Third time’s a charm
Changing careers can be daunting.
I don’t believe that there’s a right path, but rather different paths that one can take. My career path wasn’t always clear — I seemingly got lost along the way. But as they say, all is well that ends well.
I sit here today writing this as a software developer on the API team at Unsplash. With what began as a trial period in December 2016 and has slowly seen my role evolve into a core member of the team. I have worked on a wide range of projects, beginning with some admin features and madewithunsplash.com. As I spent more time in the codebase and gained trust from the team, I progressed to work on various Unsplash features involving photo stats, search, large scale email campaigns, and even implemented the algorithm for related photos. It’s been a wonderful almost year and a half and I’ve learned more than what I would have imagined.
But how did I get here?
Nearly two years ago, back in May 2016, I had just started a 7-month back-end engineering program at Turing in Denver. Prior to the actual course, I had been learning JavaScript on the side for a few months and had a few freelance projects building websites, but that was pretty much the extent of my limited experience. The decision to drop out of my existing career and pivot into software engineering was a decision I had toiled on for a few months. It would be my second career change in less than 10 years and I had a lot of doubts in my head. Is it ok to change careers after 30? Is it ok to change careers again, period? Will it be hard to get a job after? Will it be worth the time and the money?
All of my doubts disappeared with my answer to a simple question: will I regret not trying it?
I had a strong career in management consulting in one of the most respected firms on the continent and later changed to consumer research/branding as I felt the calling of deeper research and consumer psychology. I had a great paying job, a nice ‘Director’ title and I was riding my bike to work.
Why change?
For me, it came down to the fact I wasn’t feeling challenged anymore and I wasn’t happy doing what I was doing. At the same time, I was discovering a new field and was spending more and more time on my quest to learn to code. It really hit me on a family trip to the Caribbean over New Years. While the rest of the family was hanging out at the beach sipping Pina Coladas, I was huddled over my book trying to learn JavaScript syntax.
I found myself feeling strong regrets for not even having considered going to college for a CS degree. However, complaining about past choices doesn’t lead us anywhere and doesn’t solve any problem. I finally decided to pull the trigger, leverage my previous experience instead of second guessing it and once again take a sharp turn in my career path.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.” — Mark Twain
I can say with all my heart that I absolutely love the work I do. I love the endless learning path of software development, it keeps things interesting. I’m proud of my work and ashamed of silly mistakes, it’s a constant cycle — I feel it’s humbling. Just when I think I’m crushing it, something always happens to creep out to put me back in my place 😅
I’ve learned the importance of asking questions and continuing to ask questions until you fully understand all of the moving parts.
The team at Unsplash has had an incredible impact on my success in this field. Having a supportive team can change everything. I believe that our own growth is defined by our own attitude and our willingness to go the extra mile, but having autonomy and trust from your team adds a whole other layer of motivation.
A huge thanks to my entire team and cheers to finally finding the career that never stops making my brain hurt! [In a good way 😃]
If you’re in a similar position or thinking about getting more involved with software engineering, I’d love to connect or answer any questions. You can send me an email or find me on Twitter @ro_scalabrin.
