I recently went through a job change. In the process, I had a bit of a communication mixup between a recruiter, a potential employer, and myself. It was nobody's fault... or maybe it was a little of everyone's fault, and it resulted in a situation that could have been disastrous.

The recruiter was led to believe I'd secured a position with the employer, and he communicated the good news with me. I then gave two-week notice with my current (now former) employer. But the next day, the recruiter called back to inform me, amid a thousand apologies, that he had misunderstood, and the opening had been offered to another candidate.

In the hours since I'd given notice, my position has already been promised to an internal candidate, and I knew that revoking my two week notice was not an option. I could have panicked. But the reason I wasn't worried is because even in a relatively smaller market like Detroit, there is still a healthy array of companies with an unquenchable thirst for people who can write code. I put the word out to a few recruiters and almost immediately, the interviews began to roll in. By my last day with my now former employer, I had secured an offer that was better than the one that had fallen through.

I shared this story with a good friend who works as a high-level regional retail manager, and he was in awe. "It would have taken me MONTHS to find another job!" he said.

According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the demand for software developers "is projected to grow 24 percent from 2016 to 2026, much faster than the average for all occupations."

In a Bloomberg article, Demand for Programmers Hits Full Boil, Annie Rihn, vice president of recruiting at Zillow (the popular real-estate website) explains one of the ways her company gets creative in finding developers.

At Seattle-based Zillow, one new initiative is to look inside for people with skills that could transfer to programming. The company started the program with a couple of employees, and now many are interested. They have to be employed for two years and complete 16 hours of online coding courses before applying, the company said.

“This is good for business and it is good for retention,” said Rihn.

And buried in that quote lies the true genius of it all: "They have to complete ... 16 hours of online coding courses."

I cannot think of many other industries where 16 hours of training can land someone a job which, after only a few years of experience, can turn into a six figure income!

After 20 years of software development, I created this website to help coach people who'd like to launch a career in this industry.  I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for being here.
-- Casey Crookston