I Got My First Web Developer Job Offer

Hooray!! I finally did it. After 7 months and 27 days of long nights, sacrificing family time to teach myself computer science and programming, I finally got a job offer to which I accepted. Putting in my two weeks notice was a sweet experience and I want to share this story with you. But first let’s rewind the clock and give me a chance to tell my full story.

I was a punk in high-school with no vision. I had no direction and I wasn’t going anywhere. I wasn’t motivated to even graduate until I met my future wife. I wasn’t really motivated to be better than my previous self until we found out we were pregnant with our son a few months later.

After that things changed. I now had a family to support and needed to make the ends meet. I ended up working at a tire shop thanks to my father-in-law (this is the same place I’m leaving to become a software developer).

I have no problem working at a tire store. I started as a basic guy making barely more than minimum wage but I quickly rose up the ranks to become the Assistant Manger. But I was hungry. I felt stagnate working at a place where my growth would be limited soon. I felt like I wasn’t growing as a person and that I was doing the same thing every day. I didn’t even like working on cars!

This hunger led me to a blog post - Learn to code, get hired, and have fun along the way (updated every year). I found this in August of 2018 and was immediately intrigued. This is where the real journey begins.

Photo by Brett Patzke on Unsplash

This post was impeccably written by a senior software developer with a passion of teaching. Immediately, I dug in to the countless amount of resources available to me through the post and unfortunately went down many rabbit holes. I was learning but not efficiently. I was learning but some of the material wasn’t sticking. I needed some structure and I couldn’t provide that for myself because I didn’t know what exact structure I needed.

This is where Andrei’s courses came in (specifically The Complete Web Developer). This gave me the structure and foundation I needed to become successful. Of course it required the effort on my part. Vegetables aren’t grown overnight. As such I would put in up to 3 hours a night, 7 days a week. I would take breaks. Life would happen. I faced imposter syndrome. I almost gave up. It was tough. But I persevered. ‘The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.’

I permeated myself with all things coding. I read countless blog posts, listen to podcasts, and watch all these great Youtubers to change my line of thinking. I went to Meetups and met some incredible people that really pushed me to grow. That challenge me. I wanted to be apart of their industry. Their community. I joined Discord groups of people with similar goals as mine.

These were shoulders I could lean on and I couldn’t have done it without them. I couldn’t have done it without the support of my wife as well. She sacrificed more than me. She would spend long days with our children and not receive much help from me. She was literally my rock and I will tell you rocks are great places to build up from.

Photo by Mark Kamalov on Unsplash

To close, if you're embarking on this journey, I implore you to not give up! If this is your passion, if this is your dream you will not give up. Failure is not an option. Keep your servants towel bigger than your ego and you will do just fine!

By the way, you can also accelerate your learning and have fun along the way, just like Chandler by joining the Zero To Mastery Academy.