More and more often there are examples of a change of profession, or rather specialization, by people in middle age. At school, we dream of a romantic or “great” profession, we go to college according to fashion or advice, and in the end we work where we were hired. I'm not saying it's the same for everyone, but for the majority it is. And when life is getting better and everything is stable, doubts come about the choice of profession made. I'm not talking about a position or job, but specifically about specialization - when a person can call himself a specialist or a professional.
I went down this path in exactly the same way and about two years ago I thought: what do I want next, does my work bring me pleasure? And I decided to change my specialty - to become a programmer!
In this story, I want to share my story, the experience of the path traveled, in order to make this path easier for others. I will try not to use specialized terminology so that the story is clear to everyone who decides to change their profession.
Why?
I chose the profession of a programmer not by chance and not even because, according to rumors, they pay a lot there. It all started back in the third grade, when a friend got a TV set-top box with a keyboard. This was a game console, but with a special cartridge, it turned into a development environment for simple platform games. Then my parents bought me the same home and I “disappeared”.
School, college and institute - everywhere I chose the path as close as possible to computers, to information technology. I was sure that I would become a programmer, well, or a system administrator, as they said then - a “computer”.
But life makes its own adjustments - an urgent problem: they don’t take a job without experience, and there is no experience without work. The main mistake at this stage is ambition. I was sure that I was a tough professional and I should be paid a lot, well, certainly not less than the average in the city. I turned down many offers myself because of the low salary.
Half a year of searching for a job related to computers passed to no avail. When the money ran out completely, I had to go where they just took me with more or less normal earnings. So I ended up at a cable factory as a simple worker, where I made a career for the next 12 years.
It is important to note that my passion for computers and programming helped me in my work: automating my work processes, then I introduced databases in the department, which simplified the workflow, and many other small examples.
And at the age of 33 I am the head of the department, a specialist in the quality of cable products with vast experience and a good salary. But all this is not the same, there is no pleasure, no feeling of self-assertion, no joy from work.
At that time, the family stood firmly on its feet financially, it was possible to live for a couple of months only on the wife's salary and some supplies. Then the thought crept in to give up everything and make your dream come true. But dreaming in the kitchen and actually acting are two different things.
The first pushing factor was the example of my friend, who quit his job, took his family and went somewhere north to work at the airfield. His dream is airplanes. A year later, we met and he shared his impressions, joy and said that it was worth it. I envied his determination, but I doubted myself.
The second important event was personnel changes at the plant where I worked. There was a change in top management and all department heads came under strict control of compliance with their new requirements and standards. "Lafa is over." I realized that you have to work hard to stand and move on: English, advanced training, work harder - do more than what is expected of you.
At that very moment, the thought came: “The time has come again to work hard and study, so why should these forces and time be spent on a business that does not bring pleasure, if you can spend them on a dream?”
How?
First of all, I “burned bridges” - I quit. It was radical, but I understood that I could not simultaneously develop in two directions. The experience of the first job search was not in vain and I began to look, if only they wrote “programmer” in the work book. This is work for status, for that very “experience” to find a job. Salary here did not matter.
I heard somewhere that when you go to the goal, the goal starts to go to you. That's where I got lucky. Pretty quickly, I got a job in a small company for a sole proprietor in micro-services. I didn’t have any questions about working conditions and finances, the main thing was to sign up for work and start accumulating practical experience. I understood that I was performing the simplest tasks and could not proudly say “I am a Programmer”. There was no confidence in my abilities - it was only the very beginning of the journey.
So I started studying. Study, study, and many many more times ... Just like that.
I began to study the demand for programmers in my city. I watched ads in newspapers and on job search sites, studied advice on the Internet on the topic “How to interview for a programmer” and all other sources of information.
We must meet the requirements of employers. Even if you don't like these requirements.
English
An exact list of necessary skills and knowledge was formed very quickly. In addition to specialized programs and skills, the most difficult question for me was the English language. He is needed everywhere! Looking ahead, I’ll say that there is no information on the Russian Internet - crumbs, which take a lot of time to collect, and even then it turns out that even these crumbs are already outdated.
When learning a language, I advise you to try all the methods that you can reach. I learned English by various methods and noticed that there is no universal one. Different methods help different people. Read books in English (better for children, easier to understand), watch movies (with and without subtitles), go to courses, buy a textbook, a lot of videos from seminars on the Internet, various applications on your smartphone. When you try everything, you will understand what is right for you.
Personally, children's fairy tales and the series “Sesame Street” in the original helped me a lot (only basic expressions, repeated repetition of phrases and words), it’s still good to comprehend the language from the textbook. Not a tutorial, namely school textbooks. I took a notebook and did all the tasks. But the most important thing is to force yourself to look for information in English. For example, books on programming languages of the latest and most relevant publications are always in English. While the translation is available, a new edition is coming out.
Now my level is basic, the level of “survival” according to one of the rating systems. I read technical literature fluently, I can explain myself in simple phrases, but even this is already a huge advantage in the labor market, when you tick “English” in the resume column in the language section. My experience shows that an inexperienced specialist with knowledge of English will find a job easier than an experienced programmer without English.
Инструментарий
In any profession there is a set of tools that must be mastered. If someone needs to be able to use a chainsaw, then a programmer needs to be able to work with version control systems, a development environment (IDE) and a bunch of auxiliary utilities and programs. It is necessary not only to know them all, but to be able to use them. If the interview can be passed on bare theory, then the trial period will immediately show what you do not know.
The announcements do not always write about the requirements for knowledge of the toolkit, meaning that if you are a programmer, then you know git for sure. These requirements are learned from advice on how to pass a job interview. There is a lot of similar information on the Internet, such articles are often found on job search sites.
I made a list of tools on a piece of paper, installed them all on my computer and used only them. You can't do without study and literature here. Change of specialty is a huge amount of time for self-education.
Portfolio
The future employer had to show what I was capable of. Plus, you need to practice the toolkit. For programmers, a portfolio is github, a site where people publish their work. For any specialization, there are places for publishing work, in extreme cases there are social networks where you can post the results and get feedback. What exactly to do is not important, the main thing is to do it constantly and with the highest quality. The publication of your work makes you try not to be ashamed. And this is even a better motivator than money.
It was helpful to look at other people's portfolios and iterate. Not using banal copying, but making your own product, even if it repeats the idea of another person - this allowed me to gain experience, add new work to my portfolio and not waste time on creative search.
Great luck to find a test task in the ads. If you constantly monitor offers on the labor market, then sometimes you come across tasks from employers - this is what you need! Usually these tasks contain the essence, even if they do not carry meaningful value as a product. Even if you are not going to submit your resume to this company, then you must complete their task and send it. Almost always, an assessment of your work comes in response, from which your weaknesses that need to be tightened up will be clear.
Certificates and courses
Without a piece of paper - we are insects! When people see a document confirming that you know or can do it, it makes the best impression. The presence of certificates in the specialty helps a lot in finding a job. They come in different levels of trust, but in any profession there is a certifying body that is appreciated by all. Agree it sounds chic: “Specialist certified by Microsoft”.
For myself, I determined that I would go for certificates after I realized that I “can”. I read a little about the certificates of Microsoft, 1C and various government institutions. The principle is the same everywhere: money and knowledge are needed. Either the certificate itself costs money, or it is necessary to take special courses before passing it, or the admission to the exam itself costs money. And this does not mean that you will receive a certificate.
So, at the moment, I do not have specialized certificates - well, for now ... there are plans.
But I did not spare time, effort and finances for advanced training courses. Now the distance learning system - webinars - is already well developed. Most of the country's major institutions run courses and seminars. Often there are good discounts or completely free seminars. I think the main advantage of such classes is the possibility of direct communication with experienced and knowledgeable people. You can always ask questions, ask to evaluate your work from the portfolio. And as a cherry on the cake to receive a certificate of completion of the course. This is not a certificate, of course, but shows the employer your desire for a goal.
The most important document is the resume.
I have read a lot of materials on how to write a resume properly. I watched other people's examples, consulted with friends and acquaintances. The main question was whether it is worth writing in the resume my knowledge that does not relate to programming - to a new specialization. On the one hand, this is what I can do - it can be considered experience, but on the other hand, this is not relevant.
As a result, I included everything that I had in my resume. All work experience, all documents for all courses, including occupational safety training at a manufacturing enterprise. Listed all knowledge on computers. He even listed his hobbies and passions. And did not lose!
My only mistake, and advice to you for the future: you need to duplicate all the key records that are important for your specialty briefly and without unnecessary words in a separate paragraph of your resume (for example, “skills and abilities”). It was advice from an HR manager in the very first days after I was hired for a good job in a large firm. It is necessary that the employer can immediately understand whether it is worth studying your resume further or not. It is desirable to make this paragraph short, with abbreviations, keywords. And if you want to explain something, then this should be done further down the text of the summary.
When?
How do I know that I'm ready? When to start taking action?
A little over a year after being fired from a previous job, there was a stagnation. The work experience was accumulating, the skills of using the tools improved, the programming experience at work and in the portfolio was replenished, English was gradually remembered. Everything went according to plan, but inside of me the impatience flared up to take the next step, to start looking for a serious job. And along with impatience, doubts also appeared: I’m not ready, I won’t succeed, in vain I quit my old job ... and stuff like that.
In order not to aggravate the situation with decadent moods, I began to act little by little: I posted my resume on one site and just waited. On the one hand, there was not enough confidence that they would listen to me at the interview and would not be kicked out in disgrace, and on the other hand, I already had some experience and something to show.
I saw from the statistics on the site that my resume is often viewed. Sometimes some firms visit my resume page several times. It seemed to me that the first time the recruiting manager looked, and the second time he was shown to the boss. I don't know how it really happened, but I got the impression that people were interested in me, that people were conferring, re-reading, discussing. And this is already half the way to victory!
I sent my first request for a vacancy to a well-known large bank. The internal quality control department was looking for a developer to automate the workflow process. I made the request without particularly counting on success, the bet was that I have experience in the quality department. I experienced the strongest surprise and joy at the same time when I was called for an interview!
They didn’t hire me for a job at the bank, but I looked at a real programmer interview from the “front row”. I completed the test tasks, talked with the heads of different levels. And the most important thing that I understood from the results of the interview is the assessment of my level as a programmer. I began to understand where I am, what kind of programmer I am, and what I don’t know yet. This is the most important information! In addition to the list of missing knowledge, she gave me confidence that I was succeeding. Slowly, but it works.
When I got home from my interview, I immediately changed the title of my resume to “programmer trainee.” My level was not a programmer, so employers weren't quite right about my resume. But the “trainee” is a very real assessment of my knowledge in a new specialty.
The most important step
A visit to a large bank gave the necessary understanding and self-confidence. I moved on to action. I posted my resume on several resources and began to actively send out requests for consideration of my candidacy to large and reputable organizations in the city. As the saying goes: "If you want to be the best, play with the best."
One job interested me the most. The organization posted a test task on a job search website. The task was not very difficult, but the way it was drafted, what the deadlines for completion were and what technologies I had to use ... everything indicated a good approach to business.
I completed the task, tried to do it ahead of schedule. And sent.
I received a refusal with a detailed analysis of the code I wrote. What did I do well and what could have been done better and why. This detailed answer was very intriguing and I realized that I want to work there. I was ready to go to their office and ask what I need to learn, finish or master in order to get a job with them. But first, I corrected my code in accordance with the comments sent to me and submitted again. This time I got a call and was invited for an interview.
The hardest job interview at 35 is explaining why I quit a good job with good pay and started all over from the bottom of a new profession. I didn’t worry about my resume, I could talk about each point indicated, prove that I really know and can do everything that is written there and at the level as indicated. But how did I get here and why?
Oddly enough, this question was asked one of the last, but at the first stage. I did not invent anything and told how it was, about my childhood dream of becoming a programmer and about my goal: to proudly declare that I am a specialist, I am a software engineer! Silly, perhaps, but true.
At the next stage, I was evaluated by real programmers, in whose submission I subsequently fell. Here the whole conversation was purely in the specialty, in terms of knowledge, skills, and skills in working with tools. I told how I would solve the tasks that were offered to me. The conversation was long and passionate. Then the unexpected “You will get a call in two days, goodbye.”
It's a shame. I'm used to this phrase meaning rejection. But there was hope, everything in this organization was done according to the rules and they always kept their word. However, I continued to look for work.
They called me exactly at the specified time and said that there was an offer for me. An internship is a great option for a job seeker in my position. For three months I have been paid a salary and trained on a real project. It is difficult to think of a better training, I agreed without hesitation.
This is just the beginning.
On the very first day of the internship, my immediate supervisor during an introductory briefing explained a very important idea that I share with everyone when it comes to changing specializations or those who are just starting a career. I did not write it down verbatim, but I remembered the meaning well:
Each programmer develops in three directions: Programming, Sociability, Life personal experience. It's not hard to find a person who can write good code. Sociability is a character trait that can be considered as a constant. And life experience is in short supply, as most applicants are recent students.
It turns out that I was hired with the idea that I have experience working with real clients, on real projects, I have a lot of versatile knowledge and a platform for functioning in a business environment is already ready. And it makes sense to spend time on my training as a programmer in the same way that a good programmer is taught to interact with the business environment.
For those who are thinking about changing jobs, I would highlight the important idea of that conversation that changing the field of activity for the sake of a dream is not only real, but also in demand in the labor market.
Well, this is just the beginning for me!
Now I am a full-time software engineer at Inobitek, I take part in the development of medical information systems. But it's too early for me to proudly call myself a Programmer. There is still a lot to learn in order to independently develop software.
People rightly say that work should be enjoyable. For the sake of this, it is worth “digging, sweating and enduring!”
Source: habr.com