Studying to code with the intention to land a job in tech can really feel daunting. That’s why we’re sharing inspiring tales from Codecademy’s neighborhood — to point out how individuals such as you (sure, you!) can embark on a studying journey and find yourself with a completely new profession. We hope these tales function a reminder that there’s no single path to a extra fulfilling work life.
Right now’s story is from Joseph Daniel Gollapalli, a 24-year-old Software program Engineer II at Codecademy, residing in Hyderabad, India. Learn extra tales from Codecademy learners right here — and you should definitely share your story right here.
Why I selected to be taught to code
“Again in 2013, I dropped out of highschool. I used to be in a fairly dangerous psychological state, and I used to be exploring plenty of stuff, like graphic design with Photoshop and I wished to construct web sites.
In February 2013, Code.org launched a video the place they’d an entire bunch of tech founders explaining how coding is cool and every part. Codecademy was featured not directly, so by the top of March, I joined Codecademy. I went by means of the Python programs and HTML programs.
They’d this gamification factor that was actually addictive, so I used to undergo programs and earn these little badges — I nonetheless have all my Codecademy badges in my profile.”
How I made time to be taught
“I used to be mainly a young person who was not in class, so I used to be fully free. What else would I be doing? I used to be simply enjoyable and having fun with — half of the time I used to be gaming and half the time I used to be coding. I simply wished to be taught what I used to be really serious about, fairly than actually grind by means of college coursework and simply enter the rat race.”
How lengthy it took me to land a job
“In 2014, I began to choose up recreation growth for a bit. There was this open-source recreation server known as Piqueserver, and I used to be a person first after which grew to become a maintainer for it. I began out small with a one-line contribution after which that snowballed into refactors.
This was a really pivotal second for me, because it taught me plenty of issues that you simply do in common skilled growth. We’d have code evaluations, we’d write unit checks, and we might arrange CI CD [Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery]. The challenge taught me easy methods to collaborate with individuals and launched me to new ideas, and had a large influence on my profession.
After which in 2015, I began to look into internet growth. I acquired an internship at a cell analytics startup. The CEO was like, ‘Dude, it’s a must to full your highschool schooling, after which you may have a correct internship.’ Throughout my internship, I completed highschool by means of homeschooling. The primary 8 months I used to be a part-time intern, then I acquired employed full-time round November 2019. I actually realized so much on the job. Working at fast-paced startups enable you be taught issues a lot quicker, particularly in your early profession.”
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How I acquired within the door
“I used to be simply wanting on LinkedIn and I randomly noticed a Codecademy job that was listed for Hyderabad, India, which I discovered actually shocking. The years of expertise and the tech stacks they have been in search of matched mine. I used to be like, let’s give it a shot!”
How I nailed the interview
“The interview course of was fairly lengthy and dense, however the individuals have been very nice. I feel it offers each sort of engineer a good likelihood. And the top result’s determined by a panel of six individuals, which significantly reduces bias. Codecademy has this factor the place they provide out coding assignments so that you can do. For instance, in case you do a back-end project, you’d have a front-end reside coding spherical.
I used to be extra of a back-end individual than a front-end individual, so I used to be nervous for my front-end coding rounds. I knew React, however I wasn’t tremendous proficient with it. After the take dwelling evaluate, my front-end interview spherical was proper after — there was solely a 10-15-minute hole, so I used to be fairly nervous.
I had an awesome interview with a Workers Engineer named Ahmed, and we each went by means of an project that I did. Ahmed helped me settle down.”
How I evaluated the provide
“I had a number of provides, however I appeared for higher work-life steadiness and group tradition.”
How day one and past went
“The primary week was all about getting arrange. I had an onboarding, after which it took a while to get entry to every part. The following week I did precise work: I acquired a few tickets, and I had KT [knowledge transfer] periods, so I might perceive what they have been constructing and why they have been constructing it. It’s been a fairly good week!”
What I want I knew earlier than I began studying
“Constructing much more initiatives is one factor I’d have carried out otherwise. I’ve realized much more by doing initiatives alone and having my very own motivation to construct a challenge — fairly than, say, following a tutorial that teaches you easy methods to construct a fundamental calculator app or one thing like that.
I additionally assume having mentors is basically precious, so I’d have most likely reached out to them a lot faster, as a result of I used to be type of struggling alone.”
Undecided the place to begin? Take a look at our persona quiz! We’ll enable you discover one of the best programming language to be taught primarily based in your strengths and pursuits.
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