How I switched to the bright side
Hi! I’m Chris, a̶n̶ ̶o̶f̶f̶i̶c̶e̶ ̶m̶a̶n̶a̶g̶e̶r̶ a front-end developer at 4xxi. And this is my story.
When people talk to me and find out that I’ve been working for 4xxi for more than 4 years, they are surprised. They are more shocked by the fact that I started as an office manager and became a developer in 2 years. Then they ask me perplexedly, how I’ve done that.
Most of them find this motivating and that it proves everything is possible. That’s why I want to share my story with you.
I think that I should start with my teenage dream to do some business on my own. Thus economics was my major at high school. And I chose a management major at the University and graduated with honors.
My first official job was part-time in a lingerie and sleepwear shop at an international company. And that time I figured out that to be a Chief Officer after getting a diploma is not so easy.
To do this you need to know how a certain area works. You need to know what work is all about! So I consider my degree as a job requirement and for the pride of my parents.
Once upon a time on a rainy December weekend I was thinking about what I would like to do, where I would like to work because working as a shop assistant is not what I really wanted. I looked with envy at doctors and engineers because they knew their exact vocation.
And I’m just a manager. A manager doing what?
So I decided to research it on the internet. And the thought dawned on me: “Why not be a web developer?”. So easy. Like a snap of the fingers.
Actually, motivation was the following:
- It can be learned online,
- there is a lot of information I may learn (thirst for knowledge has always driven me).
At that time I didn’t have any web developer friends, so I googled about what I should start learning with. The most popular answer was “HTML, CSS and JavaScript”. To a greater extent this determined my direction. As a result I’ve been doing front-end development, but details will follow.
A few days later I found my classmate who had become a front-end developer. This was fortunate because she advised online resources, where I can try to code.
So the first step was to buy a laptop because coding on a tablet is almost impossible.
Further I started taking some courses. It was hard and incomprehensible. But at the same time it was real magic! And I wanted to master this magic! But the process was going slowly.I had neither a mentor nor a plan. And there is so much information so my eyes ran wide.
Finally, I decided to leave retail stores and began to search for a job as an office manager. I concluded that this option suited me best according to my education and work experience. And my knee injury made standing work impossible for me. At some interviews I told the truth, that I would like to be a web developer, at others I withheld.
The searching took quite some time.
I remember how I found an office manager vacancy at 4xxi company. I saw this extraordinary name, bright logo. And I decided that I will work there. I applied for a job and answered questions from the vacancy description. So I got an email with an invitation to interview.
Since 4xxi is an IT company I said that I wanted to be a web developer in general. That’s what the CEO said:
“We are searching for an office manager that can take the job for the next two years.”
I replied:
“That’s awesome! I plan to work as an office manager this couple of years. And I will have enough time to learn JS!”.
This way I started to work at 4xxi.
In half a year I had the conversation with CEO:
— Christina, maybe we should send you to learn the law, accounting or human resources? (Because my duties were correlated with this scope of work)
— Maybe, JS? — I asked.
— Maybe, JS.
Honestly, that moment I was numb. For me it was almost inconceivable that the CEO gave such an opportunity because it was an abrupt change of responsibilities.
Later I wrote an email to ask if the CEO joked or not.
As a result our team leader Sergey became my mentor.
I remember how I said this news to him:
— Sergey, hey! I have news for you.
— Hey! Is it bad or good?
— You should decide. Now you have an intern.
— Who is it?
— Its me.
— Is this a joke?
Of course, at first sight it might seem like a joke because its a surprise to hear such news from an office manager.
We discussed what I know and can do. He said that our new front-end developer had perfect knowledge about the markup language. And it would be useful to learn it.
It was an HTML Academy course. She shared video lessons and resources with me (layouts and default repository).
Eventually, I and the CEO negotiated terms and set aims and deadlines for the next year. I had to pass 2 layout courses, do a default 4xxi test and begin to learn JS and React.
I was watching videos and doing exercises. If I had questions I would ask Sergey. All of this was happening on weekends and evenings after work. I’m really thankful to Sergey for this! We could have a call at 11pm and discuss how to center a block on a page better!
From time to time it was hard to force myself to learn this stuff. After all, the weather was so good, so I could meet my friends, I could read a book, and I just got tired. I had to constantly remind myself why I was doing this.
Sometimes I would take a break and didn’t do anything for a month or more. I needed such a time to have a rest, not overwork myself and not forget about personal life. It’s important to keep life balance.
At some time I figured out that the deadline was coming. And I was as far away from passing the plan as the hot summer had hit Saint Petersburg! I pulled myself together and concluded that I would pass at least 1 point, namely pass both layout courses and do the 4xxi test. And I’ve done that!
By the way, the team leader praised my new skills.
Nevertheless, the following situation became a final turning point.
One project manager asked for a web developer for one day to do a small ticket until the end of a week. But there were no free resources at that time. And I was thinking: ‘Why not to help him?’. I asked about the task. It turned out pretty easy. It needed to markup a page, add some animation and write some JS-code. We discussed and concluded that I would do it during 3 evenings. CEO approved.
After I had done it the CEO emailed me:
“Chris, open the office manager vacancy, find a replacement and teach”.
I was delighted by this news! I got closer to my dream by one more step!
I found the replacement and started to transfer all my cases.
One month later the CEO said to me that if we couldn’t find a web developer for a new project, it would be me. However, we found a web developer, so I continued to teach the new office manager.
Right after New Year 95% of my work time I was building web-applications (it was a real gift). The first real project was a redesign of the 4xxi site. After that there were other commercial projects with jQuery, React. I was literally learning JS in action. But also I was learning it at home (books, online training).
A lot of things seemed to be really difficult and I didn’t understand how it worked. But it came together during the development and due to my mentors who explained all this stuff to me.
I’m really happy that the transition was pretty painlessly due to the agreement and the plan. I was assigned to some administrative tasks because they were long term. Actually, due to the fact that I showed myself perfectly as an office manager, the company was very loyal to me and really wanted to help with the transition to a new position.
It’s possible to say that I’ve become a web developer due to random possibilities which I was capitalised on. But the vision of my goal, hard work, and patience mattered as well.
After some time I was really surprised by the fact that some friends were talking about me like a successful example of achieving one’s goals. I was very pleased. But the most important thing is that this motivated me not to stop and continue self-developing. I think I should share this with you:
- My team member from my first commercial project told me later, in one year, that she thought this idea (transition from an office manager to a web developer) would fail. But she saw my aspirations and realized that she was mistaken. And now she tells my story and sets me as an example.
- It was incredibly nice to hear the words of praise from my CEO who was a witness of my hiring and further development. He also sets me as an example.
- My friend (self-made web developer) was surprised that I’ve achieved my aim. And this is cool. During the last 5 years some guys ask him at least once a week how to become a web developer. A lot of starting. But of all people only 4 were able to get through. I’m pleased to be one of these four.
Summarizing, I have drawn up a short ToDo list to achieve an aim:
- Set an exact goal “I want to be a web developer!”. Ideally, set a deadline, for instance, in 2 years.
- Determine why you really need this. It will be a good motivating factor when you think to give up half- way through.
- Find a mentor. It would be better if they also motivate you and ask you from time to time: “So what? How are you doing? How’s the progress? Maybe, let’s have a call?”. And you would be ashamed to miss deadlines.
- Draw up a plan and limit resources to learn to avoid duplicating information. In 20 books there will be 90% of repeated information, so why pay your attention to it?
- Take every chance that will lead you to your dream.
Go for it, friends! And most importantly, believe in yourself :)
Your Chris, a front-end developer.
