Hello everyone, my name is Stas and this is the story of my long journey from a ship mechanic to a programmer. In the midst of the coronavirus, back in those days when we took everything seriously, went outside a couple of times a week and wiped down food packaging with antiseptic, I felt that my mind was specifically rusty from endless and dull sitting at home. One day I came across a logic problem that interested me. I puzzled over it all evening and finally figured out what was what. This moment was literally a clearing moment for my foggy brain. Then I thought, shouldn’t I start solving math problems because I have nothing to do. And after this came a more reasonable thought - you can try yourself in programming, there will be tasks, and potentially you can take it seriously if it drags on. In addition, one of my life goals was to move to the USA, where no one needed me as a sailor, and sooner or later there would be a need to learn something new. Not long before this, my best friend decided to start learning Java. Since he is a scrupulous person, I was sure that he had thoroughly studied which languages are relevant, which one to choose and which resources to study it on. So, at his guidance, I learned about Vertex, Javarush and Metanit. Although I came to the study without too much enthusiasm, it appeared quite quickly, and now I have already joined the ranks of the valiant conquerors of the compiler, who sometimes sit for 8 hours a day studying and solving problems. I was never particularly diligent in my studies, I was never interested in programming, but Java fascinated me. I still remember how the arrays began - “What a cool thing! Are these two-dimensional arrays?! Oh my God!". But studying was not easy, and even an engineering education did not give a feeling of superiority. Also, due to my tendency towards perfectionism, I did not finish the level without solving every last problem. And, of course, he was very upset if after a few days he still asked for help or looked for a solution. Don't do this) Don't forget that you are studying technology, and not preparing for the Olympiad. The monthly subscription has expired. I finished 10 levels and was quite tired. I also noticed (I don’t know if it was a bug or a feature) that the game tasks do not require a subscription to solve them. Then I decided to switch to them for a while. And if Java was sometimes fascinating, then writing games was addictive. I mean writing something of your own, in addition to the standard instructions. When you don’t have tasks set by someone, but only your ideas and you try to implement them, and you succeed(!), even if in some places it’s shitty code with ten if-else blocks in a row - it’s an indescribable feeling. I’m sure artists or composers experience something similar: you create and see the result. I think it’s in moments like these that the love for programming is born. I only made one Snake, spending 3 or 4 weeks on it. Most of it consisted of little things and details that probably no one even saw. To be honest, I still sometimes go to admire her) Around the same time - the end of May - I was suddenly called on a flight. The coronavirus was still raging, and planning was tight. Therefore, at 10 am they called me, and at 6 pm I was already sitting on the bus. But a tempting prospect lay ahead - a two-week paid quarantine in a South Korean hotel before boarding the ship. “What luck,” I thought then, “I’ll take another monthly subscription and maybe then I’ll study on the ship on weekends.” That’s what I did on the first day: I bought a subscription, sat comfortably in a wonderful room with a large table and... realized that I was burned out. I was exhausted. I couldn't bring myself to work out for a single day. I suffered from idleness and isolation, I was terribly bored, in one day I walked 6,000 steps around the room, but I could not learn a single new word. Fatigue took its toll. On the flight itself, quite expectedly, I realized that combining study with such work was beyond my strength. So my IT development stagnated for six months. After these six months, I bought a 12-month subscription and took up my studies with renewed vigor. It seems that’s when I finally started taking notes, and I regretted that I didn’t do it right away. I decided that the best way to remember the material I had covered and not miss anything was to go through everything all over again (yes, I didn’t lie about being a perfectionist). This time I went through 10 levels quite quickly and sincerely could not understand where the tasks that had so baffled me had gone. Then it took me a month or a month and a half to reach level 20. Learning new things was still difficult. Everyone still gave up periodically. Especially when in the comments people pretended to complain that they spent an hour solving a problem that you’ve been working on for three days, or when 9-year-old Vova gains level forty in a few months. After another burnout, I took a break and checked out Code: The Secret Language of Computer Science by Petzold. Perhaps not the most important book for becoming a programmer, but very interesting: it tells in detail the path from telegraph relays to transistors and processors, the number system and how to assemble a calculator. I read half the book avidly, like I never read detective stories. The second half became an impenetrable wall for me and I’m not sure I could overcome it now. Somewhere after the twentieth level, I began to be haunted by the feeling that, with all my love for Javarash, I was doing something wrong. That solving problems and delving deeper into serialization (which I never learned properly, God forgive me) is of course cool, but there are so many unfamiliar words in the vacancies, and my goal is still to find a job. I won’t give bad advice, to this day I have a lot of gaps in the basics, some of which would undoubtedly have been filled if I had completed the course to the end, but at that moment I determined my priorities. This is how I met the alishev channel and his invaluable course on the Spring Framework. I won’t even be lazy to highlight:alishev Spring Framework– it’s just a must-have. Put this on your phone's screensaver or scratch it on the lid of your laptop so you don't forget, but be sure to go through it. Whatever one may say, Java is a tool in the hands of the developer. It is a pencil in the hands of an engineer or a spatula in the hands of a builder. You can be better at it, you can be worse at it, but in the end you will be able to write working code. The rest will come with experience, they will tell you or watch - you will have tens of thousands of lines of code in which you can learn something. A Spring is exactly the technology that will give you an idea of the real project and what you can present to the employer. At the time of my training, only part of the course was available, it was enough for me. My vacation came to an end and I was soon on my next flight. On the flight, a key event in my life happened - my wife won a US green card, for which we applied for the third year in a row. This, of course, was a huge success and greatly facilitated all our plans to move there. Since the migration process, even if you win the lottery, is very long (in my case, almost a year and a half from the moment of the draw), a strategic decision was made, reliable as a Swiss watch - to leave the sea, finish learning what you haven’t yet completed, and quickly get a job as a developer in order to have time to gain at least some experience. Apparently feeling that I wanted to leave him, the sea decided to teach me a lesson and leave me. On the last voyage, I almost lost my horse and was urgently written off, without working out the contract to the end and without collecting the amount that I had originally expected. At the time of leaving, I was earning about five thousand with all the goodies and bonuses. It was also a shame to quit because I had only just risen to a respectable position and interesting work. After all, I loved the sea. So not all success stories are about how people change bad lives for the better. Sometimes these are stories about taking a step back (or taking a huge leap) to achieve your goals. Having returned home, improved my health and dealt with the migration forms, I took up my studies again. To my surprise, this time the Java syntax did not disappear from my mind, and I caught up with everything quite quickly. But Spring was no longer so familiar and guess what I did? That's right, I took the course from the very beginning) This time it was not easy, everything seemed unfamiliar, and I actually learned it all over again. A month later I finished and was once again burned out, this time even more so than usual. The realization that I had essentially returned to my level of almost a year ago and the uncertainty got to me even more and I fell into depression. I don’t remember if I managed to get out of it, but a few weeks later my wife and I became infected with the coronavirus. The disease was rather difficult, but there were no hospitals. And so, three weeks later, exhausted and thinner, I returned to my yoke. Soon I realized that there are many technologies, but I am alone, and I can study endlessly. So, overcoming my fears and closing my eyes, I began looking for a job. Or rather, I started writing my resume - this is a disgusting, extremely tedious task, especially when there is essentially nothing to write in it. So nothing that in my work experience one of the lines was about how I wrote a game that was included in the top ten on Javarash)). I spent several days composing and combing it. You also need to create a cover letter to which you will attach your resume. On dou I came across one piece of advice from one girl that was so wonderful that I kept it as a keepsake: “Valeria, you are almost starting from the wrong place. There is no need to talk about the lack of commercial experience and the urgent need for real at the beginning. If you briefly read your letter, it sounds like “I don’t really know how to do anything, but I really want to.” I'm not laughing at you, if anything. It’s better to draw the employer’s attention to what you ALREADY know. How do you improve your skills on something specific? Were there any educational projects? Are there any examples of work? (as colleagues suggested in the comments, examples of layout pages). It would be good if your letter sounded something like this (a brief paraphrase): “Hello, I am so-and-so, I am writing in response to the vacancy of so-and-so. I know such and such technologies, I am studying this and that additionally. I created such and such educational projects. Examples are in the attached portfolio. I was interested in this and that in your company (why do you want to work there) I would be glad to join the team of your company. More details about my experience can be found in my resume. I will be happy to answer any questions. Until then, Evrobachennya :) Contacts “Well, something like that :)” This answer also influenced my resume. Present what you already know. The part about “learning something extra” is also great. One of the recruiters noticed that I was “currently learning Hibernate,” although at that time I had only learned the name. And one more thing - write your resume in English, without variations. This is what my first resume looked like) Another tip is to avoid the word Junior. Of course, you will be a junior, but with this word in your resume you seem to emphasize your low qualifications. Let the person on the other side spend a little effort to determine this, but from now on you are a Java Developer. Now I understand that the search for my first job was very fruitful. I received at least some answers or offers to communicate once every few days or a week. Then it seemed to me that this was very little and sometimes I was upset about it. At that time, I lived in Odessa and was looking for a job there, but also applied for remote options. Most companies immediately send you a test task, and only after completing it they begin to communicate with you. After a week of searching, cool guys from Lvov answered me and sent me their test test. The fact that they were cool was felt in the vacancy itself - lively text, non-standard friendliness, a touch of humor. This doesn’t happen often, and I sincerely want to join such a team. Imagine my delight when I opened the test and realized that I could complete it! It was not easy, even though the task was small. They gave him one day, and I sat with him until eight in the morning. The result was similar to the truth, but it bothered me that half of my files took up one or two lines. And I had the temerity to stuff controllers, services, DaoServices and repositories into one or two files, as it looked aesthetically pleasing in my opinion. This is what ruined me. They refused me, I asked for a short feedback and they explained to me that the problem was in my architecture. So, when you understand what we’re talking about, don’t do that either) The next test task was sent to me by a company that was looking for a Kotlin developer and whose vacancy had more than usual unfamiliar words, so I don’t know why on earth I even believed in myself and went there. Probably because I read that Kotlin runs on the JVM, just like Java, and has a similar syntax. This time the task was difficult. It was necessary to write a program that would daily issue exchange rates from the National Bank for those currencies that we can determine through the API. And all this is in Kotlin. I wasn’t even sure that I understood some of the requirements at all, much less knew how to fulfill them. But the eyes are afraid, but the hands are doing the work, especially this time it seemed like three or five days. Before the time was up I realized I was stuck. And when my head began to boil once again, I decided to switch and try to translate my Java code into Kotlin. Then I realized that I didn’t just get stuck, but I actually crapped myself. With my tail between my legs, I guiltily wrote to the recruiter, saying thank you for trying, unfortunately, I failed, all the best. Then there was another test task, which after a few hours began to burst at the seams. There was nowhere to go, and I did everything in my power. There was also an option looming with one of the companies that offered a 4-month paid internship, but promised 450 per month for this period, and by that time I already believed in myself and believed that I could find something better than this. When I almost completely screwed up this test, some CTO called me, invited me for a technical interview, and we agreed on a time. The name of the company seemed painfully familiar to me. After the conversation, I checked my email and realized that these were the guys who needed a Kotlin developer. I sighed, called back and said hello, I didn’t immediately find out where you were calling from, I had already talked to your recruiter and explained the situation. He said, “Yes, yes. I'm aware. We still want to do a technical interview.” I instantly perked up, thanked him and began to prepare. A day or two later, he and the sir called me, the sir asked technical questions. I prepared well, I didn’t know everything, but I did well. If I didn’t know something, I firmly said that I didn’t know it. I passed the interview. Afterwards, the signor said that the “middle” had interviewed me before me and that my impressions were better. So I failed all the test tasks and got the job)) The decision to call me for an interview was made by the CTO. He liked that I responded about my failure and that I responded in principle. So be polite with recruiters ;) From what I remember from the interview - quite a lot of questions about Spring, collections, initialization order, complexity of algorithms. There was a funny moment: the signor did not particularly prepare for the interview and asked questions out of his head and in the end he no longer knew what to ask. When we seemed to have finished, he remembered afterward: “Ahh, name three methods of the Object class.” And this was exactly what I read right before the interview itself. Without blinking I say: “toString(), hashCode(), equals()” and from his face I understand that this is a victory) cool moment Then discussions on working with the CTO. He asked how much I would like to receive, I said that I wanted 800, but I was considering options from 600. He offered me 400 for the trial period, during which I, together with the signor (who became my mentor), completed the very test task that I did not complete , and if everything is ok, then there will be the amount for which I am claiming. This is where they shook hands. It was the end of 2021. A few days later I started work. The first three weeks were wildly difficult. I literally didn’t understand what people were talking about among themselves. Half of the words are from IT terminology that is not yet familiar to me, and half are from the direction of the project - banking. Every day I had to learn something new, including the MacBook that they gave me. The mentor was excellent, but stern. He didn’t chew on anything extra and, at best, told me in which direction to Google. The initial test task acquired new details, and after 3 or 4 weeks it resembled a real backend. A month and a half after the appointment, I went to the CTO to talk about a promotion. When the conversation came up about the amount, he said that I remember you talked about 600. Then I had to insist that I worked until I worked my ass off, finished the test ahead of time, had already started work and even closed a couple of my first tickets, and in general I didn’t I see reasons why not pay me 800. The debate was not heated, but nevertheless a small bargaining took place and I defended my eight hundred. This means that even in a lower position there is room for negotiations. Personally, I have to force myself to ask for more and this is always stressful for me. But such things need to be overcome, even if your palms are sweaty, and you don’t really want to. The work was interesting. The solved problems made me happy. The informal atmosphere was conducive. I was lucky to get to a place where results were the measure, not fatigue. You could always take time off for personal matters or work from home. If my head began to boil, I could calmly go for a walk along the embankment and return to my tasks in an hour. There were lazy days when you wrote a couple of lines and sipped coffee while chatting with colleagues. There were times when I was loaded down and when returning home I couldn’t see the road in front of me. Then the war began. The job change could not have come at a better time. Almost all seafarers are stuck without work at home, or without family at work. I had to go through a lot, but as far as my story is concerned, the American embassy in Ukraine stopped working, and with it, plans and hopes for moving disappeared. But six months later, out of the blue, we were called for an interview with the American consul in Frankfurt. There was not much time left and it was necessary to decide or stay. I made up my mind, said goodbye to my colleagues, hastily sold everything I had managed to sell, and a couple of weeks later my long journey to America began. While these are still success stories and not a personal blog, I’ll tell you how I conquered America and moved to New York in a separate article, as soon as I can get my hands on it. I worked in my first company for eight months, and, hand on heart, I worked well. It was truly a pity to part with my favorite place and my favorite team again. What can I say about all this? On the one hand, I had the advantage of my profession. I could afford to study from morning to evening, periodically burn out, periodically rest and not worry too much about finances. Therefore, I sincerely admire people who manage to learn Java while studying after work. On the other hand, every time I had to make up for forgotten things and sacrifice a lot. I was lucky in many ways, but only those who sit still and do nothing are absolutely unlucky. The most important requirement for becoming a developer is persistence. I started and abandoned a million things in this life. But perhaps for the first time, I always knew that I could follow this path to the end. I felt it even when I completely gave up. The fable about the hare and the tortoise really opened up to me in a new way. In fact, how many of those clever problem solvers were able to find work against all odds? So don't give up. And if you give up, then find the strength to get up and continue, even after days, weeks or months. As one Javarush regular said, Personally, I have to force myself to ask for more and this is always stressful for me. But such things need to be overcome, even if your palms are sweaty, and you don’t really want to. The work was interesting. The solved problems made me happy. The informal atmosphere was conducive. I was lucky to get to a place where results were the measure, not fatigue. You could always take time off for personal matters or work from home. If my head began to boil, I could calmly go for a walk along the embankment and return to my tasks in an hour. There were lazy days when you wrote a couple of lines and sipped coffee while chatting with colleagues. There were times when I was loaded down and when returning home I couldn’t see the road in front of me. Then the war began. The job change could not have come at a better time. Almost all seafarers are stuck without work at home, or without family at work. I had to go through a lot, but as far as my story is concerned, the American embassy in Ukraine stopped working, and with it, plans and hopes for moving disappeared. But six months later, out of the blue, we were called for an interview with the American consul in Frankfurt. There was not much time left and it was necessary to decide or stay. I made up my mind, said goodbye to my colleagues, hastily sold everything I had managed to sell, and a couple of weeks later my long journey to America began. While these are still success stories and not a personal blog, I’ll tell you how I conquered America and moved to New York in a separate article, as soon as I can get my hands on it. I worked in my first company for eight months, and, hand on heart, I worked well. It was truly a pity to part with my favorite place and my favorite team again. What can I say about all this? On the one hand, I had the advantage of my profession. I could afford to study from morning to evening, periodically burn out, periodically rest and not worry too much about finances. Therefore, I sincerely admire people who manage to learn Java while studying after work. On the other hand, every time I had to make up for forgotten things and sacrifice a lot. I was lucky in many ways, but only those who sit still and do nothing are absolutely unlucky. The most important requirement for becoming a developer is persistence. I started and abandoned a million things in this life. But perhaps for the first time, I always knew that I could follow this path to the end. I felt it even when I completely gave up. The fable about the hare and the tortoise really opened up to me in a new way. In fact, how many of those clever problem solvers were able to find work against all odds? So don't give up. And if you give up, then find the strength to get up and continue, even after days, weeks or months. As one Javarush regular said, Personally, I have to force myself to ask for more and this is always stressful for me. But such things need to be overcome, even if your palms are sweaty, and you don’t really want to. The work was interesting. The solved problems made me happy. The informal atmosphere was conducive. I was lucky to get to a place where results were the measure, not fatigue. You could always take time off for personal matters or work from home. If my head began to boil, I could calmly go for a walk along the embankment and return to my tasks in an hour. There were lazy days when you wrote a couple of lines and sipped coffee while chatting with colleagues. There were times when I was loaded down and when returning home I couldn’t see the road in front of me. Then the war began. The job change could not have come at a better time. Almost all seafarers are stuck without work at home, or without family at work. I had to go through a lot, but as far as my story is concerned, the American embassy in Ukraine stopped working, and with it, plans and hopes for moving disappeared. But six months later, out of the blue, we were called for an interview with the American consul in Frankfurt. There was not much time left and it was necessary to decide or stay. I made up my mind, said goodbye to my colleagues, hastily sold everything I had managed to sell, and a couple of weeks later my long journey to America began. While these are still success stories and not a personal blog, I’ll tell you how I conquered America and moved to New York in a separate article, as soon as I can get my hands on it. I worked in my first company for eight months, and, hand on heart, I worked well. It was truly a pity to part with my favorite place and my favorite team again. What can I say about all this? On the one hand, I had the advantage of my profession. I could afford to study from morning to evening, periodically burn out, periodically rest and not worry too much about finances. Therefore, I sincerely admire people who manage to learn Java while studying after work. On the other hand, every time I had to make up for forgotten things and sacrifice a lot. I was lucky in many ways, but only those who sit still and do nothing are absolutely unlucky. The most important requirement for becoming a developer is persistence. I started and abandoned a million things in this life. But perhaps for the first time, I always knew that I could follow this path to the end. I felt it even when I completely gave up. The fable about the hare and the tortoise really opened up to me in a new way. In fact, how many of those clever problem solvers were able to find work against all odds? So don't give up. And if you give up, then find the strength to get up and continue, even after days, weeks or months. As one Javarush regular said, where the measure was the result, not fatigue. You could always take time off for personal matters or work from home. If my head began to boil, I could calmly go for a walk along the embankment and return to my tasks in an hour. There were lazy days when you wrote a couple of lines and sipped coffee while chatting with colleagues. There were times when I was loaded down and when returning home I couldn’t see the road in front of me. Then the war began. The job change could not have come at a better time. Almost all seafarers are stuck without work at home, or without family at work. I had to go through a lot, but as far as my story is concerned, the American embassy in Ukraine stopped working, and with it, plans and hopes for moving disappeared. But six months later, out of the blue, we were called for an interview with the American consul in Frankfurt. There was not much time left and it was necessary to decide or stay. I made up my mind, said goodbye to my colleagues, hastily sold everything I had managed to sell, and a couple of weeks later my long journey to America began. While these are still success stories and not a personal blog, I’ll tell you how I conquered America and moved to New York in a separate article, as soon as I can get my hands on it. I worked in my first company for eight months, and, hand on heart, I worked well. It was truly a pity to part with my favorite place and my favorite team again. What can I say about all this? On the one hand, I had the advantage of my profession. I could afford to study from morning to evening, periodically burn out, periodically rest and not worry too much about finances. Therefore, I sincerely admire people who manage to learn Java while studying after work. On the other hand, every time I had to make up for forgotten things and sacrifice a lot. I was lucky in many ways, but only those who sit still and do nothing are absolutely unlucky. The most important requirement for becoming a developer is persistence. I started and abandoned a million things in this life. But perhaps for the first time, I always knew that I could follow this path to the end. I felt it even when I completely gave up. The fable about the hare and the tortoise really opened up to me in a new way. In fact, how many of those clever problem solvers were able to find work against all odds? So don't give up. And if you give up, then find the strength to get up and continue, even after days, weeks or months. As one Javarush regular said, where the measure was the result, not fatigue. You could always take time off for personal matters or work from home. If my head began to boil, I could calmly go for a walk along the embankment and return to my tasks in an hour. There were lazy days when you wrote a couple of lines and sipped coffee while chatting with colleagues. There were times when I was loaded down and when returning home I couldn’t see the road in front of me. Then the war began. The job change could not have come at a better time. Almost all seafarers are stuck without work at home, or without family at work. I had to go through a lot, but as far as my story is concerned, the American embassy in Ukraine stopped working, and with it, plans and hopes for moving disappeared. But six months later, out of the blue, we were called for an interview with the American consul in Frankfurt. There was not much time left and it was necessary to decide or stay. I made up my mind, said goodbye to my colleagues, hastily sold everything I had managed to sell, and a couple of weeks later my long journey to America began. While these are still success stories and not a personal blog, I’ll tell you how I conquered America and moved to New York in a separate article, as soon as I can get my hands on it. I worked in my first company for eight months, and, hand on heart, I worked well. It was truly a pity to part with my favorite place and my favorite team again. What can I say about all this? On the one hand, I had the advantage of my profession. I could afford to study from morning to evening, periodically burn out, periodically rest and not worry too much about finances. Therefore, I sincerely admire people who manage to learn Java while studying after work. On the other hand, every time I had to make up for forgotten things and sacrifice a lot. I was lucky in many ways, but only those who sit still and do nothing are absolutely unlucky. The most important requirement for becoming a developer is persistence. I started and abandoned a million things in this life. But perhaps for the first time, I always knew that I could follow this path to the end. I felt it even when I completely gave up. The fable about the hare and the tortoise really opened up to me in a new way. In fact, how many of those clever problem solvers were able to find work against all odds? So don't give up. And if you give up, then find the strength to get up and continue, even after days, weeks or months. As one Javarush regular said, and with it, plans and hopes for moving disappeared. But six months later, out of the blue, we were called for an interview with the American consul in Frankfurt. There was not much time left and it was necessary to decide or stay. I made up my mind, said goodbye to my colleagues, hastily sold everything I had managed to sell, and a couple of weeks later my long journey to America began. While these are still success stories and not a personal blog, I’ll tell you how I conquered America and moved to New York in a separate article, as soon as I can get my hands on it. I worked in my first company for eight months, and, hand on heart, I worked well. It was truly a pity to part with my favorite place and my favorite team again. What can I say about all this? On the one hand, I had the advantage of my profession. I could afford to study from morning to evening, periodically burn out, periodically rest and not worry too much about finances. Therefore, I sincerely admire people who manage to learn Java while studying after work. On the other hand, every time I had to make up for forgotten things and sacrifice a lot. I was lucky in many ways, but only those who sit still and do nothing are absolutely unlucky. The most important requirement for becoming a developer is persistence. I started and abandoned a million things in this life. But perhaps for the first time, I always knew that I could follow this path to the end. I felt it even when I completely gave up. The fable about the hare and the tortoise really opened up to me in a new way. In fact, how many of those clever problem solvers were able to find work against all odds? So don't give up. And if you give up, then find the strength to get up and continue, even after days, weeks or months. As one Javarush regular said, and with it, plans and hopes for moving disappeared. But six months later, out of the blue, we were called for an interview with the American consul in Frankfurt. There was not much time left and it was necessary to decide or stay. I made up my mind, said goodbye to my colleagues, hastily sold everything I had managed to sell, and a couple of weeks later my long journey to America began. While these are still success stories and not a personal blog, I’ll tell you how I conquered America and moved to New York in a separate article, as soon as I can get my hands on it. I worked in my first company for eight months, and, hand on heart, I worked well. It was truly a pity to part with my favorite place and my favorite team again. What can I say about all this? On the one hand, I had the advantage of my profession. I could afford to study from morning to evening, periodically burn out, periodically rest and not worry too much about finances. Therefore, I sincerely admire people who manage to learn Java while studying after work. On the other hand, every time I had to make up for forgotten things and sacrifice a lot. I was lucky in many ways, but only those who sit still and do nothing are absolutely unlucky. The most important requirement for becoming a developer is persistence. I started and abandoned a million things in this life. But perhaps for the first time, I always knew that I could follow this path to the end. I felt it even when I completely gave up. The fable about the hare and the tortoise really opened up to me in a new way. In fact, how many of those clever problem solvers were able to find work against all odds? So don't give up. And if you give up, then find the strength to get up and continue, even after days, weeks or months. As one Javarush regular said, it's perseverance. I started and abandoned a million things in this life. But perhaps for the first time, I always knew that I could follow this path to the end. I felt it even when I completely gave up. The fable about the hare and the tortoise really opened up to me in a new way. In fact, how many of those clever problem solvers were able to find work against all odds? So don't give up. And if you give up, then find the strength to get up and continue, even after days, weeks or months. As one Javarush regular said, it's perseverance. I started and abandoned a million things in this life. But perhaps for the first time, I always knew that I could follow this path to the end. I felt it even when I completely gave up. The fable about the hare and the tortoise really opened up to me in a new way. In fact, how many of those clever problem solvers were able to find work against all odds? So don't give up. And if you give up, then find the strength to get up and continue, even after days, weeks or months. As one Javarush regular said,Everything will work out!
Another tip is to avoid the word Junior. Of course, you will be a junior, but with this word in your resume you seem to emphasize your low qualifications. Let the person on the other side spend a little effort to determine this, but from now on you are a Java Developer. Now I understand that the search for my first job was very fruitful. I received at least some answers or offers to communicate once every few days or a week. Then it seemed to me that this was very little and sometimes I was upset about it. At that time, I lived in Odessa and was looking for a job there, but also applied for remote options. Most companies immediately send you a test task, and only after completing it they begin to communicate with you. After a week of searching, cool guys from Lvov answered me and sent me their test test. The fact that they were cool was felt in the vacancy itself - lively text, non-standard friendliness, a touch of humor. This doesn’t happen often, and I sincerely want to join such a team. Imagine my delight when I opened the test and realized that I could complete it! It was not easy, even though the task was small. They gave him one day, and I sat with him until eight in the morning. The result was similar to the truth, but it bothered me that half of my files took up one or two lines. And I had the temerity to stuff controllers, services, DaoServices and repositories into one or two files, as it looked aesthetically pleasing in my opinion. This is what ruined me. They refused me, I asked for a short feedback and they explained to me that the problem was in my architecture. So, when you understand what we’re talking about, don’t do that either) The next test task was sent to me by a company that was looking for a Kotlin developer and whose vacancy had more than usual unfamiliar words, so I don’t know why on earth I even believed in myself and went there. Probably because I read that Kotlin runs on the JVM, just like Java, and has a similar syntax. This time the task was difficult. It was necessary to write a program that would daily issue exchange rates from the National Bank for those currencies that we can determine through the API. And all this is in Kotlin. I wasn’t even sure that I understood some of the requirements at all, much less knew how to fulfill them. But the eyes are afraid, but the hands are doing the work, especially this time it seemed like three or five days. Before the time was up I realized I was stuck. And when my head began to boil once again, I decided to switch and try to translate my Java code into Kotlin. Then I realized that I didn’t just get stuck, but I actually crapped myself. With my tail between my legs, I guiltily wrote to the recruiter, saying thank you for trying, unfortunately, I failed, all the best. Then there was another test task, which after a few hours began to burst at the seams. There was nowhere to go, and I did everything in my power. There was also an option looming with one of the companies that offered a 4-month paid internship, but promised 450 per month for this period, and by that time I already believed in myself and believed that I could find something better than this. When I almost completely screwed up this test, some CTO called me, invited me for a technical interview, and we agreed on a time. The name of the company seemed painfully familiar to me. After the conversation, I checked my email and realized that these were the guys who needed a Kotlin developer. I sighed, called back and said hello, I didn’t immediately find out where you were calling from, I had already talked to your recruiter and explained the situation. He said, “Yes, yes. I'm aware. We still want to do a technical interview.” I instantly perked up, thanked him and began to prepare. A day or two later, he and the sir called me, the sir asked technical questions. I prepared well, I didn’t know everything, but I did well. If I didn’t know something, I firmly said that I didn’t know it. I passed the interview. Afterwards, the signor said that the “middle” had interviewed me before me and that my impressions were better. So I failed all the test tasks and got the job)) The decision to call me for an interview was made by the CTO. He liked that I responded about my failure and that I responded in principle. So be polite with recruiters ;) From what I remember from the interview - quite a lot of questions about Spring, collections, initialization order, complexity of algorithms. There was a funny moment: the signor did not particularly prepare for the interview and asked questions out of his head and in the end he no longer knew what to ask. When we seemed to have finished, he remembered afterward: “Ahh, name three methods of the Object class.” And this was exactly what I read right before the interview itself. Without blinking I say: “toString(), hashCode(), equals()” and from his face I understand that this is a victory) cool moment Then discussions on working with the CTO. He asked how much I would like to receive, I said that I wanted 800, but I was considering options from 600. He offered me 400 for the trial period, during which I, together with the signor (who became my mentor), completed the very test task that I did not complete , and if everything is ok, then there will be the amount for which I am claiming. This is where they shook hands. It was the end of 2021. A few days later I started work. The first three weeks were wildly difficult. I literally didn’t understand what people were talking about among themselves. Half of the words are from IT terminology that is not yet familiar to me, and half are from the direction of the project - banking. Every day I had to learn something new, including the MacBook that they gave me. The mentor was excellent, but stern. He didn’t chew on anything extra and, at best, told me in which direction to Google. The initial test task acquired new details, and after 3 or 4 weeks it resembled a real backend. A month and a half after the appointment, I went to the CTO to talk about a promotion. When the conversation came up about the amount, he said that I remember you talked about 600. Then I had to insist that I worked until I worked my ass off, finished the test ahead of time, had already started work and even closed a couple of my first tickets, and in general I didn’t I see reasons why not pay me 800. The debate was not heated, but nevertheless a small bargaining took place and I defended my eight hundred. This means that even in a lower position there is room for negotiations. Personally, I have to force myself to ask for more and this is always stressful for me. But such things need to be overcome, even if your palms are sweaty, and you don’t really want to. The work was interesting. The solved problems made me happy. The informal atmosphere was conducive. I was lucky to get to a place where results were the measure, not fatigue. You could always take time off for personal matters or work from home. If my head began to boil, I could calmly go for a walk along the embankment and return to my tasks in an hour. There were lazy days when you wrote a couple of lines and sipped coffee while chatting with colleagues. There were times when I was loaded down and when returning home I couldn’t see the road in front of me. Then the war began. The job change could not have come at a better time. Almost all seafarers are stuck without work at home, or without family at work. I had to go through a lot, but as far as my story is concerned, the American embassy in Ukraine stopped working, and with it, plans and hopes for moving disappeared. But six months later, out of the blue, we were called for an interview with the American consul in Frankfurt. There was not much time left and it was necessary to decide or stay. I made up my mind, said goodbye to my colleagues, hastily sold everything I had managed to sell, and a couple of weeks later my long journey to America began. While these are still success stories and not a personal blog, I’ll tell you how I conquered America and moved to New York in a separate article, as soon as I can get my hands on it. I worked in my first company for eight months, and, hand on heart, I worked well. It was truly a pity to part with my favorite place and my favorite team again. What can I say about all this? On the one hand, I had the advantage of my profession. I could afford to study from morning to evening, periodically burn out, periodically rest and not worry too much about finances. Therefore, I sincerely admire people who manage to learn Java while studying after work. On the other hand, every time I had to make up for forgotten things and sacrifice a lot. I was lucky in many ways, but only those who sit still and do nothing are absolutely unlucky. The most important requirement for becoming a developer is persistence. I started and abandoned a million things in this life. But perhaps for the first time, I always knew that I could follow this path to the end. I felt it even when I completely gave up. The fable about the hare and the tortoise really opened up to me in a new way. In fact, how many of those clever problem solvers were able to find work against all odds? So don't give up. And if you give up, then find the strength to get up and continue, even after days, weeks or months. As one Javarush regular said, Personally, I have to force myself to ask for more and this is always stressful for me. But such things need to be overcome, even if your palms are sweaty, and you don’t really want to. The work was interesting. The solved problems made me happy. The informal atmosphere was conducive. I was lucky to get to a place where results were the measure, not fatigue. You could always take time off for personal matters or work from home. If my head began to boil, I could calmly go for a walk along the embankment and return to my tasks in an hour. There were lazy days when you wrote a couple of lines and sipped coffee while chatting with colleagues. There were times when I was loaded down and when returning home I couldn’t see the road in front of me. Then the war began. The job change could not have come at a better time. Almost all seafarers are stuck without work at home, or without family at work. I had to go through a lot, but as far as my story is concerned, the American embassy in Ukraine stopped working, and with it, plans and hopes for moving disappeared. But six months later, out of the blue, we were called for an interview with the American consul in Frankfurt. There was not much time left and it was necessary to decide or stay. I made up my mind, said goodbye to my colleagues, hastily sold everything I had managed to sell, and a couple of weeks later my long journey to America began. While these are still success stories and not a personal blog, I’ll tell you how I conquered America and moved to New York in a separate article, as soon as I can get my hands on it. I worked in my first company for eight months, and, hand on heart, I worked well. It was truly a pity to part with my favorite place and my favorite team again. What can I say about all this? On the one hand, I had the advantage of my profession. I could afford to study from morning to evening, periodically burn out, periodically rest and not worry too much about finances. Therefore, I sincerely admire people who manage to learn Java while studying after work. On the other hand, every time I had to make up for forgotten things and sacrifice a lot. I was lucky in many ways, but only those who sit still and do nothing are absolutely unlucky. The most important requirement for becoming a developer is persistence. I started and abandoned a million things in this life. But perhaps for the first time, I always knew that I could follow this path to the end. I felt it even when I completely gave up. The fable about the hare and the tortoise really opened up to me in a new way. In fact, how many of those clever problem solvers were able to find work against all odds? So don't give up. And if you give up, then find the strength to get up and continue, even after days, weeks or months. As one Javarush regular said, Personally, I have to force myself to ask for more and this is always stressful for me. But such things need to be overcome, even if your palms are sweaty, and you don’t really want to. The work was interesting. The solved problems made me happy. The informal atmosphere was conducive. I was lucky to get to a place where results were the measure, not fatigue. You could always take time off for personal matters or work from home. If my head began to boil, I could calmly go for a walk along the embankment and return to my tasks in an hour. There were lazy days when you wrote a couple of lines and sipped coffee while chatting with colleagues. There were times when I was loaded down and when returning home I couldn’t see the road in front of me. Then the war began. The job change could not have come at a better time. Almost all seafarers are stuck without work at home, or without family at work. I had to go through a lot, but as far as my story is concerned, the American embassy in Ukraine stopped working, and with it, plans and hopes for moving disappeared. But six months later, out of the blue, we were called for an interview with the American consul in Frankfurt. There was not much time left and it was necessary to decide or stay. I made up my mind, said goodbye to my colleagues, hastily sold everything I had managed to sell, and a couple of weeks later my long journey to America began. While these are still success stories and not a personal blog, I’ll tell you how I conquered America and moved to New York in a separate article, as soon as I can get my hands on it. I worked in my first company for eight months, and, hand on heart, I worked well. It was truly a pity to part with my favorite place and my favorite team again. What can I say about all this? On the one hand, I had the advantage of my profession. I could afford to study from morning to evening, periodically burn out, periodically rest and not worry too much about finances. Therefore, I sincerely admire people who manage to learn Java while studying after work. On the other hand, every time I had to make up for forgotten things and sacrifice a lot. I was lucky in many ways, but only those who sit still and do nothing are absolutely unlucky. The most important requirement for becoming a developer is persistence. I started and abandoned a million things in this life. But perhaps for the first time, I always knew that I could follow this path to the end. I felt it even when I completely gave up. The fable about the hare and the tortoise really opened up to me in a new way. In fact, how many of those clever problem solvers were able to find work against all odds? So don't give up. And if you give up, then find the strength to get up and continue, even after days, weeks or months. As one Javarush regular said, where the measure was the result, not fatigue. You could always take time off for personal matters or work from home. If my head began to boil, I could calmly go for a walk along the embankment and return to my tasks in an hour. There were lazy days when you wrote a couple of lines and sipped coffee while chatting with colleagues. There were times when I was loaded down and when returning home I couldn’t see the road in front of me. Then the war began. The job change could not have come at a better time. Almost all seafarers are stuck without work at home, or without family at work. I had to go through a lot, but as far as my story is concerned, the American embassy in Ukraine stopped working, and with it, plans and hopes for moving disappeared. But six months later, out of the blue, we were called for an interview with the American consul in Frankfurt. There was not much time left and it was necessary to decide or stay. I made up my mind, said goodbye to my colleagues, hastily sold everything I had managed to sell, and a couple of weeks later my long journey to America began. While these are still success stories and not a personal blog, I’ll tell you how I conquered America and moved to New York in a separate article, as soon as I can get my hands on it. I worked in my first company for eight months, and, hand on heart, I worked well. It was truly a pity to part with my favorite place and my favorite team again. What can I say about all this? On the one hand, I had the advantage of my profession. I could afford to study from morning to evening, periodically burn out, periodically rest and not worry too much about finances. Therefore, I sincerely admire people who manage to learn Java while studying after work. On the other hand, every time I had to make up for forgotten things and sacrifice a lot. I was lucky in many ways, but only those who sit still and do nothing are absolutely unlucky. The most important requirement for becoming a developer is persistence. I started and abandoned a million things in this life. But perhaps for the first time, I always knew that I could follow this path to the end. I felt it even when I completely gave up. The fable about the hare and the tortoise really opened up to me in a new way. In fact, how many of those clever problem solvers were able to find work against all odds? So don't give up. And if you give up, then find the strength to get up and continue, even after days, weeks or months. As one Javarush regular said, where the measure was the result, not fatigue. You could always take time off for personal matters or work from home. If my head began to boil, I could calmly go for a walk along the embankment and return to my tasks in an hour. There were lazy days when you wrote a couple of lines and sipped coffee while chatting with colleagues. There were times when I was loaded down and when returning home I couldn’t see the road in front of me. Then the war began. The job change could not have come at a better time. Almost all seafarers are stuck without work at home, or without family at work. I had to go through a lot, but as far as my story is concerned, the American embassy in Ukraine stopped working, and with it, plans and hopes for moving disappeared. But six months later, out of the blue, we were called for an interview with the American consul in Frankfurt. There was not much time left and it was necessary to decide or stay. I made up my mind, said goodbye to my colleagues, hastily sold everything I had managed to sell, and a couple of weeks later my long journey to America began. While these are still success stories and not a personal blog, I’ll tell you how I conquered America and moved to New York in a separate article, as soon as I can get my hands on it. I worked in my first company for eight months, and, hand on heart, I worked well. It was truly a pity to part with my favorite place and my favorite team again. What can I say about all this? On the one hand, I had the advantage of my profession. I could afford to study from morning to evening, periodically burn out, periodically rest and not worry too much about finances. Therefore, I sincerely admire people who manage to learn Java while studying after work. On the other hand, every time I had to make up for forgotten things and sacrifice a lot. I was lucky in many ways, but only those who sit still and do nothing are absolutely unlucky. The most important requirement for becoming a developer is persistence. I started and abandoned a million things in this life. But perhaps for the first time, I always knew that I could follow this path to the end. I felt it even when I completely gave up. The fable about the hare and the tortoise really opened up to me in a new way. In fact, how many of those clever problem solvers were able to find work against all odds? So don't give up. And if you give up, then find the strength to get up and continue, even after days, weeks or months. As one Javarush regular said, and with it, plans and hopes for moving disappeared. But six months later, out of the blue, we were called for an interview with the American consul in Frankfurt. There was not much time left and it was necessary to decide or stay. I made up my mind, said goodbye to my colleagues, hastily sold everything I had managed to sell, and a couple of weeks later my long journey to America began. While these are still success stories and not a personal blog, I’ll tell you how I conquered America and moved to New York in a separate article, as soon as I can get my hands on it. I worked in my first company for eight months, and, hand on heart, I worked well. It was truly a pity to part with my favorite place and my favorite team again. What can I say about all this? On the one hand, I had the advantage of my profession. I could afford to study from morning to evening, periodically burn out, periodically rest and not worry too much about finances. Therefore, I sincerely admire people who manage to learn Java while studying after work. On the other hand, every time I had to make up for forgotten things and sacrifice a lot. I was lucky in many ways, but only those who sit still and do nothing are absolutely unlucky. The most important requirement for becoming a developer is persistence. I started and abandoned a million things in this life. But perhaps for the first time, I always knew that I could follow this path to the end. I felt it even when I completely gave up. The fable about the hare and the tortoise really opened up to me in a new way. In fact, how many of those clever problem solvers were able to find work against all odds? So don't give up. And if you give up, then find the strength to get up and continue, even after days, weeks or months. As one Javarush regular said, and with it, plans and hopes for moving disappeared. But six months later, out of the blue, we were called for an interview with the American consul in Frankfurt. There was not much time left and it was necessary to decide or stay. I made up my mind, said goodbye to my colleagues, hastily sold everything I had managed to sell, and a couple of weeks later my long journey to America began. While these are still success stories and not a personal blog, I’ll tell you how I conquered America and moved to New York in a separate article, as soon as I can get my hands on it. I worked in my first company for eight months, and, hand on heart, I worked well. It was truly a pity to part with my favorite place and my favorite team again. What can I say about all this? On the one hand, I had the advantage of my profession. I could afford to study from morning to evening, periodically burn out, periodically rest and not worry too much about finances. Therefore, I sincerely admire people who manage to learn Java while studying after work. On the other hand, every time I had to make up for forgotten things and sacrifice a lot. I was lucky in many ways, but only those who sit still and do nothing are absolutely unlucky. The most important requirement for becoming a developer is persistence. I started and abandoned a million things in this life. But perhaps for the first time, I always knew that I could follow this path to the end. I felt it even when I completely gave up. The fable about the hare and the tortoise really opened up to me in a new way. In fact, how many of those clever problem solvers were able to find work against all odds? So don't give up. And if you give up, then find the strength to get up and continue, even after days, weeks or months. As one Javarush regular said, it's perseverance. I started and abandoned a million things in this life. But perhaps for the first time, I always knew that I could follow this path to the end. I felt it even when I completely gave up. The fable about the hare and the tortoise really opened up to me in a new way. In fact, how many of those clever problem solvers were able to find work against all odds? So don't give up. And if you give up, then find the strength to get up and continue, even after days, weeks or months. As one Javarush regular said, it's perseverance. I started and abandoned a million things in this life. But perhaps for the first time, I always knew that I could follow this path to the end. I felt it even when I completely gave up. The fable about the hare and the tortoise really opened up to me in a new way. In fact, how many of those clever problem solvers were able to find work against all odds? So don't give up. And if you give up, then find the strength to get up and continue, even after days, weeks or months. As one Javarush regular said,Everything will work out!
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