Switch to IT and survive

We live in the age of the digital renaissance. Technologies are developing very rapidly, and things once described in futuristic stories are now becoming commonplace. New tools allow us to build more and more products and solve more complex user and business problems. This development lead to a demand for development specialists, and it has grown very significantly in recent years. I don’t know exactly why, but Ukraine has been at the forefront of this trend. We now play a significant role in the market (outsourcing for now, but it’s a matter of time) and have a reputation for providing highly qualified developers at a reasonable price among customers. Or rather, we did. Then the full-scale invasion happened, and building teams in Ukraine became a risky investment for foreigners. The global IT recession also came into play. The market collapsed. Layoffs affected developers previously protected by the foreign market. But in Ukraine, the “IT” profession managed to form a certain stereotype around itself and became one of the most desirable professions to master. Developers have formed a kind of middle class that can live in Ukraine without much luxury, but in prosperity, thanks to their honest work on foreign salaries. I was impressed by the idea and began to consider a career change.

My path was not optimal and therefore took me a long time. If you are at a crossroads and are thinking of making the same journey, you will find a lot of useful information here. I’ll tell you what works, what to avoid, what to do, and most importantly, what not to do on this journey. About the mental approach and the plan. Learning a new profession while having a full-time job and a family. First, I will talk about my experience, then my vision of how to do it now. And at the end, there will be a bonus offer that can significantly speed up your progress.

About my path

First job

I started my first full-time job at a wonderful IT company called Materialise as a medical engineer. I am extremely grateful to this company for my experience. I spent more than 5 years with them and it was an amazing story. Constant development in skills and projects, as well as working with software products and the engineers who made them, began to shape my understanding of development. I became interested in technology and, together with my brother, who also worked here, we started making the first simple websites. Then we moved on to another project, he started investing more in developer skills, and I in engineering. After a while, he changed his profession, successfully started a new career from the beginning, and I reached almost the maximum technical level here. And it became a kind of trap that slowed down my progress.

Fear of change

So why the trap? The deeper and better you master a profession, the harder it is to change it. Especially if it is very specific. Mine was exactly like that. At that time, there were no alternatives on the Ukrainian market. I began to realize that I was becoming a great specialist, but in a very narrow specialty. This made me dependent on the company. Periodic increases in salary and responsibilities added to my motivation to stay. I had a lot of doubts. Fear of cardinal changes, a completely new field in which you are a beginner, vague prospects, junior salary as opposed to stability and comfort. I was also very used to the team and the wonderful people around me, most of my friends were colleagues. In short, it was easy to get used to the place.

A nudge (a nice wake-up call)

Then covid happened. Establishments closed, people started working from home, and everything went online. I didn’t care much about closed shopping malls and cinemas, but closed medical facilities in Europe and America made it clear that no matter how stable a company is in the market, unpredictable circumstances can adjust its development plan. Scheduled operations were canceled, orders fell, there was less work, and the required number of employees decreased. The algorithm is quite transparent and clear. And now we remember the super-narrow specialization and the lack of alternatives on the market, and voilà! Motivation is found! And remote work has replaced 2 hours of standing in a bus with additional time for studying.

How I studied

My studying was obviously not optimal for one simple reason - I tried to figure it all out on my own. That’s why I grabbed various articles and roadmaps from the Internet, and most of them said different things. This area is vast, and it’s very easy to get lost if you don’t know where to go. And I didn’t know. I was wandering from video to video and trying to absorb the information. I didn’t understand the context, I started to figure it out, and there were new explanations, and I moved on to them. And so on in a circle, forgetting where I started. My knowledge was not structured, I knew some bits and pieces of everything, but I hadn’t mastered any topic in depth. Three things helped me not to give up at this stage: the motivation mentioned above, the example of my brother, who was able to successfully go through this path himself, and my stony ass (read: perseverance or discipline). I continued to accumulate information. At first, I just monitored projects from YouTube. I would watch 1 action of the author, hide YouTube, and try to recreate from memory what he was doing there. This helped not only to rewrite the code but also to understand what it was doing. Then I started adding something of my own to such projects: a different approach, style, technology. And then something changed. My knowledge began to form a puzzle. A picture began to emerge of how the web and the Internet in general work. Still at a basic level, but at least a whole picture.

How I was looking for a job

You will never be ready for your first interview. There will always be a feeling that you need to improve this and that. At least that’s how it was for me. Then some person on the Internet said in a video: “Go to the interviews, they will ask you questions, you will fail them all, but you will know what you really need to improve. Most likely, it will be different from your expectations.” And I went. And it was true. I was so unprepared for this process that on my first screening call, the recruiter overwhelmed me with questions about CSS. I knew the answers, but then I confused them and it looked as awkward as possible. There is also a separate javascript for interviews, which is slightly different from the project code. Because interviewing is also a skill. It needs to be developed separately. I’ve lost this skill because the last time I went to an interview was more than 5 years ago.

Interviews

It is important to understand the context in which I was interviewed. At that time, the IT market was so overheated that it was already burning. It was completely at the candidate’s mercy. Everyone needed developers and in large numbers. Very good specialists could offer absolutely incredible conditions, and companies agreed to them because there was a lack of staff. Standard IT bonus programs with cookies and insurance were already perceived as the default option. In short, the candidate was excited, recruiters were bombarding him with offers, he jumped from company to company for +$500, and he knew no grief. At that time, companies could afford to hire a newcomer with no experience and grow him internally for the future for their company. Back then, they hired everyone who could articulate their thoughts and knew at least a little about the technology stack. Because the staff shortage is like that. I felt that this hype train had reached its maximum speed and was about to pass the last wagon, so I started to buy a ticket for it. I went on interviews, improved my communication skills, and realized that I was being asked what I needed to answer. After a dozen rejections, test tasks, and live programming, I received a job offer. It wasn’t easy, but it was more emotionally difficult than technically. I informed the team and the team leader about my decision to leave, and then I started a new chapter in my career, which I can talk about later.

Today’s realities

Now everything has changed dramatically. And there are two main reasons for this: the damned Russians and the recession in the global IT market. Ukrainian experts estimate these factors to have almost equal impact. In some places, even the global recession has a greater influence. The market has changed. The absence of a foreign customer who does not want to invest in a risky asset in Ukraine has hit the IT industry hard, which is still mostly focused on outsourcing. Many developers found themselves on so-called “bench” and even more were laid off. At the time, a real danger to life clearly does not add to productivity and creativity at work. The market has completely switched to the employer’s side.

Prospects

It is difficult to predict the development of IT and the role of developers in it. With the emergence of new powerful tools based on artificial intelligence, many predict an even greater reduction in the need for human programmers, especially at the entry level. But I am rather skeptical about this. For now. Because who knows, maybe they’ll start an uprising there, these artificial intelligences. Now these tools help people, they can perform routine tasks, but they won’t replace a programmer. Rather, they can make them more productive, and 8 developers with such tools can do the work of 10 without them. After all, someone will also need to write AI training algorithms, so there will be work. The market will revive. It is unlikely to return to the level of 2020-21, but it will stabilize. And if there is a job, you can get it. You just have to try.

Is it worth thinking about switching now?

It is time to start now. There are two arguments here. The first is that this process is not quick. Even with a clear, effective plan, this is a story of many months and sometimes years. You don’t think that a highly intellectual profession can be mastered in 1 month at a course, do you? If you start now, you will have mastered enough skills and gained enough experience by the time the market stabilizes and companies start hiring again. Second, you won’t be a junior. These are dark times for juniors. Nowadays, there are 500 or more responses to vacancies without work experience. A middle differs from a junior by being independent in performing tasks. Be a middle. Solve business problems. You have time to improve your skills, build several projects, develop a portfolio, and gain experience in different technologies. This will allow you to avoid standing in that line of 500 people.

Keys to success

Each of us learns and perceives information differently. Someone needs text, someone needs video. You will choose your own way. Here is the general outline.

0. English

I hope you’re doing well with your English. It’s hard to overestimate its importance both in education and at work. Documentation, tutorials, articles, news - everything is published in English first. You will also need to Google answers to stackoverflow in English. There is very little good material translated into Ukrainian. And you’re not going to read and watch in Russian, are you? Moreover, the IT market in Ukraine is mostly outsourced. This means a foreign customer, processes, and documentation in English. You get the picture. So learn English.

1. Direction.

It can be frontend, backend, mobile development, desktop or AI, or whatever you want. There are also so-called full stack engineers, a jack of all trades, but I don’t recommend starting with them. First, choose a narrow niche. This will determine your set of technologies and programming languages. There is the best tool for every industry. For the web, it is javascript, for AI - python, and so on. I recommend starting with the frontend for several reasons: javascript is a very popular and universal programming language, everything is written in it; you can immediately see the result of your work, which inspires you even more; you don’t need much knowledge to create basic websites, you can build landing pages in a couple of weeks. Seeing the result at the beginning of the journey will give you motivation to continue. I also advise you to try a few languages, familiarize yourself with the syntax and features. It’s possible that you might find your favorite.

2. Plan.

It will vary depending on the direction of development chosen. There are plenty of roadmaps on the Internet that describe the reality quite well. You can find great examples here. For the frontend, you need to start with the basics of HTML and CSS. This is the base that you need to understand well. Understand the structure of the DOM (document object model) and how to manipulate it. If your goal is to start making money as quickly as possible, master no-code or mixed solutions such as webflow. With their help, you can create landing pages and simple websites very quickly. This is an ideal job to start freelancing. How quickly and efficiently you move forward will depend on a well-designed plan. That’s why I advise you to ask one of the experienced developers to create this plan. Or at least take a look at yours.

3. Regime.

This is very important. Make your own daily routine, include time for studying, build a routine, and make it a habit. You need to study all the time. Consistency is the key. Identify your productive hours, remove all distractions, and focus on your work. My hours were in the morning. Every morning I would wake up at 5-6 a.m. and sit down at my laptop, study for 2 hours, and then go to work. Sometimes in the evening I would read articles or watch videos on the topic. I also advise you to do the same in the morning. It’s a great time when no one distracts you or bothers you. In the evening, make a list of tasks for the next morning, this will allow you not to waste time thinking and looking for motivation. Discipline is our everything. You just sit down and do it. You have to study every day. Even on weekends.

4. Practice.

In the beginning, you’ll need to read a lot of theories and try to grasp the essence of how everything works. You can’t do it without it. But as soon as you start to understand, put it into practice. If it’s a course, write code together with the lecturer, if it’s a guide, do the same trick. Try not to get into the so-called tutorial hell, where you just watch more and more courses in a circle, as it seems you have already watched a ton of them, but you can’t write anything yourself. It is hard to overestimate the impact of practice on your development as a programmer. It’s the only way you can become a mid-level developer who doesn’t stand in line with 500 other people for a job.

5. Feedback.

You will save a lot of time if you share your progress and ask questions of people who have already gone through this journey and can differentiate the important from the trivial. Share your projects with the community, participate in discussions, and ask questions. Start working on your social circle at the very beginning. If you do this secretly from everyone, so that your employer doesn’t find out about your plan to leave, then find a mentor who will give you tips and guide you along the way. It’s much easier with him. I wasted a lot of time switching from one topic to another because I didn’t know what was important and what was not.

It will not be easy. It will not be quick. It’s not like going to the store to buy bread. It’s about changing your profession, and you’ll need to work hard for that. But it’s definitely worth it. For me, it was. It was a difficult decision, but it was definitely the right one. You need to understand that the programming profession is not for everyone. There are many challenges, a constant feeling that you don’t know something, you always need to learn and develop, solve complex problems, and have a lot of responsibility. But this makes this profession interesting. Solving business problems, creating products, understanding technology, constant development, remote work, global market, decent salary, excellent working conditions - this is just a short list of benefits you get in return. I’m not campaigning, don’t get me wrong, it makes no sense to me. I’m just sharing my experience because this decision was crucial for me. Maybe it will be for you too. It’s worth a try.

Bonus

I have already said that with support, you will grow much faster. And I understand how important it is. So if you decide to give it a try, but don’t know any of your fellow programmers who could help you, feel free to contact me. And if you choose the frontend, I’ll help you make a plan, give you practical advice, and emphasize the important things. In short, I’m happy to help.