A Leap in the Dark: From Covid to Coding
My journey into the world of software development.
It has been over 6 months since it was announced that the UK was to go into lockdown as a response to the coronavirus pandemic. With our worlds rapidly shrinking down to the boundaries of our homes overnight, we were forcibly thrust into a collective state of introspection. I couldn’t help but ruminate over where my career was taking me, and with my life soon resembling a less-funny version of Groundhog Day (except with more baking), my nagging pangs of job dissatisfaction were becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. It was time to make a change.
Until I began exploring the possibility of becoming a software developer, “Coding” had been an elusive vocation. Aside from editing my MySpace profile’s HTML in my early teens, I hadn’t had much experience of it. Yet with a freshly cleared social calendar, I decided to dedicate my spare time to explore whether software development could be for me. I began working my way through a free Intro to Javascript course, and thoroughly enjoyed the process of discovery. The logic-based creativity involved was something that I had not previously considered, and the rush of dopamine I got from seeing a screen of green passing tests was enough to get me hooked.
Completing these courses, I was well aware that I was only scratching the surface of what it would take to get hired as a junior developer. If I was to be serious about making this career change, what would be the best path to help me get there? Would I be more suited to complete a computer science conversion course? Or would a bootcamp-style course be a better use of my time and money? Fortunately for me, the tech community is very inclusive (even for complete novices!) and I was soon put in touch with several people within the industry who were all too happy to help. To my surprise, I was steered away from the more formal route of a computer science course, being informed that whilst they tend to go big on the fundamentals of programming, there is less focus on building up your coding ability.
So with my mind now set on a bootcamp, I began the process of what felt like speed-dating with several of the London-based offerings. After attending numerous virtual open days and having lengthy conversations with members of the admissions teams, I eventually landed on Makers Academy. Whilst some of the other courses focus on learning one or two languages, Makers teaches with a “language agnostic” approach, teaching programming concepts that can be applied across all languages. With one of the more challenging-looking curriculums, and a focus on self-driven learning, I felt Makers would be best suited to give me the confidence to develop my understanding of coding during the course and beyond my graduation.
The application process wasn’t as simple as the “give us your money” approach that some of the other bootcamps had seemingly adopted. In fact, the Makers selection process equates to approximately a 10% admissions rate, with prospective students having to complete a code pairing session with a member of the on boarding team. Whilst this instilled confidence that I was choosing the correct course, it also terrified me. What if after weeks of yo-yoing in and out of an indecisive state of limbo, I find out I’m not good enough at the first hurdle? Fortunately, I was able to shush the voice of my inner saboteur and cracked on with the suggested prep work ahead of my pairing session.
Makers suggests that prior to the pairing session, you complete the Codecademy Introduction to Ruby course, and challenge your newfound skills by completing “Kata” challenges on Codewars. I galloped through the ruby material and naively thought that I had a grasp on the fundamentals of the language. Yet when posed with Kata of even the most basic level, I was stumped. My brain reverted by default to a feeling of imposter syndrome, yet through perseverance and breaking down the tasks into step-by-step sets of instructions of pseudo-code, I was able to plod through my first challenge completely unaided.
By the time of my pairing session, I had a reasonable amount of confidence, matched with equal amounts of nerves. To my relief, the process went a lot smoother than I had anticipated, and I was accepted onto the next cohort starting the following week! With feelings of excitement and apprehension, I handed in my notice at my job, ready to start the next chapter of my life.
Four weeks later and tomorrow marks the first day of the full time course. I definitely had reservations before applying about making such a large commitment (financially and mentally) in times so uncertain. In an ideal world, I would be walking into the Makers offices tomorrow morning. But with no tangible sense of when life might begin to resemble normality, I threw caution to the wind and decided to take this big leap. Getting back into the learning frame of mind has been an adjustment in itself, but I’m confident that this is exactly where I should be.
