I'll start with what I am at the moment. I am now 34 years old, married, live in Kyiv, work as an Android developer in one of the large companies. I love sports, skiing. I love order and organization in my affairs. In addition to work projects, in our free time we develop a startup with friends. And now, in order, how I came to this. I grew up in an ordinary dysfunctional family; the 90s took their toll on many. I didn’t have a person in my life who could advise me and direct me in the right direction. That’s why I graduated from technical school and then dropped out of college. Then he worked everywhere: as a manager, accountant, system administrator (he always sat at the computer) and a bunch of other things. At the same time, I was interested in programming, but I thought that people study in institutes for 5 years, and there was nothing in this direction for me. But I still wanted to do something of my own. And at one fine moment I realized that I wanted to write something of my own for Android (I used Android devices from the very beginning). I went to Google to see what they write in Android... Java! Ok, I went to look for textbooks. And then I realized that a person who has never encountered programming cannot master a programming language from a textbook. I needed someone who could give me some advice. And that's how I got into JavaRush. True, from the very beginning it was difficult for me to understand the material, I quit studying, then returned. This is how my training went at the beginning: I studied hard for 3 days, then abandoned it for a month. And at the very moment when I decided to pay for the training course, it motivated me and I studied steadily every day. I must say that for me it was just a hobby; at that time I didn’t think at all that I could make money from it. After six months of studying here, I began to study frameworks for Android. Gradually, my little application was born. This is where my persistence began to come back to me. First, I found out that one of my friends has been an Android developer for a long time. He immediately happily responded to my request to help figure it out. He was just starting to write a startup and agreed to take me on for training purposes (I did not receive any salary). He gave tasks, and I tried to do them in my free time, often without success. But this experience gave me a lot: working in a team, working with Git, I saw how a project can grow, I learned what a code review is and how not to write. Here it is necessary to clarify that I did all this in my free time from work. And sometimes during lunch break. It was interesting to me. And the project is interesting (now it is already a full-fledged service, one of the best in its category). I still didn't think much about going to interviews. It was just a hobby. At that time I was already 31 years old and I thought that at that age no one would hire a newcomer. The turning point for me was the Java conference. I don’t remember who performed there or where they were from. But I was very motivated by the speech of a woman who got her first job as a programmer at the age of 39 (I would really like to find her now and say thank you). After that conference, I realized that I had to go for interviews. So, I created a resume (I put in everything that was connected with IT in my life and with difficulty it all turned out on one page). The interview period took me about 3 months. I did test assignments, learned a lot of new information, took time off from work to go for an interview. And then one fine day they sent me an offer. It is impossible to describe my feelings at that moment. This is something similar to the movie “The Pursuit of Happyness”, Will Smith’s character, one of twenty people, got a position in the company. In the first two weeks of work, I thought that I wouldn’t get the internship, but gradually I got into the project and everything started to turn around. Several years have passed since then. I already work in another company, in a great team. After all this time, I can say that I love my job and this is exactly what I want to do in the future. PS There may be some inaccuracies; several years have passed and some points have been forgotten. Some theses and conclusions:
At JavaRush I started learning Java from scratch; before that I knew nothing about programming.
Yes, I bought a subscription, and at that time it was not such a small amount for me.
If you don't start doing something, nothing will happen.
With the right approach, you can get from scratch to your first job in six months. It took me several times longer.
Online internship and the opportunity to work in a team are irreplaceable things.
And now, in order, how I came to this. I grew up in an ordinary dysfunctional family; the 90s took their toll on many. I didn’t have a person in my life who could advise me and direct me in the right direction. That’s why I graduated from technical school and then dropped out of college. Then he worked everywhere: as a manager, accountant, system administrator (he always sat at the computer) and a bunch of other things. At the same time, I was interested in programming, but I thought that people study in institutes for 5 years, and there was nothing in this direction for me. But I still wanted to do something of my own. And at one fine moment I realized that I wanted to write something of my own for Android (I used Android devices from the very beginning). I went to Google to see what they write in Android... Java! Ok, I went to look for textbooks. And then I realized that a person who has never encountered programming cannot master a programming language from a textbook. I needed someone who could give me some advice. And that's how I got into JavaRush. True, from the very beginning it was difficult for me to understand the material, I quit studying, then returned. This is how my training went at the beginning: I studied hard for 3 days, then abandoned it for a month. And at the very moment when I decided to pay for the training course, it motivated me and I studied steadily every day. I must say that for me it was just a hobby; at that time I didn’t think at all that I could make money from it. After six months of studying here, I began to study frameworks for Android. Gradually, my little application was born. This is where my persistence began to come back to me. First, I found out that one of my friends has been an Android developer for a long time. He immediately happily responded to my request to help figure it out. He was just starting to write a startup and agreed to take me on for training purposes (I did not receive any salary). He gave tasks, and I tried to do them in my free time, often without success. But this experience gave me a lot: working in a team, working with Git, I saw how a project can grow, I learned what a code review is and how not to write. Here it is necessary to clarify that I did all this in my free time from work. And sometimes during lunch break. It was interesting to me. And the project is interesting (now it is already a full-fledged service, one of the best in its category). I still didn't think much about going to interviews. It was just a hobby. At that time I was already 31 years old and I thought that at that age no one would hire a newcomer. The turning point for me was the Java conference. I don’t remember who performed there or where they were from. But I was very motivated by the speech of a woman who got her first job as a programmer at the age of 39 (I would really like to find her now and say thank you). After that conference, I realized that I had to go for interviews. So, I created a resume (I put in everything that was connected with IT in my life and with difficulty it all turned out on one page). The interview period took me about 3 months. I did test assignments, learned a lot of new information, took time off from work to go for an interview. And then one fine day they sent me an offer. It is impossible to describe my feelings at that moment. This is something similar to the movie “The Pursuit of Happyness”, Will Smith’s character, one of twenty people, got a position in the company. In the first two weeks of work, I thought that I wouldn’t get the internship, but gradually I got into the project and everything started to turn around. Several years have passed since then. I already work in another company, in a great team. After all this time, I can say that I love my job and this is exactly what I want to do in the future. PS There may be some inaccuracies; several years have passed and some points have been forgotten. Some theses and conclusions:
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