Honestly, it varies.

If you're trying to learn everything on your own, then it can literally take years. Mainly because you don't know exactly what you need to learn for the job or why. Should you learn one topic or another? If both, then which should you learn first? Etc.

Not only that, but you don't have a logical path to follow, so it spirals out and takes much longer.

That's why the fastest way is to follow a set career path or roadmap, like the ones we share here at ZTM.

This way you can simply work through the roadmap, learn the correct things in the right order, and learn everything you need to be hired.

However, even with this in place, the time frame can vary, depending on how much time you can spend learning each week.

Don't hold us to it but here's a rough guideline based on feedback we've received from past ZTM students on how long it takes to become a Web Developer (when following our career path):

1. 20-40 hours a week = 4-6 months. Students who have started from scratch as complete beginners (no matter their age!) and spend a few hours per day.
2. 40-80 hours a week = 2-3 months. Students who are able to learn basically full-time and/or already have some experience (ex: CS students / Coding Bootcamp grads).
3. 0-10 hours a week = 7-12+ months. Students from all experience levels but are only able to dedicate a few hours a week.

In simple terms, you:

• Learn the correct topics, languages, and frameworks
• Build projects for a portfolio
• Apply for jobs

Obviously there's a lot more details that just this, which is why we cover the exact steps to become a Web Developer in this guide here.