From prisoner to Web Developer

Let’s start by saying I hated high school. Often I would just jump off the fence of that school in Venezuela several times a week. Yes, I was a bad student, and that got me expelled a few times.

I never knew what profession to learn, I just wanted to become a famous drummer in a rock band or a professional baseball player. Anything else was just boring and it felt like learning a profession just to pay the bills, a prison.

Despite all that, I forced myself to learn a profession with the hope that I would start to like it once I get the ball rolling. So, I studied graphic design and then marketing but I stopped both as I didn’t feel engaged.

It was hard. A lot of people know what they want to become from the moment they start high school, but there is also a huge amount of blindfolded kids like me that are just living in the present.

Finally, with the pressure of society and the fear to be forever lost I obtained a degree in Civil Construction, with good grades. I started working in that field briefly before I decided to leave my country for political reasons.

I landed in London, where I didn’t even try to get a job in my profession not only because I would have to re-study the building regulations but because I didn’t like it. I had the feeling of starting from zero again. I worked in many little jobs from kitchen porter to sales and finally made it to what I thought it would be the higher I could get without using my degree or going back to study. I was the manager of a wholesaler of electrical goods and I got there only because I worked hard, I learned fast, and I am ambitious, not because I liked it.

I hated it.

I didn’t like my job, however, I did my best to make it work. Despite that, the company was not profitable and had to let me go, but they had to pay a sum of money for the years I had worked there, and that was my opportunity to leave my misery and battle against my comfort zone.

I took the money and used it to pay my rent only. I sat down and did office hours in my living room, every day, learning how to code from online paid courses, and practicing my skills on my own project.

I was scared, I felt like flying a plane that ran out of gas. I was afraid that it wouldn’t work, to have spent all the money I had worked so hard for almost 5 years in London. I read plenty of blogs to search for answers on how and when I would be ready to land my first job. how long does it take to learn JavaScript? ReactJs? NodeJs?

What I found as answers motivated me to keep going and this is the reason why I do the same now. I also found motivation in friends and family of course but I valued more the opinion of that unknown web developer somewhere on the planet Earth.

During my learning, I moved to Lyon and had to learn French at the same time, so I had to take a job filling shelves in a small supermarket, not knowing that 2 months later I would be working as a web developer in a startup that was just one minute walk across the street.

Circumstances are different for everyone, probably you won’t get paid a few thousand euros which would buy you the time needed to learn to code full-time, that was my case, but even the money would be useless if you aren’t 100% motivated, motivation is the key to success. Taking risks and getting out of your comfort zone makes you feel alive again.

Today, I am happily working at 365Talents, and among my colleagues, I am not the only one who had a professional transformation. In my own experience, it took me around 8 months to land my first full-time job but there are 3 months bootcamps that will also get you to the same job interview, and often (in the right company) your human values and eagerness to learn are equally important as your basic skills.

Personally, it has been a beautiful journey from the moment I landed my first job, I do not feel like a prisoner anymore. I reconverted to Web Developer at 32 years old and I finally found what I like.

Don't get me wrong, it is not easy for a reconverted person as you will face the impostor syndrome and try to keep up with your colleagues that have studied computer science but once you overcome that, you will finally be at peace with yourself and there are only good things ahead!

¡Viva la reconversion! ✊🏼