From Teacher to Software Engineer: How I Made My Career Change Into Tech
My name is Richard and I’m a career changer. Just over a year ago, I was living in a different part of the world doing a very different job than what I am doing now. For five years, I was an English teacher in a rural, countryside town in northeastern Japan. Although I do genuinely enjoy teaching, I saw it more as a paid holiday rather than an actual job. During those five years, I was able to explore many parts of Japan and made some amazing friends and memories along the way.
But then 2021 came around and I knew that I had to make an important life decision that would set the course for the next several years of my life. As much as I enjoyed the lifestyle that I was living in Japan, my contract had a fixed term of five years which meant that I had to figure out what my next plan was.
I considered finding another job in Japan, but unless it’s in teaching or customer service, getting a job in Japan can be notoriously difficult for foreigners. Not to mention that my Japanese ability was only at an intermediate level — good enough to hold a conversation and order food at a restaurant but nowhere near good enough to go out into the business world without some more hardcore studying.
There were other factors as well such as their demanding work culture that made me decide to go back home to Sydney. I had a university degree in Business and Accounting but it wasn’t something I was passionate about. Unsure of what career path to follow, I turned to a Japanese philosophy called Ikigai meaning ‘a reason for being’. Although traditionally it has been used as a way to find your purpose in life, recently it has gained more widespread attention as a way to find your dream career.
At around the same time, a friend of mine who also worked as an English teacher said to me, ‘How about you become a software engineer? I think you’d be good at it’. I considered the idea and compared it against my Ikigai venn diagram. A career as a software engineer ticked a lot of boxes for me. I’ve always been interested in tech, like to problem solve and enjoy learning new things.
It seemed like a good fit but, initially, I was unsure of how to take that first step. A lot has happened since then and I’m pleased to say that I’ve successfully made the transition. Here’s how I did it.
Step 1: Start learning
Learning a programming language can be intimidating — especially if you’re a beginner. However, nowadays it’s easier than ever to pick up a new skill. Documentation, guides and tutorials are readily available on the internet and usually for free. There’s so many resources available that you’re almost spoiled for choice. Depending on your learning style, you may prefer to read up on documentation and guides at your own pace. Others might prefer a more interactive and engaging learning style so guided courses like the ones you find on YouTube or online learning platforms like Udemy might be a better option.
Which programming language you choose doesn’t really matter too much although there are some certain languages that make more sense depending on what type of industry you want to work in. If you want to be a web developer, then JavaScript would be the natural choice. Similarly, if you are interested in AI or machine learning, then Python would be a good starting point. Whichever language you choose, familiar programming concepts such as variables, control flow and data structures are common in all programming languages which makes picking up new languages much easier the second time around.
Although self-learning can be challenging, what I found most difficult was setting aside some time each day to practice coding. Oftentimes, especially after finishing a long day of work, it takes some mental willpower and discipline to spend some time focusing on self-improvement and learning a new skill. I tried to set aside at least 30 minutes to an hour each day to learn coding and, although it can get discouraging when you don’t see an immediate improvement, it definitely helped me prepare for the next step.
Step 2: Enroll in a coding bootcamp
It was still during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic when I arrived back in Sydney in August 2021. I was greeted by a squad of police officers at Sydney Airport and was promptly sent off to a hotel for my mandatory 2-week quarantine. The timing couldn’t have been better, though, as it aligned with the first day of the bootcamp that I had enrolled in.
The same friend who gave me the idea to pursue a career in programming was also an alumni at Coder Academy, one of Australia’s leading programming bootcamps. There are others such as General Assembly (which is huge in the States) and Academy Xi, but I chose Coder Academy because they have a good reputation of helping set their students up for success by helping them make connections with people in the industry and providing them with an internship once they graduate.
I chose to enroll in their ‘intensive course’ which lasts 6-months and, as the name suggests, was very, very intensive. The fastest way to learn anything is to get total immersion in the subject and the course definitely delivered. I spent very little time on anything other than learning during those 6-months and time passed by rather quickly. Before I knew it, I had graduated and already got some practical industry experience after doing an internship at a digital design agency.
Next step: job hunting!
Step 3: Find a job at a company that will help accelerate your growth
If I was a fresh graduate straight out of university, I most likely wouldn’t have been very picky about my first job. Having had a few years of work experience under my belt, however, I believe that it’s important to carefully consider and apply for companies that match your career goals. When I first started searching for jobs, I knew that I wanted to work at a place that would help me grow as a software engineer.
It was with this criteria in mind that I decided to join ServiceRocket as a Rocketeer. Along with providing generous employee benefits, one of ServiceRocket’s core values is ‘Share the knowledge’ which is something that deeply resonated with me as a fresh graduate looking to ramp up his skills and learn from the best in the industry and also as a former teacher.
Since day one of joining ServiceRocket, I was able to collaborate with and be mentored by their diverse global team with members from countries such as Malaysia, Chile, America and the Philippines.
Other initiatives that help to encourage collaboration and employee engagement are their hack weeks that happen twice a year and their weekly Friday Play Days which encourages employees to focus on learning something new or work on something of their own initiative. This change of pace is something I’m really grateful for, and also something that would have been unheard of in Japan’s strict work environment so I’m glad I made the switch.
In just four months since I’ve started my new job (and just over a year since I made my career change), I’ve gained a lot of insight about the industry and am continuing to improve on my skills day-by-day and ServiceRocket has been the greatest factor in helping me make the switch over to tech a successful one.
Final Thoughts
Making a career change isn’t easy, but it’s not impossible and with some hard work and determination, you can find yourself with renewed purpose and working in an industry that you are passionate about. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
