While everyone is summing up the results of the past year, we decided to ask the developers what 2020 was like for them. They talked about failures and successes in the training and work of programmers and left their wishes for all members of our cool community.
Boris
In the early spring of 2020, I decided to change jobs, and somehow everything worked out so wonderfully: I very quickly found a company with a subject area that was interesting to me. At all stages of the interview, we looked into each other’s mouths, they liked me, I liked them, in general it came to an interview with the super charming Danish CEO, he and I joked with each other for half an hour until the conversation turned to something serious. He said that in general they want to hire me right now, but they will only be able to in two months, since they are now in the final stage of the release and there will be no one to bring me up to date. I thought about it and agreed, we all really liked each other. At my current job, I said I was leaving in two months. They scolded me a bit, but let me go without any conflict. There was a week left before I started my new job. No signs of trouble. And then they write to me from a new company: “Dear you are our person, tears are preventing you from speaking, but you understand what it’s like, coronavirus, quarantine, uncertainty, budgets, plans, you yourself must understand, in short, fuck you, we won’t hire you.” " As a result, the very next day they took me back to my old office and increased my salary so that I would not leave again. But before this happened, I, of course, was only capable of nervously smoking and yelling, because I was left in the middle of Covid without a new job or an old one.
Anzor Karmov
Perhaps the main event of 2020 is the coronavirus pandemic, which has changed the lifestyle of a large number of people. Everyone began to discuss the need for remote work. Coincidentally, by the time my colleagues switched to remote work, I had already been working remotely for 3-4 months. When I was just learning Java, one of the perks that attracted me to my future profession was the opportunity to work remotely. And now, after working for almost 3 years, I was able to realize my dream. My parents live in a private house in a small town in the south of Russia. I had a little daughter and, as a result, a reason to go home for some time, to my small homeland. Fortunately, at work I was given such an opportunity. Having collected my things, my wife and daughter, I went home. I set up a cozy workplace in the attic overlooking the forest and welcomed the new year 2020. At first, working remotely was difficult. There was some kind of harmony missing. It took time for the brain to adjust to the work-from-home mode. However, after some time I found this harmony. And he took great pleasure in contemplating his workplace, the forest, the sofa and the carpet.
A crisis has come, which has not spared our company, whose main client is the restaurant business. Revenue dropped, and the word optimization began to be used more and more often in the context of cost reduction. All this naturally began to lead to changes in wages. However, despite all these difficulties, there was a lot of work. The fact is that the product we created greatly helped restaurants stay afloat, since one of the main features of the product is the ability to organize food delivery. The situation was in a sense twofold. On the one hand, there are big problems with money, on the other hand, there is a great demand for the product and high sales, the money from which, due to the specifics of doing business, our company would receive after N months. I was promoted to head of department. I became responsible for the backend of mobile applications and a bunch of small related areas. I had a whole person under my command, part-time my cousin, part-time my Padawan, a JavaRush graduate. There were two of us, but that didn't bother us. It tickled my nerves pleasantly that in an international company (and this is how we positioned ourselves, having clients on almost all continents), you are responsible for the backend of mobile applications. As a result, I burned out. I cried into my CTO’s shoulder, we had a heartfelt chat, and I rose like a phoenix from the ashes. Then the situation began to gradually calm down. Weekly meetings with service stations, setting goals, monitoring their implementation. I felt a little wiser. Against the backdrop of burnout, I decided that I would definitely start going to interviews. Not in order to change jobs, but in order to evaluate yourself on the labor market. Offers for interviews poured in. In one company everything worked out well. I received good feedback, followed by a very attractive offer. Now 2020 is coming to an end. During the January holidays, I plan to go back to my small homeland for several months. I'm working at a new place, I'm going through a probationary period. My dream came true, I was given a working Thinkpad with top-end hardware. And as a result, the year ends well for me. This year has become another evidence for me that difficult times in life, crisis and stress are the basis for favorable life changes. I would like to wish everyone that life’s difficulties always end favorably. I would like to wish everyone to have a positive attitude towards this unfair life. And also love. Love yourself, your loved ones, this strange life and these strange times!
Yuri Sharoiko
The biggest failure and success of 2020... Perhaps this is this: I was denied employment at the SDEK company for an entry-level position and a ridiculous salary (this is a failure), and now their HR has been scamming me on LinkedIn for 2 weeks (this is a success, I think) . In IT, first of all, you should always want perseverance at the beginning and interesting projects in the end, otherwise all the enthusiasm will simply fade away.
Nastya Klimenko
Thanks to quarantine, I realized that I really like not going to the office, but working remotely. And, as a result, I decided to leave the company where I felt good, comfortable, safe, where there was insurance and bonuses. I became a freelancer at the end of the year. This gives me a chance to hope that I can fulfill one of my dreams - to live in another country while working from there. In connection with this change, I faced the following difficulty - I had to persuade the client to make a Swift transfer to me (I only persuaded him by agreeing to pay $40 for the transaction herself), because this is the only way to legally receive money to the dollar wallet of his individual entrepreneur account and pay taxes on this. The first month of work has passed, and the client still cannot make this transfer from the USA for me, he tries, but there are always some problems with the details. So, in addition to my salary being delayed, I also don’t know what my costs will be after all the transfer fees, and therefore I don’t know how much my desire to work for the good of my country will cost me.
I wish that Ukrainian freelancers would have more opportunities in 2021 to receive money from abroad and pay taxes on it to the treasury, and not go around closing their individual entrepreneurs and opening accounts in foreign banks Payoneer, TransferWise and the like.
Misha Krokhmal
Some of the good things that happened in 2020: changing jobs to pure outstaffing ( renting a specialist working for a contractor company to work on a project at a customer company - ed. ) with a salary bonus, switching to full remote work. In general, I’m even glad to some extent about the quarantine; it clearly outlined what is vital and what you can live without. It forces you to better build a system of priorities and responses to events around you. Therefore, I wish developers to quickly adapt to anything new in 2021, gain the necessary knowledge and skills, see opportunities, not threats, and then there will be happiness. For we must not only strive to “change the world,” but also be able to live in a changing world.
Dima Sokolov
There were no failures, maybe a couple of difficult moments. When I got into IT, difficulties in work became a natural and unpleasant part for me, significantly accelerating the development of a specialist beyond various books and tutorials. Although this is probably true for almost any area.
I would like to wish the developer community physical and mental health and keep abreast of future technologies.
Sasha Kopaygorodsky
This year has been quite productive. I gained a huge amount of experience: starting from small converter applications, I grew to support a large project living on the AWS cloud, I managed to get my hands on node js, and react js, and react native. The front-end has improved well, and I will say that this is also programming! I received a 2x increase in my hourly rate. I have completed 5 interviews in the last 3 months. My main failure was that I was rejected in all interviews. The reason is lack of depth of knowledge. Moreover, after each failed interview, I deepened them more and more. It's disappointing, but it also encourages you to keep trying. There is something to strive for, and it is always interesting. In addition, I realized that I didn’t want to lose much money again, and decided to interview for a middle position. I wish everyone to look forward in the new year, every day to take a small step towards their new life. Just do, analyze, improve what doesn’t work. And in time everything will come!
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