I have faced my fair share of ups and downs while traversing this field. But my persistence and uncompromised efforts coupled with a bunch of other factors helped me steer the course of my journey.
Currently, I am working in a product-based company and it was only a few months into my degree when I realized that coding interested me the most. Many other technical aspects got subsumed under the umbrella of coding. Simultaneously, I also understood that interest alone wouldn’t suffice. My skills needed some polishing for me to fully utilize them.
After my graduation, I got placed with a decent package in a service-based company. However, my work became repetitive with a very limited scope of learning. I wanted to work in an environment where my work would be challenging. I started keeping an eye out for different job avenues but at that time I was dissatisfied with my coding skills.
To upgrade my coding skills, I took a few online courses. They were of little help as I was randomly surfing through the plethora of topics on the web. This also affected my mental well-being as there neither seemed a visible end to this nor any significant returns. Put simply, I could see that lack of guidance was not working for me.
I came across Scaler through the reference of a friend. The curriculum looked impressive to me at first glance itself because it went beyond the basic fundamentals yet didn’t seem unrelenting. I enrolled myself for the programme and got selected. I knew I was in the right place because I finally received the much needed direction and guidance to navigate my learning.
Apart from the learning, the interview process seemed daunting to me. My mentor, Mr. Pavan from Microsoft, helped me with this amongst many other things. He assisted me in preparing for the interview taking into account every essential detail that counts during an interview. You wouldn’t believe it, but the coincidence was such that I was asked those exact same questions in a few interviews that I had prepared with my mentor. So, I guess that’s where the experience and expertise speaks the loudest. For me, mentor sessions with him were the highlight of my programme at Scaler.
Learning from these phases that will be with me for life is- facing my fears head-on. As I said earlier, giving interviews was a daunting task due to the fear of rejection. In response to this fear, my mentor would motivate me to give as many interviews as possible. The fear of rejection subsided as I became more proficient and accustomed to the process. I even received 4-5 offers through Scaler.
I am currently working as a Java developer in Techmojo- a product based company. I decided on this company as the work culture really appealed to me. It was a right choice indeed because I am able to exercise my potential to a great extent. While my dream companies are the Tech giants, I do understand that it is a journey and my current job is a stepping stone in that journey. Until then, I will relish every part of this journey!