My Experience

When I began my web development journey 1.5 years ago, I was uncertain if it was the right path for me. Prior to this, I had left my job to prepare for the ESE, but after two unsuccessful attempts, I realized that the investment of my time was too great, especially at my age. I felt lost and unsure about what to do next with my future, until one day during a conversation with my younger brother, we began discussing potential career paths. Despite having no background in computer science, my brother suggested that I explore web development as a potential avenue. He based this suggestion on the fact that I had previously rooted some phones and updated firmware, as well as installed pirated Windows operating systems on my friend's laptop. Not kidding this was his only reasoning behind it.

Now, looking back, I realize that pursuing web development was the best decision I could have made. Growing up in a farming family where higher education was not a priority, it was challenging to determine what would work for me. This post is about my journey and the process of connecting the dots backward to make sense of how I got to where I am today.

Logic building

Looking back on my career, I remember the time when I was working at a service-based company. I had started there as an executive but had quickly risen through the ranks to become a team leader. At first, my job was simple - I was responsible for data cleaning. The company I worked for had been hired by a US-based e-commerce firm to list their products on their website, and my task was to ensure that the data was accurate and up-to-date.

As I progressed in my role, my responsibilities grew. I had to send daily reports to my manager, which was a tedious task. Every morning, I would come into the office and spend 1-1.5 hours preparing these reports. The data I used for the reports came from my team members and other teams in the company.

One day, I realized that this process could be automated. If I created a template and asked my team members to fill in the data before leaving the office, it would save me a lot of time. I called this template the "master file" because it served as a local data source for my team, and I could get reports at the end of each day. One section of the file was dedicated to monitoring my team's performance.

I want to emphasize that I truly hated the process of preparing these reports. However, this hatred ultimately led me to find a solution. At the time, I had no experience using Microsoft Excel or any knowledge of the different formulas that could be used. But because of this repetitive and unnecessary task, I was motivated to find a way to streamline the process.

It took me a whole month to create the master file, and I had to search on Google and ask my seniors for help with Excel formulas. But the time and effort paid off, and I was able to save a lot of time in the long run. Looking back, I realize that creating that file helped me develop my logical and problem-solving skills, even though I had no idea that I was doing so at the time.

Personally, I found that exploring different Excel formulas and experimenting with logical solutions was an excellent way to sharpen my analytical thinking and enhance my ability to solve problems. Even though these exercises may seem small, it benefited me. To succeed in a career in development, I think it is crucial to cultivate robust problem-solving abilities.

Patience

I was once an aspirant for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam, which taught me an invaluable lesson in patience. Let me share my story in more detail. It's really hard for mechanical engineers to get good jobs in India. It's like finding something very valuable in a place where you don't expect it. That's why I thought getting a government job is the only choice they have. During college, I had previously prepared for the GATE exam, but this time I choose UPSC ESE. The UPSC syllabus is vast and cannot be completed in a day, a month, or even a year. It requires consistent daily effort and patience to cover each chapter thoroughly. As one of my teachers once said, the UPSC exam is not a 200-meter sprint, it's a marathon. This meant that I had to cultivate patience and discipline to prepare consistently every day.

The same traits of patience and discipline are required when you choose a new career path in your life. Often, it can be difficult to acquire the skills that the job market demands and it's easy to feel stuck and seek help. Sometimes you might even regret choosing a difficult career path and think that you should have opted for something easier. However, this is a common feeling for every newcomer in any field. I faced the same problem when I chose to pursue a new career path in web development.

I started learning the basics of JavaScript, starting with how it works, what an event loop is, and other fundamentals. However, it was overwhelming, and even writing a simple function proved to be challenging. Sometimes, I would be stuck on a problem for two days straight. At that time, there was no ChatGPT to help me find solutions quickly. However, I learned that finding solutions on Google is a skill, and if I had not been patient enough while learning web development, I would not have made it this far.

Peer Learning

After my second failed attempt at the UPSC exam, I came to the realization that I needed to acquire a skill that would provide me with a stable livelihood. Having only data entry experience, I turned to my brother for advice on what skill to learn. After a lengthy discussion, we agreed that web development was a good option. With no prior knowledge of coding, I started by watching YouTube videos to learn the basics of JavaScript. While the videos were helpful, I realized I needed more structured learning, so I invested 2000 rupees in Udemy courses on the MERN tech stack.

After two months of dedicated learning, I had a good grasp of the basics of JavaScript and was able to build a few projects. I continued to practice by learning React JS and building more projects. However, I knew I needed more guidance to really improve, so I joined a boot camp.

This was a life-changing experience for me. The boot camp allowed me to meet people from different career backgrounds who were also learning to code. The six months of the boot camp were intense, with days filled with practice and nights spent reviewing 50+ git PRs.

One of the most valuable aspects of the boot camp was learning from my peers. Seeing another person's coding style and asking them why they wrote the code in a particular way was enlightening. I learned new approaches and ways of thinking about problems that I had never considered before. Although the long nights of coding and the pressure to learn quickly were challenging, I embraced them, knowing that I was on a journey of growth and learning.

As with any new skill, there were moments of frustration and downtime. But being surrounded by classmates who were also learning and growing made it easier to discuss these issues and find solutions together. In many ways, the boot camp felt like going back to school, but with the added benefit of being surrounded by like-minded individuals who were all striving to better themselves.

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I discussed the three characteristics that led me to pursue a career in web development. However, at that time if someone asked me why I chose to become a developer, I didn't have a clear answer. Nonetheless, I believe that these traits have been helpful for me, and I can easily empathize with anyone who has just embarked on their web development journey.