I was inspired to write this article by conversations I have had recently with a couple up-and-coming software engineers and the holidays have given me enough room to appreciate my journey so far.
I’m Tochi and in 2019 I switched careers to tech by curating a learning track, sticking with it, and weathering a few storms.
Some quick updates about my year (2021), I switched jobs twice, landed my first foreign remote gig, came agonizingly close to landing a full-stack web development role at a top-tier UK firm (an opportunity that might still be on the table), now I’m helping build the future of payments in Africa.
“Trust the process”
For every person who “makes it” there are more who quit at some point, for a smorgasbord of reasons. I do realize also that some people need more hand-holding than others, if this applies to you, trust me it’s alright. There are more people willing to help get you unstuck than you can imagine and we’re literally everywhere — all you have to do is reach out.
“What is the process?”
The process is identifying what your goal is e.g I want to be a web designer, looking for people who already do what you’re trying to do, noting every skill required to excel in that role, taking stock of every bit of effort (article, courses etc) required to arm you with aforementioned skills, devising a roadmap (ideally starting with less complex stuff and advancing), designing a learning routine that works for you and just seeing it out to the very end, through thick and thin.
Willpower and motivation are good things but ultimately discipline and consistency will get you where you need to be. Discipline is dedicating some time every day to learning and following this program religiously, it is switching on your laptop to code when you’re not exactly feeling like it.
Knowledge compounds and every bit of information or skill builds on the ones before it like lego bricks, next thing you’re going from your first hello world program to building entire web applications solo or designing the next great platform.
Trusting the process is just being deeply rooted in the belief that your effort will pay off in the future even in times when it doesn’t seem like it. This belief might be hard to build at first but you can cultivate it by never losing sight of your goal whatever it is, meeting and talking with people who are further along in their journeys will reinforce your belief that you too can do it.
“Stumbling blocks”
Believe me when I tell you that there are lots of blockers but you’re probably already aware. One of the biggest ones is landing your first tech role — most people give up at this point. I wrote this article a while ago about it.
Another less talked about “hitch” is going online to see people on the same journey as you talk about their wins and feeling like it’s not happening fast enough for you. Recognize that transitioning to tech isn’t one-size-fits-all, and channel some of the hurt to becoming even better, it will happen in due time for you, don’t stop believing.
In 2019, a month into job search I made it to the final stages of interviewing for a frontend role at a big bank, I got rejected via the flimsiest rejection email of all time, in hindsight, I’m glad I didn’t get that job. I got a role at a startup a few months after, this job paid well less but I learned so much and I probably wouldn’t have grown as fast as I have without it.
“To infinity and beyond”
Whatever your measure of success is, I guarantee you life gets infinitely better from your first role onwards, how fast you achieve your objectives then depends on how hard you’re willing to work to stand out.
Please note that I haven’t talked about passion or any of that stuff because it doesn’t really matter why you’re making that transition to tech — it’s fine if you’re passionate about money, all that’s important is that you’re doing what needs to be done.
I’m not on Twitter much these days but you can always reach out to me via email at nwangumat at gmail dot com. I’d love to help in any way I can.
Till next time, let’s get it 🚀
