Newbie Career Catch 22

Niki Ross — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 18:36:09 +0000

I've been coding in my spare time now for approx two years. There are times during those two years where I've spent 6 months not even thinking about code which was more down to pandemic related depression and scattiness.

In the times I have been coding, I've been very much in love with everything I look at. I'm like a less successful Pete Davidson. I love JavaScript, I love React, I love CSS and I love Java. I love learning about everything besides databases.

The problem this has created, is that I've not really retained much. I go from tutorial to tutorial, Udemy course to Udemy course (most are never completed), and after two years, I still dont feel like I would be competent doing this as a job.

This is a bit of a catch 22 because I really feel like I need to be doing this full time to get my teeth into something. To really learn how commercial applications are built and the standards and practises used. I've had a couple of interviews this year and each time it makes me feel like I'm just not ready, and on the same note I believe that its exactly what I need to help me get started.

So along side my dissertation project, I'm toying with the idea of a portfolio site. I am busy with work (DevOps) and with Uni, so a portfolio site on the side was be expensive time wise. It would be great to hear from people who have gone down this route, was it useful? Did it help demonstrate your skills to others?

Any other feedback people can provide would be very greatly appreciated.

Dissertation Starts Here

Niki Ross — Fri, 15 Apr 2022 14:17:52 +0000

This week marks the beginning of my dissertation year of my MSc in Computer Science. It's a very unorthodox course as there are no lectures. No reading materials. Nothing, except a brief outlining the requirements for an application you need to build and the criteria it must fulfil.

Prior to starting this course I had no IT experience. So how did I get here?

10 years ago I was in the final years of my military career, it was being cut short after a freak accident seen me in hospital after taking 4 bullets across both legs. I was in such a panic about finding employment once I had been discharged that I didn't really think about what I wanted to do and put more emphasis on what I wanted to earn in the shortest amount of time possible. So I got into construction.

Impending redundancy may not have been the catalyst for appreciating what makes me tick, but being in a job I hated absolutely was. And so I decided to make a leap and get involved in something that always fascinated and intrigued me... coding.

I did a 3 month bootcamp and was then employed as a DevOps Engineer, the company had an affiliation with a University and provided a MSc course which was paid for. So I decided to make another leap again throwing myself in at the deep end.

The first two modules were tough. Now I am in the 3rd and final year. There were times I never thought I was going to make it here and with a tough module ahead, there is even more self doubt about where I'll be this time next year.

Programming doesn't come naturally to me and since this isn't a skill I use in my full time job (just yet), I need to take the time to practise in my own time. I need to document this process as part of the module so I thought I would post here, for anyone else in the same boat who struggles with self doubt, in the event that my small wins might inspire your own.

DEV Community: Niki Ross

Newbie Career Catch 22

Dissertation Starts Here