To the position of senior Java DeveloperI didn't get there right away. First of all, it should be said that I graduated from the law faculty. During our studies, we were taught Pascal, but I was absolutely not interested in it, and I did not attend classes. I worked as a manager on the trading floor in a well-known chain electronics store. I thought programming was absolutely not for me. I'm not ready to sit at the computer at night, ruining my health and vision. I wanted to grow up to be a manager in my salon and eventually become a director. But all my thoughts about a career disappeared while serving in the army. When I returned, I did not know what to do and for the next couple of years I worked wherever I could. I was a courier, a bartender, an Enikeyman in a warehouse, etc. I began to realize the stupidity of my existence when I was sitting in a warehouse. The real work there was a couple of hours a week, the rest of the time I was left to my own devices. Nobody followed me, I killed time as best I could: series, games, books. At some point, I realized that I was starting to degrade, that this road did not lead anywhere. I don't have any special knowledge, I'm not a professional in any field, and at this rate I'll spend my whole life working for pennies. I began to study the market, look for the area that would be of interest to me. In which I can immerse myself completely, and with which I can connect my whole life. At that time, the Internet was already full of advertisements for all kinds of programming courses, in which stories about the successful success of graduates shone. I was looking at everything and came across I am not a professional in any field, and that at this rate I will spend my entire life working for pennies. I began to study the market, look for the area that would be of interest to me. In which I can immerse myself completely, and with which I can connect my whole life. At that time, the Internet was already full of advertisements for all kinds of programming courses, in which stories about the successful success of graduates shone. I was looking at everything and came across I am not a professional in any field, and that at this rate I will spend my entire life working for pennies. I began to study the market, look for the area that would be of interest to me. In which I can immerse myself completely, and with which I can connect my whole life. At that time, the Internet was already full of advertisements for all kinds of programming courses, in which stories about the successful success of graduates shone. I was looking at everything and came acrossCodeGym . I explored this site, read the stories of people who studied here, watched inspiring videos about how cool it is to be a programmer. That you can create something with your own hands that has never existed before. I was inspired by this idea and my eyes lit up. I suddenly realized that I underestimated this area. There are many advantages in programming: excellent salary, the ability to work remotely, create something of your own. You become a sought-after specialist all over the world. And I saw the light: programming is exactly what I need. I paid for a subscription and began to study. One time my boss walked past me. Noticing what I was doing, he came up and said: - Do you learn Java? Cool, but it is complex and the entry threshold is high, pay better attention to the simpler language: Ruby, Python. I ignored his words and continued. I didn’t get far, the tasks became more and more difficult to solve, and at level 4 I stopped understanding what was happening. Due to the complexity of the language, or because of my unpreparedness, interest in Java quickly disappeared. But the fuse to change the profession has not dried up. I decided that I should really choose something simpler, for example 1C. I started watching video courses and looking at job requirements on hh.ru. I realized that when I come to get my first job and they ask me about my experience, I will have absolutely nothing to tell. All I can do is show interest and desire to learn and develop. But in order not to be unfounded, I had to show what I had already done in this direction. I needed to get certified. My first certificate was 1C platform professional. Professional level certificates are the lowest level in the qualification. It consists of 14 tests, for successful delivery you need to answer 12 correctly. Two weeks later I received my first yellow crust and immediately began to prepare for the next one - 1C Platform Specialist. Platform Specialist is a serious exam, it consists of 5 tasks. The tasks are very large and complex. After passing, you defend yourself in front of the examining examiner. You have 5 hours to decide. Preparation for the exam should be such that after reading the problem statement, you should already know the solution, since there is barely enough time just to type the code. As soon as I began to prepare, I was notified that the warehouse where I worked was moving. I didn’t have time to prepare and pass the second certificate, and I started looking for a job. I sent resumes everywhere I could, but the demand for programmers without experience is very small. I was invited for an interview at a well-known franchisee firm 1C "First Bit". This company is famous for the fact that newcomers are engaged in the most “dirty” and low-paid work - delivering boxes of disks, installing the 1C Enterprise program on client machines, advising clients on some minor issues, etc. Anything, just not programming. I understood it, but there was no choice. I made a great impression in the interview. I ranted that I really wanted to program, that I was studying hard, had already received the first certificate and was preparing for the second. My enthusiasm and zeal to code was heard, and a couple of days later I got a call back and was offered the role of a junior programmer in the office, without traveling, in the development team. I was overjoyed at the invitation and immediately accepted it. I was given a probationary salary of 35k. But before I had even worked there for two weeks, I received an offer to another place - not a franchisee, for a similar position. And I moved on to them. At first it was wildly difficult, I was shocked by the tasks that fell on me. I did not expect that I would be trusted to immediately solve such important and complex tasks. Of course, my code was reviewed, and my colleagues helped me in every possible way. When my probationary period ended, I decided to discuss growth prospects with my supervisor. We agreed that when I receive that very complex certificate of a platform specialist, they will increase my salary. And I returned to the preparation, which I had abandoned. I set a goal to get a certificate in 2.5 months. I broke the preparation into stages of two weeks. 6 weeks for the first 3 tasks, 2 weeks for 4 and 5, and another 2 weeks to solve all tickets in full. The first week I watched a course on YouTube on the first task, I didn’t understand almost anything, but I tried to solve it. I looked at ready-made solutions, repeated after them. Then I tried to reproduce from memory. The second week I watched the same course again and already began to understand what the lecture was about. To be on time, I had to work harder. I got up in the morning and spent 2 hours before work and spent almost the entire evening after work. At work, when I had a free minute, I watched courses, read articles. Two weeks later, I was already able to solve the first problem from the ticket on my own. I realized that there is progress, and since I already know how to solve one problem, I can solve everything, it's just a matter of time. And I registered for the exam. I studied tasks 2 and 3 in a similar way. I stopped wasting my free time on anything that wasn't exam preparation. And after 1.5 months of such intensive training, the brain was so overloaded that I began to sleep badly. My brain refused to turn off when I lay down. I noticed that I wake up at night and solve problems in my mind and no longer fall asleep until the morning. The deadline was approaching. I started speed training. My first attempt took about 7 hours. This was no good, and I decided that I would solve one whole ticket every weekend and one problem from the ticket every weekday. In two weeks, I managed to hone my skills and bring the solution of the ticket to automatism. I didn't think anymore, I just dialed the code. And on the exam, I was the first one to pass the paper. I finished in 4.5 hours, 1 hour of which was spent on solving a non-trivial problem. During the preparation, I did not come across anything like this, and, as I later found out, it was the most difficult of all the possible tasks that came across on the exam. I was rated "good". When I left the building of the training center where the exam was being held, I immediately updated my resume, supplementing it with a fresh yellow piece of paper. By that time, I already had 3 certificates of the “Professional” level and the first level “Specialist”. The next day, I pleased the manager with the fact that now I am the owner of this certificate. A certificate that none of my colleagues had. The head, in turn, "pleased" me with an increase in salary to 50k. I considered that all my suffering deserved more and decided to look for offers in the labor market on my own. When I opened my resume, I doubted for a long time what salary expectations should be indicated. After consulting with his wife, entered 100k. In fact, I did not expect to get so much, because I have only six months of experience and the only worthy certificate. I got a call right away and, after asking a few technical questions over the phone, I was invited for an interview in the office. I was also asked what caused such low salary expectations. I was a little surprised by this question, but did not attach any importance to it. The interview was scheduled for the same day. I arrived, spent about 3 hours in the office, solving problems and answering questions from the interviewer. In the end, he immediately offered me a job. Everything suited me, I did not bargain, my salary was 125k plus mandatory bonuses, in the amount of 150k. After asking a few technical questions over the phone, I was invited for an interview at the office. I was also asked what caused such low salary expectations. I was a little surprised by this question, but did not attach any importance to it. The interview was scheduled for the same day. I arrived, spent about 3 hours in the office, solving problems and answering questions from the interviewer. In the end, he immediately offered me a job. Everything suited me, I did not bargain, my salary was 125k plus mandatory bonuses, in the amount of 150k. After asking a few technical questions over the phone, I was invited for an interview at the office. I was also asked what caused such low salary expectations. I was a little surprised by this question, but did not attach any importance to it. The interview was scheduled for the same day. I arrived, spent about 3 hours in the office, solving problems and answering questions from the interviewer. In the end, he immediately offered me a job. Everything suited me, I did not bargain, my salary was 125k plus mandatory bonuses, in the amount of 150k. In the end, he immediately offered me a job. Everything suited me, I did not bargain, my salary was 125k plus mandatory bonuses, in the amount of 150k. In the end, he immediately offered me a job. Everything suited me, I did not bargain, my salary was 125k plus mandatory bonuses, in the amount of 150k. So I started working as a lead developer in 1s after only six months, as I wrote “Hello world!”. Two months later, I received an email from CodeGym reminding me that I had dropped out of training. It was then that I remembered how it all began and why it was done. The 1C language did not allow me to achieve the most important thing - it is in demand all over the world. I wanted to be able to work for foreign customers, practically no one needs 1C outside of Russia. I remained dependent on two factors: on Russia and on 1C itself. And if something happens to one thing, then I will lose a good job and income. It was decided to resume training on CodeGym. After analyzing this site, I made a training plan and outlined the deadlines. I needed real projects that I could show at the interview. Something similar could be given by an internship from CodeGym, which involved working on a project very close to the real one, using modern technologies. The internship is held 4 times a year, the next one was less than 2 months. To get to it, you need to reach level 35 and solve the introductory task. 2 months is extremely short to complete the requirements from scratch. If you skip this internship, the next one would start in 5 months. Plus 3 months to pass it - I was not ready to postpone the change of position from 1C developer to Java for as much as 8 months. It was decided to tighten up and catch the next one. I already knew how to prepare. All my free time went back to it. I already had a background, now the tasks did not seem as difficult as before. And in 1.5 months I managed to reach level 35 and solve the introductory task in another week. I was accepted for an internship. The training consisted of 11 modules, one per week. The load was huge, I had to learn a bunch of new technologies literally every day. My brain was seething. At the 8th week, without waiting for the end of the internship, I started looking for a job. This process didn't take long and within a week I got several offers for my first job as a java programmer. I chose the most interesting company for me with the most up-to-date technology stack. They offered a salary of 120k. Now I'm alreadySenior Java developer with excellent income. There are several interesting implemented projects behind me, which gave me excellent growth as a specialist. I still do not stop learning new things and developing professionally. Programming engulfed me completely. It turned out to be so "mine" that I could not even imagine before. Finally, I enjoy my work and what I do. The main thing is to set a goal, develop a plan and follow it. Now I have achieved my goal and now it's time for a new one.
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