“Learn to code” they said. I did, I learned SQL at the beginning of the year. I took the Udemy SQL and Datacamp courses throughout late 2021 and finally finished early January. I am actually surprised I was able to do it with a newborn. But literally everytime she fell asleep, I would jump on my PC and do as much as I could. Sometimes it would just be 5 minutes.
I have been applying to jobs and the very few that have called me back have offered a good bit below what I make right now. (They've offered $15-$18/hr range and I make $21/hr)
What they should say is “learn to code, take a pay cut for experience and then maybe you'll get a better job”.
Tldr – I learned to code but can't get a better paying job. Pretty demoralizing.