My first experiences as a Developer

A layman on the subject, when talking to an experienced developer, may get the (wrong) impression that is talking to a NASA engineer (lol). And generally this hides a beginning of a career full of ups and downs, uncertainties and difficulties.

The fact is that every profession has their learning journey: you start from scratch, start learning, move up a level, your head explodes and becomes a master at it.

To illustrate that, I am going to share a little about the beginning of my journey with you.

Start of studies

I kind of parachuted into the area. I was never very interested in technology. Until I was 18, the only technological thing I had was a cell phone without camera.

When I finished high school, I still didn't know what career to pursue. So I decided to take a technical course in IT, simply because I understood that there would be more job offers.

In the first semester, maintenance, networking and programming classes began. I don’t need to say which one caught my attention the most, right? I'm good at mathematics, and I've always had reasonable logical reasoning, which helped me a lot.

At the end of the first semester I decided that I would apply for the degree course in Systems Analysis and Development. I passed and, for one year, I did the two courses at the same time.

First work experiences

After finishing my technical course, I got an internship at the institution I was studying at. It was my first contact with programming outside the classroom. The first reality check.

Seriously, it was horrible. I simply had no idea what I was doing. It was a lot of new information at the same time. And, to make it matters worse, my main task was to maintain a system made by a much more experienced professional than me.

Guess what? It was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Two and a half years of internship have passed, but in just a few months I was already doing everything by myself. It didn't take long for the course classes to look "useless" compared to what I was doing out of it. Even so, I chose to complete the course.

Entering the job market

At the beginning of 2011 I officially entered the job market to work as a developer. The most interesting thing is that on my first day at work I received the news that I would work in a different position than the one I applied for and with a technology I had never seen in my life.

I chose to stay and face the challenge. Once again I was very lost, but previous experience, however small it was, guaranteed me a very quick evolution.

Since then, a lot has happened. Different companies, projects, technologies, learning. It has been a great journey.

Then

The biggest lesson I learned from my career is that we should always try to be involved in projects that take us out of our comfort zone. This way we can keep the evolution happening.

The intention with this text is to bring a closer view of reality to people who do not understand our work very well.

If you are interested in the area or are starting out, understand that it is very normal for things to not make sense at first, but that feeling passes.

See you later!