2022, my first year as a professional Software Developer

It still amazes me I'm writing this as a Software Engineer. 2022 is going to be my first year as a professional developer and funny enough, I'll be turning 30 as well.

For a bit of context, I'm a career switcher. Until October last year, I was a Recruiter. But I wasn't happy with that path.

Bias on myself

Unfortunately, I've always been biased towards myself as well, as I think a lot of people are. I was for various reasons: 

• I studied HR, both my degree and my master's. Yes, about 6 years studying so it felt like I had to work on that to get that time back somewhat. 
• I'm from Spain, and there, if you have a job you are lucky if you get one in what you have studied it's like you won the lotto. So even though you might be unhappy you are lucky so you would never quit or change careers. 
• Also, even if my English is good enough it always feel like being an outsider when living and working in a foreign country where you speak a different language. But those experiences, that different way or working make me good at working, adaptable and ready to face any challenge.
• I was really bad at maths, but really, really bad. I never thought I could be doing software development for that reason. 
• I didn't think I could be able to pull it off and be a Developer, me? Never. I thought I wasn't that smart to do it, but there's the other way, work hard.
• I'm too emotional and empathetic. Development is always pictured as analytical, solitary and complex. But it's quite the opposite. It's creative, the more empathetic and communicative you are the better. So it turned out that the things that worried me were some of my best traits to be successful as a Developer. Understanding what other people think and feel while using software is actually really powerful. 

Conclusion: All the things I thought were not good traits for being a good engineer are actually the opposite. 
Keep that in mind, just being aware of it will help you to get better with time.

How did I get here? 

If you are not happy in your current career and development feels like the right path, my first recommendation is, to go to the community, talk to people and they'll help you to avoid mistakes they've made. 

Think what's your ultimate goal to get there, plan ahead and with a plan in place you'll get there. Also be aware that plan will and has to change until you reach that point you are looking for.

I joined a Bootcamp where I met a lot of great people, and had a more defined path, but the more I've been part of this world, the more I realise people want to genuinely help other people to succeed all over the internet.

I'm not going to say you won't find people who say that being a woman or being different won't fit in this environment, but it's very rare, and also that's not the kind of environment where you'd belong, anyway. 

Seeing yourself changing careers feels like an impossible at first, I didn't think I could. But having worked for years will give you valuable experience that could be applied to anything you want.

The biggest challenges I faced

Technically speaking, I think anyone who is learning development will face the same days when nothing works, you feel like it will ever do and when it does it feels like magic, but with patience you'll get there.

I almost quit (a few times), I struggled so much to keep my spirits up when I was being rejected, or not getting any calls after applying for jobs. But what did I do when I was ready to quit, and give up all the work? I shared this thoughts with people around me to get support and help to keep me going. It has paid off and now I know I would have regretted it forever. 

I'm am also an insecure person, I'll always think I'm not right and the other person is. So I've had to be conscious of that and keep reminding myself that I'm hard working and strong and I'll get there. 

What have I learnt through this process?

I'm not perfect, I will never be, but neither is. Honest work and effort will be rewarded in the long term.
I should always apply for any job I like, even I might not be a perfect fit, I can learn anything in the appropriate environment.
Putting a job over my mental health. I tried this when I was a recruiter and it only burnt me out, but it also propelled me to change careers. Even tough the outcome was positive, I will never do it again and I'll prioritise myself. 
To not compare myself with other people, this is hard when you see people who are doing similar things to you do better, but remember everyone has a different situation and the only person you should be competing with is yourself. 

 "Remember you are great" tricks

Sometimes it's easier to remember the bad things that happened, the negative feedback you've received or how something took you a week to solve. But we forget the successes pretty quickly. To avoid that I've been:

• I got One Line a Day. You can have some lines of your days for 5 years. I write down anything positive someone tells me, like positive feedback on my work, finishing tasks or learning something new.
• I ask for feedback and I embrace it! It's great to hear good things but I think also negative points, those help you grow.
• Share your work, write, talk to other people who are starting. That will help you to see what you give back, and it's a great feeling!

I pledge to support women, non-binary, and other minorities in tech by…

Being here for anyone who needs help. Anything, CV tips, interview preparation, or just a chat to share the struggles of changing careers in tech.
Write, get content out to show people that is possible and there are others like them that will be happy to help.
Advocate for having more diversity in the teams and companies I work for.

And remember

• Everyone deserves to do better, so if you are not happy just keep going, there will be bad and good days but eventually you'll get there.
• Don't be scared of asking for help. Worst case scenario someone might not get back to you but I can promise you, most people will. 
• Apply for that job even if you don't qualify on everything, you have the no already, what if you get a yes?  Being different is hard sometimes, but the value you'll add to any team will be much bigger than from people who think alike. 
• If you get there, help other people to succeed!

Thanks for reading, and as I said, I'm always happy to help with whatever it might be, so please send me a message and I'd love to connect!