PyHires

Landing your first Python developer job in Europe

  • junior
  • careers
  • python
  • jobs

The hardest job in any career is the first one, and the junior Python market in Europe is genuinely competitive right now. But "competitive" is not "closed": companies do hire people with no formal experience. Here is a path that works if you are starting today.

What "junior-ready" actually means

Companies hiring juniors are not expecting mastery. They are checking for a small, specific set of signals:

  • You can write Python that another person can read.
  • You understand the basics of a database and can write a query without panicking.
  • You have used git for something real, not just a tutorial.
  • You can learn in public — ask a good question, take feedback, not freeze.

If you can demonstrate those four, you are more hireable than half the applicants who list ten frameworks they have only watched videos about.

Build proof, not just knowledge

A certificate says you watched. A project says you built. Aim for one or two things that are genuinely yours:

  • A small web app with real CRUD, a database and tests — Django or FastAPI both work.
  • A script or tool that solves an actual problem you had. Boring is fine; real is the point.
  • A few merged pull requests to an open-source project, even tiny ones. They prove you can work in someone else's codebase.

Put these on GitHub with a readme that explains what it does and what you learned. That readme is often what gets read first.

Where to apply when you have no experience

  • Smaller product companies and agencies. They hire for attitude and trajectory more than pedigree.
  • Internships and apprenticeships. Less glamorous, far higher conversion to a real role.
  • Roles that list "junior" honestly with a salary band. Skip the ones demanding three years for a junior title — they do not know what they want.

The mindset that gets you through

You will get rejected, often without feedback. That is the market, not a verdict on you. Apply to the few roles that genuinely fit rather than spraying a hundred. Tailor each one. Follow up once, politely. Keep shipping small things while you wait.

It compounds faster than it feels like it will. When you are ready, filter the board to junior-friendly roles and start with the three that fit you best.