In May, I started a new job, in the same company I'd been with just shy of 2 years at the time.
I started my new job, as a software engineer, with out a degree and only one formal class under my belt which was and introduction into java and basic programming. Outside of this I had only dabbled in vanilla javascript, some action script, google script, and HTML and CSS. I think got the job because I had the guts to apply for it, had been with the company already, and had gotten a promotion as well within the last year. These things paired with the willingness to learn.
I had an aptitude test instead of having a whiteboard interview. I was given and incomplete project with bugs and missing features, and a list of tasks to complete. I took almost a month to complete the test, then had an interview which was only about 20% technical that portion was asking me what I would change about code presented to me. I thought I botched the whole thing, I had no idea what answers to give, but then out of the blue a month after that, I had an offer!
The first 4 months I can honestly say I had no idea what I was doing, I had no experience with C# and .Net. I had no experience outside of making static websites other than a desktop Java application I made for myself that helped manage and use canned responses and act as storage for new strings of text I was copying. (this project can be found here https://github/dsantratlock/ClippyInC)
After about 6 months I was still struggling, but then I was working in a single project, in a single style for a solid 3 months, and now at 9 months as a dev I feel like I can actually contribute to my team's projects!
Though I'm still learning a lot, failing tickets more than I wish I would be, I'm making progress faster and faster. Lessons I remember from my first month are helping me complete tasks much quicker than I had been.
Sometimes I wish I had continued school, however then I realize I'm learning much more, much faster, by working. Now I finally read O'Reilly books without feeling they are too dry, and sometimes I can even wrap my head around Microsoft's documentation, both things I never thought I would say when I first tried to start learning to code.
Do you remember your first year of being a dev or working in tech? What was your entrance to the field like?
I'm still in the midst of doing my first development work. I'm sure I'll look back at it with nostalgia, but for now it's challenging. Interesting concepts, though. That keeps me going. I can see how in a short time, I'll be able to build some cool stuff.
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