At around the age of 21 I dropped out of uni before getting my bachelor's in physics, and went to work on a crew ship. After that, I spent almost 6...
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I had a similar path with one major difference; I started programming at the age of 16. When I was was 25, my mind was a mess and I needed a change so I.. wait for it... joined Carnival Cruise Lines as a photographer. The job and money were a disaster but I coud not have cared less since financial benefit wasn't the primarily reason for taking the job. Now in retrospect, I can say that being a photographer on CCL was an excellent experience and would recommend it to anyone in their 20s. You will see different cultures, toughen up and become more independent. My CCL story ended with something so unexpected that to this day I'm still perplexed about it. I met my wife while working on board CCL Triumph; at first we hated each other, were appalled by each other, but as time went by we sort of clicked and everything changed. Here's one funny one of me feeling sorry for myself 😂; programmer became a photographer, continued to becoming a pirate, and eventually went back to being a programmer.
My ship was Carnival Inspiration! :) I absolutely agree, it's a great life lesson especially in your twenties. The drills, the discipline, the lifestyle, and the adventures. For me it was a bit more dire though. I started as an assistant waiter - just one step above the galley stewards. It was army :D
Greetings Richard, I am currently in the same boat as you were in the past. How did you first start getting the IT and DevOps engineering specifically. I am currently finishing a couple of Udemy courses and preparing for interviews that might come up but I have no experience and probably will not get to an interview at all. This is my struggle: Finding a company that will hire you without any work experience.
Thank you for your time.
Hi. So my path was tricky in a way that I actually went back to university a bit, and from there I used my student status to get an intern job. And then I worked my way up as an intern.
But for you my suggestion is to just get a good basic knowledge of your field (whether it's frontend/backend/or other) and do shitloads of applications and interviews. Do interviews as you would do a job, don't worry if you fail them. Interviews are a very good way to practice and to learn what companies are usually asking. It may take 5-10-20-30 interviews, but you'll eventually get that first job. Be resilient! That's one of the most important things in this field!
What surprised you about (web) development? Anything you had different ideas about before?
The first thing that hit me was the revelation that no one knows the solution to problems right away. In hospitality it's usually quite simple how to connect the dots, and I thought development is the same. It took some time for me to realize that I shouldn't hide any uncertainty to look more competent, because it actually just slows my learning process if I don't ask questions. The thing what I had to understand is that we never know how to solve the problems right away. Because the job itself IS actually about figuring out the solutions. Not just executing them. Executing them is easy, everyone can type. :D
Hah, good point. I can relate to that. In a meeting often noone dares to ask clarifying questions, risking they look stupid. But once you get into the habit of not letting details slip, it turns out others had no idea either, and thankful to get things clarified. (See also my unwasted meeting time calculator)
Wow cool. Just noticed you're also Hungarian btw :D
It may sound blatantly simple but if you think about it: usually in other jobs you're not there because you are competent at figuring out solutions for a certain problem. You are there to execute some tasks.
Hi, I completed a diploma in mining technology but I have more interest in programming and want to be an android developer, And I want to self learn everything, What suggestions I can get from you. So that I can be successful in my journey
Note: I already failed many times trying to become a programmer
Thank you
Find a way to get a programmer job. Doesn't matter how simple or bad. Find the easiest route. Then start learning and get some experience.
Do you ever miss your old job, or certain aspects of it ? (like interactions with customers for example)
Yes, some things I do!
+1: confession. I must admit I never really liked to serve people. Inside I'm more of an introvert. It was always a bit hard to play the nice talkative guy.
How was your transition back to being a developer like? I'm talking about learning paths, commitment, stress and how easy was it for you to land at your first job and what was your role?
Good question. It was tricky. Actually I first applied again to the university and after I was re-accepted I applied for internships. There are two reasons for why I went this way:
I got an intern position at a big telecommunication company, where I started working in a DevOps team. This was really beneficial, as I was quickly exposed to many toolchains and practices. Git, bash, python, groovy, java, perl, C++, Ant, Make, also a lot of development practice stuff like source code management, building applications, CI, build automation, etc. I was learning a lot and working a lot. I was watching tutorial videos even after work. My team really supported me, so the stressful part was only my own fear of failure. I was really afraid that I can't learn fast enough. The first year was hard but I really wanted to make it, and I also enjoyed this new lifestyle. Later I was offered a full time position, so I dropped university and I've never looked back since.
What was your favorite and least favorite drinks to make as a bartender?
Good question!
fav: Old Fashioned.
Beautiful drink, beautiful ritual. Classic cocktails need the most creativity. Choosing the right bourbon (or even rye), executing the cooling nicely, experimenting with the amounts of acids and sugar, playing with it's garnish. Needs competence to figure out how a certain guest likes it.
least fav: Espresso Martini
Has to be individually shaked, and usually 10 is ordered. Coffe is needed in it which is sometimes hard in a bar that has a separate cafeteria. Makes such a mess.
An Old Fashioned is a good choice. Cheers!
I would gladly draft some for you if there wasn't a bottleneck.
What was your biggest challenge as bartender/waiter which you like to fix using your Web Development/DevOps skills?
Geat question! And the answer:
Managing operations between departments in a hotel.
A lot of times I had situations when I was organizing functions or daily service and information was scarce. Just some examples:
It would be nice to fix this somehow. Actually, maybe even a proper slack group could solve these things with proper notifications. :D
Wow!
That's inspiring.