the way. Indeed, self-taught programmers are often part of a community, having problem solved, played and learned on social media, shared platforms and interactive websites ([CodinGame](https://coderpad.io/) is, of course, our personal favorite!). ![Hire a self-taught developer and benefit from a community](https://coderpad.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/minion.jpg) Self-taught developers are often part of a community – they can turn to a familiar face for help or advice This means that in recruiting a self-taught developer, you’re also recruiting his or her network and community. Your developer will know where to go for expertise, advice and support. They’ll probably even be able to recommend other self-taught developers if you’re looking to expand your team! ## 3. They keep pace Programming languages and development tools can rapidly shift and evolve, leaving formal education entities scrambling to keep up. Self-taught developers, however, do not rely on dated coding skills they acquired in school – they’ve learnt programming and grown with it. These developers are up to date and know what’s new, they never stop learning. They keep pace with technological evolution and they know how to do their research. ## 4. They’re “ready to rumble” Although candidate onboarding and training plays a crucial part in employee experience and retention, it can be rather costly. Self-taught developers have their share of practical experience and they’ll, most likely, be ready to hit the ground running (or at least jogging), with minimal training – saving you precious time and money. If you want to make sure this is the case, revamp your hiring process. Why not see how candidates fair in real-life, practical coding challenges? Or better still, organize your own hackathon and get a real feel for applicants’ trouble shooting skills and work method. ## 5. They’ll have a plan B, C and D Self-taught developers are skilled problem solvers. > “Every great developer you know got there by solving problems they were unqualified to solve until they actually did it.” – Patrick McKenzie, founder of Kalzumeus Software Yep, a university degree might give programmers a solid base in theory, but theory goes out of the window when you hit a wall. A fundamental part of self-teaching is hitting roadblocks and chicanes. Self-taught code whizzes have experience in identifying problems, solving them, and learning from the process. ![Self-taught developers will find solutions to avoid getting stuck](https://coderpad.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/lane-closed.jpg) Self-taught developers manage to navigate their way around roadblocks thanks to their problem shooting skills You can be sure that homegrown developers have been confronted with a whole bunch of challenges – and that they’ve overcome them. A results-oriented, self-taught programmer will know how to adapt to different work situations and proactively come up with solutions. ## 6. They’re already part of the biggest, most inspiring companies Major companies, such as Uber, understand the value in recruiting self-taught developers, they recruit them straight from the backseat of their cars! In 2016, Uber started rolling out a new app feature called “Code on the Road”. The feature started popping up on the main app and inviting riders (in major tech cities – Boston, Seattle or Portland for example) to give Uber’s short coding challenges a whirl. A company spokesman stated: “The option to play gives interested riders the opportunity to show us their skills in a fun and different way – whether they code on the side or are pursuing a career as a developer”. Other successful companies such as Google, Apple and IBM trust self-taught developers – don’t you think you should too? > “About 15 percent of the people we hire in the U.S. don’t have four-year degrees. There’s an opportunity to broaden the candidates to fill the skills gap.” – Joanna Daly, IBM’s vice president of talent You need developers – and you’re only going to need more. According to the United States Department of Labor, demand for developers will increase by 24% from 2016 to 2026, much faster than the average for other occupations. In an increasingly competitive job market, why pass up on the opportunity to recruit a talented developer – simply because he or she doesn’t have a formal qualification? By ruling out self-taught developers you’re massively limiting your potential talent pipeline. I t’s kin d of like going to a fab new restaurant and only checking out part of the menu – why on earth would you do that? We know we wouldn’t! ## Subscribe for more CoderPad insights ## Trending Articles Previous slide Next slide [Hiring Developers ## Hot Takes on Hiring: “AI Fluency” Is a Myth Our CEO, Amanda Richardson, and our Head of Product, Frank Hauben, can’t agree on anything else. We put Amanda and Frank on camera, handed them five spicy hot takes about AI in hiring, and told them not to sit on the fence. They sat on the fence anyway. Here’s what they actually fought about. Amanda […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/hot-takes-on-hiring-ai-fluency-is-a-myth/) [Hiring Developers ## 5 Unfiltered Takes on AI That Engineering Leaders Actually Believe We put a room full of senior engineering leaders together, took away the slides, added beer, and asked them to say the thing they’d never put in a LinkedIn post. No PR-approved talking points, no vendor gloss, just people who ship for a living telling the truth about what AI is doing inside their orgs […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/5-unfiltered-takes-on-ai-that-engineering-leaders-actually-believe/) [Hiring Developers ## Your Developer Interview Loop Is a Year Old. Is It Still Finding Your Best Candidates? A YC-backed founder called me last week with some good questions. His 20-person startup hadn’t hired an engineer in over a year. Now they’re opening reqs again, and instead of just dusting off the old loop, he wanted to understand how interviews had changed and if candidates were ready for AI interviews. His process — […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/your-developer-interview-loop-is-a-year-old-is-it-still-finding-your-best-candidates/) [Hiring Developers ## AI Fluency Is the New Technical Skill. Is Your Hiring Process Ready? Artificial intelligence has fundamentally changed software development. Developers are no longer working in isolation, writing every line of code from memory. AI has become part of the engineering workflow, helping developers brainstorm approaches, generate boilerplate code, and debug complex issues. The question isn’t whether engineers are using AI. It’s how effectively they’re using it. Hiring […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/ai-fluency-is-the-new-technical-skill-is-your-hiring-process-ready/) [Hiring Developers ## AI Didn’t Kill Entry Level Hiring. Bad Screening Did. For the last two years, the narrative has been loud, confident, and mostly wrong: AI is coming for entry level engineering jobs. The story goes something like this: If AI can write code, summarize docs, generate tests, and debug basic issues, why would companies still hire junior engineers? It sounds logical. It is also incomplete. […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/ai-didnt-kill-entry-level-hiring-bad-screening-did/) [Hiring Developers ## The Resume Is Dead. Most Teams Just Haven’t Admitted It Yet. Resumes made sense when applying for a job took real effort. That era is over. AI lets candidates apply to hundreds of roles in the time it once took to write a single cover letter. Employer-side AI systems process the flood. The result is a hiring funnel built almost entirely on artificial signals, where the […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/the-resume-is-dead-most-teams-just-havent-admitted-it-yet/) [Hiring Developers ## Is Your Technical Hiring Process Screening Out Great Engineers? The short answer: Many technical hiring processes are doing the latter. High-friction interview loops, live coding under observation, and AI-restrictive assessments are measuring interview performance, not job performance. The fix isn’t rebuilding from scratch — it’s auditing whether your process measures engineering capability or something else entirely. If you attended our recent webinar with CoderPad […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/is-your-technical-hiring-process-screening-out-great-engineers/) [Hiring Developers ## Junior Developers Are Your Strategic Advantage—If You Can Actually Evaluate Them Campus recruiting season arrives the same way every year: hundreds of applications, a narrow window, and a process that was never designed for this much volume or this much pressure. Meanwhile, the definition of “technical skill” is actively shifting—AI-polished resumes have made traditional screening nearly meaningless, and the skills that predict junior developer success look […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/junior-developers-are-your-strategic-advantage-if-you-can-actually-evaluate-them/) [Hiring Developers ## Your Hiring Process Is Losing You Top Talent. Before They Ever Interview! Here’s a hard truth most TA leaders don’t want to admit: your hiring process is screening for the wrong thing. Not skills. Not judgment. Not potential. It’s screening for the ability to interview well. And those two things have almost nothing to do with each other. We sat down with recruiting experts Cammas Freeman, Phil […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/your-hiring-process-is-losing-you-top-talent-before-they-ever-interview/) [Hiring Developers ## CoderPad Uses CoderPad to Hire Engineers. Here’s How. When we opened our latest software engineer role, we had 100 applications within 24 hours. By the end of the first week, without running a single ad, we had 160 candidates in the pipeline. That’s a lot of signal to sort through. And it forced us to be honest about something every engineering leader eventually […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/coderpad-uses-coderpad-to-hire-engineers-heres-how/) [Hiring Developers ## Is Your Technical Hiring Process Built for the AI Era? Find Out With a New Quiz. AI didn’t just change how engineers build software. It changed what it means to hire one. The tools engineers use every day — AI coding assistants, prompt-driven debugging, multi-model workflows — are now fundamental to how modern development teams operate. According to our State of Tech Hiring 2026 Report, 82% of developers find generative AI […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/is-your-technical-hiring-process-built-for-the-ai-era-find-out-with-a-new-quiz/) [Hiring Developers ## In the AI Era, Shopify Is Investing in Junior Engineers—Not Cutting Them We spoke with Farhan Thawar, VP and Head of Engineering at Shopify, about why the company 10x’d its internship program, what AI-native hiring really looks like, and the three-part framework reshaping how technical talent gets evaluated. The conventional wisdom goes something like this: AI is coming for developers, and the first casualties will be the […] Read the post](https://coderpad.io/blog/hiring-developers/in-the-ai-era-shopify-is-investing-in-junior-engineers-not-cutting-them/) ## Hire with confidence. See why engineering teams trust CoderPad to evaluate developers with realistic, AI-ready hiring workflows. [Request a demo](https://coderpad.io/sales/)