My story might seem rather ordinary among the stories of other students, even despite my 38 years of age (at the time of hiring), if not for one fact that, it seems to me, sets my story apart from others. The fact is that most of the stories I read about how people became programmers, one way or another had the following context: the author wrote that since childhood he dreamed of becoming a programmer, but something went wrong in life or demonstrated certain inclinations to programming, but again not destiny. That is, they were what are called (I don’t want to offend anyone), “latent” programmers.
![The story of one humanitarian - 1]()
In my case, everything was wrong. In childhood, adolescence, and even most of my adulthood, I never thought about becoming a programmer; moreover, I am, as they say, a classic humanist. At school, I had more or less good grades only in humanities subjects; exact sciences were difficult, I could barely get C grades (on a five-point system). I didn’t have any computer science at school, or at college at all. That is, it was in the program, but they couldn’t find teachers; if they were found, they were constantly on sick leave; in general, I can remember as many as three computer science lessons in the entire school program. I also graduated from the institute with a degree in jurisprudence, in short, I’m definitely not a techie by mentality. This is, so to speak, background, input data. But first things first. The idea of becoming a programmer first came to me back in 2013. At that time, I was a fairly successful middle manager with a salary of 1000 USD. Everything was fine with me, but from time to time I had thoughts like “what’s next?” It was then that I came across a motivational article from the author of JavaRush about how any intelligent person can become a programmer. I didn’t consider myself stupid, but I had quite serious doubts about my abilities in the form of a complete lack of any fundamental knowledge in this area. And here should be my first gratitude: the author so convincingly expressed his thoughts and argued in his series of articles that it was thanks to him and his talent that the idea of programming settled in my head and eventually sprouted. Thank you, author of JavaRush! However, despite the interest, there were not very many active actions on my part to implement the plan. I mainly stuck with the lectures and problems on the trial 10 levels of JavaRush. Much was not clear, some kind of magic from mysterious spells, but following the advice of the above-mentioned author, I read the lectures again and again, trying to solve the next problem, because they promised me that the puzzle would come together sooner or later (looking ahead - it did worked out!). Progress was rather sluggish, not only because a lot of things were not clear, but also because, as I wrote earlier, everything was fine for me anyway: the salary and the work were quite interesting (at that time), moving in the future from 1000 USD. e. manager for 500-700 USD Java Juna was somehow uninspiring. Then, of course, growth was possible, and much higher than I could, in principle, expect as a manager, but those were distant prospects, and here is a comfort zone and that’s all. The situation changed that same year. I lost my job, and with it my comfort zone. Considering that I was a rather narrow-profile specialist and I couldn’t find vacancies in my profile, I had to go down to the area where I also had a good understanding, but there the competition was higher and my salary became correspondingly lower, about 700 USD. (and this is already comparable to June’s salary). Not being sure that I could handle Java alone, I decided that online education was certainly cool, but learning offline is much more realistic (that was a mistake). I bought a course from one of the schools that offered to study Java and began studying full of hope. In the process, it turned out that after completing the course, I would not be able to apply for a junior position, since in addition to knowing the syntax and core, quite a lot of other things were needed (I didn’t even know abbreviations like SQL at that time) and this was really very demotivating, since I paid normal money for the course and expected the investment to pay off fairly quickly. Nevermind. No, the training was basically good and I received some knowledge, but after completing the first half of the course, I realized that offline I would get approximately the same amount of knowledge as online, but more expensive. Therefore, I decided not to pay for the second half of the course, but to buy a subscription to Java Rush at a New Year's discount.
![The story of one humanitarian - 2]()
No sooner said than done. But even here everything was not very smooth (not even at all). I studied mostly after work, allocating between an hour and two or three hours to study. These were dark times: tired after work, nothing much came into my head, plus the language itself was difficult (I’m a humanist). And although my family supported me (wife and child), it was difficult to find time for study, for family, and for myself. The result is severe procrastination. Sometimes I dropped out of school for six months, played online games (an evil for which a separate pot is prepared), but sooner or later I returned, read other people’s success stories and started over. Also, the situation was significantly aggravated by the ensuing political and then (as a consequence) economic crisis. Due to the fact that the salary was not tied to the dollar, and the national currency was devalued, in fact I began to receive 400-500 USD. and I felt completely sad. One way or another, I honestly reached level 21 or 22 in Java Rush and probably would have gone further, but I received a letter of happiness from the authors about the next recruitment for an internship. Nothing special, internships were recruited regularly, but this time I was informed that according to my subscription it would be the last free one, after that it would only be for additional funds. According to the conditions of participation in the internship, at that time, it was necessary to reach level 30 and complete a test task. Since the tasks from level to level became harder and harder and I couldn’t even dream of reaching level 30 in a month (don’t forget that I still had to do a test), I decided to cheat. I ended up with enough black matter to unlock levels all the way up to level 30 without having to solve problems. So, the first obstacle has been passed - level 30 has been taken. I receive a test one and understand that my problems are just beginning: Spring, Hibernate, SQL, JSP. Yes, you need the simplest CRUD, but when you don’t even have a very confident core, you understand. I honestly tried to master these technologies in the remaining time, but not very successfully. At a minimum, not enough to get an internship. Trick number two: google the working solution of those guys who have already completed an internship on Github, check its performance on your own, make cosmetic changes and pass it off as your solution. In this completely dishonest way, I jumped on the bandwagon of the last free internship. I’m still ashamed, but I don’t regret anything (except that I could have studied better and harder). The internship also did not seem like an easy walk, but it introduced me to frameworks and libraries that are required in real life, on real projects. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Grigory Kislin, the author of the topjava project, to which the guys from Java Rush sent me as an online internship. By the way, I also didn’t pass the internship the first time (I didn’t have enough knowledge and skills), but since repeated participation in the internship is free, then with subsequent completions, my knowledge and skills increased. One day, While looking through the junior digest on one well-known and respected resource, I came across news that one of the market leaders is recruiting students for the next Java courses. Unlike other large companies, these guys did not set age restrictions (such as only final-year students), for which my gratitude goes to them. The conditions are simple: pass a selection test, an interview in English, and you are on external courses (about 3 months), then you write and defend your project and, if you are good enough, you get into internal courses (from 1 to 6 months), after which you may get into one of the company’s combat projects (or you may not). In fact, the option of courses from companies with subsequent employment is the most optimal and non-resource-intensive way into the IT field, however, there are two nuances: a very high level of competition and secondly, no guarantees of employment (you may not pass through soft skills, for example, or weak English). Regarding competition, I’ll write from my experience: more than 450 people applied for testing, about 50 got into courses, less than 20 got into internal courses, I don’t know how many received offers, but what not everyone gets is a fact based on insider information. In general, I signed up for testing without really expecting anything, but since it’s better than doing nothing, I decided to try. I prepared for the test on quizful, which really helped me, I think. The tests were similar, but in English. Imagine my surprise when, after some time, I was notified that I had passed the first stage of selection and I was invited to the second stage - an interview in English. The joy knew no bounds, although there were doubts about English. And I began to prepare: I asked my wife to conduct several interviews with me in English, plus I prepared and memorized answers to typical questions that would most likely be asked at an interview (tell me about yourself, previous experience, why to come to us, etc.). I also successfully passed the interview and was invited to the course. Since this was a real chance to get a job, after consulting with my wife and enlisting her support, I decided to quit my job and fully concentrate on the courses, that is, I went all-in. The external courses mostly left me disappointed: we started from the very basics, skimming through the entire core. The level of the teacher also raised my doubts, since he was quite tongue-tied (to put it mildly) as for a university teacher (and part-time, a teacher of courses from a market leader and, according to him, also a teacher of paid courses from one offline school). Sometimes it was difficult to understand the lecture, not because the topic was difficult, but because the presentation of information was terrible. An incident at one of the lectures also seriously spoiled the impression: one of the students asked a question on the topic and received an answer from the teacher. The problem was that the answer was wrong. Apparently, the teacher, in order not to lose face in front of the whole group, not knowing the answer, I decided that it would be better to improvise, rather than honestly admit that I don’t know/don’t remember the answer. It just so happened that my desk neighbor and I knew the answer and corrected the teacher, but the very fact that took place seriously undermined the teacher’s authority for me personally. Fortunately, towards the end of the course, we began to be taught by another teacher, who knew both the subject area better and had practical skills. And the presentation of information was much better.
![The story of one humanitarian - 3]()
Like everything in life, everything ends sooner or later, and so do external courses. I wrote my final project and began to prepare for my defense, hoping to pass the internal exams. Despite the fact that I was not among the top students, I believed that there were chances, considering myself a solid average. Unfortunately, or fortunately, His Majesty chance intervened in what was happening. I came to the defense early in the morning. I presented the project verbally, then launched the application, demonstrating the functionality. I received a lot of questions, both theoretical and practical. Having answered the questions with varying degrees of success, I received a mandatory additional task and retired to a separate room to solve the problem. After some time, having solved the task, I returned to the interviewees. By this time, the composition of the interviewees had almost completely changed. After I presented my solution, they informed me that I had misunderstood the problem and offered to redo it. I left again. When I solved the problem again, it turned out that there was no one left from those guys who interviewed me from the beginning. Those who were in their place checked my assignment and said that since none of them were at my interview, they would check with those who were about me. In general, I don’t know who clarified it and how, and how they collected feedback about my defense from different people, but in fact they told me that I didn’t pass. It was a failure. True, I was informed that I can try to protect myself in 3 months with the next set, the only condition is to prepare a completely new project for protection. Since I had no choice, I agreed. The failure plunged me into serious despondency, because the hope was that in three months I would already be working, but only after three months I had to re-defend, without any guarantees. Let me also remind you that I quit my job, putting everything on the line, which also did not add optimism. True, the result of the courses was also a positive thing: I realized that I already know and can do quite a lot, and I am quite capable of writing a working application with a fairly passable front end. But there was still no certainty whether businesses were willing to pay money for these skills. So, I began to intensively prepare for a second defense, but besides this I took another important (and, as it turned out later, the right) step: I posted my resume on various resources and started going for interviews. There weren’t many offers, but there were usually 1-2 a week. The level of interviews was also different, from rather disastrous ones, when I felt that I showed myself quite mediocre, to those where I passed a technical interview, but for some reason did not pass further. I did not lose heart, remembering someone’s aphorism that no one had ever been rejected twenty times in a row, and I improved on those weak points that the interviews revealed. So about two months and about 12-14 interviews passed. After one of them, I received my first offer from a small company with a salary even higher than the market average. On the details of the first days, weeks, etc. I won’t stop working, This may turn out to be another longread, I’ll just say that I successfully completed the probationary period and am working in this company to this day, I am very pleased with the team and the modern technology stack. I will soon celebrate one year of work and, although I face new challenges almost every day, I go to work with pleasure, because I am doing what I love.
![The story of one humanitarian - 4]()
This is such a long post. Taking this opportunity, I once again thank the creator of Java Rush for convincing me to radically change my life, the Java Rush team for the intelligent implementation of the idea, and Grigory Kislin for his course. And although I never fully graduated from either one, they gave me the necessary foundation and faith in my strengths in order to find my first job as a programmer. To summarize, I would like to advise those who doubt whether they can remember the story of a humanitarian who was able to take the first step or complete what he started if the first step has already been taken. Unfortunately, it was not possible to fit everything into the article, so I will be happy to answer questions from those interested in the comments to the article. And finally: the sooner you start going for interviews, the better. You will never feel ready, but only after getting x number of rejections will you be able to get an offer. Remember, no one has ever been rejected 20 times in a row, verified!
No sooner said than done. But even here everything was not very smooth (not even at all). I studied mostly after work, allocating between an hour and two or three hours to study. These were dark times: tired after work, nothing much came into my head, plus the language itself was difficult (I’m a humanist). And although my family supported me (wife and child), it was difficult to find time for study, for family, and for myself. The result is severe procrastination. Sometimes I dropped out of school for six months, played online games (an evil for which a separate pot is prepared), but sooner or later I returned, read other people’s success stories and started over. Also, the situation was significantly aggravated by the ensuing political and then (as a consequence) economic crisis. Due to the fact that the salary was not tied to the dollar, and the national currency was devalued, in fact I began to receive 400-500 USD. and I felt completely sad. One way or another, I honestly reached level 21 or 22 in Java Rush and probably would have gone further, but I received a letter of happiness from the authors about the next recruitment for an internship. Nothing special, internships were recruited regularly, but this time I was informed that according to my subscription it would be the last free one, after that it would only be for additional funds. According to the conditions of participation in the internship, at that time, it was necessary to reach level 30 and complete a test task. Since the tasks from level to level became harder and harder and I couldn’t even dream of reaching level 30 in a month (don’t forget that I still had to do a test), I decided to cheat. I ended up with enough black matter to unlock levels all the way up to level 30 without having to solve problems. So, the first obstacle has been passed - level 30 has been taken. I receive a test one and understand that my problems are just beginning: Spring, Hibernate, SQL, JSP. Yes, you need the simplest CRUD, but when you don’t even have a very confident core, you understand. I honestly tried to master these technologies in the remaining time, but not very successfully. At a minimum, not enough to get an internship. Trick number two: google the working solution of those guys who have already completed an internship on Github, check its performance on your own, make cosmetic changes and pass it off as your solution. In this completely dishonest way, I jumped on the bandwagon of the last free internship. I’m still ashamed, but I don’t regret anything (except that I could have studied better and harder). The internship also did not seem like an easy walk, but it introduced me to frameworks and libraries that are required in real life, on real projects. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Grigory Kislin, the author of the topjava project, to which the guys from Java Rush sent me as an online internship. By the way, I also didn’t pass the internship the first time (I didn’t have enough knowledge and skills), but since repeated participation in the internship is free, then with subsequent completions, my knowledge and skills increased. One day, While looking through the junior digest on one well-known and respected resource, I came across news that one of the market leaders is recruiting students for the next Java courses. Unlike other large companies, these guys did not set age restrictions (such as only final-year students), for which my gratitude goes to them. The conditions are simple: pass a selection test, an interview in English, and you are on external courses (about 3 months), then you write and defend your project and, if you are good enough, you get into internal courses (from 1 to 6 months), after which you may get into one of the company’s combat projects (or you may not). In fact, the option of courses from companies with subsequent employment is the most optimal and non-resource-intensive way into the IT field, however, there are two nuances: a very high level of competition and secondly, no guarantees of employment (you may not pass through soft skills, for example, or weak English). Regarding competition, I’ll write from my experience: more than 450 people applied for testing, about 50 got into courses, less than 20 got into internal courses, I don’t know how many received offers, but what not everyone gets is a fact based on insider information. In general, I signed up for testing without really expecting anything, but since it’s better than doing nothing, I decided to try. I prepared for the test on quizful, which really helped me, I think. The tests were similar, but in English. Imagine my surprise when, after some time, I was notified that I had passed the first stage of selection and I was invited to the second stage - an interview in English. The joy knew no bounds, although there were doubts about English. And I began to prepare: I asked my wife to conduct several interviews with me in English, plus I prepared and memorized answers to typical questions that would most likely be asked at an interview (tell me about yourself, previous experience, why to come to us, etc.). I also successfully passed the interview and was invited to the course. Since this was a real chance to get a job, after consulting with my wife and enlisting her support, I decided to quit my job and fully concentrate on the courses, that is, I went all-in. The external courses mostly left me disappointed: we started from the very basics, skimming through the entire core. The level of the teacher also raised my doubts, since he was quite tongue-tied (to put it mildly) as for a university teacher (and part-time, a teacher of courses from a market leader and, according to him, also a teacher of paid courses from one offline school). Sometimes it was difficult to understand the lecture, not because the topic was difficult, but because the presentation of information was terrible. An incident at one of the lectures also seriously spoiled the impression: one of the students asked a question on the topic and received an answer from the teacher. The problem was that the answer was wrong. Apparently, the teacher, in order not to lose face in front of the whole group, not knowing the answer, I decided that it would be better to improvise, rather than honestly admit that I don’t know/don’t remember the answer. It just so happened that my desk neighbor and I knew the answer and corrected the teacher, but the very fact that took place seriously undermined the teacher’s authority for me personally. Fortunately, towards the end of the course, we began to be taught by another teacher, who knew both the subject area better and had practical skills. And the presentation of information was much better. 
Like everything in life, everything ends sooner or later, and so do external courses. I wrote my final project and began to prepare for my defense, hoping to pass the internal exams. Despite the fact that I was not among the top students, I believed that there were chances, considering myself a solid average. Unfortunately, or fortunately, His Majesty chance intervened in what was happening. I came to the defense early in the morning. I presented the project verbally, then launched the application, demonstrating the functionality. I received a lot of questions, both theoretical and practical. Having answered the questions with varying degrees of success, I received a mandatory additional task and retired to a separate room to solve the problem. After some time, having solved the task, I returned to the interviewees. By this time, the composition of the interviewees had almost completely changed. After I presented my solution, they informed me that I had misunderstood the problem and offered to redo it. I left again. When I solved the problem again, it turned out that there was no one left from those guys who interviewed me from the beginning. Those who were in their place checked my assignment and said that since none of them were at my interview, they would check with those who were about me. In general, I don’t know who clarified it and how, and how they collected feedback about my defense from different people, but in fact they told me that I didn’t pass. It was a failure. True, I was informed that I can try to protect myself in 3 months with the next set, the only condition is to prepare a completely new project for protection. Since I had no choice, I agreed. The failure plunged me into serious despondency, because the hope was that in three months I would already be working, but only after three months I had to re-defend, without any guarantees. Let me also remind you that I quit my job, putting everything on the line, which also did not add optimism. True, the result of the courses was also a positive thing: I realized that I already know and can do quite a lot, and I am quite capable of writing a working application with a fairly passable front end. But there was still no certainty whether businesses were willing to pay money for these skills. So, I began to intensively prepare for a second defense, but besides this I took another important (and, as it turned out later, the right) step: I posted my resume on various resources and started going for interviews. There weren’t many offers, but there were usually 1-2 a week. The level of interviews was also different, from rather disastrous ones, when I felt that I showed myself quite mediocre, to those where I passed a technical interview, but for some reason did not pass further. I did not lose heart, remembering someone’s aphorism that no one had ever been rejected twenty times in a row, and I improved on those weak points that the interviews revealed. So about two months and about 12-14 interviews passed. After one of them, I received my first offer from a small company with a salary even higher than the market average. On the details of the first days, weeks, etc. I won’t stop working, This may turn out to be another longread, I’ll just say that I successfully completed the probationary period and am working in this company to this day, I am very pleased with the team and the modern technology stack. I will soon celebrate one year of work and, although I face new challenges almost every day, I go to work with pleasure, because I am doing what I love. 
This is such a long post. Taking this opportunity, I once again thank the creator of Java Rush for convincing me to radically change my life, the Java Rush team for the intelligent implementation of the idea, and Grigory Kislin for his course. And although I never fully graduated from either one, they gave me the necessary foundation and faith in my strengths in order to find my first job as a programmer. To summarize, I would like to advise those who doubt whether they can remember the story of a humanitarian who was able to take the first step or complete what he started if the first step has already been taken. Unfortunately, it was not possible to fit everything into the article, so I will be happy to answer questions from those interested in the comments to the article. And finally: the sooner you start going for interviews, the better. You will never feel ready, but only after getting x number of rejections will you be able to get an offer. Remember, no one has ever been rejected 20 times in a row, verified!
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